NURTURING LITERACY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVIST STRATEGIES IN EFL SIXTH GRADERS: THE CASE OF VILLARREAL SCHOOL ĐIỂM CAO

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UNIVERSIDAD ESTATAL A DISTANCIA VICERRECTORIA ACADEMICA

ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES Y HUMANIDADES

ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLES PARA I Y II CICLO

Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School

Tesis para optar por el grado académico de Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación con Énfasis en Ensanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclo

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Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School

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<b>EXAMINER COMMITTEE</b>

This dissertation was approved by the Examiner Committee of the Major of English Teaching for I and II Cycles at Universidad Estatal a Distancia as a requirement to obtain the Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclos.

Mag. Yinnia Mora Ordoñez Coordinator of the Major English Teaching for I & II Cycles

Mag. Roxy Calderón Mora

Coordinator of Final Graduation Projects

Lic. Henry Sevilla Morales Thesis Director

Lic. Ma. Laura Guillén Saborío Internal Academic Advisor

Mag. Jonathan Elizondo Mejías External Academic Advisor

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<b>ACNOWLEDGMENTS </b>

It would not have been possible to write this thesis without the help and support of the kind people around us, to only some of whom it is possible to give particular mention here. First of all, we want to thank God for everything He has done for us and His showers of blessings throughout the completion of this research.

I would like to thank my son Gabriel who has been my strength; my family Isabel, Massimo, Gabriela, and my parents who have always supported me. I especially thank my friend and mom Giuliana Perini for her constant guidance, cooperation and support.

Cindy Otárola

I am extremely grateful to my parents for their love, prayers, caring and sacrifices for educating and preparing me for the future. I am very much thankful to my husband Isaías for his love, guidance, personal support and patience at all times; to my daughters Daniela and Sophia for their love, cheerfulness, continuing support and for been there when I needed them the most. I also express my thanks to my family Lubia, Rafael, Stephanie, and Pablo because their support and motivation have deeply inspired me.

Marigen Valverde

Last, but by no means least, we thank Henry for all his support, patience and professionalism throughout this research project.

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<b>ABSTRACT </b>

Despite the plethora of publications acknowledging the vitality of reading in the learning of a foreign language, research suggests that we still have a long way to go before we can successfully take the maximum of it in the language classroom. Thus, in an attempt to come across effective ways to use reading as a source of language input for young learners, this paper is aimed at investigating the influence of constructivist

strategies as a platform for the teaching of reading comprehension in a group of

elementary school students. To that end, twenty sixth grade elementary school students from Villareal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste, were immersed in a two-month

constructivist teaching project where classroom activities were set up based on the principles of constructivist teaching, applied to foreign learning. A mixed approach to research was used in order to cross-check the information, which allowed for analysis triangulation, where quantitative information was complemented and contrasted with qualitative annotations recorded via class observations of the classroom dynamics of the teaching paradigm. Findings suggest that the teaching of reading comprehension through the use of constructivist strategies contributes to the enhancement of motivation, group engagement, and the overall learning environment, making learning a cooperative experience where students take an active role in the construction of knowledge. This investigation aids our understanding of the strategies that best cater to the development of literacy in young learners, as well as the challenges that need to be met if similar projects are to be run. It is our hope that further research on this field is inspired, as well

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as the taking of action on the part of regional authorities of the MEP so that similar projects are brought to practice.

<b>Key Words: constructivist strategies, reading comprehension, literacy, MEP, </b>

elementary schools, English as a Foreign Language

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<b>RESUMEN EJECUTIVO</b>

A pesar de la gama de publicaciones que avalan la inherencia de la lectura al

aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, estudios sugieren que aún queda mucho por lograr si se quiere maximizar este recurso. Por tanto, a fin de descubrir formas eficaces de usar la lectura como insumo lingüístico en niđos, el presente estudio investiga la influencia de estrategias constructivistas como plataforma de aprendizaje para abordar la

comprensión de lectura en un grupo de sexto o de primaria en Escuela Villareal, Guanacaste. Para ello, veinte estudiantes fueron inmersos en un proyecto de enseñanza de la lectura utilizando estrategias constructivistas por dos meses, donde las actividades de clase se basaron en los principios teóricos de dicha corriente filosófica, aplicada a la educación. Se utilizó un paradigma investigativo mixto, a fin de cotejar la información recolectada. Esto a su vez permitió el proceso de triangulación, donde la información cuantitativa fue complementada y comparada con anotaciones cualitativas derivadas de observaciones de clases del proyecto. Los hallazgos señalan que la enseñanza de la comprensión de lectura mediante el uso de estrategias constructivistas contribuye al fortalecimiento de la motivación, la integración y del ambiente de aprendizaje del estudiante, lo cual fomenta el aprendizaje cooperativo, el cual promueve a su vez la construcción activa de conocimiento. El presente estudio nos permite identificar las estrategias que mejor contribuyen al desarrollo del hábito de la lectura en niđos, así como identificar los principales desafíos a la hora de implementar proyectos de

enseñanza relacionados. Con este estudio, esperamos inspirar futuras investigaciones, así

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como la toma de acción por parte de las autoridades regionales del MEP para que se puedan implementar proyectos similares en escuelas primarias de la zona.

