Ma. Graciela gonzalez cristo

Average		96

Table 14. Test 4 scores according to occupations

Occupation	Number of persons	Score
Electrician
Office assistant
Social worker
School principal	1	90
Secretary	4	97.5
Chief in charge of inspectors
Did not give their position
Total	5

2.5 Final Average

The final average resulted from the four CRT’s Tests was 91.9 (Table 15). Females got an average of 91.9 and males obtained an average of 75 (Table 16). The final scores regarding to occupations are shown on table 17.

Table 15. Final average of four CRT’s Tests

	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4		Final average
Average	81.8	94	96	96	367.8/4	91.9

Table 16. Final average according to gender

	FEMALES	MALES
TEST 1 AVERAGE	81.8	75
TEST 2 AVERAGE	94
TEST 3 AVERAGE	96
TEST 4 AVERAGE	96
	367.8./4
FINAL AVERAGE	91.9	75

Table 17 Final average according to occupations

Occupation	Number of people	Test 1 score	Number of people	Test 2 score	Number of people	Test 3 score	Number of people	Test 4 score	Final average
Electrician	1	60							60
Office assistant	2	60							60
Social worker	1	70							70
School principal	2	90.5	1	90	1	100	1	90	92.6
Secretary	4	90.5	4	95	4	95	4	97.5	94.5
Chief in charge of inspectors	1	90							90
Did not give their position	2	80							80
Total	13		5		5		5

3. 
   Learning Journals
   

Students wrote a journal. They gave a report after each of the tests describing their feelings and opinions about the class method, dynamism, difficultness, effectiveness, as well as about their general academic and skills improvement. Appendix B They mentioned how they liked or disliked it, or how they have improved or not in the academic competence. After gathering the information, we got the following results:

3.1 Report 1

1. 
   The Method
   

Ten students mentioned they enjoy the class very much, that the method was excellent. One student mentioned the method was good. Two learners wrote they think the method is good, they liked it, but they feel they still need a textbook.

2. 
   Dynamism
   

Eleven students said classes were very dynamic, that the teacher motivated them to participate many times in each class. One said classes were just OK, liked, and enjoyed learning. A person reported the need of using a book, more games.

3. 
   Difficultness
   

The opinions concerning to difficultness vary a lot only four students said the class was not difficult at all. Five mentioned it was a little or regular difficult and the other four said it was hard or very hard, but they did their best effort.

4. 
   Effectiveness
   

Nine students mentioned they learned a lot, that it was really an effective method. Two established the class was effective and they learned well in general. Two persons found the class relatively effective. They think they need a textbook.

5. 
   General Academic Improvement
   

From the thirteen students, three of them said they noticed a regular improvement. Eight students observed a good improvement and one an excellent acquisition of the language.

6. 
   Listening
   

Two students observed a regular development. Seven students a good improvement, and four acquired an excellent progress.

7. 
   Speaking
   

Four students had a little progress in speaking, six a regular and three a good improvement in this skill.

8. 
   Reading
   

Four students had a regular improvement; five think they got a good advance and the last four an excellent development.

9. 
   Writing
   

Four students got a regular advance, 5 a good one, and other four an excellent improvement.

3.2 Reports 2, 3 and 4

The results obtained on the last three reports of the learning journals were in general similar because the same students integrated the sample. They mentioned the method was dynamic and they felt comfortable following it. They found it effective but they required a lot of attention, organization and some extra study without being difficult.
Regarding to academic development, they learned a lot and they improved considerably their listening, reading, and writing skills but they want to get more practice in speaking. They would like to continue studying English.
.
4. Teaching Journal and Lesson Report
Outline of the most important reflections on our teaching journal and lesson report are:

• 
  Students were interested in the class. They cooperated, participated, and learned well.
  
• 
  External problems, which in this case was the students’ work, (elections, change of government) motivated students’ desertion, about the 60%.
  
• 
  Absences forced repetition of the lessons. That meant more practice for students who always attended classes.
  
• 
  Following lesson plans according to the syllabus schedule was difficult.
  
• 
  Students that continued in the course did not attend daily, that is a limitation for the course, because without a textbook, you need the 90% of attendance, in order to attain the goals of the program.
  
• 
  Keeping the students busy in different activities made the course dynamic and interesting.
  
• 
  Older students were very interesting, they really know the importance of the language in their work life, and they made a big effort to attend and to acquire it.
  
• 
  A smaller class provides additional individual participation and increases teacher’s attention to each of the students.
  

Discussion

After collecting the data and obtaining the results, we confirm that using a combination of the communicative approach, the audio-lingual and natural methods, under the implementation of the learning focus of constructivism, the acquiring of English, as a foreign language is effective and efficient without using a textbook, when students have at least the 90% of attendance.

