Some considerations on the teaching of English in secondary school in the province of Buenos Aires.

1. Or:
Teachers at crossroads:
A teaching dilemma
Lic. Pablo J Labandeira
Ituzaingó, October 28th 2014

2. “I hereby solemnly make a
pledge of believing every
single word I am going to
read in the pages that
follow. Should I not, may
the sternest punishment of

3. •Ambitious?
•Daring?

4. Language acquisition: This term is most often used
interchangeably with language learning. However, for
some researchers, most notably Stephen Krashen,
acquisition is contrasted with learning. According to
Krashen, acquisition represents “unconscious”
learning, which takes place when attention is
focused on meaning rather than on language form.

6. “the learning of English for use in
a setting where English is the
principal language (e.g.,
immigrants learning English in
the UK) [Cf. with Second
language: any language other
than the first language learned.
(P. 178)]

9. •Language learning, “a learner’s developing
knowledge of the target language (...) contrasted
with ‘acquisition’, and (...) described as a ‘conscious’
process.”
•Foreign language learning: “the learning of a (...)
language in a context where the target language is
not widely used in the community”

10. “pedagogy should be refashioned in order to
accommodate the modes of communication
and acquisition seen outside the classroom”
“students have to understand communication
as performative, not just constitutive”
“all our students speak Spanish as their first
language and they have very few contact
situations outside”
we now have to train students to shuttle between communities by negotiating
the relevant codes. To this end, we have to focus more on communicative
strategies, rather than on forms of communication.”[i]
[i] Lingua Franca English, Multilingual Communities, and Language Acquisition, The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)

14. FIG. 9.1. The pedagogic wheel (from Kumaravadivelu, 2003a, p. 41).

15. “teachers have to develop in students a readiness to engage with a repertoire
of codes in transnational contact situations. Although enabling students to
join a new speech community was the objective of traditional pedagogy, we
now have to train students to shuttle between communities by negotiating
the relevant codes. To this end, we have to focus more on communicative
strategies, rather than on forms of communication.”
State or condition of an individual
that makes it possible for him or her
to engage profitably in a given
learning activity -- learning
readiness depends on such factors as
past experiences, cognitive
development, affective factors, and
motivation as well as on the
instructional methods and materials
to be used

16. “teachers have to develop in students a readiness to engage with a repertoire
of codes in transnational contact situations. Although enabling students to
join a new speech community was the objective of traditional pedagogy, we
now have to train students to shuttle between communities by negotiating
the relevant codes. To this end, we have to focus more on communicative
strategies, rather than on forms of communication.”
a repertoire
of strategies in intercultural situations.

17. human communication is marked
by indeterminacy, multimodality
and heterogeneity
But…

18. “Mainstream linguistics (…) fails to give importance to
attitudinal, psychological, and perceptual factors that mold
the intersubjective processes of communication. This failing
is partly due to the primacy of cognition and reason in
communication within the mainstream paradigm.”
What brings people together in communities is not
what they share—language, discourse, or values—
but interests to be accomplished.

19. oThese mutual interests would permit individuals to move in and
out of multiple communities to accomplish their goals, without
considering prior traits that are innate or that are exclusively
shared with others. (…)This view would redefine communities as
lacking boundedness and a center; they are, rather, contact zones
where people from diverse backgrounds meet .
oWhat enables them to work together on their interests are
negotiation practices they bring to various tasks (not common
language, discourse, or values).
oWhat enables them to develop expertise in the workings of each
community is also practice— that is, engaging actively in
purposive activities of that community (not accumulating
knowledge and information theoretically without involvement),
and acquiring a repertoire of strategies (not information, rules, or
cognitive schemata). (…) Identities would then be based on
affiliation and expertise rather than those ascribed by birth,
family, race, or blood

20. As we realize that norms are heterogeneous,
variable, changing, and, therefore,
interactively established in each context, we
have to move away from a reliance on
discrete-item tests on formal grammatical
competence and develop instruments that
are more sensitive to performance and
pragmatics. Assessment would focus on one’s
strategies of negotiation, situated
performance, communicative repertoire, and
language awareness. To this end, we must
develop new instruments with imagination
and creativity (Canagarajah, 2006c)
Who? Me?
You kidding?
Models of…?

21. Pedagogical
flexibility
ease
solution
Critical analysis of reality
Thoughtful
reflection Opening to
possibilities
presented by
EFL teaching
Clear assessment of needs and goals
Critical analysis of
particular teaching
contexts

22. Paul