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CURRICULUM PROJECT
DESIGNING A COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING COURSE FOR THE
EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS IN SANTA ANA DE LOS CABALLEROS





IVONNE ALEXANDRA LONDOO LEUDO




PROFESSOR: ALVARO MUOZ ECHEVERRY





CURRICULUM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
MAESTRIA EN DIDCTICA DEL INGLES
FACULTAD DE ARTES Y HUMANIDADES
UNIVERSIDAD DE CALDAS
JUNE 2013
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1. TITLE: COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING SYLLABUS
DESIGN FOR EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS IN SANTA ANA DE
LOS CABALLEROS.

1. CONTEXT:
People:
2.1.1. Class size: 34 students
2.1.2. Average age: 13 - 17
2.1.3. Gender: 18 Females and 16 males
2.1.4. Culture: Students have different cultural identities, because of the
displacement in Colombia; but the majority of them have indigenous (Ember
Cham), paisa, and Valle del Cauca origins. Moreover, in Ansermanuevo the
most common socioeconomic status is the lower or proletarian classes, where the
center of its economical production is the sugar cane crops and other illicit
activities such as drug trafficking.
2.1.5. Language: The mother language is Spanish and the target language is
English, in a minor amount they speak Embera dialect.
2.1.6. Education: The students learn regular English classes with a mandatory
attendance of two hours (intensity per week), each class have 55 minutes on
Fridays in the 1
st
and 2
nd
hour in the morning. At the end of each term they take
ICFES mock tests about all subjects at school. In the English class the tardiness is
not accepted because in the first moment of the class the teacher takes the roll.


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Physical setting:
2.1.1. Location: Santa Ana de los Caballeros School in Ansermanuevo, Valle del
Cauca. It is located in the urban part of the town. The English classroom has regular
size with three big tables (round table shape), rimax chairs, two lamps and
presents some noise problems because has some nearby main streets and the
firefighter station. The Institution works by departments, which means that the
students have to move when each class finishes looking for the next classroom.
Teaching resources:
1.1.1. Materials available: There is one video beam and a video game.
1.1.2. Required texts: No, because of the students lower socioeconomic status.
1.1.3. Develop own materials: No, the English teacher select material from internet and
design content units per each level and term.
1.1.4. Equipment: We count with photocopies (Didactic unit), the video game and the
Computers science laboratory.

2.1. Nature of the course:
The technology enhanced EFL course is a regular English class for Eighth Grade
students with the particular change of being supported by the Computer Science
teacher, increasing the intensity of hours (4). Also, this Computer Assisted Language
Learning CALL course is based on the encouragement of communicative tasks in
the classroom and the development of linguistic skills using as meaningful resource
the video game Trace Effects and other web resources.
There is not a prescribed curriculum at school. So, the teachers have freedom to
negotiate content and methodology with students.
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2.2. Problematizing the context.
In the existing syllabus of English as a second language, students do not have in a
serious manner the effective use of technology for improving their oral skills. At the
same time, they have been taught to grammar-based methodology without any oral
production or emphasis in other linguistic skills. The students condition facing the
National Standards demands (A2 B1) in Eighth grade is poor and complicated, and
some concerns underlie this syllabus design:
1. How an educational video game does influences Eighth grade students oral
production?
2. What is the impact of this interdisciplinary project (Computer Science + English)
in students acquisition of a second language?
3. To what extent do the students of eighth grade will acquire a second language
using the technology effectively?
4. How good are the students using internet sources and computer applications for
learning?

2.3. Plan of action:
To analyze the Needs Analysis questionnaire about content, learning
habits, competence in different linguistic skills and students interests.
To analyze the way the video game and other computers applications
contents were organized in order to use them in the classroom as a
motivating factor.
To include the technology into the curricula.
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To structure the Technology enhanced EFL syllabus in several
components: Competences, goals, specific objectives, content, resources
and the interdisciplinary part (CALL).

3. BELIEFS INFLUENCING THE EXISTING SYLLABUS

Language is meaning based, where the most important is to interpret the surrounding
reality, process, associate, and conceptualize them in order to get the expected production related
to culture, communication and conveying ideas. The existing relation is representation connects
meaning and language to culture.
Language is social constructed, where each person could enhance the communication in a
first or second language, being the interaction the significant component. Each person can
contribute to the development of language proficiency through interactions in real contexts. Part
of this context, the sociolinguistic and sociocultural aspects are strictly related of knowing the
culture where the language will be used; for instance: Traditions, history, customs, courtesy
expressions, etc.
Furthermore, learning is the acquisition of competencies with the complete immersion in
a sociocultural context. The community plays a preponderant role in the development of abilities
and cognition for the reason that each individual will demonstrate new perspectives of concepts
enriching and mastery knowledge. Equally, having the metacognitive skills and critical thinking
for facing life challenges will provide you an active participation in society. Learners have
potential skills, but with the cultural environment, technology advancements, education, society
demands, interaction and problems, they will construct world representations.

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The teaching profession provides essential representations of the target language but also
having under consideration the teacher mission encompassing teaching values, critical thinking,
problem solving and contribute always with something beyond of their practices.

