Thesys sonia stella melo vargas 1

UNIVERSIDAD LA GRAN COLOMBIA

POST- GRADUATE PROGRAM

Applied Linguistics to the teaching of English

Improving Children’s Lexical Competence Using Internet

TUTOR: Hugo Roldan

TEACHER: Sonia S. Melo

Bogotá August 22 2009

2 Improving Children’s Lexical Competence using Internet

INTRODUCTION

During my last years teaching in Fusagasuga I have observed that while the

children receive support from their parents to develop assignments in subjects

such as Mathematics, Geography or Science they hardly receive support in

English projects. In order to help parents give that support, I have decided to

conduct an action research that explores how parents can support their children by

developing activities using resource pages available on the Internet with a purpose

to improve the English Lexical Competence and as another topic of investigation to

promote parent‟s enthusiastic attitude about their own English Learning Process

.Parents will be provided with worksheets, which will guide them step by step in the

process of developing with their children different activities to improve the Lexical

Competence according to the topic studied in the English class, from different

Internet resource pages.

This document is divided into six main chapters. The first chapter gives the

literature review where we will find some conclusions about the parent´s helping

children in their learning process in some subjects.

The second chapter describes the instructional procedure; pedagogical strategies

and the process followed in order to implement the action research proposed. The

next chapter establishes the type of study and the theory that justifies the actions

developed. It shows the research design including context instruments used for

data collection according to the action research purposes.


The fourth chapter explains the data analysis, procedures, strategies and steps

used in order to categorize the data and construct the conclusions. Next chapter

presents the conclusions and how they answer the questions raised and shows the

implications in the context where the action research was developed. The final

chapter, that is chapter sixth, describes obstacles and problematic situations during

the action research implementation and suggests possible studies that might help

English learning improvement using technology.


JUSTIFICATION

The necessity of the English Learning Process support in our children had

been an area of interest in my work as a teacher. The strongest and most

consistent studies have shown benefits of parents supporting their children at

home in specific school programs, and teacher practices that encourage parents

support at school and guide parents in how to help their children in reading and

writing activities in their native language but not in English, this is an aspect that

worried me because children do not have enough support in their English Learning

Process. In addition, the English Learning process concerns competences

development which has been established by the Common European Framework,

though children observation shows the deficient development of lexical

Competence.

I believe that this action research contributes in many ways. Firstly, the

parents support is a component that helps the teacher establishing different

influential aspects of the student´s life and helps to contextualize the student´s

learning process. Secondly, through supporting their children, parents might

identify why help their children is important and necessary and how they can exert

a positive influence on their children‟s education; moreover family members can

also gain skills, knowledge, and confidence that will help them in supporting the

children, improving their achievement in the English Learning Process. Families


are more likely to understand the goals of the teacher and the school and to be

more supportive of proposed changes. Finally, taking into account the action

research, parents support might identify and integrate resources and services from

the community to strengthen school programs.


CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

As an English teacher I can see how the children receive parents‟ support in

different subjects. Whereas, for the English after-class activities, the children

possibly work alone because parents, probably, do not have tools that help them to

support their children. For this reason, this action research attempts to explore how

parents support their children, working together ,using worksheets and developing

English Internet activities with a view to improve children English Lexical

Competence guided by the teacher. Taking into account those aspects, I can say

that the constructs of this action research are two: First, Parent supporting children

education based in Hoover-Dempsey, K.V. & Sandler, H.M. (1997) and Fan

and Chen‟s (2004) and Vygotsky (1986). Second, English Lexical Competence

development according to Henriksen (1999), R. Castillo (2008) points adapted

from: Kucer (2001), Pushkin (2007), and Bachman (1990:85) and Nation (1990).

According to those preview ideas, this theoretical framework is divided into

two parts; the first part refers to what research says about parent supporting

children‟s education related to student achievement, recognizing, through the

researches conclusions given, the parent´s support advantages and importance.

The second part, introduces English Lexical Competence improvement using

specialized web pages.

Why do Parents support children‟s‟ education?

The idea that parents support is a key determinant of student achievement

is widely accepted today. Many authors agree that children, families, schools,

teachers and community agencies all benefit from home/school partnerships.


One aspect discussed by Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1997)

refers to general invitations, demands, and opportunities for parent involvement.

Parents perceive that both their children and the school want them to be involved.

Overall, the review suggests that even well-designed school programs inviting

involvement will meet with only limited success if they do not address issues of

parental role construction and parental sense of efficacy for helping children

succeed in school.

About this construct, I take into account, on the one hand, the study carried

out by Fan and Chen‟s (2004); it is pertinent because they discuss students‟

achievement when parents support them at home. The study concludes that

families influence on their children school achievement is consistent, positive, and

convincing .On the other hand , the psychological and critical research that

identifies the psychological consequences of parent‟s involvement according with

Hoover-Dempsey, K.V. & Sandler, H.M. (1997), who consent three major

constructs , parent‟s role, parents‟ beliefs about what they are supposed to do in

their children‟s education and establish the basic range of activities that parents

could develop with their children. From my own experience with children, I have

observed that when parents believe that they can give relevant and useful support

to their children, the motivation appears as one of the most important psychological

factor that influences the relationship between parents and children. That

motivation increases the parent‟s interest in children activities, not only activities

related with the school but also other activities as sports or free time activities.


Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1997), assert that first, parent‟s

support helps children from five to ten years old to feel more confident and

comfortable with their scholar behavior. As I have observed, most of the children

who receive their parents support are more successful and deal with their

difficulties better. Second, the authors found out that parent‟s sense of efficacy for

helping their children succeed in school, focuses on the extent to which parents

believe that through their involvement they can exert positive influence on their

children‟s educational outcomes. To this respect, during the preliminary

observation of this action research, I found out that parents might feel worried

about helping or not their children because most of the time the children do not

want their parents‟ help. Conversely, I found that their children want to be helped. I

consider that the real situation is that children feel worried because they know the

parent‟s English difficulties and prefer not to receive their help in order to avoid

problems. As an answer to this observation, this action research might help by

explaining parents how they can use the Internet resources so that both, parents

and children work together at home.

Student achievement has been a subject of interest for many years for both

psychologists and pedagogues. Findings show the parent direct and positive

impact in children achievement, this connection of schools, families, and

community plays an important role in how the parents‟ involvement can be useful

or not. School parents‟ involvement and supporting their children programs have to

be created with clear objectives taking into account the children integral

development and using the available recourses in order to improve children


behavior. The final conclusion refers to the importance of parent and community

organizing efforts to improve schools. The parents‟ participation in specific

programs with the objective to improve the school environment have to be not only

for principal or teachers programs, all of us are responsible for school improvement

because we are part of this society and we have to do it.

All in all, Fan and Chen (2004) assert that there is strong and steadily

growing evidence that families can improve their children academic performance in

school and have a major impact on attendance and behavior. Children at risk of

failure or poor performance can profit from the extra support that engaged families

and communities provide. In sum, all students would benefit if schools supported

parents in helping children at home and in guiding their educational career.

Teachers have to know that support for parental involvement is not isolated

to the journals of academic educational research. This action research based on

parents‟ involvement tries to stimulate their participation in their children English

learning process constituting a first step to tackle this need not as an individual

effort but as an effort supported from the school. I believe that every school should

promote parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional,

and academic growth of children.

To sum up, while some research studies indicate that parents do want to be

more involved in the education of their children and want the aid of their schools in

order to accomplish goals, some observations that I did, show me that there are

some parents who do not value the importance of parent supporting children in


different subjects. In the case of Campestre “El Himalaya” school, there are

parents who do not want to become involved in the English project, in a specific

way because they do not know how to help them in this subject or they believe that

their participation is not useful. In that sense, some of them identify the reason for

not wanting to be involved and its origins in their poor experiences in learning

English at school. More of these parents might have encountered academic

difficulties or other painful experiences during their time in school. Additionally,

many parents do not want to become involved because they do not feel sure about

their ability to influence children learning. In the case of Campestre “El Himalaya”

School, there are many parents who want to become involved but do not know how

to translate that desire into effective help.

During the reading process, in order to build this theoretical framework, I

summarize the most important aspects of parent supporting children‟s learning

process:

A regular family routine and priority given to schoolwork over other activities

stimulate responsibility acquisition.

Encouragement and guidance for children ‟s schoolwork with parents

motivate a better behavior

Providing opportunities to experience and explore ideas and activities make

parents and children grow up their confidence

Interaction between parents and children provides opportunities for

language development;


Summarizing, those researches on parents supporting their children, it

becomes very clear and extensive and suggests that parents play a crucial role in

both, home and school environments helping in intelligence development. It also

improves achievement and stimulates the competence acquired, by their children.

In general, parent supporting could be associated with children‟s higher

achievement, better behavior, better social skills, school adaptation and better

attendance, reducing schools trouble rates.

