State of the Art of English Teacher Profession: What about Chile? Prof. Fernando Vera, MA
[1] . Summary
This article reviews the current state of education y aprendizaje de inglés en el país, en el ámbito de la formación inicial, las políticas gubernamentales y los resultados que los estudiantes están obteniendo como producto de los sistemas de enseñanza y aprendizaje que se han implementado tanto a nivel de la enseñanza pública como privada. Este trabajo no persigue dar respuesta a todas las inquietudes que pudieran surgir en torno al tema, pero si entregar orientaciones a los profesores que les sean útiles para evaluar sus prácticas pedagógicas y las decisiones curriculares que tomen en materia de enseñanza y aprendizaje de inglés como lengua extranjera.
Palabras claves: enseñanza; aprendizaje; globalización; competencia comunicativa; currículum; innovación.
Abstract This article analyzes the current situation of the teaching and learning of English in our country, regarding initial training, governmental policies and academic results obtained by the students as a result of the teaching and learning systems being implemented both in the public and private school sector. This work does not attempt to respond to all concerns that may come along in this subject, but give guidelines to English language teachers that may be useful for them to assess their pedagogical practices and the curriculum decisions they may make about the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language.
Keywords: teaching; learning, globalization, Communicative competence, curriculum, innovation.
Introduction In the context of strong competition in which we exercise our teaching career, "All for one, one for all" should be the motto of the English teachers of this millennium. However, given the current situation of the country in relation to those teaching English, this theme is not easy to implement, because not all speak the same language (ie jargon). It is known that there is a shortage of English teachers, mainly in basic education, both public and private sector, where responsibility English teaching is undertaken by non-specialists commonly teachers without appropriate initial training or translators who know the language, but lack the skills to teach.
Moreover, most programs in English Education does not fully meet the needs of an EFL curriculum (Inglés as a Foreign Language) modern, and although some universities have undertaken improvements in their programs of study, the changes still are slow. Moreover, there is no agreement among specialists on how to address the receptive skills versus productive skills
[2] , or communicative teaching Chile English makes sense considering that neighboring countries use English as their first language, and therefore, the actual use is limited. All these issues affect teachers who naturally find it difficult to choose an appropriate methodological approach to the context and the needs arising from the globalization process.
Teaching English requires a diligent preparation in relation to nuclear disciplines such as grammar, phonetics, methodology, literature and culture, and now in relation to complementary disciplines such as information technology and communication (ICT) and management education, but mainly in relation to pedagogical practice, which should deliver constructivist models that allow students from becoming major players in the process of foreign language learning.
Consequently, educational practice should begin to link issues such as theory, practice, critical thinking, meaningful learning, community and society. Moreover, the teaching of English requires professionals capable of working in teams, and able to adapt easily to various educational contexts, enabling them to understand that education is a social phenomenon and dialectic, and as such, requires every day new and more demanding challenges.
Trends in the practice of the profession The importance of communications in the process of globalization, borders are becoming ever seen. Every day is all the more strongly the idea of \u200b\u200bconsidering the standard idiomatic English as a tool to facilitate the increasingly close interaction of the global world. Within this context, knowledge and command of English has become a growing need in our country and in modern societies. Furthermore, the development of new technologies of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become an English essential language for insertion into the world of work and communication in general.
multidimensional Within this scenario, it recognizes the need to train teachers of English which will give new impetus to the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language are recommended to purchase a certain level of communicative competence and a new professional position facing new challenges. Therefore, to achieve this objective needs to be developed progressively in the English teachers skills in various areas of career and certainly a level of linguistic and communicative competence that enables them to carry out a series of communication tasks.
Traditionally, English teacher training did not prepare the graduate of Education to successfully deal with the modernization of education. The curriculum was geared to teaching at the expense of learning is emphasized the lectures with little work student, was recently established link between teachers and their students, there was little or no gap between theory and practice, was observed deficiency generic skills training such as learning to learn and teamwork.
Given this traditional view, it is necessary an intervention model to improve the quality of curricular proposals English foreign language with an English teacher training fit enough to cope successfully with the diversity and complexity of the contemporary world, driven by technological innovation and integration of economies.