4. CONCEPTUALIZING CONTENT (Appendix 1)


5. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

5.1. GOALS: At the end of the course, students will be able to:


Understand polite expressions in a second language.
Transfer its knowledge to other contexts.
Use variety of strategies to build vocabulary.
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Use few familiar conversational expressions and simple non-verbal communication cues.
Extract relevant information from written and graphic texts for a variety of purposes.
Write short paragraphs to express ideas and feelings on personal and familiar topics using
few simple forms.
Communicate information about some basic social forms and practices that may vary
from culture to culture.
5.2. OBJECTIVES: At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

Identify words related to the food theme.
Perform a role play about healthy food using communicative expressions.
Write their favorite recipe using cooking verbs and food vocabulary.
Recognize healthy and unhealthy food in real situations.
Follow instructions to do a vegetable soup.
Excerpt useful information about the activities they have to perform in Chapter 2.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of junk food.

6. ORGANIZING THE COURSE

This course is organized into two great units about the food theme based on the Chapter 2
(Video game Trace Effects) The farmers market and Emma Fields; the two components are:
Following instructions to complete a task in the Farmers market and making different kinds of
food. Each of these units is made of a series of lessons focused on specific topics during the third
term of the school year.

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UNIT 1: Following instructions to complete a task in the Farmers market
Time: 6 hours
Resources: Video game Trace Effects Chapter 2
Additional material: Didactic Unit about the Food themes in Chapter 2.


TOPICS

FUNCTIONS

SKILLS

GRAMMAR/VOCABULARY

PEDAGOGICAL TASKS
1. Finding Emma
Field in the
Farmers market.

2. Purchasing the
ingredients for the
Chef Mark soups.


1. Asking for
information.
2. Giving advice.
3. Offering help.
4. Following
instructions.
5. Selling and
buying.
6. Showing
preferences.



1. Exchanging information.
2. Express emotions and
reactions to others.
3. Understanding the main
idea of short
conversations and oral
presentations.
4. Understanding and
saying numbers in simple
situations.

GRAMMAR

- Simple present tense
- Yes/No questions
- Modals: Need, want, have
- Present Progressive tense.
- Expressing disinterest.

VOCABULARY

- Food (Vegetables)
- Diet and nutrition
- Expressions to convince
- School campaigns
Lets make a superb meal.

1. Students are asked to create
some flashcards with the
ingredients for the superb meal
for 8A, they have to pass around
the flashcards in order to
recognize and study them but at
the same time, they will use the
flashcards to plan an incredible
meal for other students in a
group work.

2. Students are asked to write
their own recipe at school, using
the connectors of sequences as
well as creating an oral
presentation for the class with
the real ingredients and the
product. The most important part
is to create a healthy meal.
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UNIT TWO: Making different kinds of food
TIME: 6 hours
Resources: Video game Trace Effects Chapter 2
Additional material: Didactic Unit about the Food themes in Chapter 2.


TOPICS

FUNCTIONS

SKILLS

GRAMMAR/VOCABULARY

PEDAGOGICAL TASKS
1. Helping Chef
Mark make the
soup.

1. Asking for
information.
2. Offering help.
3. Following
instructions.
4. Showing
preferences.



1. Exchanging information.
2. Express emotions and
reactions to others.
3. Understanding the main
idea of short
conversations and oral
presentations.
4. Understanding and saying
numbers in simple
situations.
5. Following multi-step
instructions on how to
complete a task.
GRAMMAR

- Simple present tense
- Yes/No questions
- Modals: Need, want, have
- Present Progressive tense.

VOCABULARY

- Food
- Junk Food
- Diet and nutrition


Miming the words.

1. Students are asked to review
the cooking verbs into a game
based on mimicry, in groups of
four they have the opportunity to
guess what other students are
trying to show in their gestures.

2. Students are asked to search
on the internet about some
traditional recipes in their
country (Colombia), and circle
the vocabulary they already
known and also learn about food
idioms.
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7. ASSESSING NEEDS
A needs analysis questionnaire was designed and applied to eighth grade students in Santa
Ana de los Caballeros School.

1. Age range
10 13 2
13 16 20
16 19 1
20+ 0

2. Sex
Female 11
Male 12

3. Level of English (Students awareness)
Beginner 21
Intermediate 2
Advanced 0

4. Reasons for learning English
I love english and I am interested in learning it. 10
I need to communicate with others in the daily life. 0
I want to improve my comprehension ability. 5
I pretend to be more competitive in the professional field. 6
I dont have a specific purpose, I have to learn english at school. 1
I need to have a grade to finish the school year. 1
I have to fulfil the expectations of my family. 0
I want to gain the respect of my teacher and classmates. 0
Other: 0



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5. Level of importance of English skills for students (1=less important and 6= the most
important).
Understand the language 6
Speak the language 5-6
Read the language 2-3-4
Translate the language 1
Write the language 2
Listen the language 1-3-4

6. LISTENING: The activities needed to improve the listening in english and understand the
language.

ACTIVITY Each word The majority of the
words but not all
General
idea
TV programs 9 4 6
Oral presentations 8 6 7
Music 16 3 4
Videos 13 6 3
Foreigners 13 5 2
Other: 0

7. READING: When students read in English understand.

Each word 1
The majority of the words but not all 12
General idea 10

8. WRITING: Context to use this ability in English.

ACTIVITY Academic Professional Informal communication with family
and friends.
Take notes 17 5 1
Writing stories 14 3 5
Writing mails and
personal letters
8 2 15
Writing sentences 17 1 4
Dictations 19 2 0
Make reports 14 8 0
Answer questions 18 2 4
Other: 0
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9. SPEAKING: Situations for practicing the skill in real life. (1= Need to know, 2= Very
Effective, 3= Interesting, 4= Less interesting, 5= It is not my interest).