Lexical Competence

Lexical competence is the ability to recognize and use words in a language in

the way that speakers of the language use them. Lexical competence includes

understanding the different relationships among families of words and the common

collocations of words. In that sense learners learning English need to be able to

recognize the concept of chair and what makes it different from a stool, a sofa, or a

bench. They also need to know that a chair is a piece of furniture, and that there

are various kinds of chairs, including easy chairs, deck chairs, office chairs, and

rocking chairs and so on. They also need to understand how chair is now used in

an extended sense for what used to be termed a chairman, especially when

referring to a woman, as in Julie Wright is the chair of the committee. In order to

assess vocabulary knowledge, that is essential for this research, and according

with R. Castillo (2008) points adapted from: Kucer (2001), Pushkin(2007), and

Bachman (1990:85)Lexical competence must be understood as “processing of

word meaning”, as part of Linguistic Competence under Communicative

competence development. See graphic 1. Henriksen (1999) identifies vocabulary


knowledge, also known as lexical competence under the development of Applied

Linguistics and language teaching, the nature of vocabulary seems to be much

more complex than just a mental dictionary. Thus, for research purposes, it is

crucial to define what a word is and what to know a word means, although this

issue is complex to tackle in practical terms. There is also another important

distinction concerning vocabulary, the one between „function‟ and „content‟ words.

On the one hand, function words are regarded as grammatical rather than

semantic lexical items, such as articles, pronouns, and auxiliary verbs. These kinds

of words play a functional role in the language and have little meaning in isolation.

On the other hand, content words are the ones that convey meanings, such as

nouns, full verbs and adjectives. For this reason, content words have been the

focus of vocabulary assessment.

Nation (1990), based on Richards‟ assumptions, proposed a very useful distinction,

that is, receptive and productive vocabulary. According to Nation, it is the

difference between the ability of recognition of a word when it is seen or heard, and

the ability to use a word in a written or spoken situation. Nation (2001) also stated

that knowing a word involves knowledge of form (spoken, written and word parts),

knowledge of meaning (the form and meaning, concept and referents, and

associations) and knowledge of the use (grammatical functions, collocations, and

constraints on use, such as register and frequency).

However, Henriksen (1999) proposed a more specific definition of lexical

competence. She suggested the existence of three lexical dimensions and

explained how important they are in the word learning and use processes.


The first dimension, Partial - Precise Knowledge, is the basic dimension which this

action research pretends take into account before, during and after the

intervention, it is defined as precise comprehension, that is to say, to know the

meaning of a word implies the capacity to, for example, translate it into the L1, to

identify its appropriate definition, or to paraphrase it in the target language. For

some researchers, it is a matter of time for learners to go from a partial to a precise

comprehension of vocabulary, even though sometimes it is not necessary to know

the exact meaning of a word as this can be inferred from the immediate context.

The transition from Partial to Precise Knowledge is a long process in which

learners gradually move from simple word recognition to a precise comprehension

level, after having passed through several stages of partial knowledge. In this

process, the understanding of a lexical item is changed and increased as a result

of personal experiences. At this point, learners have already created their own

hedges when establishing lexical categories and associations.

The Partial to Precise Knowledge will be evaluated through Primary 6 Test before

the intervention, it will be stimulated and developed using the exercises selected in

each lesson plan, and finally, it will be evaluated after the intervention in order to

measure the Lexical Competence improvement. See graphic 2.


Background

The present interest in this action research is the presumed role of parental

support. That support is assumed to be a working link between the English class

and the children English process using English Internet activities. In this process,

the parent is guided and is assumed as a mediator that is going to support a child‟s

educational development using the Internet as a tool.

According to those ideas, this research is based in two constructs: parental

involvement providing support and the use of the Internet as a tool to teach

English.

The first research taken into account is the Research Practice conducted by

Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement Process. This

action research consists in the implementation of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler

model of the parental involvement process, analyzing how the intervention does

affect the children behavior and in what measure was parental involvement

effective. Findings in this research allow correlate parent involvement with student

achievement. Parental involvement exerts a direct impact on children achievement,

showing the parent‟s support benefits.

The second study done by Whitaker (2002), understands parental

role construction for involvement, identifying the experiences and personal parent‟s

perspectives supporting the development of varied roles in some specific activities.

He starts with parent‟s interviews about their experiences in order to identify their

ideas about involving themselves in their children‟s schooling. In addition, they ask

parents to respond questionnaires regarding self-construal, identifying ways in


which a parent interacts with their children in social environments. They expect that

parents who have experienced supportive school environments (in childhood,

adolescence, and in relation to their own children‟s education) will have generally

positive educational ideas and interdependent self-construal. These parents will

exhibit partnership focused role constructions and possibly display high self-

efficacy for helping their children learn. Parents who are characterized by more

negative educational ideas and independent self-construal are expected to

possess either parent-focused or school-focused role constructions.

This study is based in two major areas of theory and research. The first is the

body of research suggesting that parents‟ involvement in students‟ education is

associated with improved achievement and the development of student attributes

that lead to higher achievement (e.g., self-efficacy for school learning, academic

self-concept, work orientation, self-regulatory abilities). The second is social-

cognitive theory and research suggesting that a) parents‟ decisions about

involvement in their children‟s education are influenced by social-contextual

factors, some of which are subject to influence by schools and b) parents‟

involvement activities (some of which are also subject to influence by schools)

influence student achievement outcomes through specific psychological processes

(e.g., modeling, reinforcement, instruction).

In relation to English Internet useful activities as a tool for Lexical competence

improvement brought up in this action research, experts refer the ability to integrate

the Internet for gaining information and for communicating, in that sense from D.

Jonassen(1995) arguments the action research introduces “the Mindtool” term, as


a computer based tool and learning environments that have been “adapted or

developed to function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage

and facilitate critical thinking and higher-order learning” D. Jonassen (1995),

associating the language learning process with English specialized web pages into

the intervention development through the lesson plans implemented.


CHAPTER 2: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

1. Approach

Theory of Language

The ability to learn a natural language distinguishes humans from animals,

and is normally engaged during the first decade of life during the critical period for

language acquisition. The linguistic system that develops pervades everyday life,

providing for an infinite linguistic capacity and for the essential creativity of

language. The use of language is sensitive to a variety of social and contextual

variables and can be analyzed at many different levels of description.

Linguists and other cognitive scientists are centrally interested in

understanding the relationship between language and thought. Language theory

researches inform us that young children's language development is influenced by

many factors, including having sensitive adults and older children around them who

will listen and attend to their expressions and who will use and model appropriate

language themselves.

What is the main theory that influence the way in which this action research

bases on about language development? According to the central interest of this

implementation plan, Vygotsky‟s Social Constructivism and Language Theory is

the main theory of language taken into account. Vygotsky's central concern is the

relationship between the development of thought and that of language. He was

interested in the ways in which different languages might impact on how a person


thinks. He suggests the theory of language as social communication, gradually

promotes both language itself and cognition.

Vygotsky stresses the importance of looking at each child as an individual

who learns distinctively. Consequently, the knowledge and skills that are

worthwhile learning varies with the individual. From my point of view the overall

goal of education according to Vygotsky is to generate and promote development

which is the result of social learning through cultural interaction and social

relationships. He repeatedly stressed the importance of past experiences and prior

knowledge in making sense of new situations or present experiences. Therefore,

all new knowledge and newly introduced skills are greatly influenced by each

student's culture, especially their family environment. Language skills are

particularly critical for creating meaning and linking new ideas to past experiences

and prior knowledge. According to Vygotsky, internalized skills or psychological

tools are used to gain mastery over one's own behavior and cognition. Primary

among over these tools is the "development of speech and its relation to thought”

Vygotsky (1997).


Theory of Language Learning

There are extensive and complex works and theories that explain Second

Language Learning. This action research is based on Vygotsky‟s Sociocultural

Theory (SCT) .SCT argues that human mental functioning is a mediated process

that is organized by cultural facts, activities and concepts. I take this theory

because it explains how the language use, organization and structure are the

primary means of mediation. From those, planning practically speaking

,developmental processes take place through participation in cultural ,linguistic

and historically formed factors such as a family life and peer group interaction and

in institutional contexts like the school ,organized activities and work places.

Taking into account those elements I consider that the SCT theory supports my

idea that the parents and children interaction might be considered as one important

form of human cognitive activity that could influence the Language Learning

Process.

As the SCT theory says, children in the first stage are often controlled by or

use in their environment that give them the motivation to think. This stage is known

as Object-Regulation. The second stage named Other-Regulation includes explicit

and implicit mediation that means (levels of assistance, direction and intentional

support) by parents, peers , coaches , teachers and so on .In our discussion the

theory shows how the proximal development illustrates the Other-Regulation

functions in the case of second language learning. From the Other-regulation

proposed by SCT theory I believe that the use of Internet English activities

represents levels of assistance, direction and intentional guides suggested by the


authors that exert the necessary influence in order to mediate the English Learning

Process stimulating Lexical Competence performance.

