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ASSIGNMENT– IF

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

This assignment has to be done in pairs following these formatting guidelines:

- Length: 6 pages(cover, table of contents, and appendices are not included in the
page count).
- Font: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Font size: 11.
- Line spacing: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be written in this Word document and has to follow the
instructions on quotes and references detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, the assignment has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the
document: “Subject Evaluation”. Sending it to the tutor’s e-mail is not allowed.

It is strongly recommended to read the assessment criteria, which can be found in the
document “Subject Evaluation.

Assignment instructions:

Design a questionnaire to retrieve information on a group of students and their learning


needs.

The assignment has to include the following sections:

a) Description of the context the questionnaire is designed for (institution,


characteristics of the course, number of students, etc.).
b) Questionnaire proposal.
c) Justification of questionnaire design: all the questions included in the
questionnaire must be justified regarding the group of students it is designed for
and the contents covered in “Individual factors in the learner’s development”.

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

Students’ full names: Julia Nathalia Zamora Jaramillo and Iván Julián Rey Téllez

Group:2017-01

Date:01/11/17

DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT

This questionnaire is designed in order to identify students’ needs in an intermediate


course in English as a second language at the university Politecnico GranColombiano
in Bogota city. They are around 23 students and their English proficiency is A1-A2
according to the international framework for teaching languages. They have to take an
exam in order to know their average level before starting their English courses in such
a way that students who get a better grade are promoted to higher levels and students
getting the lowest grades are organized in groups from the first English level offered by
the educational institution. The ones who belong to this level have been promoted to
“general English 4” because of their prior knowledge.
The group of students who belong to this level “General English 4” are all from different
academic programs but their general needs are similar because of a common
requirement about the mandatory exam they are supposed to take before graduating
from the institution and in which they have to demonstrate they have acquired or they
master a B1 level of language.

QUESTIONNAIRE PROPOSAL
Needs Analysis Questionnaire
Name:
.....................................................................................................
Educational Institution:
.....................................................................................................
Age:
.....................................................................................................
Career:
………………………………………………………………….
Semester
………………………………………………………………….

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1. What do you enjoy the most? Number the options from 1 to 6; being 1 the
one you prefer the most and six the one you prefer the less

a) Getting lost in a good reading _____


b) Listening to a good song _____
c) Writing in a story, a letter or a poem _____
d) Sing a song _____
e) Acting a role on a play _____
f) Speaking about a topic in front of people _____

2. Which of the following options describes you better


a) I learn better from seeing words or pictures, I don’t need to write anything to
remember concepts
b) I learn better by listening to the teacher, my partners or audio tapes, I don’t
need to see anything
c) I learn better by being involved in movement activities, I enjoy role plays or
physical experiences
d) I learn better when I am working and touching materials, I like to be involved
in activities such as hands-on projects

3. Which teaching resources do you prefer in your English classes?

a) CD/DVD (audio recordings).


b)Internet and media resources (video clips, films, TV series).
c) Photocopies, workbooks and worksheets, board games…).
d) Interactive and digital boards or platforms.

4. How do you prefer to work in class


a) Individually
b) In pairs
c) In groups
d) Talking to the teacher

5. At your opinion, which intercultural references enrich the English learning


experience the best?

a) Using material from different Anglophone countries and cultures in order to


recognize different expressions, accents, idioms and cultural issues.
b) Comparing and contrasting cultural traditions from American or British people
and Spanish-speaking people in order to check and understand formal and
informal aspects from the languages.
c) Direct references from authentic material in the target language such as
newspapers, magazines ,tv programs and series, films, literary texts, tape
recordings or videos in real contexts of communication.

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

d) Direct contact with the language simulating real situations of communication


such as linguistic immersions, cultural interactions with native speakers or
conversation clubs.