<b>Palabras Clave: estrategias constructivistas, comprensión de lectura, escolarización, </b>

MEP, escuelas primarias, inglés como Lengua Extranjera.

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<b>Table of Contents </b>

<b>CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ... 1</b>

<small>1.1 General Background for the Study ... 2 </small>

<small>1.2 Purpose and Significance ... 5 </small>

<small>1.3 Objectives ... 9 </small>

<small>1.3.1. General Objective. ... 9 </small>

<small>1.3.2. Specific Objectives. ... 9 </small>

<small>1.4. Delimitation of the Study ... 10 </small>

<b>CHAPTER II- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 11</b>

<small>2.1 Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide ... 12 </small>

<small>2.1.1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural Communication. ... 12 </small>

<small>2.1.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide. ... 15 </small>

<small>2.2 A brief history of English in Costa Rica ... 18 </small>

<small>2.2.1 The railway construction in the Atlantic. ... 18 </small>

<small>2.2.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization. ... 20 </small>

<small>2.2.3. Challenges faced during the last two decades. ... 21 </small>

<small>2.3 Plan Nacional de Inglés & Costa Rica Multilingüe ... 23 </small>

<small>2.4 MEP and English Teaching Curriculum in Terms of Primary Education ... 31 </small>

<small>2.5 Child language learning and teaching ... 37 </small>

<small>2.5.1 How children learn the language. ... 37 </small>

<small>2.5.2 How children learn a second language. ... 41 </small>

<small>2.5.3 How to teach English to children. ... 44 </small>

<small>2.6 The issue of reading in EFL elementary school classrooms ... 46 </small>

<small>2.6.1 The lack of reading culture in Costa Rica. ... 49 </small>

<small>2.6.2 Lack of adequate resources. ... 50 </small>

<small>2.6.3 Lack of teachers’ expertise. ... 52 </small>

<small>2.7 Constructivism and English Teaching/Learning... 54 </small>

<small>2.7.1 Brief History of Constructivism.... 55 </small>

<small>2.7.2 Recent Research on Constructivism: Empirical Studies. ... 59 </small>

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<small>2.7.3 Constructivism and Motivation. ... 62 </small>

<small>2.7.4 Constructivism and Reading Comprehension. ... 65 </small>

<small>2.7.5 Constructivist Theories in the Costa Rican Education System. ... 68 </small>

<b>CHAPTER III - METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ... 74</b>

<small>3.1 Research Approach ... 75 </small>

<small>3.2 Selection and description of the site and participants ... 78 </small>

<small>3.2.1 Description of the site. ... 78 </small>

<small>3.2.2 Participants and Studied Population. ... 81 </small>

<small>3.3 Data collection strategies ... 81 </small>

<small>3.3.1 The Class Observation Checklist. ... 82 </small>

<small>3.3.2 The Anecdotal Record. ... 83 </small>

<small>3.3.3 The Questionnaire. ... 84 </small>

<small>3.3.4 Validation of Research Instruments ... 85 </small>

<small>3.4 Table of categories ... 86 </small>

<small>3.4.1 The Class Observation Checklist. ... 86 </small>

<small>3.4.2 The Anecdotal Record. ... 88 </small>

<small>3.4.3 The Students’ Questionnaire. ... 89 </small>

<small>3.5 Description of Categories and subcategories ... 90 </small>

<small>3.5.1 Categories. ... 90 </small>

<small>3.5.2 Subcategories. ... 92 </small>

<small>3.5.3 Codes. ... 94 </small>

<b>CHAPTER IV – DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION ... 95</b>

<small>4.1 Statistical Procedures Used in the Data Analysis of the Results... 96 </small>

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<small>5.2.1 Recommendations for teachers.... 139 </small>

<small>5.2.2 Recommendations for Parents: ... 140 </small>

<small>5.2.3 Recommendation for English authorities. ... 142 </small>

<small>5.2.4 Recommendation for Future Research ... 142 </small>

<b>CHAPTER VI - BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDICES ... 153</b>