10. LEARNING HABITS: The way students learn better a second language, (1= Completely
important, 2= Very important, 3= Important, 4= Less important, 5= Not important at all).
LEARNING HABITS 1 2 3 4 5
Working alone 1 2 6 4 5
Working with another classmate 8 8 4 1 2
Working in small groups 8 6 5 3 1
Working alone in class 1 1 3 9 9
Developing a task or solve a problema 5 4 8 4 3
Acting role play situations 5 5 4 3 6
Taking decisions and make activities of personal development 5 5 10 1 1
Teaching lessons addressed by a teacher 6 9 6 2 0
Completing activities with imagination and creativity (Projects) 9 5 8 1 0
Giving and accepting advices 9 4 7 2 0
Attending online courses with a face to face teacher. 4 2 7 5 5
Using Technology (Software, Internet, games, multimedia) 13 6 3 2 0
Other: 0




TOPICS 1 2 3 4 5
Jobs and Professions 5 3 14 1 0
Health, Fitness and Sports 5 9 4 1 4
Go shopping and Fashion 4 2 8 7 2
Your country, other contries, culture and traditions 7 2 11 2 1
Ordering and buying food and drinks 4 7 6 5 1
Music and genres. 8 8 4 3 0
In the airport 4 4 12 2 0
Describing families and life styles 6 5 5 5 2
Making plans and social events 4 7 5 3 2
Reading Magazines and Newspapers 4 4 6 5 4
Describing famous people 6 6 7 5 0
Other: 0
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11. PERSONAL OBJECTIVES: At the end of the English course students want to:
Understand the language 9
Speak the language 14
Understand foreigners 2
Translate the language 1
Get a better job in the future 2
Pronunciation 2

12. PERSONAL INTERESTS: Students hobbies and leisure activities:
Riding bike 9
Listening to music 14
Playing video games 2
Practicing sports 1
Watching TV 2
Studying English 2
Chatting 1
Go Shopping 1
Watching movies and videos 2
Playing marbles 1
Sleeping 7
Riding Motorcycle 1
Using the tablet 1
Going out with friends 4
Laziness 2
Eating 1
Using the Internet 3
Delivering Arepas 1

13. Students use of the computer:
Never 0
Occasionally 5
Daily 18





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14. Preferred materials for the English class:
DVDs for learning english 2
Communication with people in other countries (Skype -
Penpals).
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Exercises to practice english using internet 16
Role games and Simulations (Video juegos). 16
Enciclopedias and dictionaries 2
Video recorder - Cameras for classroom activities 11
E-mail. 10
Websites for learning english 13
Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, etc). 16
Mobile Applications for learning english. 14
Laptops (Not available in the Institution) 22

15. Students knowledge about technological tools:
ICT TOOLS Applications
3
Excellent
2
Good
1
Regular
0
I dont know
Word processors
MS Word 3 7 9 4
Google Docs 0 1 1 15
Software of spreadsheet.
MS Excel 0 4 10 9
Google
Spreadsheet
0 1 0 22
Software to organize and create
conceptual maps.
Tools for Mind
maps like:
Inspiration
0 0 2 21
Online tools like:
Bubbl.us,
Webspiration
1 1 1 20
Multimedia
MS PowerPoint 2 13 7 1
MS Movie Maker 0 5 0 18
Adobe Photoshop 4 2 9 8
Tools for collecting data
Datalogger 0 1 0 22
Digital Camera 16 6 2 2
Video recorder 10 7 3 1
Web resources
Browsers 15 5 2 1
Programming 0 0 2 21
Web Pages
Design
1 1 3 19
Communication software
Blogs 0 1 1 22
Emails 11 5 5 2
Wikis 0 1 0 22
Podcasts 1 0 1 21
Facebook 20 1 1 1
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Social networks Twitter 8 2 7 6
Badoo 0 0 3 20

Developing a learner centered curriculum is a complex task due to the variety of learners
needs and the amount of people who play a role in decision-making process; for this reason, the
needs analysis is a perfect starting tool to conduct the design of an ESL syllabus. In this particular
case, a questionnaire (Appendix 4) was conducted having the following important topics: Level
of English, importance of the language, Skills, Learning styles, Personal interests, favorite
materials and knowledge about ICT (Information and Communication Tools). The questionnaire
was piloted before it was distributed and the participants were 23 students from Eighth grade.
The products of this needs assessment were that the students find as the most important
skills of English speaking and understanding the language. Apart from this, in listening they
really want to practice activities such as: Music, videos, foreign guests in the classroom and TV
programs; but in reading, when they apply this ability, they have an understanding of general
ideas and the majority of the words but not all. Talking about writing contexts, students know a
lot about academic uses but they did not distinguish other fields as professional and informal use
of written English. In terms of speaking, they would like to practice more situations related to the
following topics: Music, other countries, families and life styles, Health, Sports and in the airport;
but a less important situation for them is the one talking about fashion and go shopping.
Moreover, learning styles are outstanding in an ESL syllabus design, which means
students of eighth grade learn effectively a second language using technology, through
collaborative work, applying projects, practicing activities involving professional development.
Instead, the activity of working alone in class is the one they do not like at all.
After that, the personal objectives for the English course; in other words, what they want
to get at the end of the school year (Competences) are the improvement of their communicative
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skills and the understanding of the language. Though, their particular hobbies and interests are
focused on listening to music, riding bike and sleeping.
At the end of the questionnaire, the answers about the computers use and material
preferences were diverse. The majority of them use the computer every day. However, the
favorite materials to use in the classroom were: Communication with foreigners, exercises using
the internet, video games, social networks and laptops (This last one is not provided by the
institution); In contrast, they did not prefer encyclopedias or dvds for learning English.
Apart from this, the knowledge about ICTs has been focused on several tools for
instance: Facebook, Digital Cameras, Browsers, E-mails, Power point, word and video recorders.
In fact, students do not have information or experience with the following tools: Google docs,
google spreadsheet, excel, mind maps, movie maker, data logger, programming, web pages
design, blogs, wikis, podcasts and badoo chats.
In conclusion, the needs analysis products reflect a crucial relationship among students
interests, language situations, teaching instruction and ICT tools for effective second language
learning, where it can be noticed that is completely necessary in this syllabus the communicative
approach, more training in technology for educational purposes, development of collaborative
tasks, and the focused content on students likes, interests in order to promote the acquisition of a
second language.






