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English Opens Doors' for young EFL learners in Chile: Students in a public school experience communicative language learning with international volunteer teachers

Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: English as a foreign language is taught in schools around the worldlevels of proficiency vary.Chile's nation-wide low levels of English and its aim to become a bilingual country in the future, have led to the implementation of several educational reforms and strategies by the country's Ministry of Education.One such initiative is the English Opens Door Program, that aims to improve English levels for students between 5-12 grades in public schools in Chile.Part of the program are (near)-native English-speaking volunteers who work on improving students' communicative skills in Chilean classrooms for one to two semesters.This research explored young EFL learners' experiences of working with an international volunteer in a communicative language teaching environment.In small groups, young learners discussed their experiencescovering cultural differences, teaching approaches and activities, and the importance of English in Chile and relevance for learners' future.The objective was to explore learners' experiences, and ultimately to evaluate the limitations and strengths of the volunteer initiative the findings may serve as guidelines for teachers, volunteers, and stakeholders in the English Opens Doors Program and in the Ministry of Education.Data was collected using qualitative semi-structured group interviews, supported by students' drawings, with a total of 32 young EFL learners from 5 th and 6 th grade primary levels in a public school in Chile.Thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews.The results showed that, while the communicative English immersion environment comes with its challenges, the volunteer initiative is greatly appreciated by students for it provides a unique and fun language learning environment that motivates students to learn and practice English.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3147180460
Cites: 47
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Related to: 10