6. How much time do you consider you need to work on your English (or are
you sincerely willing to dedicate to study English) outside your classes?

a) 2 or 3 hours per week


b) 1 hour per day (at least)
c) On weekends
d) I do not have time

7. Regarding to your learning difficulties at the moment, give a number to


the following statements where 1-5 correspond to:

1 (none) and 5 (a lot)

1. Reading comprehension _____

2. Speaking comprehension_____
(Understanding of other speakers)

3. Proficiency in English vocabulary _____

4. Accuracy and fluency when speaking _____

5. Accuracy and fluency when writing _____

6. Confidence when speaking _____

8. Tell us about your confidence and proficiency when:

1 A lot and 5 (none)

1. Writing reports, e-mails, essays, (academic writing style) _____

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2. Speaking in informal meetings or participating in conversations in small


groups_____

3. Working or talking with other people who speak English (native


speakers)_____

4. Reading and understanding instructions from manuals, technical articles,


newspapers or magazines etc._____

5.Giving oral presentations (speaking in front of an audience) _____

9. Regarding to your expectations on this course (learning results) give a


number to the following statements according to the importance given
where 1-3 correspond to:

1- Not very important 2- somewhat important 3- very important

1. Mastery of 4 main skills in languages(Speaking, writing, listening and


reading) ____

2. Acquisition of vocabulary and meaningful expressions related to your


academic program or working field. ____

3. Ability to communicate (writing and orally) and transferring academic and


personal information. ____

10. Relating to your general goals when ending the course you would prefer
to:

a) Get a new job

b) Get a diploma (English certificate)

c) Improve my pronunciation and my vocabulary

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

JUSTIFICATION OF QUESTIONAIRE DESIGN

To start it is important to mention that this questionnaire is designed to be taken at the


beginning of the course and the main purpose of it is to identify the students’ needs in
order to take them into account to teach the contents in a meaningful way for them.
Here we include questions we consider as relevant and related to their learning styles,
their preferences about teaching material or their own needs. We will justify each one
of the questions below.

Question #1
1. What do you enjoy the most? Number the options from 1 to 6; being 1 the
one you prefer the most and six the one you prefer the less

“Intelligence seems to be a strong factor when it comes to learning second languages


in classrooms, particularly if the instruction is formal” (Lightbown & Spada 1993:37) In
this specific course students are exposed to formal instruction and as a result of this
they are expected to get an specific level at the end of their language process. We as
teachers take into account the intelligence as an important factor that can affect their
learning and the way they need to acquire it. We are totally aware of the fact that
intelligence is not measurable under just some questions, but we consider that the
result of this question can definitely guide us through the way students are more likely
to learn. As Howards Gardner stated “You learn at your best when you have something
you care about and can get pleasure in being engaged in” (1985). That´s why we
designed this question taking into account activities that can be easily related to their
likes and can give us information not only about their types of intelligences but also
about some activities they would prefer.

Question #2
2. Which of the following options describes you better:

For this question we took into account the four perceptual learning tendencies
proposed by Reid which includes (visual learning, auditory learning, kinaesthetic
learning and tactile learning) it will allow us to identify the way students feel they learn
better and also it help us to know the kind of activities they feel more comfortable with.
Considering that the group is taking this course as a mandatory requirement, with the

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

result of this question we can find different teaching strategies to motivate them to work
better.

Question #3 and #4
3. Which teaching resources do you prefer in your English classes?
4. How do you prefer to work in class?

“Some students prefer to learn by themselves in their own place, in familiar


surrounding rather than in groups. Students tend to perceive information
differently, such as by “viewing and listening, reflection and action, to reasoning
logically and intuitively and also scrutinizing and visualizing” (Felder &
Henriques, 1995). Regarding to these preferences we could add that students
have their own way to learn, for that reason we decided to include these two
questions in our questionnaire. It will allow us to know what they prefer
regarding the kind of materials and the way they work better. Considering that
his group has students from different careers it is important to know the
materials they prefer to learn with. Students usually have different abilities and
stronger or weaker skills according to their careers,
So we want to identify their main preferences to use them to make their classes
more interesting.

Question #5
5. At your opinion, which intercultural references enrich the English learning
experience the best?

