¨Educating for a new Citizenship¨ Transforming the English Classroom through Action-Oriented Teaching and Learning ¨Educating for a new Citizenship¨

English Reform: Why a new syllabus? The current syllabus is more than ten years old. The students are not developing communicative competence in English as expected. The demands of Costa Rican Society of fully bilingual or multilingual citizens. The current curriculum has no correlation to the pedagogical guidelines or the Common European Framework, teaching scenarios and new pedagogical trends to support the teaching, learning and assessment of global learners which has emerged as one social space, beyond the national borders.

New Citizenship Essential Components and Relationships Ways of Living in the World Ways of Relating with Others Tools for Integrating with the world Ways of Thinking Global Citizenship Sustainable Development Technology and Communication

Philosophical Foundation Legal Framework Ley Fundamental de Educación Política hacia el Siglo XXI Centro Educativo como Eje de la Calidad Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Alberto Cañas 2015-2018 Declaración de la UNESCO: La educación en un Mundo Multilingüe Prior knowledge and exchanges with others leads to constructing and reconstructing understanding

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) CEFR describes proficiency levels based on accumulated evidence gathered over time from learner activities, tasks, or projects. What it does: Standard Terminology Track student progress Descriptors – teaching, learning and assessment Students monitor and take responsibility Transferability across settings Parent communication

CEFR Band Alignment to the new curriculum A2 exit band for primary B1 exit band for high school B2 exit band for LEBs. 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Action-Oriented Approach Communicative activities are task-based and real-life. Learners use authentic materials as comprehensible input, as much as possible. The ICT become an important tool to create meaningful learning experiences.

Action-Oriented Approach The students are social agents that use the target language to perform specific actions in real life contexts meaningfully. Language performances, in oral or written form, respond to language functions and are carried out in specific domains and scenarios.

From Communicative Approach to Action-Oriented Approach Table 8 Comparison of Actions Communicative Approach (CA) vs. Action-Oriented Approach (AOA) From Communicative Approach to Action-Oriented Approach CA Actions… AOA focus on the objectives and as means. Actions are limited to receive and reproduce information (acts of speech). are meant to be for further actions, broader social repetitive acts (scenarios) for treatment of information. are part of simpler tasks. are more complex treatment of tasks or part of integrated mini projects. are delivered since the beginning of the units. (the majority of them) are repetitive along a week, months, or years. are finished completely at the end of the tasks. are open-ended. They cover more ample periods of time to develop lifelong skills or can be retaken later on. are exchanges between a minimum group (such as pair share/small groups). are performed collectively   integrate both competences: co-linguistic and co-cultural dimensions in the common action.

Action-Oriented Approach It is centered in: Communicative tasks and non communicative tasks Determined by: circumstances domains Specific fields of action In order to: solve a problem reach an objective reach a concrete outcome

Common European Framework Socio-cultural General Competence Psycho-social Psycho-social Selfhood factors connected with their individual personalities, characterized by the attitudes, motivations, values, beliefs, cognitive styles and personality types which contribute to their personal identity. Socio-cultural knowledge of the society and the community where the target language is spoken.

Specific Competence Knowing Doing Being Linguistic Pragmatic Socio-linguistic Speaking Listening Writing Reading Language Functions

Tasks “A task is defined as any purposeful action considered by an individual as necessary in order to achieve a given result in the context of a problem to be solved, an obligation to fulfill, or an objective to be achieved” (CEFR, p.10). Tasks are set in a context that learners face in everyday life within domains and scenarios, and themes as members of society, who have tasks to accomplish.

The Role of Tasks Learners are able to demonstrate what they “can do” in English, as well as what they know about English language structures, vocabulary, functions, psychosocial and sociocultural aspects.

The Role of Tasks The learner of a language is viewed as a “social agent”, i.e. member of society who has tasks to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action.

The Role of Tasks