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<b>CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION </b>

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<b>1.1 General Background for the Study </b>

Learning a new language allows a person to involve himself into a new culture, a new world, and a new life. Charlemagne once noted: “To have another language is to possess a second soul (in “Global,” 2010, pp. 2).”More specifically, English has become the second most spoken language worldwide, according to UNESCO (2010, pp.6). Thus, English has become the vehicle to communicate in the different fields of society, say, politics, economy, technology, and a number of countless fields within our cultural systems. In this respect, the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages released the document “Language Vitality and Endangerment”, which states:

The English language is widely accepted as the medium that makes possible what Giddens refers to as ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations’. It is the medium that makes possible the kind of economic and social changes…English is the language of the World Bank…, and it is the language of global consumerism and the celebrity culture… It is the language spoken when diplomats from different linguistic backgrounds gather in the corridors of the United Nations in New York or the European parliament in Brussels. …it is becoming the language of all

communication taking place across language borders. (2003, p.17, pp.2)

In Costa Rica, English was introduced as a foreign language in public elementary and high schools during José María Figueres Olsen’s administration in 1994, as a way to meet the challenges brought about by our globalized world and due to agreements with multinational companies which came to the country looking for more specialized labor force with English language proficiency. As a result, Costa Rica has transformed its

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economy from primary products to manufacturing and services. In this regard,

Hernández states that, “At present, many companies, both Costa Rican and international, require bilingual personnel. Therefore, proficiency in a foreign language, especially English, has become an essential tool in securing good employment (2008, p.1, pp.3)." As a result of these concerns, Costa Rica has started to implement several courses of action, such as Costa Rica Multilingual and the National English Plan launched in 2008 during Oscar Arias’ presidency. The program Costa Rica Multilingual was declared of public interest, according to decree No. 34425-MEP-COMEX, in an attempt to improve English learning-teaching in public schools. With this plan, the government wants to keep taking advantage of the good education system that allows the country to graduate high quality labor force, but offering individuals who also speak English to continue attracting FDI (foreign development investments).

However, the main goal of the National English Program for I and II cycles is the

<i>achievement of oral skills. It is well known that developing oral language is a natural </i>

process. It is not the same with learning to read and much less, learning to read in a foreign language. According to Hernández, MEP Adviser, the first three years of school are only for speaking and listening and it is only after 4^th grade that reading and some writing are introduced (in Villegas, 2012, pp. 12-13). About this, Togersen, Rashotte and Alexander (2001) specify that the loss of reading opportunities during the first three years of elementary school make it truly difficult for children to acquire average levels of reading fluency in the future.

This practice does not help English development at public schools, since children are not motivated to start reading in English according to their knowledge. According to

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Togersen, the delayed development of reading skills affects not only vocabulary growth(as cited in Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998), but it also affects children’s motivation and attitudes to read (as cited in Oka and Paris, 1986) and takes out children’s opportunities to develop comprehension strategies (as cited in Brown, Palincsar, and Purcell, 1986).

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<b>1.2 Purpose and Significance</b>

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) views literacy as a human right, and describes it as a tool to create social environments in which individuals of all ages can stand out. Also, UNESCO sees literacy as a tool to eradicate poverty, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development. According to Bokova, UNESCO General Director, the next statement provides a concrete definition of the significance of literacy for all the individuals as part of a Globalized society:

Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity (2012, pp. 2).

Since UNESCO is a worldwide organization covering 195 members and eight associate members, the statements aforementioned serve as the grounding for literacy planning and policy of nations worldwide. In the case of Costa Rica, it has been a member of UNESCO since 1950 and has been working on getting support to reach the common literacy objectives stated by the UNESCO.

At present, Costa Rican Public Education System has launched action plans to promote the achievement of literacy-related objectives along with the main curriculum goals. For instance, they have included a cross-curriculum program that proposes a cross-curriculum theme called Environmental. This program has four components, and one of them is the Sustainable Human Development which contemplates a series of

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contents such as good quality of life, civic participation, national identity and cultural diversity. Those contents are developed in all the subjects; for example, teachers in their lessons must integrate recommended readings according to the levels, which must be read obligatory in order to accomplish the dispositions of the educational system. Thus,

<i>books such as “Mamita Yunai” [Mom Yunai] by Carlos Luis Fallas, or “Única Mirando </i>

<i>al Mar” [Unica looking to the Sea] by Fernando Contreras Castro promote students’ </i>

learning through cultural and historical topics about Costa Rica from different perspectives and times.