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8. DISCIPLINE PLAN

Students must:
1. Be on time (3 minutes after every class change)
2. Be prepared for the English class.
3. Bring the materials needed for class (Notebook, Dictionary and Didactic Unit).
4. Be respectful with the teacher and other classmates.
5. Respect others property.
6. Listen to what others are saying especially in the participation time.
7. Never eat in class and do not chew gum.
8. Follow the given instructions.
9. Never use offensive language or nicknames.
10. Participate fully.
11. Always do your best.
12. Never use communication devices (Exception: Sth Urgent) in class.

Negative Consequences (Due process)
When you choose not to follow these rules the following will happen:
1. A warning (verbal, non-verbal, or written (Observador del estudiante)).
2. Sent to the coordinators office.
3. Phone call home
4. Guardian/parents conference with coordinator to establish academic and disciplinary
commitments.
5. Assigned Pedagogical work in extra time at school (Workshops, Campaigns, etc)
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6. Conflict resolution committee conference to establish the second academic and
disciplinary commitment.
7. Consejo Directivo conference with guardians/parents, teachers, parents
representatives and productive sector in order to find the last solution to the academic
and disciplinary situation.
8. Out of School.

Positive Consequences
The following will happen when the above guidelines are achieved:
1. More time for going beyond concepts.
2. More activities can be covered.
3. Have a nice environment to learn through unique and fun experiences.

9. TECHNOLOGY PLAN

In this section of the syllabus, the technology integration into the EFL courses will be
explored talking about the following pedagogical instruments CALL, Web tools, Office tools,
social networking, blogging, wikis, video games etc.
Computer Assisted Language Learning CALL as a young branch of Applied Linguistics
is the integration of computer sciences and languages changing traditional notions about second
language instruction. One of the relevant characteristics of this approach is the mediated
communication (Warschauer, 1995) where the internet, e-mails and technological devices
becomes effective tools for teaching English plus boosting the collaborative work in the
classroom. At the same time, the learners autonomy plays and greater role in acquiring the
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ability to speak in English because of the responsibility of controlling their own learning
(Benson, 2001).
In terms of motivation (Drnyei, Z. and Czizr, K), the strategies with the support of
technology are crucial factors in learning becoming the core of teaching efficiency. One of the
cutting-edge CALL applications is Video games which have innovated school foreign language
practices for engaging students in acquiring knowledge through playing and having fun.
The computer mediation, interaction and cultural background of the second language
using the technology are the best ally in learning. The text based interaction is defined as the
exchange between the reader and the feedback putting aside the one side response (Friedman,
1995). In the same manner, Lopez (2006) points out that E-learning focus on individual needs
and interactive content; furthermore, recent studies outlined by Rice (2007), Lee (2012), Liu
(2009) and Wright (2006) suggest that video games promote high order thinking, social
interaction, building of concepts, speaking ability improvement, challenge in thought, better
classroom management, intrinsic motivation plus carrying over the traditional classes. That is
why; there is a revolution in second language teaching environments with the meaningful use of
21
st
century devices for 21
st
century students.
Learning has been changing throughout years as well as technological innovations;
currently not only they are indispensable part of daily life and entertainment, but also they come
to be fascinating tools for teaching. Prensky (2001), Ruphina & Liu (2011) and McCarthy (1956)
claimed that there are several learners needs in the 21
st
century correspondingly video games
have great potential to provoke and awaken curiosity in students. Conversely, Kahne, Middaugh
& Evans (2009) and Gee (2008) reported in their studies positive and negative outcomes of video
games such as: social influences, strategy and reflection based practices, make learning
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something further than school; besides, childrens aggression, political issues and stereotypical
situations.

9.1. Strategies
1. Creation of interdisciplinary project (Computers science and English).
2. Starting a pilot with eighth grade including a video game as meaningful element for the
EFL teaching practices.
3. Increasing the intensity of hours for the English class with the video game interaction in
the Computers laboratory.
4. Teachers Collaborative planning of classes.
5. Needs analysis plus Negotiated Methodology.
6. Communicative Language teaching methodology, with a lot of exposure to target
language through teachers input and authentic material.
7. The communicative products are mini-projects related to the video game situations in
each chapter.
8. Also, the use of e-mails and forums is encouraged.