The assistance or intentional direction by this action research is based on

English Internet activities analyzed and raised in worksheets that the parents must

develop with their children, taking into account what Jonassen argues, when

develops the ideas of mindtool from this element. English Internet activities provide

tools and learning environments that have been “adapted or developed to function

as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical

thinking and higher-order learning”. D. Jonassen (1995).He deduces that the

Computer tools and in that senses the Internet activities are providers of mindtools:

Databases

Semantic networks

Expert systems and cognitive simulations for student modeling

multimedia/hypermedia

According to Jonassen, the role of a mindtool is to extend the learner‟s

cognitive functioning during the learning process, and to engage the learner in

operations while constructing knowledge that they would not have been able to

accomplish otherwise. Mindtool enables learners to become critical thinkers.

Jonassen contends that mindtools could be enhanced through collaborative and

cooperative efforts between and among students and teachers in the learning

community and believes in combining instructional design with various instructional

technologies, especially television and computer. I can say that, as a constructivist,


Jonassen describes, mindtool (diagrams, schematics, flow-charts, virtual reality,

and other methods), to represent knowledge, especially using generic applications

to answer higher questions. Taking into account the theories cited above the Action

Research intends to motivate and stimulate Lexical Competence development with

the objectives based in English syllabus through the implementation of worksheets

in which English teacher suggests a group of activities, exercises, explanations

and tests organized in sequential way found in specialized English teaching pages.

2. Methodology

According to the first construct, -parent involvement in children education-

the implementation is based on a model of the parental involvement by Kathleen V.

Hoover-Dempsey. This model identifies four levels. Those are:

Level 1: Motivators of parental involvement. In this step the model intends to

identify the motivational factor as part of stimulating process in parent involvement.

Level 2: Mechanisms of involvement. In this step researcher teacher explains

how the parent‟s support is going to be developed. The teacher explains about the

characteristics, steps, time and technical observations required as some basic

preview knowledge to make clarity about the intervention.

Level 3: Student perceptions At this moment, the children comment what they

believe about their parents‟ thinking as mediators before starting the

implementation.

Level 4: Student „proximal‟ learning outcomes: student beliefs, attitudes and

skills that lead to achievement. This makes possible the metacognitive process


developed by both parents and children in three stages: at the beginning, during,

and at the end of the development of each worksheet.

The implementation uses the model to:

Develop strategies that support parents‟ motivations for becoming

actively involved in their child‟s/ student‟s English learning process.

Target specific learning mechanisms that parents can use in supporting

their children‟s learning. English Internet activities are developed using

worksheets.

Target—with parents—the “proximal” learning outcomes influenced by

their involvement .Include a strong focus with parents on the importance of

the English outcomes for the children‟s school success.

The model‟s Level 1 suggests that parents are motivated to become involved by

three major kinds of reasons:

Psychological motivators role construction, efficacy

Contextual motivators invitations from school, teachers, child

Life context variables „fit‟ with parents‟ skills & knowledge, time &

energy, family culture

The model‟s Level 2 suggests that there are four major learning mechanisms that

parents employ during involvement activities:

Encouragement

Positive emotion, behavior, and words the parent uses to emphasize his/her

support for the child‟s/student‟s learning, effort, and behaviors related to

education


Parents‟ explicit positive attitude about, support for educational goals and

outcomes for the child

Modeling

Modeling refers to parents‟ actions and behaviors and the understanding

that children learn from observing and processing their observations of

parents‟ behaviors

Modeling as related to parents‟ influence on children‟s learning may take

direct and indirect forms.

Reinforcement

refers to those external „rewards‟ or behavioral contingencies that parents

enact with the general intention of shaping the child‟s/student‟s behavior to

meet desired goals

Instruction

refers to parental interactions with the child/student focused on helping the

child learn something

Direct instruction generally involves helping the child learn facts and

straightforward processes

Indirect instruction generally involves asking questions, offering suggestions

intended to guide the child/student in developing his/her „own‟ responses

Role of the teacher and role of the students

Parent involvement in children education and the use of worksheets design

in order to develop Internet activities to improve the English Learning Process

have to be connected. According to the Parent Involvement Model proposed in


level 2 and the Instruction it is necessary to say that using worksheets are part of

the direct instruction cited before; those kinds of recourses involve helping the

children learn facts and straightforward processes. In order to implement the

instruction it is necessary follow the method of using World Web resources as

authentic materials in an EFL class. Parents and students enrolled in a class are

guided in the use of websites for language learning using websites that are

specifically designed for language learning.

Role of the activities

The Internet use constitutes a meaningful learning environment for young children.

In order for the environment to be advantageous for children, Internet use must be

structured in accordance with the children's levels of development and needs, with

the emphasis on the use of the Internet as a source of information in parallel with

concrete activity and teacher/adult mediation in the children's Internet activity.

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) describes a special quality of interaction

between a learner and a person, whom we shall call a "mediator". In this mode the

teacher provides a suitable stimulus, in implementation process those stimuli are

provided by web pages and then observed through the response of the learner to

the stimulus with a metacognitive process addressed by the teacher evaluation

resource. Based on the response, the teacher interacts with the learner (praise,

criticism, encouragement, grade, new assignment, for example) and the process is

continued until either the teacher or the learner is satisfied or time runs out. The

teacher takes the repertoire of methods from web specialized Internet pages;

depending upon the objective of the class those activities include Identifying


Matching, Completing, Categorizing, Sequencing and Deleting exercises.

Specialized web exercises used during the implementation encouraged students

not to grab the dictionary as soon as they encounter an item they did not know

.Rather, they should go through a number of inference strategies. They were

encouraged not only to identify the word classes involved and to understand words

and expressions in their clausal environment, but also to study the preceding and

above all the following context, determining for example whether the item returned,

or whether the context might contain a synonym or some other clue. Children

working in this way find putting into recovery the vocabulary acquired and

strengthen their ability to employ inference in the understanding of text. At the

same time, words should be used correctly as to spelling or pronunciation

exercises including too.

3. School Characteristics

“The action research has been implemented in the Campestre “El Himalaya”

School”

The Vision Statement of the School is:

“We educate for life through the continuous pursuit of excellence”.

The Mission Statement of the School is:

Creating a warm and supportive atmosphere where every child's positive

self-image is nurtured;


Providing the child with all-round quality education in the classroom, on the

sports field and in the cultural domain;

Imbuing the child with character traits such as honesty, responsibility,

perseverance, care and kindness towards others, moral courage,

assertiveness and a spirit of peaceful resolution of conflict;

Appreciation of cultures other than one's own;

Motivating the child to strive for individual excellence;

Helping the child to experience much happiness, sense of fulfillment and

success within the community of the school

Relevant aspects about the school

Campestre “El Himalaya” School is following the Common European

Standards, as a way to contribute with the definition of realistic process and

goals, each group of levels, the level A 2 according with European Standards

was divided in two sub-levels: A 2.1. and A 2.2. Also level B 1 was divided in

sub-levels B 1.1. And B 1.2 See Chart 1.

Chart of contents.

Grade: Third

The implementation of this action research is constituted by eight lesson

plans in order to develop one Unit of contents, that means that each of this item is

going to be reinforced by using English Internet exercises. With the purpose of

making clarity about the contents and how they are connected See Chart 2


4. Lesson plans

Having found potentially useful websites, the next step that follows is to show the

lesson plans and the process itself. Those pages are appropriated in order to

reinforce the vocabulary, grammar and previews knowledge developed during the

English class at the school .In some of those lessons, the parent and student find

explanations and examples that allow the mediator (parent) get concepts and

motivate the development of the worksheets. See annexes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8.


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN

As indicated over the last chapter, this action research is based on two

constructs. First, parent involvement in children education and second uses of

Internet activities to teach English through worksheets .On the first construct,

findings have consistently shown how parent involvement in schooling has a

positive impact on youngster‟s attitudes, aspirations, and achievement. According

to the second construct, findings indicate that despite the variety of resources

available to them on the World Wide Web, many EFL students do not use websites

in their language learning process. They need to be guided in using and finding

useful resources. They also need to become aware that not all the content on the

Web is of equal value. This action research intends to provide parents and

students with the skills they need to use the Web judiciously. The evaluation of this

unit showed that students above certain different levels of English ability can use

them for language learning through carefully designed increasingly more

intellectually demanding assignments. The students found the web assignments

worthwhile, interesting, and beneficial for learning English. They also thought that

they were able to find useful resources and learn new vocabulary through

completing the web assignments. See Annex 9

The tasks head of this action research now, includes the exploration on how

parents supporting their children through worksheets that help them to develop

English internet activities promote the improvement of the children‟s English

Lexical Competence.


