FROM TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO ENGAGING CITIZENS INTO A SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING PROCESS: ENGLISHWORKS PROGRAM IN RIO DE JANEIRO P. Machado1, C. Machado2, D. Souto von Helde 3 1
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected] 1
Associação Sequoia Foundation (BRAZIL) Associação Sequoia Foundation (BRAZIL) 3 Associação Sequoia Foundation (BRAZIL) 2
Abstract In information societies, turning digitally disengaged citizens into independent learners is a goal that requires a detailed strategy. In Rio de Janeiro an initiative has been engaged in achieving this goal since 2011. It is called EnglishWorks (EW) and it has been designed by the Associação Sequoia Foundation (Sequoia). EW seeks to transform the relationship between socially vulnerable citizens and education, to turn failure into success. It promotes the use of technology to facilitate the acquisition of English as a foreign language and build an autodidactic habit in students. With the collaboration of national and foreign volunteers, the program uses a blended methodology in which in-class and online educators emphasise spoken English. EW is designed to show immediate positive results and quickly help students feel more comfortable when using a second language with tourists and foreign entrepreneurs. At the same time, students develop key Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) expertise and gain the necessary non-ICT skills required to drive a person towards a self-directed learning process. They improve their confidence, self-motivation, curiosity, action, decision making, and problem solving skills. EW classes were launched with 160 students at two locations in 2011. By late 2014, it had grown to 8 locations with close to 1,800 students enrolled in a 40-week course. Classes are delivered in peripheral areas of the city and the students, aged from 14 to 80, usually come from low income families. The course is free. One class location is at the heart of the Complexo do Alemão, the biggest shanty-town in Rio de Janeiro. Based on our own research and three years of operation, Sequoia believes that EW’s methodology is achieving its goals and ought to be encouraged. In this paper we outline our blended learning and teaching methodology. Keywords: Information societies, self-directed learning, English as a foreign language, blended learning methodology, motivational strategies in the classroom, and corrective feedback.
1
CHALLENGES WITHIN INFORMATION SOCIETIES
The Internet is without doubt a powerful force for socioeconomic development; unfortunately, a significant percentage of citizens around the globe are partially, or completely, excluded from accessing this source. Information societies brought several asymmetries. Castells identified three digital divides (geographical, socioeconomic, and generational) [1]. A challenge is raised when technological innovations generate wealth for those completely integrated in the system but barriers for those excluded or partially integrated. Actions ought to be taken. The private sector calls it transformation while the public understands it as integration. From the latter perspective, digital inclusion can be seen as a social engineering artifice designed to spread to digitally disengaged citizens, technological expertise and infrastructure considered as natural among those digitally included, with the final purpose of spreading the benefits of information societies.
Doctor Ellen J. Helsper from the London School of Economics (LSE) did an extensive analysis on the social disadvantages of being part of an information society in the United Kingdom [2]. She argued that there is evidence that digital disengagement increases personal, social, economic, political, and cultural exclusion. Efforts should be made to change a market failure that deprives digital resources to those who most need access. Based on her research one must first identify specific sources of digital exclusion. Once these sources have been identified, an integration strategy should be designed for each one of them. For an individual to be digitally included, he or she should learn five main digital resources: communication and networking; entertainment and leisure; information and learning; commercial services ; and engagement participation. In addition, one must contemplate exogenous variables [2] [3]. Helsper added that: “the combination of specific Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-related skills is strongly linked to general ‘non-ICT’ based capabilities that are often labelled as transferable skills [2]”. Examples of the latter are self-motivation, confidence, understanding, participating, action, decision making, and problem solving skills. Transferable skills are crucial to successful self-directed learning processes. Those who are poor in non-ICT related skills have a higher probability of facing difficulties in acquiring ICT related skills. These transferable skills are the foundation for more sophisticated ones. Gradually, the construction of these two blocks of capabilities would result in essential skills within information societies. Our topic belongs to the question of how to balance the current openness of socioeconomic development and the closeness of social minorities. This paper will explore a specific program which has been put in practice since 2011 by the Associação Sequoia Foundation (Sequoia). It is called Englishworks (EW) and it has already reached several peripheral communities in Rio de Janeiro city. It promotes the access to new channels of communication and information via teaching English as a foreign language with digital resources. As it will be explained on the next section, EW not only aims to obtain immediate positive results in students but also a long lasting impact. For the latter objective, it introduces students to selfdirected learning platforms and develops those skills intrinsic to building autodidactic habits within the digital world. Sequoia believes that the EW’s methodology has indeed succeeded in its endeavours and, hence, ought to be encouraged. The following sections will explain concepts behind EW and its methodology. A final section will show the results of a recent research performed by Sequoia that will influence the future of EW, as it is meant to be continuously evolving.