9.2.Tools and materials:
1. Video game Trace Effects
2. Video beam
3. Computers lab
4. Internet
5. Didactic Units per term
6. Laptop and speakers
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10. MATERIALS AND COURSEBOOK

10.1. Video game
The video game Trace Effects was designed for teaching English by the United States
Embassy; the purpose of including this innovative tool into the curriculum was enhancing the
motivating factor in students. The video game is divided by Chapters which play an important
role in the video game following a sequence of story events from the same person and other
characters. On the one hand, during the two hours of English class, students will reinforce
concepts about vocabulary, common expressions, functional language and oral tasks considering
the video game situations. On the other hand, students will have the interaction with the video
game in the two hours of Computer science, because the teacher in charge of this subject supports
this interdisciplinary project (Appendix 2).

10.2. Didactic Unit
In class, students need a tool to exploit the minimum time given for learning English, the
use of a didactic unit maximize the time for practicing a language and help the teacher to include
more authentic material in their own practices, the ideal when learning a foreign language. The
didactic unit is divided into modules with different kinds of content located inside the video
game, each module has five activities with the purpose of using the four skills as well as Mini
Communicative Projects where the student have the opportunity to enhance their communicative
abilities in English (Appendix 3).



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10.3. Web tools
Nowadays, learners are in daily contact with technology and the internet; that is why,
digital natives has an advantage on the teachers, they know everything about social networks,
blogs, chats, mobile applications, etc. For this reason, teachers must comprehend that education
need to be in the technological fashion for engaging students to learn; the effective use of web
resources is a responsibility of the teacher.
There are tons of educational web tools to take advantage of, the idea is working with these
resources in a meaningful way. For instance: Send e-mails to the teacher, create facebook groups,
create edmodo groups, use forums, etc.
In particular, this syllabus will promote the netiquette and the ethic use of internet for academic
purposes.

11. ASSESSMENT PLAN

Considering learners needs and with the determination of tracking students individual
achievements and performance in the English class a formative assessment is necessary in the
Santa Ana de los Caballeros syllabus of foreign languages. That is, designing appropriate,
motivational and meaningful activities offering all opportunities for improvement to the students,
providing feedback and accentuating the learning outcomes when every knowledge construction.
As a matter of fact, the CALL syllabus will have several assessments (Greenstein, 2010)
according to the skills that will be encouraged using the video game.



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FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOLS
a. Graphic Organizers: Students will organize their knowledge writing concepts and
keywords related to the topic learned in class.
b. Nutshelling: Students will reflect on their own learning, writing a brief summary with the
core of what they acquire.
c. Think-pair-share: Students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about
readings assigned in class. Think individually about the solution, share ideas with their
classmates and finally discuss to make the best decision.
d. Work alongs: Peers collaborative work.
e. Rubrics: They are the layouts with an specific criteria used for teachers to evaluate
students performance in the classroom.
f. Cooperative reviews: Writing reviews of each class through collaborative work.
g. Jeopardy Games: Powerpoint games designed to have fun and at the same time review
what was learned.
h. K-W-L: Its a chart very useful for collecting information about what students know, want
to know and learn about one topic.
GENRES IN ORAL LANGUAGE CURRICULA (Derewianka, 1992)
a. Recount: Telling what happened in a situation.
b. Description: Telling characteristics of a person or a place.
c. Interview: Finding out specific information about someone.
d. Casual conversation: Keeping relationships with others.
e. Planning: Thinking about what to do.


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TASKS FOR AUDITORY AND ORAL SKILLS
a. News telling: Applying a game about reporting the todays news
b. Story telling: Telling stories by reading aloud.
c. Picture description: Having a picture for telling every single detail in English.
d. Classifying and categorizing: Providing a group of items (Vocabulary), analyzing it in
groups and finally finding the categories to organize them.
e. Oral presentations: Prepare a presentation about specific topics in order to enhance oral
skills and retention.
f. Mini dialogues: Short conversations for promoting the interaction.
g. Use of the oral genres: Using in the class the recounting, debates, anecdote, procedure,
description, interview, casual conversation, etc.
h. Record of students interactions: Recording students oral tasks with the purpose of
analyzing and give feedback.
i. Improvisation: Its planning ESL activities without previous preparation such as role
plays, drama representations, etc.
j. Dictation: the dictations help to enhance the listening and writing skills starting gradually.
First words, sentences and finally short texts.
k. Role plays: Give students the opportunity to practice vocabulary, grammar points
explained in class by means of using functional situations.
l. Partners discussions: These activities are designed with the objective of answering and
asking questions about controversial topics.



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TASKS FOR READING AND WRITING
a. Comprehension questions: They are used to develop reading skills where the student have
an overall understanding by giving correct answer to specific questions from the text.
b. Reading strategies: Strategies for having better reading comprehension. For instance,
students can apply in a text: Skimming, Scanning, Critical Reading, Intensive and
Extensive reading.
c. Students create dictionaries: They will have the possibility of creating a picture dictionary
in the classroom where they will write the new words that appear in the video game.
d. Think alouds: It is the internal dialogue to the text, increasing reading comprehension and
retention. Students have to develop metacognitive and self-monitoring strategies.
e. Summaries (Paragraph): Students will write short paragraphs reporting what they have
learned about particular themes.
f. Learning logs: Students provide a track of their own learning in each class with a
reflective aim and supports the organization or learning.
g. E-portfolios: Students publish their writings of the internet, full of reflection and analysis
also helps to improve writing skills.

