Estimados usuarios. Bienvenidos a nuestro sitio virtual de la UNIVERSIDAD MAGISTER en Slide Share donde podrá encontrar los resultados de importantes trabajos de investigación prácticos producidos por nuestros profesionales. Esperamos que estos Mares Azules que les ponemos a su disposición sirvan de base para otras investigaciones y juntos cooperemos en el Desarrollo Económico y Social de Costa Rica y otras latitudes. Queremos ser enfáticos en que estos trabajos tienen Propiedad Intelectual por lo que queda totalmente prohibida su reproducción parcial o total, así como ser utilizados por otro autor, a excepción de que los compartan como citas de autor o referencias bibliográficas. Toda esta información también quedará a su disposición desde nuestro sitio web www.umagister.com, Disfruten con nosotros de este magno contenido bibliográfico Magister esperando sus amables comentarios, no sin antes agradecer a nuestro Ing. Jerry González quien está administrando este sitio. Rectoría, Universidad Magister. – 2016.

1. UNIVERSIDAD MAGISTER
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
CARRERA DE LICENCIATURA EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS
TESIS PARA OPTAR POR EL GRADO DE LICENCIATURA EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS
“STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS FACED BY NGÄBE INDIGENOUS
STUDENTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT LICEO DE
SIXAOLA, LIMÓN 2018”
EVA MARÍA ARGUEDAS PÉREZ
MAYO, 2018

2. JUSTIFICATION
The twenty five percent of the students at Liceo de Sixaola are indigenous
students belonging to the Guaymie ethnicity (Ngäbe). Almost all of these
students have low academic performance in the English subject since they must
face many difficulties associated with the sociocultural barriers that do not allow
them to acquire a good academic performance in the subject. This research will
try to determine the aspects that are affecting these indigenous students with the
intention of offering a proposal that let improve the performance of this
population.

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT
How do the sociocultural barriers of Ngäbe indigenous students affect
the acquisition of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) taught under
standardized teaching processes by MEP at Liceo de Sixaola, Limón
2018.

4. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of sociocultural barriers on indigenous students
from the Ngäbe population during the acquisition of English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) with the aim of developing a Proposal that improves the
English performance of the students at Liceo Sixaola, Limón 2018.

5. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 To analyze the influence of the sociocultural barriers Ngäbe indigenous
students face in search of understanding the factors that difficult the learning
of English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
 To determine the influence of teachers in the learning of English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) with the aim of improving the educational practices.
 To state the importance of the role of parents in the success of indigenous
students for increasing their performance in English language.

6. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 To identify the reaction of the indigenous students towards the
learning of the English language with the purpose of finding
suggestions on how getting entitled of their learning process.
 To develop a proposal that integrates indigenous learners in oral
English classes by improving their performance in such a way
that they can speak out about those methodologies that they find
suitable for their culture.

7. VARIABLES
 Influence of sociocultural barriers faced by Ngäbe students
 Influence of teachers in the language learning process
 Role of parents in the increase of English language performance
 Reaction of Ngäbe indigenous students towards their learning
process

8. THE INSTITUTION

9. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
NGÄBE OR GUAYMIE ETHNICITY
The Ngäbe are indigenous citizens who are settled in both Costa Rica and
Panama. It is a large indigenous group originated from a migratory
movement that took place more than 50 years ago on the border between
Panama and Costa Rica.

10. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS
The concept sociocultural barrier means differences in gender, ethnicity, race, religion,
health or socioeconomic status, between individuals or groups that prevent them from
achieving or accomplishing their goals or deny their opportunity to access resources and
to advance their interests.

11. TYPE OF INVESTIGATION
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
Since it seeks to identify and obtain a description of the sociocultural
barriers that affect the acquisition of English as a Second Language of
Ngäbe indigenous students at Liceo de Sixaola, 2018.

