Students' perceptions of the activities implemented in the efl classroom at a state-funded school
Cargando...
Archivos
Fecha
2012
Autores
Profesor/a Guía
Facultad/escuela
Idioma
en
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Universidad Andrés Bello
Nombre de Curso
Licencia CC
Licencia CC
Resumen
Since I started teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) I have always felt somehow intrigued about my students’ thoughts regarding my lessons, more specifically, about their perceptions of the activities carried out in the classroom.
I often found myself telling my colleagues, and also hearing from them, how much students enjoyed or hated a lesson, or commenting on students’ reactions (positive and negative) about certain activities implemented in the classroom: “my students really like writing e-mails”; “they hate it when I explain grammar points”; “8th grade doesn’t mind doing speaking activities” for instance.
After discussing the topic with my colleagues I learnt that EFL students are seldom asked in any formal way about their learning experiences, and I also noticed that some of the teachers I talked to were rather reluctant to trust students’ feedback regarding the teacher’s practices in the classroom. Allwright (1984) pointed out that “very many teachers seem to find it difficult to accept their learners as people with a positive contribution to make to the instructional process” (p. 167), and Ruddock (1991) refers to ignoring students’ views as “our blind spot” (p. 30).
It is true that one plans, adapts and builds activities considering the class characteristics, but these guidelines are most of the times, if not always, based on our (teachers’) perceptions of what the students might like, enjoy, find useful and challenging, motivating, so on and so forth. Thus, it becomes inevitable to ask: How do we, teachers, know what our students think or feel? How is such information obtained? How accurate, reliable or informed this information is? and finally, how do we, teachers, use this type of feedback? These questions can be easily answered by EFL teachers, but we will still be hearing only one side of the story, which of course is not, by any means, less valid, but it surely can be complemented by the students’ contribution.
Notas
Tesis ( Magíster en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera )
Palabras clave
Escuelas Públicas, Programas de Actividades en Educación