The language that teachers use when they are with students is very important because most probably it is vocabulary the children will use. Teachers are role models so it is important to vary and explain the new or strange vocabulary to them. In addition, it is fundamental to give the pupils some support with regards to language in order to help them improve in their oral skills.

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In general terms, the language that I used in my teaching sequence and the co-teaching was carefully planned. I wrote everything that I wanted to say before the class in order to make sure I used specific language. Even so, when I was giving the class, I did not remember all the vocabulary that I wanted to use or introduce to my students. Therefore, I believe that next time I have to prioritize some items of vocabulary instead of having a lot. This way, I will stick to my plans better.

 

With regards to the scaffolding language for students, I have to say that I am quite happy with what I did. First of all, because I did not know at all how to create language scaffolding. The website Canva helped me to create this language support. With this application language scaffolding was more visual and understandable for children.

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Moreover, the students with whom I implemented the teaching unit were not used to language scaffolding. At the beginning they had difficulties to understand how it worked. Nevertheless, in little time they understood it and they were using it a lot. They liked it because they told me that with it they were more confident and able to talk in English. They asked me for it when they were not given it. Therefore, I would say that a strong point of my teaching unit was the use of the language scaffolding.

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However, this was also a weak point of the co-teaching activity. As the scaffolding worked really well in my teaching unit, we decided to use the same type of language support for the co-teaching, but in this occasion, it did not work properly. From my point of view this was due to the fact that the students with whom we implemented it were not familiar with that type of language scaffolding; they did not know how to use it. Our ideas was for children to talk in English when doing the activities in group, so maybe the format we used was not the most appropriate one. We should have planned it differently and thought it in advanced. The co-teaching consisted of short activities. Thus, I consider that simpler scaffolding with one or two sentences to say in the whole class would be enough. That is what we did the second time around, when we implemented the co-teaching activity in the second school. Furthermore, although we were two, it was hard to explain the language scaffolding and to answer questions and solve problems.

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Moreover, I think that a key aspect to encourage learners to use language scaffolding is to create a routine of work with the same type of language. This way they are able to use scaffolding more independently. With some time, pupils could learn when to use specific sentences and to incorporate new ones with more challenging language and vocabulary.

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Therefore, some tips I would give to other teachers based on my experience of Practicum V would be to try to introduce new words in class, but unhurriedly. Then, as a teacher, I would suggest to try to upgrade one's vocabulary little by little, with specific objectives. For instance, changing that “Well done!” for an engaging“You rock!”. Finally, I would strongly suggest using the same type of language scaffolding consistently. That would help children get used to talking in English.

 

WEBGRAPHY

García Ibars, E. (2014) Compartir experiències en anglès: Participar a la classe per aprendre. Guix. Elements d'Acció Educativa, 410, 18-23

 

50 fun call-and-response ideas to get students' attention. (2014). The Cornerstone For Teachers. Retrieved from https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/50-fun-call-and-response-ideas-to-get-students-attention/

 

Cea, B. (2018). Cómo dar instrucciones efectivas en la clase de ELE. Espanholnarede.com. Retrieved from http://espanholnarede.com/como-dar-instrucciones-efectivas-en-la-clase-de-ele/