Immigrant English-Speaking children in the primary classroom in Spain: a new role?
- Autores: Slavka Madarova
- Directores de la Tesis: Jesús García Laborda (dir. tes.), Margarita Bakieva Karimova (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad de Alcalá ( España ) en 2023
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Daniel Candel Bormann (presid.), Purificación Sánchez Delgado (secret.), Mathea Simons (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Lenguas Modernas: Investigación en Lingüística, Literatura, Cultura y Traducción por la Universidad de Alcalá
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Resumen
- español
Tener en una clase de inglés a un alumno que domina el inglés y habla una variedad del inglés que se utiliza en Nigeria o Irlanda puede plantear dudas tanto a los profesores como a los compañeros. El objetivo de este estudio era examinar el efecto de la presencia de niños inmigrantes angloparlantes en los colegios de España donde participan en clases de inglés. El objetivo general era investigar si los niños angloparlantes pueden considerarse una nueva fuente de lengua y cultura en el aula.
La investigación se llevó a cabo en la provincia de Madrid y Guadalajara con profesores y futuros docentes. Mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas a 18 profesores se examinaron sus actitudes y percepciones sobre la presencia de niños inmigrantes con el inglés como primera/una de sus lenguas y se sometieron a un análisis cualitativo con el programa NVivo. Los métodos cuantitativos consistieron en cuestionarios en línea administrados a 34 profesores en prácticas para recabar sus opiniones sobre el entorno en el que estaban realizando su Prácticum y los datos se analizaron utilizando el software SPSS. El tercer elemento consistió en un plan de clase sobre conceptos relacionados con la comunicación intercultural diseñado para estudiantes de 4º curso del Grado en Educación Primaria que ya estaban realizando su Prácticum.
Se comprobó que los profesores trataban de incorporar estrategias para incluir a los estudiantes nativos de habla inglesa (NESS por sus siglas en inglés) y asignarles un papel en el aula. Los profesores se inclinaban por utilizar a los NESS como informadores culturales; sin embargo, en su mayoría, los profesores no consideraban a los NESS como informadores lingüísticos y expresaron su preocupación por que pudieran convertirse en una fuente de confusión para sus compañeros. El 24% de los encuestados del grupo de profesores en prácticas que tenían NESS en sus aulas indicaron cómo influía esta presencia en su práctica docente. Cuando se les preguntó por conceptos más allá del inglés como lengua instrumental, es decir, el inglés estándar, los ingleses del mundo o el inglés como lingua franca, los profesores admitieron no saber mucho sobre ellos, a diferencia de los futuros docentes, que se sentían más seguros de sus conocimientos. La idea de una plataforma en línea compartida que se presentó a todos los participantes fue acogida positivamente por los profesores. El acceso a materiales relacionados con los ingleses del mundo y la comunicación intercultural, así como la opción de conectar con otros profesores con experiencias similares, podría aumentar la concienciación sobre las variantes del inglés en el aula y contribuir a una mejor integración de los NESS.
- English
The concept of World English that emerged in the 1960s initiated a movement that challenged the idea of a single version of English and opened a debate about which countries set standards and which ones rely on them. However, the school system was somewhat slower to react to these changes. The teaching materials and discourse used in classrooms tend to be oriented towards so-called "standard English" and often do not provide enough examples to cover other varieties. Therefore, having a student in an English class who speaks a variety of English used in Nigeria or Ireland can raise questions for both teachers and peers. The aim of this study is to examines the effect of presence of English-speaking immigrant children in Spain who join schools where they partake in English classes. The general objective is to investigate whether Englishspeaking children can be considered as a new source of language and culture in the classroom.
The research was carried out in the province of Madrid and Guadalajara with teachers and trainee teachers. Data were collected using qualitative methods - semi-structured interviews with 18 teachers, in which teachers' attitudes and perceptions about the presence of immigrant children with English as their first/one of their languages were investigated - and quantitative analysis was carried out using NVivo software. The quantitative methods consisted of online questionnaires administered to 34 trainee teachers to elicit their ideas about the environment in which they were conducting their Practicum and the data were analyzed using SPSS. The third element consisted of a lesson plan designed for 4th year students of the Primary Education Degree who already did their Practicum and that was developed to address concepts related to intercultural communication and World Englishes.
Through data analysis, it was concluded that teachers attempted to incorporate strategies to include native English-speaking students (NESS) and assign them a role in the classroom. It was revealed that teachers were inclined to use NESS as informants of the culture. However, in most cases, teachers did not consider NESSs as language informants and expressed concern that they may become a source of confusion for their peers. Twenty-four percent of the respondents in the group of trainee teachers have had NESS students in their classrooms and have observed some disruption in their classrooms. Those who had not had NESS students and posed the situation as hypothetical were confident that the classroom environment would change and saw this change as positive. They were very determined to use NESS as a source of information about culture and, to a lesser extent, language as well.
The teachers admitted to not knowing much about concepts beyond English as an instrumental language, i.e., Standard English, world languages, or English as a lingua franca. However, the teachers interviewed also proved to be motivated and willing to innovate. The trainee teachers seemed more optimistic and had an attitude of change, which could be attributed to the fact that they were about to finish their studies and enter into teaching practice and had not yet formed their classroom identity.
All participants welcomed the idea of a shared online platform where they could access material and contact other teachers. Preparing such a website could be a way to help teachers access the collection of materials that could explain English variants to them.
The same platform can be used to search for materials to integrate NESS into the English classroom, which could also help raise awareness of English variants in the classroom. If English-speaking children are to be considered as a new source of language and culture in the classroom, teachers need to be provided with the tools to enable them to do so.
- español