Since reading is the key to nurture the knowledge in every single subject, teachers and students face challenges developing this skill in their classrooms. Many English teachers comment that to teach reading exercises in their classes has become a complex task to achieve because of a matter of time and organization. Likewise, according to Araya and Córdoba (2008), the English Syllabi in 2005 dictated that instructors had to be able to:

expose the learner to a considerable amount of meaningful language input…; provide a variety of opportunities for the students, in order to bring about the necessary models or language input…: offer a variety of texts and also remember that students in the same class may read at very different levels of difficulty in English, just as they do in their native language…; be aware of the students’ reading interesting order to design the appropriate reading comprehension exercises… (p.3)

In terms of what the English Syllabi demands, English teachers need to prepare their lessons taking into account five steps: preparation, demonstration, time to introduce the language skill (in this case the reading skills), corrections, and follow-up. These steps,

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along with the cross-curriculum themes, and the responsibility to prepare their 11^th graders for the national reading comprehension tests have become the duties that demand special aptitude, attitudes and knowledge from English teachers nowadays. These challenges suggest some of the many considerations teachers need to bear in mind while doing their job. The instructor’s expertise is based on their knowledge and the application of principles, strategies, methodologies and theories. The teaching-learning process of the reading skills as well as the development of speaking, writing and listening follows a series of principles based on theories in order to have successful results in the classes. Those principles put into practice in English classes should work as elaborated systems of thought and social reality. For that reason, reading has been seen as a tool of empowerment for students in their schools; all that is needed is to have teachers, parents and communities that are willing to participate in the promotion and nurturing of the reading practice.

In the case of Costa Rican rural institutions, English teachers and students have a limited exposure to materials like books to support their lessons. To worsen the scenario further, it is easy to notice the lack of practice of reading strategies in the classrooms. That means that teachers generally focus their lessons on choral repetition of words or texts. For instance, exercises like asking meaning of a text or predictions are omitted; consequently students develop poor reading skills, which will carry out problems when they have to confront complex literacy levels demanded by an educational institution, jobs, relationship with friends, and communication with people from other countries and the society in general.

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As a consequence of this lack of reading skills, public schools in Costa Rica need to work with different methodologies in order to enhance and improve students’ reading skills. Taking this into consideration, the constructivist theories propose a focus in which both teachers and students play an active role in the development of activities in the classroom. By promoting constructivism in English classes, learners have the

opportunity to learn through experiences, and the construction of knowledge follows cycles where the brain storages new information when it gets into contact with existing data. As Hayes (2006, p.49) says “constructivist theories suggest that pupils learn when thought and experience interact, resulting in the sequential development of the more complex understanding”. Constructivism has been seen as a great contribution to the instruction, since the emphasis of the theorists focus on how the humans create and adjust knowledge in order to adapt themselves to the changing world. By integrating this theory at school, students and teachers will be able to have an active participation, apply different learning theories; such us, discovery learning, experiential, project-based, tasked-based and collaborative learning.

Upon having examined the need for literacy in EFL primary education classrooms in light of Costa Rica’s educational context, the question leading the research inquire of this project is: To what extent do constructivist teaching strategies have a positive impact on the promotion of motivation to read and reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School?

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<b>1.3 Objectives </b>

<b>1.3.1. General Objective. </b>

<small>1.3.1.1 To conduct research on the influence of constructivist teaching strategies </small> and promotion of reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School.

<b>1.3.2. Specific Objectives. </b>

1.3.2.1 To identify the elements of constructivism that foster Literacy in an EFL classroom.

1.3.2.2 To identify factors that influence reading motivation in young learners’ reading comprehension skills.

1.3.2.3 To implement designed constructivist teaching strategies in the English class.

1.3.2.4 To determine the students’ degree of achievement when using constructivist reading comprehension strategies.

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<b>1.4. Delimitation of the Study </b>

The study will be narrowed down to the English classes at Villarreal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste. The researchers will observe the English teaching-learning of students in the group of Sixth grade B, and they will take into consideration all students attending classes in order to observe the English teaching-learning process to study the influence of constructivist teaching strategies by promoting reading motivation and reading comprehension. The collection of data will take place from July to August, 2013, to the group B of sixth graders and just the English teacher in charge of this group. Researchers will apply surveys to students; and they will observe closely the teaching-learning process while applying constructivist strategies to reinforce the reading skill. As aforementioned, this research is aimed at orienting the teaching-learning process, namely reading comprehension, under the tenets of constructivist theories, strategies, and perspectives. Overall, it is expected that this research contributes to assist our understanding of the impact of constructivist teaching-learning in sixth grade elementary school learners. Likewise, results of this study will strengthen the current body of literature regarding constructivist instruction, as it will inspire future research not only in elementary school but also in high schools of Costa Rica and, eventually, in other institutions outside the country. Lastly, because reading-comprehension becomes the main activity in the development of the contents established in the MEP’s curriculum, the researchers’ goal is also to reinforce students’ reading skills by following pedagogical practices informed by constructivist perspectives to language learning.