1. Research question:

In what measure do children, whose parents support their English learning

process with the use of Internet web pages, improve the development of the

English lexical competence?

1.1.1. How does parent‟s support promote children English Lexical development?

1.1.2 How does the use of Internet activities help to improve the children lexical

competence?

2. General objective:

To determine how the parents‟ support help to improve their children‟s English

Lexical Competence development through Internet activities using worksheets.

2.1. Specific objectives:

2.1.1. To identify in what measure parents support, improve the children‟s English

Lexical Competence development.

2.1.2. To determine how Internet English activities using worksheets, help to

improve the children‟s English Lexical Competence development.

3. Research approach:

Qualitative Research

Qualitative approach is a way to gain insights through discovering meanings

by improving our comprehension of the whole exploring the richness, depth, and

complexity of phenomena. Qualitative research, broadly defined, means "any kind

of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures


or other means of quantification" (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). “A major strength of the

qualitative approach is the depth to which explorations are conducted and

descriptions are written, usually resulting in sufficient details for the reader to grasp

the idiosyncrasies‟ of the situation." "The ultimate aim of qualitative research is to

offer a perspective of a situation and provide well-written research reports that

reflect the researcher's ability to illustrate or describe the corresponding

phenomenon.

Action Research:

Typically, action research is undertaken in a school setting. It is a reflective

process that allows for inquiry and discussion as components of the “research.”

Often, action research is a collaborative activity among colleagues searching for

solutions to everyday, real problems experienced in schools, or looking for ways to

improve instruction and increase student achievement.

From my point of view action research gives teachers the skills needed to work

on problems specific to their classrooms and their schools. By using an actual

research procedure, researching teachers can resolve their own teaching

challenges. They learn how to ask a focusing question, define terms, collect

relevant data, use an analysis process that rules and includes methods that yield

validity and reliability. The findings become immediately applicable to their

individual situations


The action research cycle

There are four basic steps in the action research cycle:-Plan, act, observe/collect,

reflect/review. See Graphic 3

Action Research is a form of inquiry conducted by researchers who wish to inform

and improve:

Their practice

Their understanding and decision-making in their practice.

The effect of their practice on the research.

4. Participants

Grade: Third

Level: Beginners

Number of students: 17

Ages: 8 to 9 years old

Characteristics:

Eight -nine-year-old children are in a stage of development often called

middle childhood. They attend school and they enjoy mastering lots

of new physical skills. They learn rapidly in school. The opinions of their classmates

matter more than ever before, and they begin to feel the effects of peer pressure.

Children need adults who care about them and will talk and play with them. Every


child is an individual with different strengths and weaknesses. Each child needs to

feel special and cared about.

This action research is going to be implemented in The Campestre „El

Himalaya‟ School, Private Institution that counts with spaces that allow children free

interaction placed in a little city called Fusagasuga, located to one hour-driving from

Bogotá.


CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS

1. Data Collection and analysis Plan

The action plan starts, first, analyzing the preliminary findings in order to build a

general idea about what it intends; second, collecting test scores of students to

determine what they measured about the Lexical Competence development

(Research procedure), third, giving an interest/attitude survey and collecting

parents‟ notes for teacher feedback with individual checking in order to understand

the subject matter and make observations to finally analyze the results. See chart 3

and Annex 9

During the intervention teacher observations are an important support to determine

student progress. See Annex 10

2. Analyzing Preliminary Questionnaires.

Before starting this work, exploration activities were carried out with students and

parents to identify the problem. See Annex 11 and 12. These data was analyzed

by comparing students and parents responses to identical statements on pre

attitude surveys to determine in what measure the children have received parents

support in their English homework from their own appreciation and parents view.

These previews findings are explained as follows:

Data Collected Charts

Children preview findings. See Chart 4 and Graphic 4

Parents preview findings. See Chart 5 and Graphic 5

The diagram shows in blue columns, the children‟s initial perception about the time

that parents spend giving them support in English activities development.


According to the first question: “¿Recibes ayuda de tus padres para desarrollar

los trabajos de Ingles? The Blue columns show the percentage of the time in which

the students feel, from their perception, the parents‟ support in the English after

class activities development, the blue columns in SOMETIMES variable are

consistent with my preliminary observation: The students do not receive enough

support for their English activities.

Concerning the use of the Internet as a tool to learn English, in red columns, there

were a few differences between NEVER and ALWAYS, that means, the

percentages are divided in similar quantity showing the necessity to recognize in

most of the participants. English specialized Web pages as an important and useful

tool in order to help parents to give their children support aspect cited during the

identification of the action research project.

3. Analyzing Test “Primary 6 test” Before.

3.1. Knowing the Test

I collected both quantitative and qualitative data during a six-week intervention.

First, I applied a Lexical Competence Development test to students participating in

this action research. This test helped me identify the students‟ language

development in five topics: grammar, vocabulary, grammar cloze, vocabulary cloze

and word order which agree with those of the lexical characteristics .Fifteen

children were evaluated with a test of 90 exercises, and their level of knowledge

about the meaning of the word, patterns of relation used by the children in order to

infers meaning and understand the context. This test provides a sample

demonstration of lexical competence level and how this level increases or


decreases when the number grows from one session to another. Preview findings

show children‟s varied answers according to individual child repertoire. These

findings were interpreted in relation to the children's processing of word meaning

pointed by R. Castillo (2008) adapted from; Kucer (2001), Pushkin (22007 and

Bachman (1990) and trying to see the children ability and pragmatic skill, too.

Each subject covers a wide range of topics to give our students a well-rounded

lexical test. The program monitors the student‟s results and the amount of time

they have taken to complete each exercise. See Graphic 2.

The Lexical competence is based on the comprehension of specific units

depending on patterns in different situations. The activities development during

those tests builds an idea and work on it in different lexical chains as follows:

Grammar

Grammar cloze

Vocabulary

Vocabulary cloze

Word order

Comprehension MCQ

3.2. Preview Children‟s scores before the intervention. See chart 6

4. INTERVENTION

4.1 Worksheet development

Parent and children observations analysis


Parents‟ observations analysis

During the study, parents could answer the questions and submit their

answers to me. The responses came to me to be reviewed and make notes on

them. After completing the project presented in each guide, parents filled “ficha de

seguimiento” where they wrote notes and comments about the children‟s behavior

and what happened during its development. Let‟s see some of them:

“Es una enseñanza muy buena y el interés de los niños se nota no como

las clases donde la profesora llega hablando Inglés y nadie entiende .Es

una forma muy fácil de aprender “

La propuesta de aprendizaje me parece muy interesante y permite que

mamá e hijo trabajemos en equipo, que haya control y seguimiento”.

“Muy bueno. Me pareció que aprendí con el niño ya que al le gusto mucho,

se le ve el interés ,espero poder seguir trabajando estos ejercicios”

“Me parece un proceso muy interesante nos permite acercarnos a los niños

de una manera didáctica y que ellos sientan un apoyo”.

“Considero que hay que dedicarle tiempo para conocer mejor las páginas ,

pero pueden dar buenos resultados”.

“Muy chévere en realidad me sentí muy bien jugando y aprendiendo con mi

hija, fue como un reto para ambas”.

“al principio me pareció complicado pero después como que conocí mas la

página y fue divertido”

“Me fue difícil abrir la página propuesta pero después nos fue muy bien me

parece que el niño aprendió bastante”.


“Todo muy bien no hubo dificultad ,el niño y yo lo hicimos muy bien”

“Es muy bueno para uno aprender junto al niño”.

“En cuanto al niño la motivación muy bien el niño es muy pilo e inteligente

para estas cosas”

“El niño entendió todas las actividades”, “El niño estuvo motivado ,con

interés y dispuesto para el desarrollo de la actividad””se observa

aprendizaje”

“La niña pensó que iba a ser difícil pero después fue fácil y la niña entendió

muy bien”

Many parents expressed concern about the pages used and students'

performance. Most of the parents felt that this kind of involvement would motivate

students and parents to do their best in school. Additional comments ranged from

asking if other teachers would use this way in the future, to tell how much they

enjoyed using the web site and received that kind of help. A few of them simply

said "thank you”. According to Hoover-Dempsey, K.V.& Sandler, H.M. (1997)

considerations parents recognize benefits, especially to their own children‟s

success, and then motivational levels would be likely to be increased. Possible

variables in parental and familiar attitudes such as perception of self efficacy using

web pages , knowledge development, opportunity or barriers either real or

perceived, are areas that need to be researched in order to establish actual levels

of potential parental and familiar penetration into the parents support environment

and useful web pages. In response to my weekly test ( Ficha de seguimiento), the

parents sent back thanks and some questions they had about the work at home .


