Recursos

This article shows the results of an ethnographic research carried with a group of four teachers working in rural high schools from San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica. The main objective is to analyze the constitutive epistemological and axiological elements of the English teacher knowledge of this population. Data were collected through multiple non-participatory class observations, semi and structured interviews. The results evidence four principal areas of knowledge identified as the technical content domain, the methodological domain, the legalinstitutional domain and the economic domain. There is evidenced a huge concern on technical linguistic and methodological matters as well as on the need of administrative and legal considerations to teach and learn English. Finally, the English teaching learning process is valued ad appreciated because it has an apparent economical benefit.

Several studies have demonstrated the positive impact of Consciousness-Raising tasks (CRTs) on the teaching of grammar, especially in foreign or second language learning. However, few studies have examined their effectiveness for the development of writing skills. With this in mind, the goal of this project is to explore the impact of CRTs on three aspects of writing in expository essays: text structure, cohesion, and coherence. To accomplish this goal, the study followed a mixed-method approach with a component of Classroom Action Research. The study was conducted in an English as Foreign Language class with a group of 12 eleventh-grade students at the International Baccalaureate Program at Palmares Bilingual High school, in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The data consisted of two sets of essays, classroom observations, and questionnaires to the students and the cooperating teacher. After comparing results from the first and second essays, the most noticeable improvement in the students’ writing was in text structure and cohesion, whereas coherence showed the lowest improvement. This points to a limitation of CRTs for addressing aspects of writing involving a larger number of rules and more abstract concepts, such as coherence, instead of a smaller number of rules, like cohesion. In conclusion, the authors suggest enquiring about the use of CRTs with simple topics involving decisions tied to explicit rules versus more complex topics involving abstract thinking and decisions not always linked to rules. Lastly, the authors recommend exploring strategies to make consciousness-raising a collaborative process as a way to mitigate task complexity.

The University of Costa Rica seeks to prepare students for understanding academic texts in English by requiring reading comprehension courses in numerous degree programs. In this context, this paper aimed to assess the effectiveness of graphic organizers as a strategy to promote reading comprehension by focusing on the identification of rhetorical functions in argumentative texts. The paper followed an explanatory-sequential design within a mixed-methods approach with a group of 20 students at the Western Branch of UCR. To apply the strategy, three argumentative texts and their corresponding graphic organizers were used. The data consisted of performance scores and of answers to questionnaires. After the cycle of applications, the results showed a gradual improvement in the identification of rhetorical functions, particularly of arguments and counterarguments. Support for the author’s arguments, rebuttals to counterarguments, and the author’s overall claim were slightly more difficult to identify. The participants found graphic organizers helpful to better understand the parts of an argument in a text and its overall organization. At the same time, they found that the lack of explicit discourse markers and of familiarity with the content made understanding the connections between rhetorical functions difficult in spite of the help provided by the organizers. The study concluded that repeated implementation of graphic organizers has a positive impact on reading comprehension by helping students to read more strategically. However, accompanying strategies such as summarizing and discriminating main ideas from supporting details are necessary to complement the work with graphic organizers and improve their effectiveness.

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