Today, the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language, aims to incorporate other multimodal learning styles, motivational and functional to the acquisition and use basic language through the collaborative work, and within an atmosphere of healthy living, in which learning acquires real meaning to the learner.
therefore require innovative methods to make bets Students develop skills in teamwork, which is not the same as the traditional work group type activities. Some may even be advisable to install his introductory sessions this methodology. Teamwork is very much linked to an environment of healthy coexistence and mutual cooperation. Traditional environments classroom, with its format of desks facing the blackboard, do not contribute to break the usual verticality of the traditional classroom. Perhaps we should implement new thematic type environments that not only enable dialogue conducive to learning as a significant, but also increase the motivation of both teachers and students.
An enabling environment, perhaps total immersion, further meaningful learning - either by receipt or discovery - because students feel freer to express their ideas and interact more naturally, in the foreign language . The relationship between prior knowledge
[3] and new become more fluid and students fail to produce without fear of ridicule, as they should not show in the class. In this regard, a common strategy to encourage oral production is to allow the student to sit and talk to your group more relaxed. Ie less chance of failure and increases self-concept. The setting is therefore becoming an important element of learning a foreign language.
However, although the reform proposals promote meaningful learning (contextual knowledge) and metacognition (learning to learn), the predominant English class in the Chilean context is frontal or "digestive" which, in most cases, reduces the process to a rote learning, which makes use of traditional sources of support, such as blackboard, chalk or down, old cassette tape player and / or video and textbook (commonly used as basal text), with consequent yield poor results, high rates of growing frustration and lack of interest in learning.
add that in the Chilean educational system, the textbook is commonly used as a basal text, which greatly limited the possibilities for the teacher to develop creative curriculum proposals. "Most teachers are not teaching materials makers but mere suppliers of good materials" (Richards, 2001:260). The bet is then transformed into good adapters, thus, stimulate and enhance skills in curriculum design that are required today in teaching and learning of English Language.
in the age of the network, the proposed curriculum around the English language can not be limited to those resources. The rapid advance of information technologies and communication and their version of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) applied to teaching and learning of foreign languages \u200b\u200bimposes a great challenge of updating the language teachers. Do not forget that for children and young people's computer and its associated resources are a natural part of life, which involves the acquisition of multi-modal ways of learning, that any proposal on foreign language curriculum must incorporate. The technology gives us unexpected opportunities to face various challenges in the field of learning and language teaching. However, to incorporate learning situations based on information technologies (ICTs) to promote self-directed learning, the teacher should be knowledgeable about technology, curriculum integration and planning of education (Dede, 1998: 130).
This implies flexibility on the part of teachers to incorporate technology into their curriculum proposals. However, we encountered a lack of expertise that many teachers exhibit in computer use and exploitation of the many online resources for learning English. Indeed, in many cases is noted underutilization of existing laboratories.
Technological innovations require English teachers with skills to use various technological resources. If we link the new technologies in language learning that students observe highly motivated, committed to achieving individual and collective participation in planned activities. These activities enable the implementation of a constructivist pedagogy in line with the qualitative change driven by the Chilean Educational Reform, as the use of computers and their associated resources can extend and strengthen students' cognitive processes.
The technological resources bring positive consequences, making the process of teaching and learning in a dynamic, fun, friendly, flexible, motivating, and above all, productive. The Ministry of Education has proposed the need to enhance the learning of English in the country, but this is not possible if we continue rooted in outdated ways of thinking and doing things.
According to some authors, the constructivist approach, by which provide opportunities for independent learning, interactive and exploratory, it is appropriate to make learning fun and mediated by a computer (Dede, 1998: 131). It is therefore an urgent need for English teachers be updated, improving not only their teaching but also incorporating new technologies into the curriculum of foreign language.
Country needs
During the decade of the 90 emerging global re-validation of education is closely related to the historical changes of this century. Commonly spoken of the passage of an industrial society to a knowledge society and global society, fueled by the expansion and growing centrality of knowledge, facilitated by the rapid deployment worldwide of modern information technologies and communication technologies (ICTs .)
intensification of English is one of the greatest educational challenges of the Ministry of Education. However, one of the first obstacles is the lack of mastery that he has the population. According to a survey of employment
[4] conducted by the University of Chile, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and CORFO in Greater Santiago, the percentage of people who have a fluency in English increases from zero to 3% going from basic education to complete secondary education, to 8% in technical education and even 30% complete university education. One of the reasons for these results is due to the shortcomings in education, fueled, according to the Institutito Freedom and Development, about the poor training received by teachers of English, which does not fit the capabilities required ministerial initiatives in this area.
restrictor Another is the lack of English teachers at private schools, subsidized and municipal schools. According to Ministry of Education's own figures for 2004 had only 7 thousand teachers of English throughout Chile, of which only 4,176 teachers had title. Two thousand were not specialists and related to teachers who taught basic language, but without dominating. What is even worse, the diagnosis was the officer of the time is that, despite the traditional five year many universities have set for the race of Education in English, graduates fail even managed to communicate in this foreign language.