ASSESSMENT FOR PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS (McKay, 2006)
a. Observation checklists: They are lists of criteria for the students achievements in class in
which the teacher need to observe carefully for making notes about different aspects:
social relationships, values, learning, interactions, class environment and others.
b. Criteria sheets: Benefit the understanding of students performance in class through
selected standards to evaluate or assess learning.
c. Holistic rating scales: Assess overall quality of performance.
26

d. Common European Framework Scales: They comprehend an important framework about
the language benchmark of students in several ESL levels.

12. METHODOLOGY

In this CALL course, students will perform several activities based on the eclectic
approach (Rivers, 1981) which came out giving the opportunity for the English teachers to select
the best model or technique to take advantage of the appropriate pedagogical moment. This
syllabus will be based on the eclecticism principle providing the English class of complete tools
for enhancing the practices in teaching a target language; from complex to simple (Bruner, 1960)
applying the following concepts and approaches:

- TPR (Total Physical Response - Asher): Teaching vocabulary in beginners levels.
- The direct method (1890 1930): Understanding in terms of curriculum the stages of
acquisition and learning in order to plan effective classes.
- The natural method (1900): Giving my students gradually the target language exposure.
- Communicative Language teaching: Enhancing the communicative competence into
meaningful and functional activities.
- Project Based Learning approach (Buck Institute of Education): Promoting the cross-
curricular activities plus language learning.
- Affective Filter (Krashen): Motivating my students in everything they will learn related to
a second language.
- The spiral curriculum (Bruner): Where the student will learn more than once a topic from
simple to complex related to its developmental stage.
27

- Developing cognitive factors: The verbal intelligence, the long term memory and the
phonological abilities by means of recycling activities, associations and metacognition.
- CALL: Computer Assisted language learning: One of the relevant characteristics of this
approach is the mediated communication (Warschauer, 1995) where the internet, e-mails
and technological devices becomes effective tools for teaching English plus boosting the
collaborative work in the classroom.
- A comprehensible input (Krashen) and the output hypothesis (Swain): The class planning
will be crucial to provide a better experience with the language and thus get improved
results in communication.















28

REFERENCES

Askari, E. (2006). A Comparative Study on Objective vs.Subjective Scoring for Testing Oral
Language Proficiency of University EFL Students. Unpublished thesis, TEFL, Ahvaz:
Olum Tahghighat University
Benson, P. (2001) Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. Harlow, UK:
Longman.
Buck Institute for Education (2009). PBL Starter Kit: To-the-Point Advice, Tools and Tips for
Your First Project. Retrieved from http://www.bie.org/tools/toolkit/starter.
Bruner, J. (1960). The Process of Education, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Office of English Language Programs, for
young English language learners. Video game Trace Effects. Retrieved from:
http://americanenglish.state.gov/trace-effects.
Chin Lin, G. (2001). Computer Games Functioning as Motivation Stimulants. Conference Paper:
International Conference on Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL).
Derewianka, B. (1992). Assessing oral language. Language assessment in primary classrooms.
Marrickville, NSW: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Drnyei, Z. and Czizr, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results
of an empirical study. Language Teaching Research 2: 20329.
Friedman, T. (1995) Making sense of software: computer games and interactive textuality. In
Jones, S.G. (ed.), CyberSociety: Computer-mediated Communication and Community.
London: Sage: 5772.
Gee. J. P. (2008). Good video games + good learning. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.
Greenstein, L. (2010). What teachers really need to know about formative assessment.
29

Alexandria, VA: ASCD publications.
Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., & Evans, C. (2009). The civic potential of video games. Cambridge,
MA: The MIT Press.
Lpez, M (2006). A Model for Personalized Learning. In: Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive
Web-Based Systems. Berlin: Springer.
McCarthy, J. (1956). Programs with Common Sense Proceedings of the Teddington
conference on the Mechanization of Thought Processes.
McKay, P. (2006). Assessing young language learners. New york, NY: Cambridge University
Press.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Rice, J. W. (2007). Assessing higher order thinking in video games. Journal of Technology and
Teacher Education, 15(1), 87.
Rivers, W. (1981). Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago
Press.
Ruphina, A. & Liu, M. (2011). Digital games: Potential Integration of Mingoville games in
Learning English as a Foreign Language. Chesapeake, VA: USA AACE. /SITE
(pp.2216-2222).
Sheldon, L. (2012). The multiplayer classroom: Designing coursework. Boston, MA: Cengage
Learning.
Warschauer, M. (1995). E-mail for English Teaching: Bringing the Internet and Computer
Learning NetWorks into the Language Classroom. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications.
Wright, A. (2006). Games for language learning. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.


30

Appendix 1 (Mind Map)




31

Appendix 2 Video game presentation

Trace Effects
A video game for learning American English and culture
This innovative language learning video game will complement students classroom English
language instruction through interactive 3-D multimedia learning adventures. Trace Effects is
geared for players aged 12-16.
Gamers interact and solve puzzles in a virtual world filled with diverse English-speaking
characters. In the game, students take a dynamic journey through the United States, traveling to
cultural locations like Kansas, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, New York City, San Francisco,
and Washington, D.C.
Who is Trace?
Trace, the main character, is a university student from the year 2045 who has accidentally
traveled back in time to the present. In order to get home, he must complete a challenging
mission to change the future for the better by helping six different young people accomplish
great things and have a positive impact on the future.