Most of the parents showed a great interest in the missing works and classroom

behavior when they did not attend. This showed me how such motivational factor

plays an important role in parent‟s supporting children learning process no matter

in which subject that support was given pointed by Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., &

Sandler, H.M. (1997).See annex 9

4.2. Children Observations analysis

During the study, I questioned parents and children individually about their use of

the web sites suggested and how much they liked using it. I also, asked children

how they felt when their parents were supporting them. At the end of each week, I

received from each student's notes in “ficha de seguimiento” data collection tool

about behavior concerns, how they opened the pages, followed instructions,

exercises development, their feeling, and motivation and how they observed

knowledge process or their observations about the methodological design by the

web site. While scanning the results of my student answers, one thing stood out.

All my students said they wished their parents could help them more often and get

more involved in our class. Many stated they would be more motivated in their

regular school work if their parents offered more assistance.

The students‟ comments showed that most of them liked working with their

parents. The majority of the students identified, doing activities, learning new

things, and working with their parents as a factor they liked about English project.

(Ficha de seguimiento) See annex 9. Those notes showed a high motivation factor


rising according to psychological and critical research that identified the

psychological consequences of parents‟ involvement. According to Hoover-

Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1997) this motivation increases the parent‟s

interest in the children‟s activities.

The students were also provided observations that expressed their opinion

regarding the web pages instruction. The survey revealed a high interest of the

students an active participation. Parents‟ maintained interest in the responses

exploring by themselves other pages and exercises. Teacher and students

conferenced together were regarding the individual performance and how they felt

more confident and comfortable about their scholar behavior after they had

participated in this implementation.

The results showed that the students who participated in the web pages activities

in the classroom environment demonstrated a significant higher achievement

versus the students‟ achievement in the traditional environment. Based on other

studies by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995; 1997) the intervention showed

that parents become involved in their children‟s schooling as a result of three

constructs: parental role, program efficacy and parental perception of invitation,

demand and opportunity for involvement offered by their teacher.

5. Analyzing Test scores after the intervention

See Chart 6 and graphic 5

Comparing the charts, scores before and after the intervention findings show an

increase in grammar accuracy of about 15,9 points ,in vocabulary 12,7 ,cloze

grammar in 8,9 ,cloze vocabulary in 9,3 points, order word in 1,8 points and

comprehension in 10,4 points. As an evidence of the benefits achieved through the


intervention this comparison shows children positive improvement proving how

Mediated Learning Experience through interaction between children and the

"mediator", in this case parent and English web pages, provides a suitable stimulus

improving the Lexical Competence. As the action research suggests, school and

community partnerships provide positive effects to the student‟s learning,

understanding the partnership about lexical competence development, parent‟s

support and the usefulness of specialized web pages for teaching English.

6. Some final observations

Apart from the conclusions derived from the before mentioned instruments,

the notes from the teacher‟s log drove me to state the following conclusions about

the students and parents‟ progress:

Student………..

Felt less threatened working with their parents to complete her work

Was more motivated to write and respond topics that related to his/her

personal experiences with parents‟ support.

Demonstrated more verbal interaction when paired with a student that was

sensitive to his/her needs.

Expressed his/her inner thoughts and feelings through daily journal writing

and subsequently shared some of his/her entries.

Showed enthusiasm and participated more in reading aloud/shared reading

activities.

Enjoyed the 1 to 1 interaction with me, liked sharing feelings and personal

experiences.

Parents…….


Had a higher self-esteem

Felt empowered, took ownership of helping and teaching

Had intrinsic motivation to write view support as a process

Engaged in dialogue as part of the writing process

Used prior experience in web sites use

Had advanced metacognitive processes

Recognized that supporting their children generates conversation and

interaction

Appreciated the teacher‟s role in these activities. See Annex 10

What Parents Say about Children‟s Language Acquisition from their own Learning

Experience?

Have shown improvement in the vocabulary target

Connect curriculum, instruction & guide assessment

Frequently check progress of students

Language Learning looks more specific and concrete now

Keep students actively thinking

Share with students one‟s own experiences

Create a natural learning environment

Feel Intrinsically motivated

View the Learning Process goal directed

Understand the process of learning by doing. See annex 10.


CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Answering the Research question, in what measure do children, whose

parents support their English learning process with the use of Internet web pages,

improve the development of the English lexical competence? The research data

suggest that parent support cited in this implementation need to maintain a

balanced focus on the needs of both parent and child. The field of parent

intervention has broadened from the observations, to include significant attention to

the relationship between parents and children. This substantive shift reflects an

interest in the interconnectivity of child, family, and community, and assumes that

providing parents with support, in this case worksheets and useful web pages,

motivates parents and give them material assistance (needed) which enhance

parent functioning and, ultimately, child development as Whitaker (2002) argues.

Discussion during the action research provides an opportunity for parents to digest

new insights in relation to existing ideas. The pedagogical design offered promising

strategies to facilitate the increase of knowledge and the development of young

children promoting the family's contributions that is the long run build a better

society.

The parents‟ support calls for a special attention on every student because it

ensures the needs of the student and parents and ultimately the improvement of

English knowledge. The implementation of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Model of

the Parental Involvement Process during this action research allows the following

positive conclusions:


Every student had an individualized learning plan that was based on student‟s

interests, abilities and goals identified by teacher according to Vygotsky (1986)

theory. The student could be directly involved in the learning process such as it

was planned in the methodological design of the intervention and they understood

the reasons for each component behind the strategies identified in the lesson plan.

The parent‟s support could be guided with a worksheet document. Progress was

measured against the contents of the plan. As it is proposed in Hoover-Dempsey

and Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement all lesson plans applied were

detailed with specific activities and tasks, while they were being connected to the

long-term goals of the plan at the school.

The short-term effects of parents‟ support means that the student achieves his or

her lexical competence goals, as an evidence of putting into practice Hoover-

Dempsey and Sandler‟s Model of the Parental Involvement as a tool or strategy to

achieve specific results. It was demonstrated while analyzing the children‟s scores

increase measured by the Test applied after the end of the lesson plans and reflect

the application of Vygotsky‟s Sociocultural Theory (SCT) which argues that human

mental functioning is a mediated process that is organized by cultural facts,

activities and concepts Vygotsky (1986).

For the purpose of establishing how Internet English activities using worksheets,

help to improve the children‟s English Lexical Competence development, it is

necessary to say how using web specialized pages, images and videos showed

that through the use of the lexis in real life situations ,vocabulary could often be

understood as a whole (in the given context) developing a process of recognition of


word meaning and use, Nation (1990).The lexical component played an important

role in language learning, starting at early levels easy identifiable which was

increased step by step, during the action research observations that showed how it

(lexical competence) was focused on the language components, grammatical

/semantically. The exercises proposed include sentences for which participants

could identify the right word based on collocation and the meaning .The blank in

the sentences for example, were followed by prepositions that students could

identify which was a better choice that made it easily to help in the development of

the use of collocation in the word ability proposed by Henriksen(1999).From my

point of view the presence of such sentences could have enhanced some

participants‟ performance in the test, an advance in their level of lexical

development identifying functions and relating them to content while structures

were taught sequentially and were analyzed and reinforced later in class. The

results of the present study and previews which were reviewed in the theoretical

framework showed how resources selected from the different web pages provided

a natural exposure and other language uses. It is important to be clear, that it does

not mean, exercises provide enough stimulus for semantic restructuring and

development, it must be a point of action included in the class activities. I must say

that, instructional intervention had an important role in helping learners overcome

the semantic development. However, pages provide effective lexical oriented

vocabulary instruction, depending on a clear understanding of the similarities and

differences between use and recognition of the word and the overall

semantic/lexical system taking into account the Lexical Competence as a level of

linguistic and communicative competence as a whole view of language


development according to the classification made by R. Castillo (2008) adapted

from; Kucer (2001), Pushkin (22007 and Bachman (1990).

I could see the compatibility of two viewpoints: Lexical competence development

and parents‟ support. On the one hand the results showed how a selection of

English Internet activities created with the purpose of teaching English can be used

as an instructional-theoretic-practical relationship with respect to the

methodological arguments that were considered in the action research work. On

the other hand, parents‟ support had value, both for the linguistic analysis and for

the practical work, in the natural language processing and building of knowledge

from a stronger motivational factor together connected by worksheets given by the

teacher researcher which were includes as the SCT theory says concerning to the

second stage named Other-Regulation with explicit and implicit mediation that

means levels of assistance, direction and intentional support, Vygotsky (1986).