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<b>CHAPTER II- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK </b>

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<b>2.1 Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide </b>

There are social, political and cultural factors that act as determiners of English learning worldwide. This chapter aims at providing information about the role of English as a lingua franca, and the curricular and political challenges brought by the English learning worldwide. Due to globalization, business relations, connections, and transactions with other countries, the English Language has become the global lingua franca used by many people around the world to communicate with others. According to Abdullah and Latif (2012), “At present, English, undoubtedly, is a lingua franca of our planet. Nowadays, it is used by people in almost every nook and corner of the world” (p.128). Besides, the importance of knowing about the curricular and political challenges English learning faces to contribute to the progress of the society.

<b>2.1.1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural Communication. </b>

The term Lingua Franca (LF) is defined by Samarin as “any lingual medium of

communication between people of different mother tongues, and for whom it is a second language” (as cited in Cummins and Davison, 2007, p. 138). Ghim-Lian (2009, pag.2 ) explains that “in the past, Greek was the lingua franca of huge areas in the

Mediterranean and the Middle East to extend that the New Testament was written in Greek ”. In other words, the LF functions as a tool of contact and social interaction in

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order to facilitate the communication between individuals from different parts of the globe who do not share linguistic or cultural backgrounds.

Nowadays, many languages play the role of lingua franca for international

communication. English has become the most important of them, and it has emerged and spread as a global language for many reasons. Such reasons can be attributed to the combination of many historical, political, economic, cultural, technological and

communication factors. Stevenson argued that "if trade and tourism around the world are going to operate and a global economy function and a global culture flourish, a widely shared, reasonably accessible language is requisite" (as cited in Wheaton. H, n.d, p.1); in other words, there must be a common language in order to have a truly global world. Through history, the emergence of English as a global language has been influenced by politic and economic structures. Rhode claims that “English dominates international business, politics, and culture more than any other language in human history" (in Wheaton. H, p.1); it has occurred due to a number of reasons. For example, as Wheaton asserts that, in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, English was the main language of the leading colonial nation- Britain; it was the leader language during the industrial revolution in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, it became the language of leading economic power in United States. Guardian (n.d) asserted "a language

becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people - especially their military power" (in Wheaton. H, p.1), it means that the emergence of the United States as world superpower has had as a result the rapid spread of English as a lingua franca to connect people around the world for different purposes.

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In terms on what has been stated before, David Graddol (2007) in his book “The Future of English?” highlights different aspects related to the development of English as a global language. On first place, he relates the increasing of English with the

international economy, this because of the globalization, the trade and new working practices which demand the use of this language as a tool to accomplish the tasks required in jobs. Second, he associates English to a global culture; it means the cross cultural communication between native speakers and second language speakers; that has been influenced by technological advances such as the expansion of the Internet as a huge mean of communication.

The Internet grew in use and popularity has established English as a global language to communicate in some common ways. According to the Internet World Stats

(2013,p.1) English is the number one language of the top ten languages used in the web; they point that calculating the number of speakers of the world’s languages is an

increasingly complex task; more specifically to tale the number of English speakers, the estimations have to take into consideration the use of it as a first, second and foreign language, since many countries have promoted the teaching of English in their public schools under those focuses depending on the policies of the educational programs in each country.

Also, the knowledge of English has become a requirement in a great number of fields, occupations and professions such as computing, medicine or electronic in order to understand a serious of technical terms expressed in the English language. A working knowledge of this language has opened a variety of opportunities to people around the world; it brings better job offers, it allows people to communicate with others around the

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world, it is a great complement for academic issues and it opens the doors to new cultures.

<b>2.1.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide. </b>

The last four decades, governments increasingly have recognized the importance of English in the political, economic and social fields. Based on that, English has become a powerful tool for individuals to succeed in the changing environments. Although

English continues to grow because of global demands, it brings complex issues and challenging scenarios in the integration and development of this language as a lingua franca in the different countries. Coleman (2011) summarizes a range of aspects that give an overall overview of the challenges that those governments and individuals around the world face in this process, among those issues, the way how communities and individuals perceive the English language in their lives, the introduction of it in education systems and the contribution of this language to national and international development are the most relevant.