12. POPULATION
SAMPLE
The population will be conform by two English teachers, forty Ngäbe indigenous students of Liceo
Sixaola and seventy-four parents of the indigenous students.
The sample is taken from fifteen Ngäbe students with low performance in the English subject
belonging to the different levels, three parents of these students and an English teacher of the
institution.

13. TECHNICAL INSTRUMENTS TO COLLECT DATA
OBSERVATION
INTERVIEW
QUESTIONNAIRE

14. INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS IN THE LANGUAGE
LEARNING PROCESS
 Teacher gives the lessons in English but sometimes use the Spanish language.
 The classes are not innovatives and teacher does not use audiovisual material to
explains the contents.
 Teacher does not use examples where elementos of indigenous culture are
incorporated.
 Teacher provides individual attention and give feedback at the end of the class.

15. REACTION OF NGÄBE INDIGENOUS STUDENTS
TOWARD THE LEARNING PROCESS
 Students do not understand English instructions
 Students do not show interest by the subject.
 They do not interact with other classmates only with students of the same
culture.
 Students do not express themselves in English when requesting something.
 They keep relationship only with students of the same ethnicity.
 They arrive puntual to lessons.
 Students almost always work in class but they do not like oral participation.

16.  Lack of motivation by part of teachers and mainly of the parents.
 Lack of economic resources that prevent them from offering appropriated conditions to the
student to dispose their mind to learning.
 The MEP programs totally exclude the indigenous culture.
 Identity difficulties that the teacher faces when working with indigenous students.
 Difficulty to express their opinion or ask questions to clarify doubts.
 The teachers of the institution are not trained in indigenous education issues.
INFLUENCE OF SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS
FACED BY NGÄBE STUDENTS

17. Parents consider that the academic performance of their children can be affected by:
• The lack of economic support
• Parents do not have the possibility to help their children because they do not know
how to read or write.
• Parents do not visit the institution to ask about the condition or behavior of their
children.
ROLE OF PARENTS IN THE INCREASE OF
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE

18. ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES APPLIED TO STUDENTS
20%
80%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Regular Bad
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
OF NGÄBE INDIGENOUS
STUDENTS
INFLUENCE OF SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS FACED BY NGÄBE STUDENTS

19. CONDITION OF THE CLASSROOM WHERE THE NGÄBE STUDENTS RECEIVE ENGLISH
20%
67%
13%
Pleasant
Few Pleasant
Unpleasant

20. SCHOOL ITEMS THAT NGÄBE INDIGENOUS STUDENTS HAVE
0% 13%
100%
27%
20%
13% 0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Books Notebooks Pencils Backpack School
Uniform
Shoes English
Dictionary

21. AMOUNT OF FOOD THAT STUDENTS EAT BEFORE ATTENDING CLASSES
20%
80%
Much Few Not at all

22. ACADEMIC SUPPORT OF NGÄBE PARENTS IN THE LEARNING PROCESS
7%
93%
Always Almost always Never

23. ECONOMICAL SUPPORT OF NGÄBE PARENTS IN THE LEARNING PROCESS
87%
13%
1
2
yes
No

24. NGÄBE STUDENTS OPINION ABOUT THE ENGLISH CLASSES
INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS IN THE LANGUAGE LEARNING PROCESS
7%
13%
7%
73%
The methodology The classroom
The English Subject Oral Participation

25. Understand
very few
80%
Don´t understand at
all
20%
Always understand Understand almost all
Understand very few Don´t understand at all
COMPREHENSION LEVEL TOWARDS THE ENGLISH TEACHER

26. THE ENGLISH CLASSES ARE CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Always Almost always Almost never Never

27. APPROPRIATE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING
NO
94%
SI
6%
1 2

28. CONCLUSIONS
 One of the main sociocultural barriers faced by Ngäbe students refers to
the identity.
 Lack of financial resources of parents for the shortage of employment in
Talamanca.
 The high degree of illiteracy of these groups of people.
 The conditions of the classroom.