Because the instructional based was designed to reach a combination of parent‟s

support, English Internet activities and worksheets, after the intervention my

classroom is perceived by students as a place where all the students can do

something well. It shows according to Fan and Chen (2004) that instead of

difficulties, if we combine three major constructs: parents‟ role, parents‟ beliefs

about what they are supposed to do in their children‟s education, and

establishment of the basic range of activities that parents could develop with their

children, the students' strengths are focused and they use those strengths to build

up weaker areas. Finally, I consider that the gap an area of success to an area of

difficulty can be bridged because the sense of success in one English learning


aspect may make the student more likely to be engaged in other aspects where

they feel less comfortable, Fan and Chen (2004).A change in attitude took place

which effectively removed the emptiness that existed in the extra class

environment caused by the lack of parents‟ support and gave the opportunity to

enrich parents and children relationship improving one area of learning.


CHAPTER 6: LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH

Although most interviewees stressed the positive nature of the experience, some

difficulties were found during the process.

Some interviewees felt that there was an increasing outside pressures on

parents from the school district that intensified their time problems. Some

parents said that they had little time to do things because of these increased

demands.

Parents felt that the time frame of nine months is too short to conduct action

research and see children progress.

In larger groups, there was occasionally a problem where there was not time

during a given session to let everyone report on their progress and get

feedback from the group. It is important to keep the groups small enough so

that all researchers can have adequate time during every group meeting to

discuss their progress.

Participants felt that the opportunity to interact with teachers from other context

and subject areas broadened their perspectives and gave them a better sense

of what is going on in the school but time was insufficient.

THOUGHTS ON FUTURE WORK

Projecting the results of this work about possible future directions it is extremely

easy, since I have done my best to relate this work to many different areas of


intellectual pursuit. I will just briefly mention three directions that strike me as

particularly interesting.

Lexical Competence as part of communicative competences. An alternative,

suggested to me by R. Castillo (2008) adapted from; Kucer (2001), Pushkin (22007

and Bachman (1990) that could be a construct in future action research, will be

how to build a model in which the relationship between contexts and lexical

competence as a part of the whole language development could be an evidence of

the implemented model that may help resolve some of the problems at the school.

English Internet web pages Online instruction had a positive effect on

experimental students‟ achievement; regardless of the type of online activities used

significant results were obtained. Achievement was lower in students in which

online courses were not used at all. Results show that in learning environments

where technology is unavailable to students as a supplement to in-class

techniques help motivate and enhance EFL students' learning and development of

their reading, writing skills and grammatical, vocabulary knowledge in English as a

foreign language. A new alternative will be how the English Internet activities

established as an educational will be model included in the school syllabus that will

help to improve all the English skills.


ANNEXES

GRAPHICS

Graphic 1 Levels of communicative competence


Graphic 2 Test Primary 6.


Graphic 3 Action Research Cycle


Graphic 4 Parent’s support children view

Graphic 5 Parent’s support parent’s view

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER

Parent's English Support

Internet English Uses

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER

Give English support

Use internet as english help


Graphic 6 Before and After scores comparison

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

grammar vocabulary word

grammar vocabulary Cloze Closed Order comprehension

Before

After


CHARTS

Chart 1 Estandares de Calidad.Marco Comun Europeo

SCHOOL GRADES

MCE

LEVELS

10th to 11th

8th to 9th

B1-

B

1.2

B

1.1.

Pre intermediate

2/

Pre intermediate 1

6th to 7th

4th to 5th

A 2

A

2.2.

A 2.1

Basic 2

Basic 1

1st to 3rd

A 1

A 1

Beginners


Chart 2 Lesson plans Contents chart

Unit

Target

Vocabulary

Structure

Grammar

Values

My

house

Common

household

items and

activities.

Food.

Daily

Routines

There is

There are

There any

Preposition of

places

help other

people

responsibility

good behavior


STEP

NUMBER

STEP

DESCRIPTION

INSTRUMENT TARGET

1 Applying Preliminary Questionnaries

“Cuestionario Preliminar para Padres”

“Cuestionario Preliminar para Niños”

Determine necessity of this intervention

Questionnaires

Parents

Students

2 Apply Test “Primary 6 test” Before

Collect scores and determines Lexical

Approach development.

Test Primary 6 test

Multimedia

program

Students

3 Give Worksheets .Eight Lesson Plans

“Guías para Padres”

English Internet activities,development Lexical

approach exercises.

Worksheets

worksheets

Parents

Students

Parents

Students

4 Give observations log

“Ficha de seguimiento”

Collect and analyze parents and students notes

and results

Observations

Questionnaire

Parents

5 Apply Test “Primary 6 test” After

Collect scores and determines Lexical Approach

development.

Test Primary 6 test

Multimedia

program

Students

6. Final Comments collect Notes Parents

Students

Chart 3 Data Collection and Analysis Plan


TOPIC ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER

Received Parent‟s support in English

3 2 11

Use internet as English help 2 4 10

Chart 4 Children Previews findings

TOPIC ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER

Give English support 4 8 4

Use internet as English

help

5 6 5

Chart 5 Parent‟s Previews Findings


Chart 6 Childrens‟ scores comparison

Grammar Vocabulary Cloze

Grammar

Closed

Vocabul

ary

Order

word

Comprehensi

on

Before 31,3 37.5 21.3 35.9 24.2 35.4

After 47.2 50.2 30.2 45.2 26 45.8


Annex 1

LESSON PLAN 01

GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________

Nombre del estudiante: ___________________________Grado:____________

Tema: Objetos de la casa.

Objetivo: Reforzar el vocabulario de objetos de la casa

Apreciado Padre: Para desarrollar la siguiente guía debes:

Leer la guía completa antes de iniciar el computador

Asegurarte de que la conexión a internet este activa y funcionando

adecuadamente y el ambiente sea tranquilo donde se facilite la

concentración de el niño.

Sigue las instrucciones al pie de la letra.

1. ACTIVIDAD 1.

Escribe la siguiente dirección de página en el buscador :

www.manythings.org/lulu/i1.html.

Encontraras un titulo que dice : Things in My House

Por favor has click sobre : Find 1

Esta actividad consiste en hallar el dibujo correspondiente a la palabra con el

signo de pregunta, el niño debe hacer click sobre el dibujo con el mismo

nombre, cuando finalice aparecerán caritas verdes. Has click sobre New game

http://www.manythings.org/lulu/i1.html


Permite que el niño desarrolle el ejercicio 5 veces esto reforzará la relación

imagen y nombre.

Has click sobre Find 2

Permite que el niño seleccione el dibujo de acuerdo a la palabra del signo de

pregunta. Este ejercicio debe desarrollarlo 5 veces o hasta que no cometa

ningún error. Has click sobre New game cada vez.

Has click sobre Matching

Esta actividad consiste en hacer click sobre la palabra en la fila del lado

izquierdo y luego sobre el dibujo correspondiente en el cuadro ,el niño debe

realizar el ejercicio las veces que sea necesario hasta no cometer errores.

Has click sobre Eyes

Esta actividad consiste en hacer click sobre los ojos aparecerá una

palabra, el niño debe hacer click sobre el dibujo que le corresponde. Debe

desarrollar el ejercicio varias veces hasta que obtenga solo caritas verdes.

Puedes variar la velocidad del juego haciendo click sobre el + frente a la

palabra speed

Has click sobre Arrows


Esta actividad consiste en hacer click sobre las flechas azules debajo del dibujo

para encontrar el dibujo que corresponde a la palabra que aparece. Después de

cada juego ve a check para verificar la respuesta y pasar a la siguiente.

El niño debe intentarlo hasta que obtenga el máximo puntaje

Has click sobre Pairs

Este juego consiste en buscar las parejas recordando figura nombre y

posición, el niño debe intentarlo hasta no cometer errores las veces que lo

desee.

ACTIVIDAD DE EVALUACIÓN

Has click sobre Memory

Este juego consiste en buscar las parejas escondidas en cada signo .Debe

desarrollarse hasta obtener máximo puntaje.

Sonia Melo Docente Investigador


Annex 2. LESSON PLAN 02

GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: There is (hay para singular) There are (Plural)

Objetivo: Identificar la estructura gramatical cuando usamos there is o there are

utilizando vocabulario visto en la lección anterior.







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.


http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=21

Encontraras un título FURNITURE AND ROOMS

Write the names of this furniture:



1. Ejercicio 1. Este ejercicio consiste en escribir los nombres de los objetos dentro

de espacio en blanco al lado de cada imagen. El niño(a) debe escribir de acuerdo

a lo visto en clase.

2. Ejercicio 2. Este ejercicio consiste en escuchar cuidadosamente cuando estén

listos hacen click sobre el icono del parlante de color gris

El niño(a) debe escuchar con atención y marcar la imagen que corresponde a los

nombres de las partes de la casa escuchados.

3. Ejercicio 3. Consiste en leer y seleccionar el lugar de la casa que corresponde a

la oración.

