Developing oral skills in a

Bilingual School:
The Show & Tell

Author: Mª del Rosario Sanz Urbón

Tutor: Mª del Carmen Alario Trigueros

Grado en Educación Primaria
E.U. de Educación de Palencia. Universidad de Valladolid

June 2012
Abstract

Study focused on how teachers come together to increase Oral Skills in their students in the
context of a bilingual state school, developing different techniques and strategies, with special
emphasis on the Oral Presentation works at the final stage of the Primary Education. In the last
ten years of this programme, a great systematization has taken place to help new teachers
who might join this innovative project. It involves a special philosophy in teachers, which is
based on consultation and collaboration. Teachers are open to use new methodologies and to
consider theories such as the cognitive apprenticeship or the importance of learning in a social
context. Results have shown a sufficient evidence of a significant change in children who
benefit from a bilingual education with a very distinct approach from the traditional focus of
learning English as a second language. Likewise, the enrolment demand of the school has
increased considerably in the past ten years due to its attainments in a bilingual education in
the referred school, aspect considered to be very positive by the parents.

Keywords:

Show and tell, Oral skills, basic/key competences, scaffolding, Multiple Intelligences,
Assessment for Learning, Learning in a Social Context.

Index

1. Introduction ……………………………..…………………..4

B. FRAMEWORK AND DESIGN

2. Objectives …………………………...……………………....5

3. Justification ………………………………………………….5

4. Theoretical Foundation …………………………………….8

5. Methodology and Design ….………………………...……17

6. Results …………………………………..………………….28

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C. FINAL CONCLUSIONS

7. Analysis of the Scope……………………………………….32

8. Considerations ………………...…………..……………….33

D. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………….…………………………………...34

E. APPENDIX ………...…………….…………………………..…. 37

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1- INTRODUCTION

The present study will focus on the implementation, along the last ten years, of the British
Council-MEC Bilingual Project (BP) in the school selected to do so in Palencia. We will
centre on these last ten years because it is been the most systematized part of the program.

As it will be further developed, our study will be focused on the way all the community
come together to increase Oral Skills in our students. The organization of the different
techniques used in the different stages, with special emphasis on the Oral Presentation
works at the final stage, will be the heart of this work.

The referred school is located in a lower-middle class neighbourhood. Currently, we have

437 students (148 infant and 289 primary students) of whom 1,2 % are immigrants, 3% are
ethnic groups and 11,4% are Special Need children, either mentally or physically
handicapped children.

Fifteen years ago, the school places were hardly filled but gradually the number of
applications increased and now the demand of applications cannot be met. It’s well-known
that the school is parents’ first choice due to the BP.

The school has managed to adjust both material and human resources to design its ethos of
a BP school. This transformation involves a kind of philosophy in teachers, willing to
produce self-made materials instead of text books, the 100% usage of English, a high
standard of coordination within the teachers, innovative techniques to improve oral skills,
the essential role of the teacher in an apprenticeship experience, to resort to visual, auditory
and kinesthetic mediators, the importance of learning interacting in a social context and the
usage of both self and peer- assessments.

Originally the school was a training school and it still keeps that sense of training but with a
wider view, but transformed into a self-training school. Due to the Spanish system to
assign teachers to schools, new professionals join the BP year after year. There is a training-
system established, which includes the recording of the different stages guidelines and
observation lessons to support the incomers.

The present study, grounded on the plurilingual and pluricultural premises agreed in the
European Council as strong lines in European Linguistic Policy, focuses on the context in
which the model of organization of the centre and the coordination degree of the teachers
are analysed in the design of a program centred on the development of pupils’ oral skills
through a teaching resource in which cross-curricular communicative aims are involved.

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 B. FRAMEWORK AND DESIGN

2- OBJECTIVES

As Bilingual Project Language Coordinator in the school, the present study will be focused
on three specific aims:

 To provide evidence on the organization and the coordination that project teachers
perform to develop oral skills, given the results obtained in the tests accomplished at
the end of Primary Education, so as to improve achievements in the future.

 To analyse the efficiency of the techniques selected to design the work to be carried out
in the different stages when implementing the Literacy curriculum in our school, in
order to enhance the pupils’ oral skills standards, as well as to adjust the learning
process awareness, along the different stages, to the MEC-British Council final exam
that year six pupils do at the end of the school year.

 To assess the program design as well as the resources selected to develop oral skills in
Primary Education from the perspective of a plurilingual, school that carries out the
MEC-British Council Bilingual Project.

3- JUSTIFICATION

As to oral skills, the MEC-British Council Project has very specific expectations according
to the different stages, which have been gathered in the Integrated Curriculum:

First Cycle:

To speak clearly and with growing confidence, children should be encouraged to:

 Speak audibly with clear diction.

 Choose and use relevant vocabulary and phrases.

 Attempt to organise what they say with the use of simple, familiar structures.

 Focus upon what is being asked and respond appropriately.

 Begin to describe experiences, ideas and feelings with help from the teacher.

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 Communicate with the class teacher and peers using their increasing knowledge of
English as well as familiar phrases.

 Show that they can understand and use the following terms: soft, slow, loud, quick,
clear and voice.

Second Cycle

To speak with growing confidence in a range of contexts, children will be encouraged to:

 Speak audibly and clearly.

 Choose and use relevant vocabulary.

 Practise question forms.

 Reply to questions appropriately and use because…

 Use vocabulary and syntax to express more complex ideas.

 Describe experiences and feelings with help from the teacher.

 Make a short oral presentation to the class, giving an introduction and an ending. The
teacher will help with preparation of this.

Third cycle

To speak with growing confidence in a range of contexts, children will be encouraged to:

 Speak audibly and clearly.

 Choose and use relevant vocabulary.

 Use question forms correctly.

 Focus on the main point and reply to questions appropriately using because…

 Organise what they say.

 Use vocabulary and syntax to express more complex ideas.

 Speak in a range of contexts, adapting what they say to purpose and audience.

 Describe experiences and feelings.

 Perform oral presentations to the class, giving an introduction and a conclusion.

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To talk effectively as members of a group, children will be able to:

 Make contributions relevant to the topic and take turns in discussion.

 Convey ideas and share experiences.

 Give reasons for opinions and actions.

 Make plans, investigate, predict, explain, report, evaluate select and sort.

The accomplishment of these goals implies that, at the end the Primary Education children
achieve a level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages.

The work of these oral skills involves the achievement of reading and writing targets too
which are integrated in the teaching of Literacy. These targets are structured into Text
Level, Sentence Level and Word Level Work according to each year group.

 In Text Level, children gradually work with a wide range of texts: fiction, non-fiction,
poems, newspaper articles and songs. In the first cycle children can begin to look things
up in informational or reference texts and start to use the contents and index. During
the second cycle, students, with the teacher’s guidance, select appropriate texts to find
and use specific information and use these texts as a model for their own writing. In
last stage, they also identify content, structure and vocabulary of a given text, they
summarise key ideas using paragraphs to organise their own writings.

 In Sentence Level, the children in early years use familiar grammatical structures
correctly, and can begin by putting words from familiar phrases in order. In second
cycle, grammatical awareness can be taught in an experimental and investigative way. In
the third cycle students need to be consciously aware of all the grammar structures
they have acquired in Primary, so that they are confident in approaching formal
grammar structures and can easily demonstrate what they know when they begin
Secondary Education. Children are aware that their writings can be adapted for
different purposes, extend the work on sentence structure as well as on verb tenses,
and parts of speech.

 In the Word Level, students from year two work on topic vocabulary, words with
spelling similarities. In further on stage, pupils gradually identify misspelled words in
their own writing, use known spellings as a basic for spelling other words, build words
from other known words, and spell by analogy with other known words and use
dictionaries and thesaurus to find new words.