2
ENGLISHWORKS
Sequoia began developing social projects in the United States in 1994, and since 2006, these have been significantly expanded to Brazil. Such expansion was reached thanks to key partnerships with institutions such as Casa Thomas Jefferson in Brasilia and the Special Secretariat of Science and Technology of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. From the beginning, Sequoia has developed social programmes that incentivise numerous experiences, from reading to music and from dancing to language, directed to diverse audiences. Regarding the latter experience, Sequoia has heavily invested in “teacher-training” and “technology in the classroom” programmes. Throughout the years, a special cooperation has been established with ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers from around the word. One of Sequoia’s social programmes is EW. EW’s mission is to change the relationship between socially vulnerable citizens and education. On the one hand, EW teaches English as a foreign language via the use of technology, and on the other, it develops several transferable skills such as confidence, selfmotivation, curiosity and problem solving, among others. With the help of national and foreign volunteers, the program follows a blended methodology which combines in-class and online educators who emphasise spoken English. It has proved to be immediately helpful. Students feel more comfortable when using a second language with tourists and foreign entrepreneurs. At the same time, EW aims to drive students towards a self-directed learning process through the use of digital resources. EW classes are taught at digital inclusion centres known as Knowledge Vessels or Naves do Conhecimento (Naves), in Portuguese. It is important that the reader understands the difference between EW and Naves. Naves are projects that belong to the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. They are an attempt to tackle a market failure that deprives those who most need access to digital communication and
information channels. EW is one of the multiple programmes offered at Naves. The municipality has built Naves in eight areas of the city: Padre Miguel, Irajá, Penha, Vila Aliança, Santa Cruz, Madureira, Nova Brasilia and Triagem. The municipality‘s objective is to build several more Naves by 2016. The Nave located in Nova Brasilia is in Complexo do Alemão, the biggest shanty-town in Rio de Janeiro. It is a dangerous area. EW uses the infrastructure available at the Naves to reach some of the most vulnerable citizens in Rio de Janeiro. EW students usually come from low income families. They range in age from 14 to 80. The program costs students nothing. The classes are often delivered on Wednesdays or Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. EW was launched in July 2011 with 160 students. By late 2014, Sequoia was receiving 3,000 applications from citizens willing to become part of the EW community. The current capacity is 1,800 students in the 40-week course but Sequoia is constantly pursuing ways to have a bigger impact. E.M.C. is a current EW student in Triagem. She was born in Salvador (northeast of Brazil) in 1966 and has lived in Rio de Janeiro for nearly 30 years. She is a single mother who is raising two boys. One son has being part of a drug trafficking gang since he was 13. He has become aggressive and is violent with his family. Her other son suffers from a severe mental disability and is totally dependent of his mother. E.M.C waited 15 years for social housing for more than 15 years and just now got a place to live in Triagem. That is where she found out about EW. E.M.C. is a fast learner. She attends to every class. She was chosen to represent the Nave in Triagem in a Spelling Bee context with the other Naves. Despite not winning, she had a great performance. In an interview, she said: “My situation is not easy and I often think of giving up however studying English has become a therapy for me”. Her case is one of many individual stories. E.M.C. is now an in-class volunteer. In the next section, we will explore EW’s pedagogical methodology. It is very ambitious and requires the simultaneous involvement of several educators. The combination of modern digital resources and staff, makes the course unique. One distinctive feature is that EW simultaneously has five educators in the classroom. These will be briefly described below: 1) Native English-speaking online educator (teacher). They are always experienced educators that are committed to social development. They work off site and use a conferencing tool developed by cisco to lead the lessons. Teachers open and close each lesson and participate actively in its delivery. They interact with students who are often asked to “listen and repeat” vocabulary. Teachers play a central role in the strategy of making students learn via technology. EW’s classes work synchronized, which means that the same teacher’s lesson is live broadcasted to different Naves. The rest of educators prepare the lesson in advance in order to be able to minutely follow the teacher’s pace. Jason Skitch, a Canadian, has been with the program as a teacher for two years. When interviewed about his role at EW, Jason answered that: “Our students really respond favourably to the program and to me as a teacher. It feels good to be appreciated. My students make me feel special every time I see t hem”. 2) In-class English-speaking Brazilian teacher (monitor). Monitors are responsible for teaching English and several transferable skills, as enthusiasm, motivation, curiosity and confidence. They are responsible for keeping students engaged to the course and for creating a sense of community among them. Often, monitors come from the same neighbourhoods where the courses are delivered, especially if these courses are situated in risky areas. Fernanda Peixoto, a senior monitor, achieved the highest retention rates in 2014. She stated: “During the lesson I am always attentive to keeping my students comfortable and interested in what is about to come. Online social networking services help me a lot in keeping me always connected with my students”. 