Abstract

English teachers in Ecuadorian universities, like teachers in many non-native English-speaking countries, face the challenge of dealing with uninterested, unmotivated students, even when intermediate proficiency of English is a basic requirement for graduation. As from the end of 2014, the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Cuenca modified the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction at the three proficiency levels of English learning, by linking the training in reading to the reading of major related material and stimulating the students to practice actively the four English language skills outside the classroom using website and video hosting sites. At the end of 2016, the students’ impressions of being exposed to the modified way of student-centered instruction were assessed using a questionnaire. A total of 106 students completed online the 10-question survey. Results showed the enthusiasm of the students towards the modified more dynamic and interactive mode of EFL instruction; appreciated that more autonomy and responsibility were given to the students, and suggested that focus on grammar should not be neglected. An important side effect of the approach was the indirect harnessing of listening, writing, reading and speaking skills as well as skills in the reading and analysis of thematic research papers; considered an important benefit for the thesis project.

Highlights

  • Quite an extensive volume of literature is available on how English as a foreign language is most effectively taught

  • Results showed the enthusiasm of the students towards the modified more dynamic and interactive mode of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction; appreciated that more autonomy and responsibility were given to the students, and suggested that focus on grammar should not be neglected

  • The majority of students enrolled in the first three semesters in one of the three level courses of EFL, whereas in the fourth, fifth and sixth semester on average around 10% of the participants were following a level course, and a minor fraction of students still enrolled in an EFL level course in the three last semesters of the undergraduate program

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Summary

Introduction

Quite an extensive volume of literature is available on how English as a foreign language is most effectively taught. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991), cited by Menesez (2013), indicated that at least forty “theories” of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have been proposed (p.227), and it is her belief that none of them has been able to explain the language teaching phenomenon. She pointed out that these theories mainly emphasize on the acquisition of language structures leaving out very important aspects of a language. Amongst the countless SLA theories, she states that eight are the most important ones that caused a significant impact in the field and are important for further consideration They are the behaviorism, acculturation, universal grammar hypothesis, comprehension hypothesis, interaction hypothesis, output hypothesis, sociocultural theory, and connectionism. Due to the overweight in the traditional training on grammar, vocabulary, and the discussion of non-major related aspects, and above all due to the passive role of the student in class, the students’ competence in English language at graduation is low to modest

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