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In addition, Attainment Band targets are described for each subject. All teachers at the end
of each cycle must consider the individual attainment level or band of each child. There
should be a clear picture for each class of 10% at band one, 70% at band two and 20% at
band three.

According to the consideration of the different Bands of Attainment, self and peer
assessment techniques are used to develop an active reflexion of their own learning which
will lead in the use of specific strategies of improvement which are recorded in their
Challenge Cards.

4- THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

Developing oral skills literature is fully based on educational as well as linguistic theories
that we will try to organize coherently in order to generate a corpus to support our work.
Some of the theories are related to general aspects such as intelligence, cognitive process,
organization, motivation and emotional learning. Others are linked to more cultural and
social features.

Even behaviourists argued that learning occur in environments that are rich with stimuli
and provide feedback in response to students’ efforts. Learning is also enhanced when
content is relevant to students’ lives. Rogers Carl in Freedom to learn (1969) and many others
linked to the Humanistic Approaches to FLL. Later on, Krashen and Terrell develop their
Natural Approach as well as the Input Hypothesis and the Affective Filter Theories. When
teachers provide opportunities to build understanding and practice skills, and when
students have choices that are interesting to them. In addition, access to teachers and peers
who can model, explain, discuss, or critique shapes the learning process (Teaching, Learning
and Assessment, John Blanchard 2009).

Following Dell Hymes (1972) communicative competence theory, many authors pointed
out that students learn through social interaction as well as individual effort; that is, they
are collaborative. To encourage strong identity development, teachers provide
opportunities to interact; affirm and strengthen students’ sense of themselves and help
them find and develop areas of competence. Teachers give students increasing
opportunities to make decisions and to act responsibly within the school and the
community.

Effective teachers organize the learning environment to provide children plenty of hand-on
activities and real tasks and audiences. Opportunities for “active” learning experiences
promote deeper learning, especially when they are combined with reflection. In these kinds
of experiences children are asked to write or talk about ideas, create models and
demonstrations, solve complex problems, and build projects that require the integration of
many ideas. Teachers can develop learning activities with real purposes, audiences, and
structures that reflect those outside school in real world.
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When students are given the choices about classroom work, their motivation to learn is
increased. Teachers can ensure that tasks are accessible and appropriate for their students
and provide feedback that offers opportunities for revision of work. They can also teach
students how to think about and monitor their own learning and performance by providing
opportunities to plan and organize complex tasks and to use specific learning strategies.

By encouraging discussions among students about ideas, teachers also create environments
where students are also sources of knowledge. Teachers can also foster students’ abilities to
undertake complex performances by modeling and demonstrating, scaffolding steps in the
learning process, coaching learners, and providing specific constructive feedback that
enables learners to revise and improve their work.

4.1 Multiple Intelligence

Gardner (1983) developed a theory of multiple intelligence where he outlines that, in

addition to the linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities there are five other capacities:
musical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal that may also be
included as human intelligences. He also emphasised that, intelligence should be thought
as a potential, as a set to “know-how” or “ways of doing things”. Most of the tasks involve
putting more than one intelligence into practice.

The resource to develop oral skills described in this study work considers the following
intelligences according to Gardner:

Linguistic intelligence refers to children’s abilities to receive communications and to express

themselves. It involves the ability to use a language to communicate, in this case through
speaking and using a second-language.

Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence to use their bodies to express themselves in a oral speak.

Interpersonal intelligence to handle the situation of speaking in front of their classmates, accept
their opinions and suggestions through their feedbacks.

Intrapersonal intelligence to be aware of their strong points and those who need to be
improved according to the peer-assessment, the self-assessment and the teacher’s.

4.2 Cognitive Processing.

For learning to occur, facts, concepts and ideas must be stored; connected to other facts,
concepts and ideas; and built upon. Cognitive theorists have studied the nature of memory
to determine how and under what conditions people retain of forget information. They
distinguish between “working memory” and “long-term memory”. The ability to retrieve
information can be enhanced when physical, auditory and visual stimuli are combined with
symbolic materials like language or numbers. Encoding information using multiple sensory
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pathways can help memory to be taken in and recalled more effectively, for example by
learning something aurally, visually and kinaesthetically.

Researches on memory suggests that teachers should provide multiple modes of presenting
information, offer opportunities to make meaningful connections among concepts, and
help to structure categories of information. Organizing thoughts involves the ability to sort
information, decide which information is appropriate and recognize how parts make up a
whole, and recognize sequences (e.g. introduction, main body and conclusion).

There are several ways teachers can support all children in organizing their learning,
including those who experience challenges in cognitive processing. One of them is to
structure the learning process by:

Establishing routines and procedures,

Sequencing activities,

Demonstrating an idealized version of the task to be performed,

Organizing and guiding their practice,

Identifying and building on student’s preferences and

Making connections to their prior knowledge and experiences.

According to these suggestions, information is introduced through several kind of mediator

including auditory, visual and kinaesthetic resources.

Children get used to organise when routines are established from very early s to last years,
which gradually increase in difficulty. Activities have a very clear structure, and children
always know which stage they are on. Before facing a new task, a model example is
performed. Precisely, their oral presentation activity is based on their preferences and
finally, when students carry out their task eventually, they are supported with personal
guidance.

4.3 Metacognition

Metacognition means thinking about one’s own thinking. It involves reflection, thinking
about what we know and self-regulation, managing how we learn. When students develop
these abilities is not only about becoming reflective learners, but also acquiring specific
strategies as well. Before they learn the metacognitive strategies, children do not use tactics
like planning their work or monitoring their tactics or short-cuts to solve problems.

Teachers who develop metacognitive skills in the classroom help children incorporate
active reflection in their learning. Some strategies include opportunities to reflect on
learning and to learn to direct one’s work, such as:

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Evaluating peer-work: Students review their work and define where the strengths and
weaknesses are in their work and their thinking.

Self-assessing: Students reflect on their learning and find out how their skills have developed.

Self-questioning: Children use questions to check their own knowledge. When students learn
to ask questions of themselves or of others while they work, they intentionally direct their
thinking and clarify the areas where they need help.

Critiquing: Students provide feedback to other students about their works in a constructive
way. This process allows students to practice verbalizing their own thinking and students
receiving feedback to improve their own thinking process and performance.

So, different strategies of both, self and peer assessments are developed form early years on
a daily basis: “thumbs up” to show agree or disagreement, “pat on your back” to celebrate
a little achievements, “two stars and a wish” to feedback a peer performance positively or
more elaborated grids in later stages.

4.4 Cognitive Learning

One of the aspects linked with the previous point is the idea of a cognitive apprenticeship:
teachers provide a purposeful demonstration of skills, assistance and coaching. The focus
is on developing conceptual understandings and cognitive skills, rather than the production
of a concrete task.

One of the goals in cognitive apprenticeship is to support students in developing their

logic abilities by making thinking visible by modelling the central aspects of the activity,
showing how strategies work in a real situation, giving increasing responsibility to the
student and providing feedback as learners practice until they become proficient.

Darling-Hammond (2003) state that:

Throughout an apprenticeship experience, teachers and expert peers model or

demonstrate how to perform a task. Therefore, researchers, for example Lee (1995);
Palincsar & Brown (1984), Scardamalia & Bereiter (1985) and Schoenfeld (1983) have
found that when teachers explicitly demonstrate and explain specific skills and
strategies, students have a better sense of how to approach a task. The teacher also
scaffolds, or provides a variety of supports, to help students accomplish their work.
These scaffolds sequenced step with assistance and instruction that add up to a
completed product or a variety of aids for students, including materials, techniques, and
tutoring on specific concepts or skills. A third kind of teaching strategy, coaching,
involves observing students as they work and facilitating and providing feedback while
they perform a task. Teacher may also work to help students reflect their own thinking
processes in order to build on their strengths and identify gaps. All these activities are
found in a setting where students are encouraged to explore topics, pose their own

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 questions, and pursue their own investigations. As students develop and learn, these
supports are removed, and the teacher fades to a less central, but still very involved,
presence.