3) Online English-speaking volunteers on Skype (online volunteers). EW takes advantage of digital technology to bring international English-speaking volunteers into the classroom for a one-on-one conversation practice at the end of every lesson. Volunteers come from English speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago. They also come from countries such as Netherlands, Spain, Saudi Arabia or Philippines. These interactions are cultural as well as language exchange. They also help students overcome problems when using a L2 with a foreigner. As well, EW encourages students to host their own online
volunteers in a hypothetical visit to Brazil to create a bigger sense of EW community. Kyla Morgan, an online volunteer from the U.S., recently opened the doors of her house on Thanksgiving Day, via a Skype session, to share her culture with several students and introduced them to her family and friends. Kyna is planning to visit Rio de Janeiro in March 2015 and will be hosted by a student. 4) In-class foreign English volunteer or international intern (international volunteer). Sequoia has facilitated the internship of post-graduate students who show strong interest in the Brazil. This was seen as a unique chance for students to have direct contact with someone from another culture and gain confidence when communicating face-to-face with a foreigner. 5) National Volunteer (volunteer). They usually are former students who were evolved with the program and demonstrated interest in actively participating in the work Sequoia does with EW. Their work is important as they become community leaders and their experience inspires new students. Daniel Duete, 21, has been a volunteer of the course for two years. He expressed his feelings towards the program: “The English class is wonderful. The teacher is very funny and there are foreign volunteers. We can see and talk and send messages. It is dynamic. It will help me get a better job”.
3
METHODOLOGY
Patricia Machado, Executive Director of Sequoia, thinks there are alternatives to traditional educational system adopted in Brazilian public schools, especially when dealing with teaching a foreign language. She argued: “Private options to learn a foreign language are always there in Brazil but they are costly and require several years to produce a relevant outcome. Public education often guides students to failure, and not to success. English classes are delivered following old-fashioned methods and too focused on grammar. There is little room for listening and speaking”. Sequoia designed EW following extensive research on evolving pedagogical strategies. The objective was to create a methodology that would produce positive short term results while also having long lasting impacts. Sequoia desired a program that would improve the opportunities for education of socially vulnerable citizens by teaching English as a foreign language via the use of digital resources. The most cost effective methodology for EW was a blended one which would combine the benefits of face-to-face instructor-led teaching with the advantages of online education. Such a method was inspired by several success stories, such as the one claimed by Dr. Barker and Dr. Wendel, from the Society for the advancement of Excellence in Education (SAEE) in Canada [4]. After two-year of research and six e-schooling case studies, their conclusions were clear: if a higher degree of flexibility, independence and experience with online tools is simultaneously adopted, it significantly develops students’ research, computer and critical thinking skills. In addition, it was shown that adaptable personalised learning, often delivered by online education, allows a higher degree of thoughtful reflections. EW is based on a similar premise. EW was designed to push for immediately positive results in second language acquisition (SLA) and encourage the development of transferable skills so that students are able to engage in a self-directed learning process. In the blended learning continuum, EW is intended to pass from Model A (substantial online curriculum plus students meeting in the classroom two hours per week) to Model B (fully online curriculum with options for face-to-face instruction). Model A is built around digital learning platforms while model B can be built around webinars or audiovisual tools. The successful path for bridging Models A and B, is keeping students attentive to the online class material. As suggested by Schmidt a student’s intention to learn is a less significant variable than his or her attention to the didactic material delivered in a learning process [5]. In the same line of thought, EW aims to keep students constantly interacting so their attention is focused on the learning material. With this purpose, every EW class follows a structured lesson plan. Every class starts with a warm up session and finishes with a now you can discussion. Cristiana Magalhães, EW Project Manager, sees five good reasons why this is important: i) It creates a favourable atmosphere for learning. One learns best when one is free to learn, that is, relaxed and comfortable; ii) It activates schemata, reminds the student of any prior experience on the topic and helps him or her understand the content of the lesson most effectively; iii) It works as a revision or recap on previous lessons; iv) Language and communication. It allows students to be playful with the lesson’s material and create their own communication; and v) It allows