Moreover, a recent volunteer study results showed that 69% of teachers are under the expected standard
[5] . Nor is there much interest from the students themselves to learn and most educational establishments no language lab and good dictionaries. As shown, the goal of learning English as a foreign language at the level of Basic and Secondary Education, established by the Ministry of Education is far-reaching. For example, it was established that from 2004 all students from fifth to fourth half core count with their own textbooks, while teachers guides and cassettes would be delivered by the Ministry of Education. In addition, schools and colleges have the support of interactive software and e-learning technology. These initiatives show, therefore, that there is great concern in the government authorities in the issue of learning English at home, but what has evaluated the implementation?
Since the current trend in education toward certification, it is clear that the priority is to establish standards in English language proficiency to enable approval by international standards. For example, the PET (Inglés Primary Test) for students, whose reference to the fourth medium, equivalent to about 570 points in TOEFL
[6] . Teacher training
The conventional model of teacher training has begun to clearly show its inefficiency and ineffectiveness from the point of view of teachers, as relates to its growth and professional development, and the new impact such training on processes and outcomes at the classroom level. In light of the reform movements, this translates into the following deviations:
a) The conventional approach to teacher education is characterized by several problems: training decontextualized way the socio-cultural and economic life and the world, as also the challenges that she claims to schools and teachers, lack of linkage with reality and teacher knowledge, expertise overlap without interdisciplinary understanding of educational processes play traditional teaching model, inadequate training for the trainers of teachers, inadequate teaching methods.
b) The model supports teacher training emphasizes a kind of training (development of abilities and skills, management methods and techniques), rather than a broad training (development of a theoretical and practical understanding of the problems beyond the strict and immediate operational), which has not worked in the training model .
In general, teacher education can be characterized by the following:
· assumes that the need for teacher training is inversely proportional to the level it is taught, thus ignoring the importance and complexity of learning styles and rhythms .
· dissociates contents and methods and favors ignoring the necessary complementary methods of both knowledge and the importance of pedagogical knowledge for teaching practice profile
· dissociates administrative and pedagogical management, pedagogy is considered property of the faculty and administrative managers, ignoring the necessity of comprehensive skills development in both sectors.
• It is inconsistent with the pedagogical model is proposed to teachers for classroom practice. Are asked to promote active learning, participation, critical thinking and creativity, that does not undergo the training process.
In particular, teacher training in the specialty has the following failures:
· dissociates linguistic competence communicative competence, focusing on teaching in an obvious structural approach to teaching, with courses that deal with the grammar and phonics in isolation and out of context.
· Form teachers of English with a strong focus on the class front, which can not be the student who discovered and built, transforming it into a passive actor of the teaching and learning.
· lacks a solid foundation in management and information technologies (ICTs), which is evident in the limited use, general, to make English teachers computer productivity software, Internet links and linguistic systems management CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning).
· It focuses more on teaching than on learning, which makes it very difficult for the English teacher creatively use various teaching and learning strategies, and was nearly canceled its role as facilitator who provides the tool (language) for student work.
· Incentives monopolized employment and often institutionalized English textbooks as the only form of teaching and learning, thus limiting creativity the teacher in using eclectic approaches and innovative teaching strategies.
In this regard, a study of the Professional Development
[7] (Vera, 2005), with the participation of 40 teachers of English, belonging to the Basic and Secondary Education found that 88% of teachers respondents believe that the teaching profession is highly challenging, 75% recognized the importance of constructivism in the achievement of learning objectives, 15% attached importance to the use of technology and 10% believe that the collaborative work produced significant differences. Although a high percentage of respondents identified constructivism as an element conducive to learning, this contradicts the opinions expressed in the other associated questions. It is noted, therefore, a clear orientation towards the kind exhibition.
Moreover, the low importance attached to the incorporation of technology might be because some teachers exhibit resistance against the use of computers and their associated resources. In addition, it calls attention to the low importance given to collaborative work and classroom methodology related to the constructivist approach. Apparently, it is clear the gap that still exists between theory (enunciate) and practice (doing).