Allan Collins (1991) describes three core teaching strategies in a cognitive apprenticeship to
support students’ skills:

Modelling: Teachers and advanced peers serve as models for students working to develop
skills. By providing models of the whole task, learners are guided by what the end product
may look like. It also supplies an outline which serves as an advanced organizer as students
plan and a well-structured example as well as a high-quality activity.

Scaffolding: It refers to the support steps in the learning process organized by the teacher to
help students in making progress. A key element is that the teacher must provide just
enough support to encourage progress. A good scaffolded activity might be a small
research task about a topic, each of the steps toward the task is well-organized and outlined
for the students with small assignments which trigger feedbacks, both from the teacher and
from the peers and self-assessments in which students realize of gaps, strengths and weak
goals.

Coaching: According to Collins (1991) the teacher coaches the student through a wide range
of activities: choosing tasks, providing hints, scaffolding, structuring the way to do things,
evaluating, recognizing problems, working on particular weaknesses, challenging, offering
encourage and giving constructive feedback on a performance.

It’s also important when designing a cognitive apprenticeship environment to situate the
work in a realistic task that is representative of the field being followed. Therefore, the
students work together with the teacher to develop ideas. Finally tasks are more motivating
to students if they have a real-world value, if the students see their applications in real life.

Consequently, the show and tell technique, centre of the present study, is designed on this
outline. Thus: firstly the teacher or band-three students performance a good model of the
task to the whole class; secondly, the activity is divided into smaller pieces of work (choose
a topic, define the outline, write the composition, corrections…) to end up with the teacher
coaching the students throughout the whole process.

4.5 Cultural and Social Contexts: Vygotsky’s Theories

Everything we learn takes place in a social context. Learning occurs as parents talk with
their children, as children play together, and as teacher help students.

Lev Vygotsky (1978) proposed the idea that learning and development take place in the
interactions children have with peers as well as with teachers. These social interactions
develop language, which support thinking, and they provide feedback and assistance that
support continuing learning.

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Vygotsky suggested that knowledge is constructed in the middle of our interactions with
others and is shaped by the skills and abilities valued in a particular culture. He argued that
language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural
activities like reading and writing. Vygotsky noticed that children solve problems with their
speech, as well as with their eyes and hands. They talk aloud to guide their own thinking
processes. As children mature the speech that they use aloud and with others eventually
becomes internalized as part of their tactics for problem solving. He suggested that
language helps children be strategic, rather than purely impulsive, in their approach to
complex problems, and it helps them to gain control over their own thinking and
behaviour.

The teacher or a more expert peer is essential to this learning process. Individual
development takes place in the context of activities modelled or assisted by this more
skilled person. Vygotsky suggested that the teacher’s job is to assess the student’s
understanding to locate the point where the learner needs the assistance. Once that has
been done, the teacher provides that assistance; for example, by modelling or
demonstrating, by asking questions or coaching -as we discussed in 4.3- by creating a group
task in which peer assistance can occur.

Contemporary theorists have built on Vygotsky’s ideas about learning as a social process
and suggested some implications for teaching in the larger context of schools. Their work
suggests the importance of:

 Having teachers and students produce work together,

 Developing language and literacy across the curriculum,

 Making meaning: Connecting school to students’ lives,

 Teaching complex thinking, and

 Teaching through guided conversation (Dalton, 1998, cited in Tharp, Estrada, Dalton,
& Yamauchi, 2000, p. 20)

In Teaching Transformed, Roland Tharp (2000) explains each of these principles in detail:

 The first principle suggests that teachers and students work together in “joint
productive activity,” and have an opportunity to talk about their work. Joint activity
means teachers share power with students—they share decisions about the selection of
topics, as well as responsibilities for how to proceed, for instance. In traditional
schools, such activity is not common. This kind of collaboration requires dialogue,
negotiation, and compromise.

 The second principle states that both oral and written languages are central to the
setting required. Developing language and literacy across the curriculum is an explicit

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 task for teachers at all grade levels. Regardless of the subject matter, developing
competence in the language of instruction is a fundamental requirement for effective
learning. This kind of literacy development goes beyond opportunities to speak and
write everyday language, it also includes developing an understanding of academic
disciplines like science, mathematics, history, literature, and art. If students are to learn
academic discourse, teachers must help them understand how members of the
discipline use specific language to describe, categorize, and study things.

 The third principle is that of making meaning, contextualizing instruction, and building
on the knowledge students bring from their families and communities. Making
instruction meaningful by connecting it to students’ own experiences and interests,
creating engaging tasks and applications, and showing how ideas are related, accelerates
the learning process.

 The fourth principle asserts that good learning occurs most often in cognitively
challenging activities, those that require thinking and analysis, rather than merely
memorization and recall.

 The fifth principle is that the foundation of instruction is dialogic in other words, we
learn through exchange and discussion with a specific academic goal. This is the way to
accomplish and join the four principles: activity, language learning, meaningful tasks,
and challenging cognitive task.

Tharp refers to this as the “Instructional Conversation”:

To truly teach, one must converse; to truly converse is to teach. In the Instructional
Conversation, there is a fundamentally different assumption from that of traditional
lessons. Teachers who engage in conversation, like parents in their natural teaching, are
assuming that the child may have something to say beyond the ‘known answers’ in the
head of the adult. They occasionally extract from the child a ‘correct’ answer, but to
grasp the communicative intent of the child requires the adult to listen carefully, to
make guesses about the meaning of the intended communication (based on the context
and on knowledge of the child’s interests and experiences), and to adjust their
responses to assist the child’s efforts—in other words, to engage in conversation
(Tharp et al., 2000, p. 33).

One of the ways teachers can guide and enriching interaction with and among their
students is the assisted performance and scaffolding. Considering learning as a social
process means the primary role of the teacher is as assister of the student. The teacher’s
task is to continually move the student’s point where the learner needs assistance toward
higher and higher levels of competence and complexity. A teacher can provide several
kinds of assistance: Teachers can provide a model to show a learner how something is
done, or they can demonstrate a process or skill both physically and by talking aloud about
how an expert thinks (4.3, Cognitive Apprenticeship). A teacher can also assist by breaking

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up a task into smaller units or reorganizing the sequence of a complex task. A teacher
might assist through questioning, feedback, encouragement, and praise. Each of these
forms of assistance depends on clear and effective communication with students.

According with Brown, Collins, & Duguid, (1989) the most important form of assistance is
the well-timed question, which can serve a number of purposes. Questions can also serve
to extend students’ thinking further and provide opportunities for them to articulate and
reflect on their thoughts. Questions can serve as “scaffolds” by guiding the student
through a logical thinking process or by prompting the learner to think about a problem in
a new way. “Scaffolding” is the general term for the work the teacher does to provide just
enough support, depending on the needs of the student, to move students’ skills and
understanding

Scaffolding is an interactive process of assessing and assisting as well as being sensitive to

the needs and the readiness of the learner. Students who have had less experience with an
area, a field, or a domain will need more scaffolding than those students who have had
more experience with that field or domain. They may need more sequenced supports, more
attempts, and more opportunities to revise to develop expertise. Assistance can also be
provided by more capable peers, through resources or mediators displayed in the
classroom, or by the Internet, software, and books. The teacher’s role is to make sure that
the student has access to a variety of resources appropriate to the student’s needs and an
understanding of how to use them.