The first issue refers to the perceptions of individuals and communities of the role of English as a lingua franca. Edwards (1994) asserts that “language is a social institution of enormous importance, and one over which we have a great deal of control” (in Tonkin, n.d, p.1). Nowadays, the learning of a second language of non-native speakers emerges as a need and desire to participate in a global and advanced community. Along the same lines, Graddol (1997) states that “speakers of English as a second language

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may now exceed the number of speakers of English as a first language.” This means that most of individuals and communities, even though have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds; they have made the decision to integrate English as second language as a result of the processes of globalization.

The second aspect lays on the introduction of English as an effective change in education systems. The integration of English as core subject at schools aims to enable students to face different challenges brought by the expansion of the knowledge of English as a requirement in many areas. Taking into consideration the integration of English in the education systems, Kirkpatrick ( 2012, p.40) proposes a series of points that must be considered in the development of the language teaching curriculum in Asian contexts, but some of those points can be implemented in many other countries. For example, he hesitates that the purpose of teaching English in schools focuses on allowing learners to use the target language successfully through the exposition to English contexts, as a result, students will develop intercultural competence by including cultural topics relevant for the lingua franca users. Besides, the curriculum must allow students to be able to engage in critical discussions about their own culture and the target language culture; and finally, in order to familiarize students with the speech and

pronunciation of the target language, the curriculum should integrate listening materials. In other words, the purpose of English as a core subject at schools emerged as a need to prepare individuals to fulfill the demands of a growing society.

Since English has been put at the forefront of global concerns of 21^st century societies, the education systems have had to adjust their policies to respond to this movement. Seargeant and Earling (n.d, p. 2) note that “the increased status of English

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within a global economy has meant that English language education has also begun to be promoted as an important factor in international development programs”. Similarly, Bruthiaux (2002, p. 289) affirms that the countries development have become “inextricably linked in governmental and academic circles as well as the media with English language education” (in Seargeant and Earling, n.d). At this point, it is important to recognize the strong relationship between development and English language

education. Seargeant and Earling (p. 3) asserted that “language education can help people to gain resources to lift themselves out of poverty and increase their ability to participate in world economic system.”

Likewise, between 1997 and 2008 the United Kingdom governments’ Department for International Development funded “The English Language Teaching Improvement Project”, in attempt to contribute to the economic progress of this country by using English as tool for a better integration of the economy worldwide. In the case of Costa Rica, programs like Foreign Language Program (PROLED) and Costa Rica Multilingual were created on1994 and 2008 respectively, with the purpose of improving elementary education quality (Navarro and Piñeiro, 2011).

The integration of the teaching and learning process of English as a foreign or second language in the education systems has been analyzed under different perspectives. Zhang argues that “teaching and learning of English in today’s world is driven by pragmatic values because English has been an instrument of access to social prestige, wealth and international job market” (cited in Sharma, 2008, p.125). Needless to say, a system that disregards the importance of English in education is a system that deprives itself from opportunities at cultural, economic, and academic domains.

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To conclude, English has emerged as a lingua franca to fulfill the ideology of “English as a language for international development” (Seargeant and Earling, n.d). In Costa Rica, the promotion of English language is fundamental in the development of the country in general; there are many activities that depend on the knowledge of this language like the tourism activities that are so unquestionably important for the country’s economy. It is not surprising, then, that the government has placed high priority on teaching English to students since they are in primary school as a way to: a) acquire English as a tool to confront globalization, b) equip citizens to succeed in a competitive society, c) attract foreign investments, and d) have better access to education, culture, communication, and technology.

<b>2.2 A brief history of English in Costa Rica </b>

This chapter is the result of the research made about the history of English in Costa Rica. It aims to show an historical overview of how English came to Costa Rica, starting with the railway construction in the Atlantic, and how it developed to become a mandatory subject in public schools as a result of globalization and the challenges English learning has faced after the government made that decision in 1997.

