Recursos

A number of recent studies point to the benefits of critical incidents and reflective writing in the language instruction process. Within this context, this study purports to unveil the role that critical incidents and reflective writing play in the configuration of future EFL teachers’ professional identities. To this end, 30 senior college students enrolled in an English Teaching Major wrote and reflected on critical incidents that have shaped their language learning and teaching of English experiences. Once data had been gathered, the researchers followed Freeman’s (1998) four-stage process for data analysis and interpretation. Findings were later on theorized in light of the research goal and the theory discussed in the theoretical framework. Conclusions are that (1) spaces for reflection should be opened so that positive practices are kept and the negative can be dismantled, (2) reflective writing through critical incidents is an effective way to realize professional and other social identities, and (3) reflective writing through critical incidents is a bridge through which dialogue can be initiated amongst all educational actors. The study vindicates the use of narrative inquiry as a way to explore learner’s affective domain and to understand educational phenomena as embedded within a specific socio-cultural context.

A look at rhetoric from a stylistic standpoint allows building an understanding of current rhetorical practices as evolved forms of rhetoric. By following a qualitative research design described as content analysis by Leedy and Ormrod (2001), the present study describes the style structure differences and similarities in contemporary personal letter writing in English and Spanish as compared to the style structure of letter writing in the middle ages. It was concluded that personal letter writing in both English and Spanish does not fully comply with the style structure cannon of letter writing established for each class. Furthermore, English and Spanish contemporary personal letter writing are rather similar, and the style structure cannons for contemporary personal letter writing in both English and Spanish can be traced back to that of the Middle Ages

From the pedagogical mediation of English grammar, many instructors heavily rely on textbooks, but many textbooks promote memorization instead of conscious use of grammar. Based on this premise, this article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Consciousness Raising Grammar Tasks as a strategy to teach three verb tenses in English. The study followed a mixed method approach with a component of classroom action research, where the researchers taught the simple past, the past continuous, and the present perfect to a group of ninth graders in the Reading and Writing class at the Palmares Bilingual High School, Alajuela, Costa Rica within the tasks studied. The data analyzed consisted of the mean scores of the tasks (pre-post-delayed) and the triangulation of the perspectives of students, cooperating teacher, and the researchers. The results of the mean scores revealed an improvement in all the tenses in the post test and that most scores were retained in the delayed test. Through the triangulation of perspectives, the researchers identified that these tasks were positively assessed and that they encouraged active participation and critical thinking on the part of students. The conclusions pointed to a possible cumulative effect of the implementation of the tasks and to a need for exploring the impact of these tasks on the students’ ability for self-monitoring in more independent practice.

— Eh, Frijolón, que no te vaya a botar el toro. Arriba, carajo, no le llevés miedo: Vos sos el gallo. — Eso es, pariente, bien agarrado ese pretal, no le aflojés al Venado. ¡Bien pegado al cuero, bien pegada esa espuela! — No te le agüevés, mi Frijol, que el hombre es más hombre cuando está sobre los lomos del diablo…

This article results from a research project developed in Costa Rica, specifically, in the central western region. Its main objective is of findings that shed light on the socio-historical principles and construction of teacher knowledge of English language teaching. Teacher knowledge is approached as a discursive and everyday life construction whose historical antecedents influence its constitution and perception. Therefore, an analysis of the historical situations that justified the English language teaching in Costa Rica is provided. Also, it is analyzed the way(s) national institutions like the “Ministerio de Educación Pública” as well as the English language teaching major from “Sede de Occidente, Universidad de Costa Rica” have historically assumed and set the principles of teacher knowledge. This study concludes that there have been four main domains regulating the English language teacher knowledge. They are the technical, the institutional, the content and the economic domains.

This article explores the relation between reading short stories and learners’ centeredness, self-confidence, and positive attitudes towards reading in EFL oral communication courses. To this end, twenty two students from INA’s (Spanish for Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje) Center for Vocational Training in Cuidad Quesada, Costa Rica, participated in a reading project where the communicative activities were set up around the content of short stories and their connection to the participants’ own experiences. The study undertook a quantitative approach to research where various instruments were combined to record, report, and analyze the data collected. Findings show the progress attained by the participants in terms of their views, attitudes and habits towards reading in general and the reading of short stories as a result participating in the project. The authors conclude that student centeredness, self-confidence, and positive attitudes towards reading increase by using short stories for oral communication in EFL; all this while a step is taken towards attaining the cultural competences that today’s multicultural and multilingual world demands

The correlation between teacher training and the listening assessment practices is analyzed with regard to teachers in the Costa Rican educational system. The results of a workshop on theory of listening assessment and guidelines provided by the Ministry of Public Education suggest that these testing practices can be improved with training that unifies official guidelines and listening assessment theory.

This research sought to explore the connection between a small-group intensive reading comprehension project and students’ performance in two sample English national exit exams (ENEEs) developed by the Ministry of Public Education, Costa Rica. The data were gathered from an intervention plan that combined the theoretical principles of schema theory, scaffolded reading comprehension, and intensive reading. The study adopts an action-research approach and uses a mixed design that combines quantitative and qualitative data in the analysis and interpretation of results. Participants included twelve students from a public high school in the Western Area of Costa Rica who needed special preparation for the ENEE, which narrows the research scope down to this population only. The data collection techniques included two sample ENEEs, field notes, and research artifacts. Findings reveal positive effects of scaffolded reading comprehension on student ENEE performance, but also they warn that generalizations to larger populations are not possible. The study yields implications at theoretical and practical levels, and it calls for further investigation as a way to tackle the limitations identified.

is qualitative study explores the perception of eight seventh-grade teachers from academic schools in the western region ofCosta Rica about implementing the action-oriented approach (AOA). As the main objective, the researchers sought to assess thepronts. e results show a favorable perceptionof the approach, yet the individuals could not clearly define the AOA for they perceived the materials, the student, and theteacher’s roles as strengths; and tests, materials, and planning as weaknesses. e continuities and variations were not tied to theapproach and the most salient innovations were the teacher’s guide and the mini-project. e researchers concluded that thereexist discrepancies between the participants’ understanding of the AOA and the actual tenets of the approach.

Throughout this paper, and avoiding prescriptions, the role of students is defined as the center of the language teaching-learning process, and assessment as the means for helping students constructing and empowering their own learning. The role of traditional evaluation methods and techniques is shortly analyzed to conclude that these methods and techniques work well for data transrnission but, because of their inherent exclusion factor, they cannot get focused on more important processes that have to be rnotivated at the interior of schools in order to promote meaningful learning. Assessment methods and techniques integrate individual characteristics (the different ways in which individuals learn and perceive the world, the cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the gender), the subject matter (both established contents from language teaching, the considerations from the fields of linguistics, pedagogy, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, didactics), and the socio-historical reality (the educational challenges that democracy, liberty, equity, and justice demand from education).