As a result of applying all these theories, teachers and students share decisions to choose
the topic of their show and tell, and establish duties and set the timing of the task. To carry
out the activity oral and written languages are required, not only as a tool but also as an
area to develop competence. We link their interests and experiences to the task to be
accomplished by letting the student choose their topic. The activity requires looking for
information, to analyse, to summarise, to organise and structure the contents. It actually
involves a great challenge for the child who must put into practice a great deal of capacities.
All in all is carried out through the exchange of ideas, suggestions, discussion, dialogue,
agreements, compromises thus an “Instructional Conversation”

It is also essential to create a positive environment for learning about school. Schools that
organize everything they do around what enhances learning, achieve extraordinary results in
large part because they are working with the way people learn. Some of the central ways on
which these kinds of schools try to enhance learning are:

Creating a positive productive environment for learning. It includes providing a nourish

environment that supports the social and emotional growth of students and connects the
student’s cultural background. Such environments use the social group, teachers and peers,
as sources for leaning as well as other parts of the environment, in this case, constant
interaction through English in every situation.

Organizing the curriculum content for student to master: Teachers make deliberate choices about
the curriculum. It refers about how teachers scaffold the learning process so that students

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are able to develop the skills they will need. In this respect, teachers agree the design the
procedure of how to introduce and develop the activity along the different stages of
education.

In “The Right to Learn”, Darling-Hammond describes some features found in successful

school. The following ones can be found in the school where this work is located:

Opportunities for collaborative learning: Learning takes place in a social context and relies on
communication and interaction with others, in this case always in a second language, and
taking advantages of every situation or context, either inside the classroom, corridors, trips,
outings, activities…

Collective perspective across the school: Schools have common goals and common rules. Rather
than students encountering a fragmented curriculum and different expectations in each
level, school plan for student’s objectives collectively. Objectives are reinforced through
school and the curriculum is more coherent. Teachers work together to develop
instructions that reflect the central concept and ideas in the subjects. They also design the
work that goes on within and across classrooms. Regarding this point, coordination is an
essential feature in our BP, at all levels, among all teachers and for different purposes to
share spaces and subjects, link topics, celebrate events where English also has an important
role.

4.6 Emotions and Learning

When dealing with speaking skills, mainly referring to “show and tell” techniques, we cannot
forget the importance of emotions, as speaking in front of a public audience is quite
terrifying for many of us. Primary Students do not get away from the impact/effect that
emotions have on learning. They influence our ability to process information and to
understand what we find out. For this reason, it is important for teachers to create a
positive, emotionally safe classroom environment to provide for the optimal learning of
students. Learning how to manage feelings and relationships constitutes a kind of
“emotional intelligence” that enables students to be successful. Emotional intelligence
expands on Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence (section 4.1), in particular, the
intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences he defines.

Positive emotions can help students to process think, perform a learning task, and process
new knowledge. The ability to recognize and manage their emotions to solve conflicts, to
motivate themselves, and to persevere in the face of difficulty can help students become
life-long learners.

There are different ways in which emotions can enhance or impede the students’ learning.
Some students may have difficulties because their minds are cluttered with distracting
thoughts and memories. Other students can feel depressed or anxious about learning and
often do not feel competent academically. Finally, students can become upset by classroom
events (a failed test, a negative comment) and react in a way that impedes further learning.

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An emotionally safe classroom environment is necessary for students’ learning, growth, and
creative expression. Teachers can create emotionally safe classrooms by affirming students’
accomplishments in non competitive ways, encouraging self-confident, providing
opportunities to take risks without penalty, and giving thoughtful feedback. Researchers
have found that students’ emotional and academic functioning improve when caring and
respectful teachers support students’ competence in a non comparative and non
competitive way and support students’ autonomy through meaningful curriculum. (Baker,
Terry, Bridger & Winsor, 1997; Charney, 2000; Noddings, 1992).

Therefore, teachers can create an emotionally safe classroom environment by providing

targeted, positive feedback on successful elements of work in conjunction with suggestions
for improvement.

According to Scrivener (2005) when students study a language, they tend to store a large
number of knowledge (rules of grammar, lists of vocabulary, or phonic rules) but then they
realize that they cannot actually use it to communicate when they want to.

There seems to be some difficulties to transform that knowledge into actively usable
language. In some cases, the “so called” passive knowledge is much larger than the active
knowledge. Without experience in using the language, learner may not feel confident to
speak. We learn to speak by speaking.

One way to help students to activate their active knowledge is to give them safe situations
at schools where are prompt and encourage to use the stored language.

One of the most distinguish features of the BP is its emphatic approach to oral skills on
students, particularly focused on public talks. Consequently, during students’ performances,
constant feedback is provided either using visual aids or non verbal language which allows
an instant and effective way to effective improvement in the children.

5- METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN

5.1 General Background

In 1996, the Ministry of Education and the British Council signed a formal collaborating
agreement which aim was to develop an integrated curriculum in Spanish state primary
schools. This experience began in 43 schools in 10 autonomous regions plus Ceuta and
Melilla, affecting 1,200 three and four year-old pupils.

Nowadays, there are 74 primary schools and 40 secondary schools, approximately 20,000
students are involved in the Project, studying the British Curriculum from the age of three.

The British Project has some different connotations with other bilingual programs
developed by several autonomous regions in Spain.

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The basic targets of the BP are:

 To promote the acquisition and learning of both languages through an integrated

content-based curriculum.

 To encourage awareness of the diversity of both cultures.

 To facilitate the exchange of teachers and children.

 To encourage the use of modern technologies in learning other languages.

 Where appropriate, to promote the certification of studies under both educational

systems.

The following features about the BP must be pointed out:

 The Bilingual Project operates in state schools and not in schools that are private or
fee-paying.

 The BP begins at an early age, normally when pupils are three years old.

 It is based on a whole-school approach, in order to ensure that all children at the

school have the same opportunity, regardless of socio-economic or other
circumstances.

 It is supported by a set of Guidelines to develop the Integrated Curriculum which were

shaped by the Ministry and the British Council.

 A significant amount of curricular time is allocated to the additional language,

English, roughly equivalent to 40% of each week at school. It allows pupils to learn
a number of challenging subjects through English such as Science, History and
Geography, Art and Crafts and Literacy. Consequently, English language turns into
a learning tool.

 In Infant Education, most of the schools dedicate to English 6 or 7 sessions per

week, whist Primary Education reaches 10 or 11sessions per week out the 25
sessions, as the BP recommends.

 The reading and writing skills in English are introduced from an early point, in
order to complement the skills of listening and speaking and to promote an
underlying general competence in language.

 Students face the challenge of, not only learning the English language, but also
learning through this language the content of essential subjects of the Primary
curriculum and developing new abilities using that language as a medium of
instruction.

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  BP schools are provided with supernumerary teachers: Linguistic Advisors. They are
either native speakers from Anglophone countries or Spanish teachers highly
qualify in English language. In Infants, linguistic Advisors work together with the
class teacher and in Primary they accomplish a team work with the English teacher.

 Co ordination between all members of staff is essential, both within each cycle,
across cycles and clearly at the transition stage between Infants and first cycle. They
must plan together in order to make sure that all contents of the integrated
curriculum are fulfilled.

5.2 School context

The school where this work is based on joined the Bilingual Project in 1997, so it’s been
developing the program for 15 years.

Throughout these years, the school has designed its own model of BP school under the
Guidelines to develop the Bilingual Project.

These are its key characteristics:

 In Infants, two English teachers, one of them a linguistic advisor, develop the BP.

Seven sessions per week are dedicated to English. BP teachers work parallel with the
infant class teacher. That is, the same topic on which the infant teacher works is taught
through English by the BP teacher.

Jolly Phonics method is used to facilitate the teaching and learning of early reading and
writing in English.

 In Primary, an English teacher is assigned per level and one advisor per cycle. Both
teach the following subjects: Science, Geography and History, Literacy, ICT and Art
and Craft, distributed in 10 sessions per week entirely in English.

 Nor text book are required for Literacy neither for Art and Craft.

 Literacy subject is approached and accomplished through a wide range of texts,

combining fiction, non-fiction, poems and songs trying to link the text to the Science,
Geography or History topic if possible.