<b>2.2.1 The railway construction in the Atlantic. </b>

The History of English in Costa Rica can be traced back to the construction of the railway to the Atlantic back in 1870, when General Tomás Guardia and coffee growers of the time devised the need for foreign labor (Italians, Chinese, and Jamaicans). The construction of the railroad faced many difficulties; about it, Whitten and Torres (1998,

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p.120) stated, “Of all the immigrant peoples, however, only the West Indian Blacks came to tolerate the rigid labor discipline and to suffer exposure to the yellow fever, malaria and poisonous snakes which abounded in the swampy lowlands of Limón.” After finishing the railroad to Limón, many Italians and Chinese people moved to work to Puntarenas to construct the new railroad. However, most of the Jamaicans stayed on the Atlantic Coast to work for the banana plantation or at the port. After the banana blight in 1913, many plantations were moved to the Pacific coast but black people were forced to stay in Limón. Whitten and Torres state, “…they [Jamaicans] were not allowed to migrate to the Pacific coast of the country where new farms were being opened up and where experienced banana workers were in high demand” (2009, p.122). Banana business turned into a multinational company: the United Fruit Company which established a close enclave economy that lead to a complete control over the workers.

The language spoken in the plantations was the American English spoken by managers and the Jamaican Creole, spoken by the workers. This is how English

language is introduced to Costa Rica and according to Holm (1983, p.133) “From among the various kinds of West Indian creole English spoken in Limón, the most widely spoken variety of Jamaican Creole emerged as the dominant language and became identified with that locality, developing its separate course as Limonese Creole.” Limon Creole English has many variations and now, it has borrowed many words and idioms from Costa Rican Spanish and vice versa. Most of people in Limón speak Limón Creole English and Spanish as Holm (1983, p.134) explains, “For the youngest generation,

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which identifies with Costa Rica, Spanish is the language of prestige but the mother tongue continues to be Limonese Creole.”

<b>2.2.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization. </b>

Since the independence in 1821, Costa Rica has adopted different decisions which have lead it to be recognized as one of the most accepting, and peaceful nations in the world: first, abolishing their army in 1948 and investing that money in education, security, health care, culture, social and political stability; secondly, developing the Import Substitution Industrialization Strategy (replacing foreign imports with domestic production) between 1960 and 1970; and finally, adopting a serial of structural

adjustments imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other international organisms.

Over the next years, the structural adjustments continue being followed and applied by the different governments. During Arias Sánchez’s administration, the decline in student performance, dropout increase and the shortage of qualified teachers was

extremely worrying. The government launched various educational reforms, such as the national testing system (6^th, 9^th and 11^th grades), and the introduction of computer literacy in the classroom, among others.

All these social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization contributed to attract foreign investments (in Nelson, 2009, p. 35). As development strategies, Figueres’ government adopted the following actions:

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a. The program PROLED (Foreign Languages Program) was introduced to integrate the teaching and learning of English in public schools in 1994 to give better career opportunities to children of rural and marginal areas. (Córdoba, Coto, & Ramírez, 2005, p. 7).

b. After Intel’s decision to invest in Costa Rica, the World Bank stated that Costa Rica’s educated labor force was the crucial factor (Worldbank.org, 1998, p.5), so Costa Rica introduced English as a mandatory subject in 1997. MEP statistics show that in 2012, 1886 (53% of total) primary schools received English classes (Calderón& Mora, pp.6).

c. The Training for English Teachers MEP-CONARE focuses on best teaching practices and maintains a continuing education plan for the public sector. Intel’s experience has served to call the attention of more multinational corporations as the country has focused their development in high-tech manufacturing and services taking advantage of their stable economic and political system as well as their educated labor force.

<b>2.2.3. Challenges faced during the last two decades. </b>

Like many other countries around the world, Costa Rica has strived for competent education levels that allow its citizens perform in the many areas that today’s globalized society opens. Costa Rica has improved social indicators and according to the CIA World Fact book, Costa Rica has a literacy rate of almost 95%, making it one of the most literate countries in Latin America (2013). According to UNESCO, Costa Rica has

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shown great records regarding investment on education as a way to overcome the challenges aforementioned. Figure 2.1 depicts low and middle income Latin American countries’ investment on education.

Nowadays, more multinational corporations come to Costa Rica, situation that demands more professionals who handle the English language. In 2008, Costa Rica realized that only a 62% of English teachers had the necessary level and that meant that “one in 10 high schools students had achieved an intermediate level or higher” (Leff, 2010, pp.5). To counteract these results, government launched a program to improve English proficiency: Costa Rica Multilingual. According to Calderón and Mora (2012) in 2008 more teachers got an A1, A2 and B1 in the TOEIC test. After training with Costa Rica Multilingual, these grades dramatically changed:

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Costa Rica’s needs for English proficiency are not only focused on multinational companies coming to the country but also because tourism grows every day and the information revolution uses English as a mean to communicate in different fields. Therefore, the English language is a mandatory subject in the education of Costa Rica. Also, in order to improve English learning and teaching by implementing the English National Plan to provide Costa Ricans with the linguistic skills needed to increase their competitiveness.