The principal external factor directly affecting the developing of the course was students´ attendance, limited by their work requirements. It was the most important problem encountered during the developing of this action research. Regarding to classroom equipment, the only problem found was that the classroom had a little whiteboard, not enough to write all the information in a clear way.
Students received well both the method and the course. They enjoyed and learned at the same time. Students’ comments in their journals (see appendix B on page 30) demonstrated they found the program efficient, effective, and dynamic, with a perceived relative degree of difficultness. In all the cases, students mentioned they improved their academic knowledge: writing, reading, listening and in a lower scale their improvement of speaking abilities.
The course was effective in general and the course’s objectives adequate to the students’ English level. During the accomplishment of the program, we executed the methods chosen for the course as planned. Students received the course very enthusiastic. They worked hard and practice without a textbook and in most of the cases, the use of a textbook was not required, at least for this real beginner’s class.
There was enough time to cover each of the topics, having every student the opportunity to practice many times during each session. Lessons were very dynamic; the teacher participated around 25% of the time. Students gained enough oral and written practice throughout the other 75%. They had the opportunity to learn from their classmates and teacher’s corrections. A benefit detected in this program without a textbook, was that students were always paying attention and taking notes, otherwise they could miss and important part of the lesson.
Students had a good performance in the achievement tests. Some need more study time in each unit, because their learning style required the use of a textbook; in order to replace it, they need extra practice time. The final average obtained by the sample was 91.9, (Table 15) which indicates they got a satisfactory rate of learning. It is important to state that the sample chosen for the first evaluation was of 13 persons with an average score of 81.1 (Table 1). Students´ desertion increased in this second part of the course. Around 16 students attended regularly, but on date of the three last tests, only five students attended. As the group became smaller, the rate of learning obtained for the second evaluation averaged 94 points (Table 6), and for the third and fourth evaluations were 96 on each of them. (Tables 9 and 12)
There are students who still need to review some lessons; however, there were other external factor modifying the results such as no time for extra study, stress, family problems, learning styles, and academic background.
The teaching methods employed were good, as grades and learning journals illustrate it. In Test one, only three of the thirteen students got a grade equal to six (Table 3). According to their occupation, (Table 5) students obtaining a grade of six were the ones who develop more physical job, where reading, writing as well as studying is not very frequent. Therefore, from the results, we infer that students´ learning style, study habits, and academic background have a near relation with their score, suggesting this as a further research.
The results indicated the implementation of program was successful, but absenteeism did not permit to have the complete sample when applying the second, third and fourth tests. . For further research, I recommend, that in order to avoid desertion, it is important to work with people who pay for the course, people committed by their work superiors or their parents.
In conclusion, the approach, methods, mixed syllabuses, and teaching activities employed during the course allowed real beginner students of English as a foreign language, who normally attended classes to acquire the language without using a textbook, obtaining a very good rate of learning.

Bibliography

Brown, D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Brown, D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. NY: Pearson Education

Brown, J (1995). The Elements of Language Curriculum. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers

Chan, D., Kaplan-Weinger, J., & Sandstrom, D. (1995). Journeys To Cultural Understanding. Boston: Heinle & Heinle

Chomsky, N. (1974). Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Dictionary of Contemporary English (2003), England: Pearson Education

Harmer J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. NY:

Pearson Education

Morris, J., Carter, J. & Cisneros, V. (1967) American English Course One, Mexico: Instituto Mexicano Norteamericano de Relaciones Culturales, A. C.

Nunan, X. Cited in Brown (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. NY: Pearson Education

Richards, J.C. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language. England: Cambridge University Press

Richards, J. C. & Lesly, T. (2001). New Interchange Intro Book: English for International Communication. England: Cambridge University Press.

Scrivener, J. (1994). Learning teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers. Whenever: Macmillan & Friends

Appendices

Appendix A

The CRTs. used to evaluate this study are on the teacher’s reference book.

New Interchange Intro Book

Teacher’s Edition
Test 1 Units 1-4 pages: T-159, T-160, T-161, T-162
Test 2 Units 5-8 pages: T-163, T-164, T-165, T-166
Test 3 Units 9-12 pages: T-167, T-168, T-169, T-170
Test 4 Units 13-16 pages: T-171, T-172, T-173, T-174

Appendix B

Learning Journal

You are going to write a learning journal in Spanish, your comments after the each of the exams. Please write about the course, your feelings. Mention how you liked or disliked it, and about your improvement in the academic competence as well as in each of the following skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. It is important to cite your opinion regarding to method, exercises, teacher’s development in class, how they feel the class working without a textbook, its difficultness, if the class is boring, or not and why. Regarding to academic development they will give their general improvement, as well as in their skills. You are going to hand them in every four lessons or before, at any stage of the course when it is required. Your comments will help to choose the type of modifications needed to make the class more attractive and appealing.

You can guide your writing using this outline.

• 
  The Method
  
• 
  Dynamism
  
• 
  Difficultness
  
• 
  Effectiveness
  
• 
  academic improvement
  
• 
  Listening
  
• 
  Speaking
  
• 
  Reading
  
• 
  Writing