We consider this question important since it will allow us to identify the way
students prefer to acquire the language. If we know the resources students prefer
to use we can provide them the appropriate material to learn. In that way they will
be able to feel more comfortable and motivated to learn. If motivation exists,
success in language learning is guaranteed. (Corder 1981)

Question #6
6. How much time do you consider you need to work on your English (or are
you sincerely willing to dedicate to study English) outside your classes?

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

Knowing the time students are willing to dedicate to study English we could have
an idea about how interested and motivated are them towards it. “Motivation is a
topic that can mean the difference between success and failure in the classroom.”
(Travers, Elliot & Kratchwill 1993). We can take that information to motivate them to
study outside their classes or if they are already willing to do it, we can take
advantage of it to make them to work in different activities to acquire more
knowledge outside their classrooms.

Question #7 and #8
7. Regarding to your learning difficulties at the moment, give a number to
the following statements where 1-5 correspond to:
8. Tell us about your confidence and proficiency when:

We consider important to ask these two questions since the results of these can give
us information about the knowledge students have about their language learning. It
facilitates us to see their ability to identify their capacities and their difficulties.If
students are able to identify what they are not so good at, they can find different
strategies to work on their weaknesses.
Oxford (2001) has clarified that ¨language learning strategies are used by learners to
complete speaking, reading, vocabulary, listening or writing activities presented in
language lessons¨ (p.21). With these two questions we can give our students the
possibility to be aware of the aspects they have to improve but also to make them more
aware about the strategies they can use to obtain the expected result. Research
(O’Malley & Chamot, 1995, p.81; Cohen, 1998, p.69) has proved that language
learners need instruction in ‘how’ to use strategies efficiently as a way to improve
language learning and performance. So starting by these two questions we can guide
them in the right way to look for the strategies they need according to their necessities.

QUESTION #9 and #10


9. Regarding to your expectations on this course (learning results) give a
number to the following statements according to the importance given
where 1-3 correspond to:
10. Relating to your general goals when ending the course you would prefer
to:

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

Talking about expectations and goals in these two last questions we try to summarize
learners’ point of view about the course and their thoughts and personal needs.
Moving in the right direction in order to make right decisions concerning important
aspects such as methodology, material and contents is one of our priorities with this
questionnaire and we consider that we could get meaningful information from them
because of the items given and their responses.

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ASSIGNMENT– IF

REFERENCES
- Dr. PALACIOS, IGNACIO et al (n.d) “Individual Factors in the Learner’s
Development.FUNIBER

- O’Malley, J. M. & A. U. Chamot. (1995). Learning Strategies in Second Language


Acquisition. UK: Cambridge University Press.

- Oxford, R.L. (2001). “Language learning strategies” in R. Carter & D. Nunan.(Eds.).


The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (p 21).
UK: Cambridge University Press

WEBGRAFY

- Article in Foreign Language Annals 28 (1): 21-31 March 1995

- MARTINEZ, J. D. (2013, 7 abril). Specialization on Teaching ENglish as a Foreign


Language - JAEN - English at public schools / 767 Esquel Chubut. Recuperado de
http://www.academia.edu/4042862/Specialization_on_Teaching_ENglish_as_a
_Foreign_Language_-
JAEN__English_at_public_schools_767_Esquel_Chubut

- (PDF Download Available). Available from:


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274780335_A_STUDY_OF_THE_PR
EFERRED_LEARNING_STYLES_OF_STUDENTS_TAKING_THE_ENGLISH_111
9_PAPER_IN_SMK_TENGKU_INTAN_ZAHARAH_ARE_THE_TEACHERS_AWA
RE_OF_THESE_LEARNING_STYLES [accessed Oct 26 2017].

- Wan Shaaidi, Wan Raihan. (2012). A STUDY OF THE PREFERRED LEARNING


STYLES OF STUDENTS TAKING THE ENGLISH 1119 PAPER IN SMK TENGKU
INTAN ZAHARAH: ARE THE TEACHERS AWARE OF THESE LEARNING
STYLES?. . 10.13140/RG.2.1.3212.2403.

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