4. Ejercicio 4. Completar el crucigrama de acuerdo al concepto dado.

Finalizados los cuatro ejercicios debe hacer click sobre el icono play del video,y

observar los objetos que se presentan. Pueden verlo más de una vez si así lo

desean y luego hacer click sobre la línea blanca para escribir el vocabulario

observado. Para finalizar presionas OK , el niño(a) debe intentarlo hasta no tener

errores.

Recomendaciones: no permita que el niño(a) vea las respuestas hasta que no lo

intente por sí solo.

2. ACTIVIDAD 2.



http://saberingles.com.ar/curso/lesson05/04.html

Encontraras un titulo que dice :

Lesson 5

4. GRAMMAR

There is / There are

Por favor lee cuidadosamente junto con tu hijo(a) la explicación. Por favor permite

que el niño escriba los ejemplos en una hoja, lean tantas veces como sea

necesario para que los conceptos queden claros.

2. .ACTIVIDAD 3

Escribe en el buscador la siguiente dirección:

http://saberingles.com.ar/curso/lesson05/04b.html

Como la anterior actividad deben leer y repasar la explicación y escribir en una

hoja anexa los ejercicios. Este proceso debe hacerse hasta lograr la comprensión

de los conceptos explicados.

Una vez finalice esta etapa por has click sobre el icono Siguiente

Allí encontrarán una serie de ejercicios que le permitirán al niño practicas los

conceptos vistos, escribiendo there is o there are de acuerdo a la oración y a la

imagen. El niño(a) debe realizar el ejercicio hasta obtener máximo puntaje.

Una vez termine el ejercicio por favor seleccione con el mouse desde el titulo

Exercise 1 hasta el ejercicio final luego oprimes click derecho y seleccionas

imprimir, este ejercicio debe aparecer en el portafolio del niño.

3. ACTIVIDAD 4.



http://saberingles.com.ar/curso/lesson05/04b.html



Encontrarán el título Lesson 5 - 5. EXERCISES

Lee y sigue las instrucciones y permite que el niño(a) desarrolle el Exercise 3

eligiendo la opción que considere, haciendo click sobre el icono antes de cada

respuesta. Debe realizar el ejercicio hasta no tener errores.

Por favor selecciona con el mouse todo el ejercicio luego oprime click derecho del

mouse y selecciona imprimir .Este ejercicio debe aparecer en el portafolio de su

niño.

4. .ACTIVIDAD DE EVALUACIÓN.


http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/74.html

Encontrará el título Choose the correct answer

Permite que el niño(a) conteste el ejercicio completamente hasta Q15

Una vez complete todas las oraciones por has click sobre el icono Grade Me!

Que evaluara las respuestas ,el niño debe intentarlo hasta obtener 100% de

puntaje.

Una vez finalice por favor selecciona el ejercicio con el mouse, hace click derecho

en el mouse y selecciona imprimir. El ejercicio impreso debe aparecer en el

portafolio del niño(a) como evidencia del desarrollo de la guía.

Gracias por tu colaboración,

Sonia Melo

Docente Investigador



GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Expresando gusto por los alimentos, alimentos, frutas, verduras otros.

Objetivo: Reforzar el vocabulario visto en clase y la expresión likes and dislikes







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.



1. Ejercicio 1 Encontraras un grupo de alimentos el niño(a) debe decir el

nombre de cada alimento sin ayuda.

2. Ejercicio 2 El niño (a) debe resolver la sopa de letras haciendo click

sobre la letra que cambiara de color buscando los nombres de alimentos

listados arriba.

3 Ejercicio 3 El niño (a) debe completar las oraciones usando like,don‟t

like,likes o doesn‟t like de acuerdo a lo visto en clase.


4. Ejercicio 4. Consiste en completar el crucigrama con los nombres de los

alimentos vistos durante los anteriores ejercicios.

2. ACTIVIDAD 2.


http://home.nordnet.fr/~rmaufroid/pupitre/pastpresentfuture/likedontlike.htm

Esta actividad consiste en observar las imágenes y completar las oraciones

escribiendo likes, doesn‟t like, don‟t like o like.

Una vez la oración se complete has click sobre el icono Ok .Confirma la respuesta

continua con las demás oraciones haciendo click sobre el icono Question y el

número del ejercicio.

Por favor continuar hasta la pregunta Question 10 .Finalmente presione el icono

Retire para ver los resultados obtenidos .Por favor permita que el niño(a) repita el

ejercicio las veces que sea necesario hasta obtener MARK 10/10 en el cuadro

final.

Por favor seleccione el cuadro de evaluación, presione click derecho del mouse y

seleccione imprimir. Este cuadro debe aparecer en el portafolio del niño(a)


Sonia Melo


http://home.nordnet.fr/~rmaufroid/pupitre/pastpresentfuture/likedontlike.htm



GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Expresando gusto por los alimentos, frutas, verduras y otros.

Objetivo: Reforzar el vocabulario visto en clase acerca alimentos.







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.

Escribe la siguiente dirección de página en el buscador


1. Ejercicio 1.

Encontrarás a Homero Simpson tratando de saber que hay en su refrigerador,

El niño(a) debe escribir en el espacio en blanco los nombres de los alimentos de

acuerdo al número, luego debe marcar (oprimiendo el icono cuadrito gris) si

considera la oración correcta de acuerdo a la imagen y número de frutas o

alimentos que allí se muestran.

2. Ejercicio 2.


Siguiendo en la misma página el niño(a) debe responder las preguntas, haciendo

click sobre el espacio en blanco y observando las imágenes del ejercicio 1..

Cuando finalicen los 2 ejercicios por favor hacer click sobre icono ok

Por favor permitir que el niño(a) intente hasta obtener el máximo puntaje (score).

2. ACTIVIDAD 2.


http://fog.ccsf.edu/~lfried/activity/houses.html

Esta actividad favorece el desarrollo auditivo e identificación del inglés,

El niño(a) puede escuchar todas las veces que desee oprimiendo el icono azul

ubicado arriba a la izquierda del recuadro. Consiste en escuchar las

características de la casa y hacer click en la casa que considere cumple esas

características e intentarlo varias veces si se equivoca.

Una vez responda el primer ejercicio debe hacer click sobre el icono azul

ubicado abajo que dice Find Another House escucha y marca la casa según las

características.

Por favor continuar con los demás ejercicios oprimiendo el icono

Find Another House hasta hallar la casa 4 para finalizar.

3. ACTIVIDAD 3


http://iteslj.org/v/ei/nouns1.html

http://fog.ccsf.edu/~lfried/activity/houses.html

http://iteslj.org/v/ei/nouns1.html


Encontraras el título Nouns 1 , deben observar las imágenes y recordar los

nombre, cuando estén preparados deben hacer click sobre el icono start la

actividad consiste en hacer click sobre la letra A, B,C,o D de acuerdo al nombre

del dibujo de la imagen. El niño(a) debe responder las 10 preguntas,

correctamente.





GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Preposiciones de lugar

Objetivo: Reforzar las preposiciones utilizando el vocabulario trabajado en clases

anteriores.







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.



1. Ejercicio 1.

La actividad consiste en ver los videos presentados en la ventana de You tube

cuantas veces lo deseen.

2. Ejercicio 2.

Completar las oraciones escribiendo en los espacios en blanco la preposición

correspondiente.


Cuando finalicen, hacer click sobre el icono Ok el ejercicio puede ser realizado

cuantas veces sea necesario para obtener el máximo puntaje.

2. ACTIVIDAD 2

Escriba en el buscador la siguiente dirección:


Por favor haga click sobre el Play en la ventana de video de You tube. Puede

verse el video cuantas veces se desee.

1. Ejercicio 1.

Dentro de la misma página el niño(a) debe seleccionar haciendo click sobre la

preposición correspondiente al dibujo.

2. Ejercicio 2

Resolver la sopa de letras buscando las preposiciones que se encuentran al lado

derecho de la imagen. Los cuadros cambiaran de color cuando se haga click.

Finalmente el niño (a) debe escribir la preposición correspondiente a la imagen.

Y hacer click sobre el icono Ok





GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Preposiciones de lugar

Objetivo: Reforzar las preposiciones utilizando el vocabulario trabajado en clases

anteriores..







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.



Esta actividad consiste en seleccionar la preposición correspondiente de acuerdo

a la posición de los lugares de la ciudad observados en la imagen. Finalizados los

ejercicios se hace click sobre el icono ok. El niño(a) debe intentarlo hasta lograr

el máximo puntaje. Por favor no permitir que se den las respuestas.



2 .ACTIVIDAD 2.

Evaluación Preposiciones.



Esta actividad consiste en observar cuidadosamente la imagen presentada luego

seleccionar en cada oración la preposición que completa las oraciones.

Debe hacerlo tantas veces sea necesario para obtener el máximo puntaje.

Una vez finalice por favor seleccione todo el ejercicio y de click derecho en el

mouse y selecciones imprimir para imprimir la página y debe estar en el

portafolio del niño(a).