 To create an environment where the presence of the English language is noticed is of

prime importance in school. Boards and other display areas are used not only in
classrooms but also in corridors to support and reinforce ongoing topics. They can also
be used to introduce new ones. Children take part in the creation and maintenance of
their display areas, which is always very rewarding for them.

 The BP teachers have drawn up the school guidelines for each educational cycle as well
as the infant one. These guidelines establish rules, routines, classroom management,

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 distribute aims and contents into each year group, explain some of the policy of the
school as to text books, homework, and encouraging reading strategies, among others.

5.3 Aims

Literacy is one of the BP subjects. This subject stresses a clear distinguishing feature from
other bilingual programs.

Literacy is much more than just the teaching of the mechanics of reading. Literacy involves
the five skills of language: understanding, speaking, reading, writing and interacting. A
balance of these provides the child with a greater knowledge of and control over the
language which allows children to access to both fiction and non-fiction materials, to
different social and cultural worlds and therefore encourages self-esteem, self-identity and
emotional development.

According to Mike Fleming (2010), in The aims of language teaching and learning, the traditional
approach stresses on a discrete approach to describing aims. But language as a subject deals
with developing language competence in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Personal
growth goals are also taken into consideration. The aims are considered as the acquisition
of the ability to communicate in other languages. The curriculum has the responsibility to
develop “subject specific knowledge, skills and understanding using language competence
as a tool”.

The BP is designed to increase the standard of students’ language competence. It includes

one of the most innovative aspect, thus, how the Project emphasizes in the importance of
public talks.

Other relevant aspect of the curriculum in this kind of project is the inclusion of aims
associated to plurilingual and intercultural paradigms, associated with responsible
citizenship, democratic participation and personal growth.

5.4 Design

A- General design. Foundation Stage –Infant Education and First Cycle KStage 1

1. Create an English Context. Following the idea about learning in a social context,
where children interact with peers as well as with teachers, we increase children’s abilities to
receive communication and to express themselves in a second-language, by teaching
lessons 100% through English. Even to the extreme than in early stages (infants and first
cycle) teachers avoid children from seeing them speaking in Spanish. English turns into a
real and natural communicative tool. Teachers always interact with children in English,

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either inside or outside the classroom, in corridors, playground, outings, trips, festivals and
celebrations.

Children are always encouraged to address the teachers in English. The teacher provides
assistance and a model. Teachers are the link between what the children say and what the
students really want to say, offering the pupil the right input which is used both as an
assessment tool of comprehension and as the model of output for the pupil to use in future
situations. Firstly, they use single words e.g. “toilet, please”; then they use phrases or
chunks of language “go the toilet, please?” And finally they are able to make a complete
and correct sentence “Can I go to the toilet, please?”

Therefore, a great variety of oral activities are accomplished in order to encourage oral
skills such as recounts about experiences, events, situations, trips or celebrations; oral
reports about news; retelling stories or tales; reciting poems, chants and songs; role-plays
and drama; talks about themselves, their daily lives, families, pets; “questions and answers
strings” e.g.: Ana, ask María where she was yesterday. Jorge, ask Juan where María was yesterday. José,
ask Mario if he went to the cinema yesterday. Ana, ask Laura if Mario went to the cinema yesterday.

2. Multiple Intelligences implied. As we have seen in previous sections, most of the

tasks involve applying different types of intelligences into practice at the same time.

Considering children with visual memory, speech bubbles are displayed around the
classroom walls. It allows children to use the classroom language needed in the lessons: Can
I go to the toilet? Can I borrow your pencil? Can I have one? What does “table” mean? How do you spell
“table”? Shall I switch off the lights? Can you say it again, please? I don’t understand.

A great variety of classroom language is needed on a daily basis but only some of them can
be displayed. Teachers’ role is always to offer the children every single one they may need.
Repetition is vital for the children to acquire this kind of language, especially in early stages
together with mimic gestures. Here are some good examples: Can I sharpen my pencil? Can we
use felt-tips? Can you pull the blinds up/down? José is bothering me. Juan is not in today. I was not in
yesterday. Do you have a spare one? Miss, like this? Whose is this? It’s Ana’s birthday today. Last
Saturday/Sunday was my birthday.

Therefore, lists of vocabulary, high frequency words, structures, and homophones, rules
for a good listening or for communicative language are also exposed.

3. Develop Basic Competences through well-planned Classroom Routines

associated to a clear Discourse. To support student in organizing their learning, we
establish school routines on a daily basis, which children carried out orally in each session.
Once these routines turn into a habit, the teacher’s role is that of a mere prompter so the
children start and perform the routines by themselves every day.

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To help children to take in and to recall more effectively information, we use multiple
sensory pathways, considering auditory, visual and kinaesthetic memories, so at Infants
classrooms, each routine is linked with a song or chant and its corresponding mime, for
example: greetings, the days of the weeks, the month, the season, the weather, to put on
coats or overalls, to put paper in the bin, to tidy up, to start an activity or a story, to ask for
silence, chants to start or finish the session.

In primary, oral routines get complicated little by little. From year one, we introduce visual
aids, which is that each routine has its labels –picture and words- for example: questions
and answers about what day it is today, was yesterday, the day before yesterday, will be
tomorrow, the day after tomorrow; what the weather is/was/will be like; what season we
are in, and in two month’s time; how they feel today, news of the day… We resort to
gestures to support meaning and to point out everyday mistakes e.g. past versus present;
futures versus present; she/he; pronunciation of the sound “v”.

4. A Clear Classroom schedule. In order to enhance students’ motivation to learn,

teachers make sure that the children’s daily task is clear, that the students have the
information necessary to accomplish the task. Thus, children can focus on learning, not
guessing what the teacher aims or wondering how to do a task. It creates a positive
environment and it organises thoughts to be stored and connected to other facts.
According to this, lessons have a clear framework, which is written on the Today’s goal and
in the Today’s plan signs which is displayed on the classroom walls. For example: Today’s
plan will be displayed

o Routines

o News of the day

o Check task

o Revision former lessons

o Today’s goal

o Activity

o Set task

o Today’s goal: I can understand why water is important for living things.

It provides an atmosphere where children know what is expected from them at any
moment, developing awareness, which enables children to feel confident to express
themselves naturally in a second language. Likewise, as children acquire self-esteem, their
knowledge of and control over the language is higher.

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5. Associate Language to Thinking Skills development. Due to the fact that language
is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning and supports cultural activities,
our program gives a considerable importance to public talks, which distinguishes the BP
from other bilingual programs. The matter of the importance of oral presentations plays a
prominence role in the school life. Children do presentations on a subject of their choice to
the class for about 5-10 minutes. It’s accomplished gradually starting in early years.

As we have said before, developing language and literacy across the curriculum is an
explicit task at all grade levels, this is why show and tells are introduced from an early stage,
aged 6 or 7, that is, in year two of primary.

At early stages, children are encouraged and stimulated to show their classmates books,
objects, toys, photos, posters related to the topic been worked in Science. As the fourth
principle of Vygostsky’s theory points out, good learning occurs in challenging activities
which require thinking rather than memorizing. Show and tells are approached in both the
Science or in the Literacy subject. This is due to the fact that children always present things
related to the topic on which they are working in Science. Content and language are
completely linked in this way.

Taking into account Allan Collin’s strategies in a cognitive apprenticeship, teachers provide
a model so that the children are guided by what their own task should be developed. This
way, the teacher performs a show and tell in front of the children. Simple structures are used
which have already been worked beforehand. For instance, a simple introduction: Good
morning. My name is María and this is my show and tell, contents regarding the topic: This is a lion.
A lion is a vertebrate. It’s a mammal. This is an eagle. An eagle is a bird. This is a shark. A shark is a
fish. This is a bee. Bees are insects. This is a crocodile. Crocodiles are reptiles, and finally, a mere
conclusion: This was my show and tell. I hope you liked it. Thank you.