Clearly, therefore, that the training of English teachers should allow them to be able to link theory with practice, experience with reflection, and action to thought, for, thereby enhancing both their personal and professional development. Moreover, teacher training in this discipline must be imposed as a strategic challenge to implement procedures that help to radically change the way of thinking about teaching and learning of English as a foreign language and change the beliefs that teachers have on the practice.
must therefore aim to generate new knowledge and skills to adapt curriculum content to obey current demands of our country and society in general. In this sense, it is imperative that initial training institutions to rethink both training content and methodology with which they are transmitted, as the training model always acts as a hidden curriculum of education (Imbernón, 1994). Here again the idea is strengthened to implement action research activities.
Professor of English should be characterized as a professional with excellent skills of observation of both their own performance and that of their colleagues. It is through the observation that learning is important to achieve development and professional growth. In reality, observation and reflection therefore allows us to realize what, when and how to intervene pedagogically.
observation is the initial stage of any process of action research. Moreover, the observation can be initiated either by themselves or by the school teachers as part of a support program for teachers or for teachers who begin or for new teachers in an induction period (Wajnryb, 1992: 2 .) However, in the Chilean context, the English teachers still need to have more expertise in educational research, enabling them to diagnose, design, implement and evaluate curriculum proposals.
Within this context, training of teachers of English should include, inter alia, the following guidelines:
1) training in education to enable the development of a professional with a flexible and make thoughtful, committed to the promotion of the subject of human learner with knowledge, skills, capabilities inquiry, self, self and team, committed to learning and development of their students;
2) comprehensive language training through which the acquisition of integrate English syntactic phonological and language in a systematic and contextualized;
3) training with a clear cultural vision of teaching and learning of English as a foreign language in order to allow the activation of cognitive-linguistic skills in students;
4 ) early practical training to enable the establishment of an action research model for the transformation and improvement of the teaching and learning of English taking place in the classroom and in the educational context in general;
5) training aligned with approaches the Ministry of Education in terms of providing a strong emphasis on communicative English language domain, with a minimum standard for FCE (First Certificate in Inglés), accredited by a specialized institution, with sound management of modern methods of teaching and learning and use of new resources CALL (computer assisted language learning).
This involves the training of English teachers with greater proficiency and communicative and learning methodologies of the foreign language teachers more creative and innovative, willing and love to meet new needs and prepare students capable of successfully meet the demands of a society increasingly competitive. Conclusions
The English teacher training, understood within the concept of "lifelong learning", ie, understanding that knowledge and teaching skills are the result not only of their professional training, but learning achieved throughout and breadth of life, and exercise teaching itself has begun to clearly show its inefficiency and ineffectiveness from the perspective of learning outcomes.
The new paradigms of education requires English teachers better prepared to face great challenges posed by current educational trends and the globalization processes. Today Teachers are required to be capable of taking major decisions before the diagnosis, design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum of EFL and to respond to a greater margin of competence.
The new paradigm is required to form and / or train English teachers capable of establishing a new relationship with knowledge, which accommodates the reflective approach to teaching and research or reflection from reflective practice. This, of course, is to prepare teachers to reflect on what they do and explain why they do it.
References Ausubel, D., Novak, J., and Hanesian, H. (1983). Educational Psychology: A cognitive perspective. Mexico: Trillas.
Dede, Ch (1998). Learning with Technology. Buenos Aires: Polity Press.
Imbernón, F. (1994). Training and Teacher Professional Development: Towards a Professional Culture. Spain: Grao.
Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Wayjnryb, R. (1992). Classroom Observation Tasks. Cambridge: CUP.
Vera, F. (2005). Professional Development for EFL Teachers: How to be competitive in today's world. Paper presented at TESOL Chile Second Annual National Conference, University of Concepción. Conception 28 and October 29, 2005.
Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
[1] Prof. Vera is a Professor of English State, Master of Science in Education c / m in Educational Administration and Management, and PhD in Educational Sciences c / m on Institutional Accreditation.
[2] receptive skills are called for the development of listening and reading skills (Listening & Reading) and production of oral and written skills (Speaking & Writing).
[3] "During the course of meaningful learning occurs two important and related processes. As new information is included within a given concept or proposition, it is learned and the concept or proposal included amending "(Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian, 1983: 117).
[4] survey in December 2003.
[5] expected minimum level Inglés First Certificate (FCE).
[6] This test is a requirement for admission to many American universities.
[7] This study was part of the paper "Professional Development for EFL Teachers: How to be competitive in today's world, that Prof. Vera presented at TESOL Chile Second Annual National Conference, at the University of Concepción. Concepción 28 and October 29, 2005.
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