Fundamentos de la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las lenguas extranjeras.

What Mediation Features Could You Observe?

Sharael Sánchez

Oscar García

Universidad Del Atlántico.

Teacher: Abraham Sir Barrios.                                             Institution: Universidad del Atlántico.

Subject: Fundamentos de la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las lenguas extranjeras.

     Significance:  this feature was shown in class when the teacher set a task in which we had to make a table, comparing myths and realities about bilingualism. As soon as we finished, he explained to us the positive implications of being bilingual, not only in the professional field, but also in the social, cognitive, economic and cultural one. Moreover, he prepared us through theory to be ready to face people who mislead the concept of bilingualism.

     Sharing: at some point in the class, Mr. Sir encouraged us to form groups of three or four people in order to have a discussion about language acquisition stages, based on our own experiences as teachers and teacher assistants. Then, he asked each group to arrive into an agreement, and choose the most common mentioned steps in the group. Afterwards, our assignment was to present our own findings to the rest of the class.

     A sense of competence: the teacher asked learners to watch a video called “El Lenguage”, and take notes about it. Since the video was presented in Spanish, the notes should have been written in the same language. In the next session, Mr. Sir told us to explain our notes in English, which represented a double effort for us.

     Control of own behavior: every class, Mr. Sir asks us to show him our notebooks so that he can check whether we did it properly or not. If the assignment was not done or is incorrect, the teacher asks us to leave the classroom so as to correct it. He has been so persistent with this way of proceeding, that students have become aware of the importance of doing things properly.

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