Action research thesisLiliana Maturana Patarroyo (abstract)
Taking advantage of classroom linguistic heterogeneity
Liliana Maturana Patarroyo
Descriptors
participatory action research, classroom motivation, classroom linguistic heterogeneity
Geographic location
Colombia
Award, institution granting award, and year of award
Universidad de Antioquia. Especialista en Didactica de la Lenguas Extrenjeras
Methodology used
Action research
Abstract
This piece if action research intends to describe and analyse how a strong linguistic heterogeneity and a large class can affect the everyday development of the learning and teaching processes within a classroom, how these effects can be reduced to a minimum, and what kind of advantages can result from this situation. The subjects participating in this project were high school young students whose age ranged between 15 and 17. The procedures used to gather data were open questionnaires, group interviews, essays, as well as the teacher's journal. Qualitative analysis was undertaken. By this, it was established that linguistic heterogeneity and large classes far from representing an obstacle to the process of teaching and learning could become a rich source to feed both processes.
Findings in this research showed that features such as a)lack of discipline; b) lack of motivation; c) social difficulties amongst participants could be minimised through an active co-operation amongst participants in the process of teaching and learnind. Moreover, giving students the opportunity to make decisions about their educational process leads them to autonomous learning.
High school teachers in Colombia usually complain about discipline in large classes and tend to blame their students for this problem. I was not an exception. However, when I started reflecting on this issue I decided to carry out action research in order to find out what was behind the students' behaviour and attitudes towards the class. The data gathering procedures helped me to find out that lack of discipline was related to linguistic heterogeneity amongst students, which also generated students' lack of interest in the subject and in the process of learning in general.
In a joint effort with the students we took several actions in order to give the students the opportunity to gain access the English language as well as to improve their language proficiency according to their needs and reality.
A key factor in the success of this participatory action research project was the fact the students were directly involved in discussing and making decisions on the curriculum, the organisation of classroom activities, and the desired classroom behaviour. In addition, by becoming engaged in this process students' motivation increased and consequently discipline in the classroom improved.
The fact that we started this research project because I felt there was a discipline problem in the group, and that we ended up tackling so many issues, confirms that educational problems cannot be approached in a linear and/or isolated fashion but have to be analysed in all their complexity.
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