Finalmente hacer click sobre el icono Ok






GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Rutinas diarias.

Objetivo: Reconocer el uso de algunos verbos en actividades de la vida diaria de

la familia.







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.



1. Ejercicio 1

Esta actividad consiste en escuchar haciendo click en el icono y

seleccionar la correspondiente imagen escribiendo el número del icono en el

cuadro al frente de la imagen.

2. Ejercicio 2



Continuando en esta misma página por favor permita que el niño(a) lea el texto

que allí se encuentra, varias veces si lo considera necesario. La actividad consiste

en completar las oraciones escribiendo el número de las oraciones de la

izquierda en los cuadros de las oraciones de la derecha, que complementen la

oración.

3. Ejercicio 3.

En la misma página continúan con el siguiente ejercicio que consiste en

seleccionar la respuesta correcta a las preguntas, teniendo en cuenta el contenido

de la lectura del ejercicio anterior.

4 .Ejercicio 4.

Resuelve el crucigrama teniendo en cuenta lo visto durante el desarrollo de los

ejercicios anteriores.

Una vez finalicen los ejercicios por favor seleccione utilizando el mouse desde la

lectura hacia abajo, haga click derecho en el mouse y seleccione imprimir para

imprimir los ejercicios resueltos como evidencia del trabajo realizado. Estas hojas

deben anexarse al portafolio del niño(a).

Finalmente hacer click en el icono OK para finalizar.





GUÍA PARA PADRES

Nombre: ________________________________________________________


Tema: Rutinas diarias.

Objetivo: Reconocer el uso de algunos verbos en actividades de la vida diaria de

la familia.







1. ACTIVIDAD 1.



1. Ejercicio 1.

Esta actividad consiste en escuchar la pronunciación y seleccionar la actividad

correspondiente haciendo click sobre la flecha en el recuadro.

El niño(a) puede escuchar las veces que sea necesario para reconocer el

vocabulario.



2. Ejercicio 2

Siguiendo en la misma página, él niño (a) debe seleccionar haciendo click sobre

el cuadrito frente a cada expresión, las cuales considere correctas. Luego debe

buscar estas mismas expresiones en la sopa de letras haciendo click sobre cada

letra hasta formar la expresión completa.

3. Ejercicio 3.

El siguiente ejercicio en la página consiste en escuchar haciendo click en el icono

.y escribir en el espacio en blanco la expresión escuchada.

El niño(a) puede escuchar cada expresión cuantas veces lo desee.

4. Ejercicio 4.

Este ejercicio siguiente en la misma página, consiste en ordenar las palabras

dadas para tener una oración con sentido completo, escribiéndolas en el espacio

en blanco.

Una vez finalicen las actividades por favor seleccionar con el mouse las oraciones

del ejercicio 4 hacer click derecho sobre el mouse, seleccionar imprimir, para

imprimir la hoja este debe ser anexada a el portafolio del niño(a).

2. ACTIVIDAD 2.


http://www.bradleys-english-school.com/online/concentration/collnoun2.html

Encontraran el título Concentration por favor has click sobre el icono Start

Esta actividad consiste en encontrar las parejas de sustantivo y su

correspondiente ejemplo, así: fruit (fruta) –Apple (manzana).

Cuando encuentre todas las parejas por favor hacer click en Quit para finalizar.

http://www.bradleys-english-school.com/online/concentration/collnoun2.html


3. ACTIVIDAD 3.

Escribe n el buscador la siguiente dirección:

http://www.manythings.org/vq/mc-v1.html

Esta actividad consiste en seleccionar el dibujo de tres, que representa la acción

escriba al lado del número.

El niño(a) debe hacer click sobre la imagen e inmediatamente aparecerá una

ventana diciendo Correct (correcto) o wrong(equivocado) debe continuar hasta el

último. Por favor permítale intentarlo las veces que sea necesario para lograr el

puntaje completo.

Cuando finalice por favor hacer click sobre el icono Next Quiz para continuar con

el siguiente ejercicio en el cual deben seguir las mismas instrucciones que el

anterior.

Finalmente, se debe hacer click sobre el icono Next Quiz para continuar con el

último ejercicio .Para terminar debe hacer click sobre el icono Return to Main

Page.


Sonia Melo


http://www.manythings.org/vq/mc-v1.html


Annex 9

FICHA DE SEGUIMIENTO

Objetivo: Examinar las estimaciones generadas por el desarrollo de la guía planteada por

la profesora como parte de la implementación.

Por favor complete este cuadro después de desarrollar la guía escribiendo de la forma

más clara y sencilla posible, sus comentarios.

NOMBRE:_______________________________________________________________

NOMBRE DEL NIÑO:______________________ EDAD___________________________

Tiempo Estimado: _______________________Tiempo de desarrollo________________

ASPECTO A OBSERVAR.

OBSERVACION

1. Al abrir la página

2. Al seguir instrucciones de la

página

3. Al desarrollar los ejercicios

de la página


4. Motivación, Interés y

disposición del Niño (a).

5. Claridad y comprensión del

tema.

6. Nota progreso en el niño.

7. Sobre el aprendizaje del

niño(a)

8. Dificultades, técnicas, de

comprensión u otras.

OBSERVACIONES DE LOS NIÑOS

1. Al abrir la página

2. Al seguir instrucciones de la página

3. Al desarrollar los ejercicios de la página

4. Motivación, Interés y disposición del

Niño (a).


5. Claridad y comprensión del tema.

6. Nota progreso en su aprendizaje.

7. Dificultades, técnicas, de comprensión u

otras.

Comentarios:______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Gracias por su colaboración,

Sonia Melo

Docent Investigador


83

Annex 10

The teacher‟s Log

DATE

PARENT/CHILDREN

OBSERVED

OBSERVATION

NOTES


84

Annex 11

CUESTIONARIO PRELIMINAR PARA PADRES

NOMBRE DEL NIÑO: ______________________ EDAD__________________________

Objetivo: Este cuestionario tiene como fin identificar dos aspectos: el nivel de apoyo

dado por el padre o madre a su hijo en el desarrollo de actividades de ingles después

de la clase y el nivel de uso de internet como herramienta de ayuda para apoyar a sus

hijos en el aprendizaje del inglés.

Instrucciones:

Por favor responda SI o NO a las siguientes preguntas de acuerdo con su experiencia

personal y explique en pocas palabras

PREGUNTAS SI NO EXPLICACIÓN

1. ¿Apoya a sus hijos en el desarrollo de trabajos escolares en inglés?

2. ¿Considera que el internet es una herramienta de aprendizaje?

3. ¿Utiliza el Internet para ayudar a sus hijos con tareas en Ingles?

4. ¿Observa dificultad en el niño(a) en el proceso de aprendizaje del Ingles?

5. ¿Le gustaría recibir ayuda para poder apoyar a sus hijos en el aprendizaje del inglés a través del uso del Internet?

6. ¿Tiene acceso a Internet en su casa


85

Comentarios:____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Gracias por su colaboración,

Sonia Melo Docente Investigador.


86

Annex 12

CUESTIONARIO PRELIMINAR PARA NIÑOS

NOMBRE DEL NIÑO: ______________________ EDAD__________________________

Objetivo: Este cuestionario tiene como fin examinar la apreciación del niño en cuanto al

nivel de apoyo recibido por parte del padre o madre y el nivel de uso del internet como

ayuda en el aprendizaje de Ingles.

Instrucciones: Por favor responde las siguientes preguntas marcando una X según

consideres


Sonia Melo


PREGUNTAS

siempre

algunas veces

nunca

1. ¿Recibes ayuda de tus padres para desarrollar los trabajos de inglés ?

2. ¿Usas internet?

3. ¿Tus padres te acompañan en el uso del internet para realizar tareas de inglés?

4. ¿El internet te ayuda a aprender inglés?

SI NO


87

References

Fan and Chen (2004) Parental Involvement and Students' Academic

Achievement: A Meta-Analysis Utah State University, USA

Henriksen, B. (1999)”There dimensions of vocabulary development”. Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21:303-317

Hoover, Dempsey and Sandler (1997).Why Do Parents Become Involved in

Their Children’s Education. American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Vol. 67, No. 1, 3-42

Jonassen L. (1993). Computers in the classroom: Mind tools for critical

thinking. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall.N J.

Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Rowley, MA:

Newbury House

Nation(2001) Learning Vocabulary in another Language.Press: Cambridge

R. Castillo (2008) adapted from several sources: Kucer(2001), Pushkin(2007),

and Bachman(1990:85)

Strauss&Corbin,(1990). Basics of Qualitative Research. Grounded Theory

procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park. Sage


88

Vygotsky (1999). Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning.

Kluwer/Plenum Scientific Legacy. New York: vol. 6.

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