students to measure their own progress. During the lessons students are continuously asked to use the lesson material to interact with each other and with educators. From the beginning of the lesson, all students are asked to log in to the digital learning platform. During the last 30 minutes of the lesson, they are asked to complete their weekly tasks using the digital platform while they are individually invited to practice a short dialogue with an online volunteer on Skype. By using this strategy, students become aware that they must pay close attention to the lesson’s material in order to be able to understand the weekly tasks and to communicate with a foreigner in English. The latter is, at the same time, used to fight any blockages or fears students may have when using a second language (L2) with a foreign person. Another pillar is awareness around the complexity of corrective feedback in SLA. Dr. Mounira El Tatawy did an extensive literature review on the role played by corrective feedback in SLA [6]. It was argued that consciousness of a mistake modifies the existing L2 knowledge in a point in the future. Also it was suggested that corrective feedback makes the learner abandon a wrong hypothesis and start following a new one. In summary, it was made clear that the exclusive use of positive feedback is insufficient. However certain conditions are to be met before corrective feedback brings efficient interlanguage development. First, educators should be systematic and consistent when providing their feedback. Second, such feedback must be clear enough to be perceived as such. Third, opportunities to repair the output should be provided after any corrective feedback. Fourth, there should be alignment of the educator’s intent, the targeted error and the learner’s perception of the feedback. Fifth, the feedback should individually focus on one specific error at a time. Sixth, feedback must be consistent and intensive in nature. Seventh, and last, the learner’s capacity to process a given feedback ought to be analysed prior to transmitting it. Due to previous experiences, EW’s students are often citizens who tend to associate “learning a second language” with failure. Thus, monitors and online volunteers are trained to complement substantial positive feedback with an efficient and tactful corrective one. An incorrect use of corrective feedbacks may slow the learning process and dent the students’ confidence. In EW’s strategy it is as relevant to praise students for their success as it is to correct them when they fail, if not more. For this reason, there are no exams, essays or other forms of formal assessment. The main requirement to successfully complete the course is attendance and interest in the classes. Gradually, EW is designed to create a self-sufficient learner who feels comfortable with using digital resources to acquire new knowledge. EW keeps a strong concern with the emotional side of its learners and, hence, designs its lessons to not only teach English but also enhance students’ confidence, self-motivation, curiosity, critical thinking, and persistence. A key variable that Sequoia uses to measure the quality of its work is the drop-out rate. All professionals involved in EW are focused on increasing student retention by following several strategies. EW strives to make students feel like members of a bigger community and believes that a real perception of acquiring new knowledge will keep them tuned to the program. Retention is strongly linked to keeping students motivated. Monitors are trained to follow motivational strategies in the classroom. Some of these are i) Demonstrate their own enthusiasm for the course material; ii) Take the students' learning very seriously and show that they care about their students’ progress; iii) Develop personal relationships, student-student (group cohesiveness) and student-educator; iv) Create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom; v) Invite former students or volunteers to share with the class their positive experiences; vi) Promote contact with L2 speakers and L2 cultural backgrounds; vii) Encourage the learners to apply their L2 in real life situations; viii) Make sure that learners receive sufficient preparation and assistance; ix) Explain the purpose and utility of every task; x) Communicate to learners that their educators believe in their capability to learn; xi) Increase learners’ motivation by actively promoting their autonomy; and xii) Increase the learners' self-motivating capacity by pointing out its importance. By following these strategies, EW monitors are required to make their students associate education with success and not with failure.
4
RESEARCH RESULTS
In this section we present the results of a recent research performed by Sequoia. The survey was presented to its participants on the 5th of November, 2014. Two hundred and seventeen EW students
completed the survey. There were 10 questions, from which only three are relevant to the present discussion (questions A, B and C). The answers to these three questions will be shown below.
4.1.1 Question A: In addition to learning a foreign language please select one or more aspects, from the list below, that currently represent a significant burden for you to reach your goals. (Employment, Income, Education, Generation, Religion, Psychological wellbeing, Physical wellbeing, Values, Interest networks, Relationship networks, Political Participation) (202 valid responses). The reader shall note that this list was built based on Dr. Helsper’s sources of exclusion [2]. The results were the following: Results of Question A Number of Response Responses Ratio 01. Income
41
20.2%
02. Employment
43
21.2%
03. Education
27
13.3%
04. Religion
2