Game Themes
Geared toward young people, Trace Effects exposes users to American
society and explores themes related to entrepreneurship, community
activism, empowering women, science and innovation, environmental
conservation, and conflict resolution.
Game Features
7 chapters of game play
28 practice activities
4 multi-player practice activities
Comprehensive teacher and student manuals
7 graphic novels for extension activities
Point-based scoring system
American English dictionary integration
Offline play option through a DVD
Mobile app for feature phones
Social media connectivity



32

Appendix 3 Didactic Unit









MODULE 1 PLACES IN A CITY
1. Review activity in your NOTEBOOK.
2. Read and match the Vocabulary related to PUBLIC PLACES in PAGE 2.
3. Identify the places in the TRACE EFFECTS MAPS in PAGE 3 and 4 and write the definitions in your
NOTEBOOK.
4. Select 5 places in the city from PAGE 2 and write its definition in your NOTEBOOK.
5. Draw a map in your NOTEBOOK with your ideal places in a city.



SUBJECT: English
TEACHER: Ivonne Alexandra Londoo
LEARNING
OBJECTIVE:
Identify new vocabulary about places, house parts, clothes and food. Also, using the
prepositions of place, there is-there are, simple present through the Trace Effects
language exposure.
EVALUATION
AND
ASSESSMENT:
1. Punctuality and Participation
2. Project Development
3. Videogame meaningful development
4. Behavior and Responsibility
5. Final Product (Communicative) and Interactive
STUDENTS
NAME

FINAL
GRADE:
33

MODULE 2 DIRECTIONS
1. Read, practice and learn about Giving directions and Prepositions in PAGE 5.
2. Complete the maps and answers about directions in PAGE 6.
3. Find the differences in the two pictures and write them using THERE IS/ARE in PAGE 7.
4. Write the directions in the MAPS in PAGE 8, also practice the conversations.
5. Read and learn the vocabulary about TRACE EFFECTS in PAGE 9, and also describe the QUAD in
your NOTEBOOK using 10 sentences in your NOTEBOOK.

MINI PROJECT: My ideal city

In groups, create a poster with a map with your ideal city.
Role play: Ask and give directions, using the vocabulary and the expressions you have
learnt.
Present it in front the class.
GRADES:



MODULE 3 PARTS OF THE HOUSE
1. Complete the parts of the house and also the objects in the house in PAGE 10.
2. Describe the ROOM in PAGE 11 and answer the questions.
3. Practice with THERE IS/ARE about your bedroom in PAGE 12.
4. Describe the School Santa Ana de los Caballeros using THERE IS/ARE in Positive, Negative and
Questions in your NOTEBOOK.
5. Complete the SCAVENGER HUNT given by the teacher for describing some places in the TRACE
EFFECTS videogame.

MODULE 3 CLOTHES
1. In PAGE 13, match the clothes with its name and color them.
2. Complete the crossword about CLOTHES in PAGE 14.
3. Order, write and color the clothes in PAGE 15.
4. Describe the characters of TRACE EFFECTS video game in PAGES 16 and 17.
5. Describe yourself in the activity THIS IS ME in PAGE 18.

MINI PROJECT: Fashion Day

Dress your favorite clothes.
In a fashion show, describe your clothes and of your classmates.
Prepare the presentation.
GRADES:


FINAL
GRADE:
FINAL
GRADE:
FINAL
GRADE:
34

MODULE 3 FOOD AND DRINKS
1. Complete the activities in PAGE 19 and also answer the wordsearch.
2. Discover the codes in PAGE 20 related to FOOD.
3. Label the pictures in PAGE 21 and answer the activities in PAGE 22.
4. In PAGE 23, Write the activity HOW TO MAKE A SANDWICH and make your own RECIPE.
5. QUIZ: TRACE EFFECTS CHAPTER 1.

MINI PROJECT: Role Play with Chef Mark

Plan a recipe of your favorite Sandwich. Choose the characters of your presentation
in groups.
Present the recipe through a Role play about making a sandwich and also delivering.
Prepare the presentation.
GRADES:
































FINAL
GRADE:
35

Appendix 4 Needs Assessment Questionnaire

CUESTIONARIO PARA ESTUDIANTES
Fecha: ____________________________ Institucin:
Santa Ana de los Caballeros

Apreciado estudiante:

Tu opinin es muy valiosa para el mejoramiento de la calidad de enseanza del ingls y uso
efectivo de las tecnologas de informacin y comunicacin. Para lo cual, te solicito que
diligencies este cuestionario de la manera ms sincera posible, marcando con una X la(s)
opcion(es) que mejor se relacionen con tu situacin personal.
No es obligatorio escribir tu nombre y te recuerdo que la informacin ser confidencial.
Si tu respuesta no est en el cuadro de opciones, sintete libre de responder en el espacio en
blanco debajo de cada lista de opciones. Muchas gracias.

Teacher Ivonne Londoo

1. Tu edad est entre los siguientes rangos:

10 13 _______ 13 16 ______ 16 19 ______ 20+ _______

2. Cul es tu gnero?

Femenino _______ Masculino _______

3. Cul piensas es tu nivel de ingls?

Bsico ________ Medio _________ Avanzado _________

4. Tu principal razn para aprender ingls es porque:

Amo el idioma ingls y estoy muy interesad@ en aprenderlo.
Necesito comunicarme con otros en ingls en la vida diaria.
Quiero mejorar mi habilidad de comprensin.
Pretendo ser ms competitivo en el futuro laboral y profesional.
No tengo un propsito especfico, tengo que aprender ingls en el
colegio.