29. CONCLUSIONS
 English classes tend to be very boring, the teacher does not motivate
students with playful and innovative activities.
 Parents of the students did not attend to school, they do not know how
to read or write, so they are unable to motivate their children.
 Students do not like oral participation, they feel isolated, they relate
mainly with other students of their own ethnicity.

30. RECOMMENDATIONS
 Trained teachers in the topic of indigenous Education,
 Adequate material
 Restructuring study programs
 Carried out campaigns to collect school supplies, or request donations to institutions to
provide these students with the tools they need to study
 Didactic activities that let incorporate Ngäbe students within the group
 Teachers must be dynamic in order to make the class interesting and catch the attention of
the students
 Teachers who work with indigenous students must use some aspects of the culture of this
people to exemplify the content.

31. PROPOSAL OF A DIDACTIC GUIDE FOR THE
INTEGRATION OF INDIGENOUS LEARNERS IN ORAL
ENGLISH CLASSES AND COMUNICATION PLAN

32. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
 To integrates indigenous learners in oral English classes by improving their
English performance in such a way that they can speak out about those
methodologies that they find suitable for their culture.

33. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
 To design a Didactic Guide for teachers that integrate indigenous
students in oral English classes and to make aware about the
importance of incorporating elements of indigenous culture in English
classes.
 To elaborate a communication plan facilitating the communicative
process of the Didactic guide.

34. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL
Firstly, the problem that currently affects the indigenous
students is analyzed, which refers to the low school
performance in the English Subject.
Once identified the main factors that are affecting the low
school performance, will be define the proposal that will
improve the condition of these students. The institutional
factors such as the population to which the proposal is
addressed, the time available to apply it, the objectives that
are intended to be achieved are analyzed.

35. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL
Information is collected from different internet sources, firstly, to
provide information to the teacher about how to approach the issues
with indigenous students without leaving aside the elements of their
culture.
Activities are planned through the use of didactic sheets, which
provide teachers with strategies that allow them to create teaching
materials relevant to the cultural context and natural environment in
which their students are immersed.

36. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL
It consists of a document which initially contains strategies
that allow teachers to create didactic materials, relevant to
the cultural context and natural environment in which their
students are immersed. The activities emphasize in the
acquisition of oral communication skills, listening, reading
and writing in bilingual educational situations. Next, some
didactic sheets are included, with exercises, in which the
oral participation of the students is mainly encouraged.

37. DIDACTIC GUIDE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF
INDIGENOUS LEARNERS IN ORAL ENGLISH
CLASSES
The didactic guide provides teachers of indigenous education strategies
that allow them to create didactic materials, relevant to the cultural context
and natural environment in which their students are immersed, that
encourage the acquisition of oral communication skills, listening, reading
and writing in bilingual educational situations.

38. METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL
It is about developing the contents of the program, incorporating cultural
elements of the students. The teacher will create spaces for oral
participation in which students share aspects of their culture, so that
indigenous students will not feel excluded and a sense of belonging and
trust is encouraged to express themselves freely.

39. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL
This will be a proposal to be applied at Liceo de Sixaola,
principal and English teachers will be informed about the
objectives and content of this proposal. The document is
provided to the teachers of the educational center, leaving a
copy of the guide at Liceo de Sixaola. In addition, it will be
uploaded to the web as a pdf document.

40. IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSAL
INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT
This guide will cause a big impact in the institution. It will be very useful for teachers and
students and in general the entire institution. It will guide the teacher on how to approach
the subjects of the syllabus, encouraging the participation of the indigenous students and
motivating them to share elements of their culture into the classroom.

41. IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSAL
COMMUNITY IMPACT
The application of this proposal will make Liceo de Sixaola an example for other
educational institutions in the community. In this way, these institutions could use this
didactic guide to work with the indigenous students of the community, improving the
school performance of the students and promoting the cultural legacy of the indigenous
groups.