6. Provide an Emotional safe environment. In order to create an emotional safe

environment, the activity is carried out in a non-competitive way, encouraging self-
confidence and providing opportunities to perform accessible tasks. The right moment to
carry out the show and tell is after the daily routines and generally once the children are
already sitting on the carpet area where the daily activity will take place afterwards. Thus,
the children are sitting on the carpet and the child who is performing the show and tell is
standing in front of them. If necessary, a portable whiteboard is provided to stick
resources. The teacher sits at the rear so that the pupil is the “protagonist of the day”. It’s
more motivating if the children find the activity more relevant and valuable personally.

We must remember that in a cognitive apprenticeship, one of the roles of the teacher is to
support and assist students. Taking this into account, the teacher, if necessary, prompts the
child at any time, refreshes and offers them the input and vocabulary required to
accomplish this simple show and tell.

As we have formerly developed in the theoretical foundation, for students to develop both
metacognitive skills and at the same time, to involve interpersonal intelligence, students

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express their opinions about their classmate’s show and tell, that is peer- assessment and self-
assessment. Children need to be aware of the criteria on which their evaluation is basing.
Students are given clear instructions about which aspects they should value: audible and
clear tone, pronunciation and resources, interesting contents etc. Consequently, each child
can express two positive aspects and something that can be improved: two stars and a wish.
Negative feedbacks are not allowed. They use simple structures such as I liked your show and
tell because you speak very clearly; I liked your show and tell because your pronunciation is very good; I
liked your show and tell because your poster is beautiful. I liked you show and tell because it was very
interesting. Secondly, the children assess themselves choosing one aspect to be improved
which is registered in a challenge card (APPENDIX 1 and 2). Finally, teachers also express
their opinion about the child’s show and tell, stressing the children’s effort and their
contribution. Hence, the teacher rewards the pupil with a sticker.

B- Second Cycle KStage 1-2

Second cycle is a time of transition. During the first term of third grade, children reinforce
the basic show and tells performed in first cycle while, during the last two terms of year three,
and especially along year four, the children are involved in a more complex and organised
task which requires looking for information and structuring it into a talk format. Second
cycle is the “bridge” which shapes the first rudimentary show and tells into a basic proper
oral presentation.

C- Third Cycle KStage 2

In the highest stages is when oral presentations become more prominent and essential.

Two important ideas involve the process to support oral skills through the specific
technique of oral presentations: the apprenticeship concept and learning in a social context.

 Following the strategies described by Collins in section 4.4 about modeling, the activity
starts with either a teacher’s or an advanced peer’s model of the whole task. This
modeling oral presentation supplies an outline and a well-structured example of high
quality which guides the students.

 As we have seen before, questions can serve to extend students’ thinking further and
provide opportunities for them to reflect on their thoughts. Questions can serve to
guide the student’s logical thinking process. Subsequently, in a joint activity, this means,
communicating and interacting with both their classmates, in a small group activity, or
with the teacher, students are inquired through challenging questions. The teacher
resorts to questions to provide a reflective environment and to elicit children’s
explanations about different aspects of the task. Children are prompted to analyse the
different aspects of the modeling presentation. We expound some examples:

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  Have you recognised different parts in my show and tell? Can you remember how each of them
started? The children should point out three different parts: Introduction: How did I
start my speech? The children recall the model’s introduction and turn it into their
own one to fulfill their task in the future. Obviously, it will become more complex
than in early years. A good example would be: Good morning. My name is María/I’m
María. I’m 11 years old. I live in Palencia. I study at St. Antolín’s School/I’m a student at St.
Antolín's School. Today I’m going to talk about whales./The subject of my presentation is whale.
I’ve chosen this topic because they are my favourite animals. They are also required to
announce their speech outline: I have divided my presentation into four parts/I have broken
my speech into four parts. In the first part, I give a…/In the next section, I will explain…/In
the third part, I would like to…/Finally, I am going to show…Main body: Can you tell me
what I talked about firstly? And then? And finally? Did you learn anything new? Did you
identify lots of scientific, difficult or hard words? The teacher insists on the idea that it
should be interesting to keep the audience’s attention, they should offer, show or
tell something new to their classmates, something they do not know yet. They
should avoid too scientific contents or vocabulary and should focus on amazing
facts and choose relevant information to attract the listeners. Conclusion: Can you
refresh your memory and tell me how I finished my presentation? A good example would be:
This was my show and tell, thank you for listening/your attention. I hope you liked/enjoyed it.
Thank you very much for your attention. If there are any questions/suggestions/comments, please
go ahead.

 The teacher inquires: Could everybody hear me? Did you understand me clearly? Did I look at
you? What did I do with my hands while I talked? Did I use them to explain any words? Did I
move my body in any way? These questions elicit a brainstorming about public
speaking. Children refresh and recall which things should and shouldn’t be done
concerning oral presentations.

 The teacher asks: What have I used to support my presentation? Did you read long texts on the
slides? Did you see any captions? Were there stimulating illustrations? The teacher asserts
that they can prepare a power point presentation with short texts, captions and
illustrations. Yet they can also bring books, toys, real things, souvenirs,
photographs, posters. They must be original. If possible, they can reproduce a short
video or song related to the topic; they can even carry out a little test or
experiment, a tasting, they can prepare a quiz for their classmates. It will depend on
the chosen topic. Children are not supposed to read their presentations in any case,
neither from a paper nor from the slides. They are reminded not to display a long
text or too much information on the slides.

 Motivation to learn is more than simply excitement about a particular topic. Rather,
being motivated to learn refers to the degree to which students are dedicated to and
engaged in learning. A willingness to think through problems and work through
challenges to achieve skills goes beyond simply having fun during learning. Students
need to believe they can be successful if they are going to try. Their expectations for
success influence their willingness to engage in learning. Students are more likely to

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 find an assignment interesting if they have a say o choice about what they get to work
on. To feel successful, children also need to witness their own progress. A good
alternative approach would require the students to share a topic one day, create an
outline of their plan a few days later, share a summary of their findings a few days later,
turn in a draft of their final task a week later, complete a revision of the draft, and so
on.

Teachers can also take benefit of the developmentally interest. For example, children
between the ages of about eight and twelve like to simulate the things that adults do.
So, they can organize aspects of the curriculum around these interests and use them as
a springboard for areas of skill development. They can also use children’s experiences
strategically to encourage them and to motivate them. For example, if a student already
knows a lot about a particular topic, this prior knowledge can be the basis of a writing
or oral assignment so that the development of writing or speaking skills can be fostered
by the ready availability of knowledge about the subject at hand.

Consequently, children are free to decide on the topic of the choice. They should
consider topics which fascinate them, or topics they may be little experts in, or those
about which they would like to know more, or topics which they have always wondered
about as a result of a reflection or personal self-doubt.

 Teachers play a critical role in enhancing students’ expectations for success. Teachers
can create opportunities for their students to experience success in the classroom by
designing accessible tasks, and by providing clear instructions and information so that
the students can concentrate on the final goal to accomplish.

So, several ideas interact in relation with this important role: coaching, scaffolding and
assistance. There is a constant guidance between the teacher and the student to carry
out the task successfully. This kind of collaborative learning requires dialogue,
negotiations and compromise.

The teacher coaches and assists the students by breaking up the task into smaller units
and scaffolding the assignment into different steps: Firstly, the students decide the
topic. The teacher ensures that children choose a topic, which will challenge them
within the individual capabilities of each pupil. Children comment with the teacher the
topic of their choice. The teacher gives them her opinion, proffers ideas and
suggestions.

 Another way to learn through a social interaction is to give the students the
opportunity to make decisions and to act responsibly. So, secondly, they decide the
date to perform their show and tell. A list of dates is provided and hung on the classroom
board. Then, the children sign up freely. They also indicate the topic to prevent
repetitions (APPENDIX 3).

