Ph.D. Dissertation: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach. Case Study Based on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) in a Secondary School and a University in Ontario, Canada (Modern Languages Philology)

Alderete, P. (Participant)

Spanish

Activity: Other › Education

Description

PhD

Period	1 Sep 2003 → 28 Jun 2013
Held at	University of Valladolid, Spain
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

This thesis explores Foreign Language Learning (FLL) and Educational Theory while surveying the realities at play in the instructional setting through the practice of classroom ethnography. It began with an aim to clarify the language learning process in adults as opposed to the natural acquisition process, characteristic of the work placement immersion programs. During the 20th century, the predominant theories and case studies had based their results on the considerations of ethnographers, educational experts and linguists. While the current educational tendencies focus on the promotion of learner-centred teaching, this thesis aims to contribute to the general teaching practice from the learner point of view. The Spanish Language in the University Classroom (L.S.U.C.) project embarked on a learner-centred research, with two main objectives in mind: to understand the learner’s point of view in regards to language learning in the classroom environment and in so doing to provide learners with tools for their understanding and critical examination of the learning system. The reflective journal from the teacher observations made in an EFL secondary school classroom provided an invaluable tool that promoted a productive comparison between both classroom settings. The results of both kinds of student and teacher observations, interviews, journals and recordings guided the choice of current educational and linguistic theories of language learning against which they were measured in order to reach specific conclusions. This case study highlights three elements of the classroom language learning process: the relationships between the participants in the classroom, the physical context and the languages involved. The students focused on the individual variables involved. They voiced their concerns about the distribution of power and the creation of identity within the classroom as reflected in the interaction between participants. Hence, this research reviews the role of the learner, of the teacher and of the researcher, in favour of a more collaborative language teaching/learning/researching environment. It also reconsiders the influence of the physical context of the classroom on learning, which is normally taken for granted at university level. It reassesses the assumptions made about code-switching and its influence on language learning. From a meta-cognitive perspective, this thesis examines the advantages and disadvantages of the ethnographic tools employed in this study for research and learning. It contextualizes the value of these tools within the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFL) with a proposal for responsible teaching, which in turn tends to foster responsible autonomous learning, which in turn will foster realistic, constructive research outcomes, and suggestions for further research based on the educational reform currently taking place in the European University System.