Debo obtener una nota para poder aprobar el ao lectivo.
Debo cumplir las expectativas de mi familia.
Quiero ganarme el respeto y aprecio de mi profesor y compaeros.
Otro:




36

5. Cul de las siguientes habilidades tiene ms importancia para ti? (1=Menor importancia
y 6= Mayor importancia)

_____ Entender el ingls
_____ Hablar en ingls
_____ Leer en ingls
_____ Traducir
_____ Escribir en ingls
_____ Escuchar en ingls

6. ESCUCHA (Listening) - Cul de estas actividades necesitas para escuchar y entender el
idioma ingls? (Escribe X en una sola columna por actividad que necesitas):

ACTIVIDAD CADA
PALABRA
LA MAYORIA DE
LAS PALABRAS
PERO NO TODAS
LA IDEA
GENERAL
Programas de televisin en
ingls

Exposiciones en ingls
Msica en ingls
Videos en ingls
Personas extranjeras hablando en
ingls

Otros:


7. LECTURA (Reading) Cuando lees en ingls entiendes:

CADA PALABRA LA MAYORIA DE LAS PALABRAS PERO
NO TODAS
LA IDEA GENERAL



8. ESCRITURA (Writing) - Cul de estas actividades necesitas para escribir en ingls?
(Escribe X en una sola columna por actividad que necesitas):

ACTIVIDAD Nivel
Acadmico
Nivel
profesional
Comunicacin
informal con familia y
amigos
Tomar notas en ingls.
Escribir historias.
Escribir correos y cartas
personales.

Escribir frases.
Escribir lo que me dictan en
ingls.

Hacer informes en ingls.
Responder preguntas.
Otros:
37

9. HABLAR (Speaking) - Cul de las siguientes situaciones te interesan o cuan efectivas
sern estas situaciones para ti?. Escribe una X en una de las columnas de acuerdo al tema
en ingls que describe tu respuesta.

1=Necesito saber 2 =Muy efectivo 3= Interesante 4= Poco
interesante
5= No me
interesa

TEMAS 1 2 3 4 5
Profesiones y trabajos
Salud, estado fsico y deportes
Ir de compras y moda
Tu pas, otros pases, costumbres y cultura
Ordenar y comprar comida y bebidas
Msica y sus estilos
En el aeropuerto
Describir familias y estilos de vida
Hacer planes y eventos sociales
Leer revistas y peridicos
Describir a gente famosa
Otros:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________



10. HBITOS DE APRENDIZAJE: Hay diversas maneras de aprender un idioma extranjero.
Piensa en tu propio aprendizaje de un segundo idioma. Qu tipo de actividades
encuentras ms interesante de realizar?
Escribe una X en la columna que mejor describe tu respuesta:

1=
Completamente
interesante e
importante
2 = Muy
agradable e
importante
3= Agradable e
importante
4= Poco
agradable e
importante
5= No es
agradable ni
importante

HBITOS DE APRENDIZAJE 1 2 3 4 5
Trabajar solo.
Trabajar con otro compaero de clases.
Trabajar en pequeos grupos.
Trabajar solo en clase.
Desarrollar una tarea o resolver un problema.
Actuar una situacin como juegos de rol. Ejemplo: Ser una estrella de tv.
Tomar decisiones y hacer actividades de desarrollo personal.
Lecciones dirigidas por un profesor con explicaciones.
Completar actividades que requieran de creatividad e imaginacin
(Proyectos)

Dar y aceptar consejos.
38

Realizar cursos online sin orientacin de un profesor.
Utilizar la tecnologa (Software, Internet, juegos, multimedia)
Otros:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________



11. OBJETIVOS PERSONALES: Al final del curso de ingls yo deseo obtener:




12. INTERESES PERSONALES: Cules son tus hobbies o lo que te gusta hacer en tu
tiempo libre?:





13. Cada cunto usas un computador?

Nunca ________ Ocasionalmente ________ Diariamente ________

14. Cul de los siguientes materiales te gustara fueran incluidos en tu clase de ingls?

DVDs para aprender ingls.
Comunicaciones con personas de otros pases (Skype -
Penpals).

Ejercicios de prctica en internet.
Juegos de rol o simulaciones (Video juegos).
Enciclopedias y diccionarios multimedia.
Video cmara - Cmaras para actividades en clase.
Correo electrnico.
Sitios Web para la enseanza del ingls.
Redes sociales (Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, etc).
Aplicaciones para celular relacionados con idiomas
extranjeros.

Computadores porttiles.







39

15. Por favor seala con una X tu nivel de conocimiento frente a las siguientes herramientas
tecnolgicas:

Categoras de herramientas TIC Aplicaciones
3
Excelent
e
2
Buen
o
1
Regula
r
0
No s
Aplicaciones de procesadores de
palabras
MS Word
Google Docs
Software de hojas de clculo.
MS Excel
Hoja de Clculo
de Google

Software para organizar y para crear
mapas conceptuales
Herramientas de
Mapas
conceptuales
como: Inspiration

Herramientas en
lnea como:
Bubbl.us,
Webspiration

Multimedia
MS PowerPoint
MS Movie Maker
Adobe Photoshop
Herramientas de recoleccin de datos
Datalogger
Cmara digital
Cmara de video
Recursos Web
Buscadores de
internet

Programacin
Pginas Web de
diseo

Software de Comunicacin
Blogs
Emails
Wikis
Podcasts

Redes sociales
Facebook
Twitter
Badoo


Gracias por completar este cuestionario.