 To organise children’s learning, the activity is structured or “scaffold” in clear steps:

children are given some guiding cards (APPENDIX 4 and 5). They can be revisited and

Page 26
 reviewed during and once they finish their presentation as a checklist. Two weeks
before their presentation, children hand in their outlines and eventually their
compositions of their talks. Thus, the student works together with the teacher. The
teacher recognises problems or weaknesses, offers encourage, suggests ideas, makes
proposal or improvement and provides constructive feedback. If children have the
opportunity to redo, revise or rewrite their activity, they will be gain motivation.

 As we have said before, teachers should provide ways to sort information decide which
information is appropriate and organise it in sequences. No doubt that one part of this
activity requires looking for information, researching or investigating. The teacher
might help the student to develop the ability to record details by asking questions about
the topic that prompts the student to write an elaborated narrative. Children will need
to clarify ideas or to deepen about some aspects. They can use encyclopedias, books
and the Internet. They will decide which parts are suitable for their topics and structure
into paragraphs, using their own words and vocabulary. It also involves the use of
dictionaries to look up doubts or to check pronunciation of new words.

 As far as Multiple Intelligences is concerned, this resource develops not only linguistic
competences but also body language for the children to express themselves, so that
auditory, visual and kinaesthetic intelligences are involved. The teacher provides
constant feedback while the student is carrying out the presentation in order to
encourage them or to correct possible faults. The teacher, at the back of the classroom,
shows the speaker various flashcards in relation to different elements: Slower, Louder,
Clearer, Look at us, Control your body, Well done, Amazing, Better, Keep it up, Very good, Out of
time. (APPENDIX 6 ) Besides flashcards regarding communicative rules are displayed
on the classroom walls.

Likewise, interpersonal intelligence is involved in the activity by including a debate at

the end of the presentation, students learn how to handle the situation of speaking in
front of others, accept their opinion, suggestions and feedbacks. Thus, a question time
about the expounded topic is opened. All other students are encouraged to ask
questions about the presentation. The speaker clears up doubts and responds to the
pupils’ questions. The teacher can also ask questions either to clarify data, to prompt
and encourage pupils’ inquiry or to steer peers’ questions away from the anecdotal
towards the substance of the presentations. Classmates and teacher’s questions should
provide opportunities for the speaker to express opinions or to describe hypothetical
situations if possible. Afterwards, the students assess their classmate. Firstly they do it
orally. They are expected to set two positive aspects and something that could be
improved in the future, two stars and a wish, such as I liked the tone of your voice and your body
language. If I were you I would organize the contents in a clearer way or I liked your power point
presentation and how you organized the contents. If I were you, I would speak louder and slower or I
think your show and tell was very interesting. I liked your resources too. If I were you, I would check
the pronunciation of some words. Finally, pupils fill in a feedback card about different aspects
related to the presentation. Anonymously classmates evaluate, from one to ten,
essential features on what an oral presentation is, not only oral skills but also body

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 language, presentation structure, grammar as well as tenses, vocabulary, resources,
interest, creativity. (APPENDIX 7).

 Evaluation and feedback are also important aspects of classroom and task structures.
Students need to be aware of the criteria on which their evaluation is basing. If the
children have clear describing features of a successful task, students understand what
they are striving for. It’s important to get clear and specific feedback that describes
what has been accomplished well and what needs to be improved. Not only peer-
assessment occurs, as we have just seen, but obviously also teacher assessment. A more
formal evaluation takes place by the teacher during the presentation. The teacher has a
grid with explicit criteria about accuracy and quality of expression, which is used to take
systematic notes on the pupil’s presentation. It’s also used as a basis for termly reports
to parents or interviews with them. (APPENDIX 8).

 According to the development of abilities on reflection and to work on intrapersonal

intelligence, we finish the task with a self-assessment process. This process enables
children to be aware of their strong points and those features that need improvement.
Children evaluate themselves by filling in a self-assessment card. This final task can be
fulfilled at home and handed it in the following day. It provides the pupil with plenty of
time to do it properly. Finally, the students, taking into account peer’s, teacher’s and
self assessment, sets two goals on their challenge card which should be achieved in the
final presentation for the BP exam to be held at the end of the school year
(APPENDIX 9 and 10).

6- RESULTS

The Bilingual Project represents a unique initiative unlike the model of how languages were
taught in Spanish schools. It requires a very distinct approach from the traditional focus of
learning English as a second language.

The BP is particularly challenging considering the lack of exposure to English in which

pupils live in terms of a societal environment and the little English children use outside
school in a daily basis, compared with Northern European countries.

Bilingual education was commonly associated to a socio-economic privilege. In this regard,

the BP is both radical and innovative by accessing a large number of state primary schools.
But not only a great number of children benefit from this BP, in fact, when first Spanish
schools applied for the BP, one of the selective criteria taken into consideration was that
the school was located in a less-favoured area. In this way, the BP enables many children,
who had not had the chance, to study a bilingual education.

Since the school joined the project, there has been a process of change. The BP involves a
whole-school approach:

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On the school:

 A visible presence of English around school. Spaces must be shared to set displays in
corridors and mediators in classrooms. The schools is decorated at festivals and
celebrations related to the English culture: Halloween, St. Valentine’s Day, Pancake
Day, St. Patrick’s day, Easter eggs and bunnies etc.

 When other Spanish celebrations are planned e.g. Constitution Day, Peace Day, Tree
Day, Carnival, Book Day, Mother and Father’s Day, Christmas Festival, Graduations
are carried out in both languages.

 The enrollment demand has increased considerably. The school is well known for its
attainments in bilingual education and so it has become the first choice for many
families when it comes to choosing school for their children.

On the staff

 The BP requires a management approach based on consultation and collaboration with

teaching colleagues.

 All the staff gets used to hearing teachers and children talking in English around
school. It must be interpreted not a showing off symbol but as a strategy for the benefit
of the children.

 There are as many English teachers as teachers for Spanish and mathematics. There
was an initial fear from the latter ones about losing their posts in the interest of English
teachers.

 Project teachers must be fluent in English. Classes are held 100% in English and
Science, Geography and History are taught through English.

 There is a high degree of dedication by the school staff to the project and a deep
commitment to making it succeed. It includes willingness to create self-produced
materials; to collaborate with colleagues; to innovate, to use new technologies in the
classroom. They are open to new ideas, have strong belief in teamwork

 The BP involves changes in teaching methodology: a variety range of activities which

offer students cognitive challenge, integrating their knowledge across subjects of
linguistic thinking skills; the creation of community atmosphere in class in which
students collaborate; language-focused strategies, covering grammar and vocabulary,
plus the lecture of different school subject.

 There is a transformation in terms of linguistic and cognitive thinking and social skills
in teachers.

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 The BP demands constant teaching training. The Ministry and the British Council
together organize highly valued courses for teachers about the latest trends in
Education, which allows teachers to keep updated. Obviously, these courses are to the
benefit of the children and key for further improvements.

On the children

 Children show a great interest and a high motivation degree due to the completely new
methodology used and their involvement in their own learning.

 Students strongly believe that English would bring benefit to their future studies.

 They are aware of the extra effort they need to do at school to become bilingual but
they take advantage of the bilingual situation that the BP brings them, aware of the
little opportunity to use their English outside school.

 The BP has a positive effect on their oral communicative and linguistic competence:

 Children can talk confidently and coherently.

 Their talk is adapted to the purpose and show increasing ability to adapt to the
purpose of the task and develop ideas thoughtfully.

 Pupils can convey opinions clearly.

 Their talk engages the interest of the listeners.

 Children speak up and out and use body language to support their meaning.

 They are aware of the right attitude when talking in front of others.

 Children can manage the natural fear of speaking in front of their classmates.

 They accept their classmates’ opinions and suggestions.

 Students enjoy the experience of telling or explaining about the topic of their
choice.

 Their presentation has an accurate structure including an introduction, contents

and a conclusion.

 Pupils can arrange contents in both a significant and attractive way to keep the
listener’s attention.

 They use paraphrasing to convey meaning accurately and effectively.

 They may occasionally need some prompting from the teacher but their response is
usually relevant and coherent.

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  Pupils use a variety of basic structures and often correct tenses (present, past,
future), but there are still occasional confusions. They attempt to use more complex
grammatical structures and lexical terms though these may be inaccurate. These
confusions may sometimes lead to misunderstandings. However they can make up
their meaning clear through paraphrasing when the teacher indicates lack of
comprehension.

 Rhythm and intonation are still quite similar to Spanish but do not on the whole
impede comprehension.

On the parents

 Parents show a great enthusiasm to realise how they children express naturally in a
second language.

 They have a very positive attitude towards the BP and are aware of how innovative it is.

 They appreciate the commitment and involvement of the teachers to carry out the
project. They usually support their initiatives and try to get involved if possible. They
consider the role of the project teachers, as something essential for the project success.

Dobson, Pérez Murillo and Johnstone (2010), in a recent evaluation report, on the findings
of an independent three-year investigation, headed by a leading world expert in bilingual
education, point out the key characteristics of Year 6 pupils’ spoken language in a specific
setting. The following conclusions are based on four different tasks. The children were
asked to talk in English in relation to four tasks: 1) Their experience of the bilingual
education programme (BEP). 2) A book or story they had enjoyed. 3) An aspect of science
they had found interesting and 4) General discussion with the interviewer about their
interests, holidays, etc.:

The generally fluent, wide-ranging, accurate, coherent and ‘on-task’ performance in

spoken English by those in the top and middle ranges must be considered as
meeting the aims of the BEP, both in their ability to cope with the four tasks and in
the quality of spoken English language which they were able to produce – all the
more so, given that the tasks were undertaken in interaction with an adult person
who was either not at all known, or not well known, to them and that only a broad
indication of the nature of the task had been given beforehand. Also worthy of note
was the pupils’ ability to function as a social, collaborative group during the
interviews (rather than as isolated individuals) and to show confidence and interest
in undertaking what was asked of them.

The weakest pupils were by no means inarticulate. Many were capable of

understanding, and some capable of communicating basic messages. At the same
time, though, the evaluation team suggests that consideration should be given to
finding ways of helping these weaker pupils to increase their range, fluency and

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 accuracy in spoken English production, if they are to gain the richest benefits of a
BP education. (p.70).

According with the results of the 2011/2012 BP exams that 46 students have carried out
last June, 10,86% of the children were in Band One, 71,75% were in Band Two and
17,39% were in Band Three. It means that we meet the average attainment levels that are
established by the Integrated Curriculum.

C. FINAL CONCLUSIONS

7. ANALYSIS OF THE SCOPE

We can distinguish two different areas of scope: on the one hand, those related to general
aspects of learning and on the other hand those specific features about the development of
oral skills.

Learning ideas about the effect of using different resources considering the theory of
multiple intelligences; the incorporation of peer and self assessment to develop
metacognitive skills, the three core teaching strategies to support students’ skills in a
apprenticeship environment; the principles to establish a social context learning, and the
influence that emotions have on the learning process could be considered by any other
educational context.

As to all the specific strategies and techniques focused on how to develop oral skills, could
be transferred by any of the 74 BP schools around Spain. Nevertheless, Bilingual
Education is been largely fostered by educational authorities lately. We think that the
essential part of these techniques could be developed in any other bilingual program,
adapting and adjusting the work to their own context and reality.

Moreover, the development of oral skills is not a unique aspect that should be fostered and
achieved only in a bilingual situation and accomplished in a second language. Oral
competences are also an essential goal in the mother-tongue subject. In this agree, these
strategies could be implemented in other subjects such as Spanish language subject. In fact,
some of our schoolmates have imported these techniques into the Spanish lessons and now
the children use the same tactic to carry out their oral presentations in the Spanish show and
tell.

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8. CONSIDERATIONS

We must consider that this kind of projects need the crucial support of institutions such as
the British Council and the Ministry of Education in this case, which selected the extra
teachers needed to develop the program as well as the constant teacher training on
innovative learning.

On the other hand, all new projects suffered an experimental period and need time to
become successful. Each school has struggled and managed to adapt the guidelines of the
BP to its own reality and has finally found its own way to develop the program. It was
preceded by hours of work, meetings, agreements, arguments and decisions to get the
project off the ground. Therefore, teachers’ attitude towards the project has an important
impact. They should be open to new ideas, methodology and innovation, willing to reach
agreements, to coordinate, committed to carry out action plans being positive and open-
minded.

Throughout the last ten years the way to meet the aims of the project has become
systematised and achievements are widely visible. Time is an essential word.

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 D- BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAFY AND REFERENCES

 Baker, J.A., Terry, T., Bridger, R. & Winsor, A. (1997) Schools as caring
communities: A relational approach to school reform. School Psychology Review, 586-
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 Benton, T. & White, K. (2007) Raising the Achievement of Bilingual Learners in Primary
Schools. Nottingham: Department for children, schools and families.

 Blanchard, J. (2009) Teaching, Learning and Assessment. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill

Open University Press

 Brown, J.S., Collins, A. & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of
learning. Educational Researcher, 18, 32-42

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Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.

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 Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). The right to learn: A Blueprint for creating schools that work.
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 Darling-Hammond, L. The Learning Classroom: Theory into Practice.

http://www.learner.org/courses/learningclassroom/support_pages/index.html
(Search: 20th March 2012)

 Dobson, A.; Pérez Murillo, D. & Johnstone, R. (2010) Bilingual Education Project
Spain. Evaluation Report. Madrid: Bristish Council Spain and Ministerio de Educación
(IFIIE).

 Fleming, M. (2010) The Aims of Language Teaching and Learning. Strasbourg: Council
of Europe.

 Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practise New York: Basic Books.

 Gardner, H. (1999). The disciplined mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.

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 Hergenham, B.R. (1976). An introduction to theories of learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
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 http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories (Research: 15th

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March 2012).

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September 2002).

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(Research: 5th September 2010).

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Pennsylvania Press.

 Krashen, S.D; Terrell, T.D. (1983). The Natural Approach. New York: Pergamon.

 Noddings, N. (1992) The challenge to care in schools: An alternative approach to education.

New York: Teachers College Press.

 Palincsar, A. & Brown, A. (1984) Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering

and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 117-175

 Rogers, C. (1969) Freedom to learn. New York: C. E. Merrill Pub. Co.

 Scrivener, J. (2005) Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

 Stipek, D.J. (2002) Motivation to learn: Integrating theory and practice. Boston: Ally &
Bacon

 Tharp, R.G., Estrada P., Dalton, S. & Yamauchi, A. (2000). Teaching transformed:
Achievement excellence, fairness, inclusion, and harmony. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

 VV.AA (2004) Orientaciones para el desarrollo del Currículo integrado Hispano-Británico en

Educación Infantil. Convenio M.E.C./ British Council. Madrid: MEC Secretaría General
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 VV.AA (2006) Orientaciones para el desarrollo del Currículo integrado Hispano-Británico en

Educación Primaria. Convenio M.E.C./ British Council. Madrid: MEC Secretaría General
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 Vygotsky, L.S. (1978), Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
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 White, K., Lewis, K. & Fletcher-Campbell, F. (2006) Raising the Achievement of
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E- APPENDIX

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APPENDIX 1

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APPENDIX 2

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APPENDIX 3

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APPENDIX 4

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APPENDIX 5

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APPENDIX 6

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APPENDIX 7

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APPENDIX 8

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APPENDIX 9

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APPENDIX 10

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