<b>2.3 Plan Nacional de Inglés & Costa Rica Multilingüe </b>

As discussed elsewhere in this paper, Costa Rica is immersed in the tendencies of globalization as a response of the introduction of the technological advances in diverse areas that has increased the complexity of daily-life transactions. This whole innovation period has brought more employment opportunities that demand better trained

personnel, and the knowledge of English language has become one of the main requirements needed to complete the ideal profiles in different job’s positions.

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The responsibility of preparing these individuals to accomplish the requests that many national and international companies demand, falls on the education system. The “Educative Policies Toward the XXI Century” , created on November 8<small>th</small>

of 1994, were approved with “ the purpose to achieve an integral development of the competitive human resources, preparing them to attack with success the challenges that imposes the new world order of the globalization in the new millennium” (National Inform: The Development of Education Costa Rica, n.d, p.18). In other words, the education system must give citizens the appropriate preparation and tools to allow them to grow and fit within the globalized market of today’s society.

In order to place Costa Rica in a competitive position within the international markets, the National Plan of Development saw the need to come up with the English National Plan. This proposal is led by el Ministry of Foreign Commerce (COMEX), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MEIC), the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), the National Learning Institute (INA), CINDE and the Project of Strategies for XXI Century. The objective of the English National Plan focus on improving the quality of human resources; in this specific case, to make language users capable of developing and applying a second language in the different activities of their daily lives. The English National Plan clearly specifies in its general objective that the aim is to (2007, p.3): [Provide the national population language skills in English that allows greater personal and professional development, increasing their access to higher-paying jobs]

According to this Plan, the progress and success of its implementation should achieve the following specific objectives:

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<b>1. Short Term (2007 – 2009): To train to 45.000 individuals to reach the following </b>

levels:

- At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - At least 15.000 Costa Rican citizens achieved the B2 level according to the

Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages.

- At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages.

<b>2. Medium Term (2009 – 2012): To train to 36.000 individuals to reach the </b>

following levels:

- At least 6.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages, annually. - At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve, annually, achieve the B2 level

according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages.

- At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens, annually, achieve the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages.

<b>3. Long Term (to 2017): to implement a program of English formation for </b>

primary and secondary levels, that have as result the following achievements: - 50% of the graduated students of high school achieve the C1 level according to

the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - 50% of the graduated students of high school achieve the B2 level according to

the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages.

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In order to have a better understanding of the scale defined in the Common European Framework (CEF) of Reference for Modern Languages to measure the linguistic

competences, the Teachers’ Guide to the Common European Framework (n.d, p.5), presents the common reference levels to place the English users according to their second language abilities. On the top, the levels C2 and C1 are defined as proficient users of the English language; individuals that can understand almost everything related to listening and reading skills (C2 level), and understand wide variety of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meaning (C1). Then, the B2 and B1 levels define the English users as independent; they can comprehend main ideas of complex texts (B1) or main points of familiar matters like work, school and leisure activities (B2). Finally, the basic levels are represented by the A2 and A1 scores; in which users can understand basic personal and family information (A2) or use and understand familiar every daily expressions (A1).

It is important to bear in mind that the CEF (2001, p.3) provides as a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabi, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. Hence, the importance of reference tests to measure the English linguistic

competences of teachers, students and workers.

The use of English in Costa Rica has made the country an attractive destination for the FDI (Foreign Development Investment) of countries such as the United States, the 64 % of the foreign capital comes from this country (ENP, 2007). Halliday once said “If you want to resist the exploitative power of English, you have to use English to do it” (in Sharma, 2008, p.125). Nowadays, Costa Rican’s interest to learn English as foreign

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language has been conceived as an instrument to succeed in many fields. To illustrate that, The English National Plan (2007, p.4) states:

[Being able to communicate in English means, for those already located in the labor market and who are the professionals in different areas of knowledge, an added bonus of assessment, in addition, those wishing to enter this market are facing a lawsuit that also requires the knowledge of this language besides their education.]

Considering the latter quote, new projects were proposed to face the growing requests of bilingual people to work in international companies. In this project, private and public institutions work together to plan and execute programs directed to people who work, mainly. Among the organizations, the National Learning Institute can be mentioned, which in 2004 designed a program called Inglés Técnico para Centros de Servicios [Technical English for Service Center]. Then, in 2005, the Department of Public Education of the MEP decided to implement new specialties in the vocational high schools with English orientations, like bilingual computer science. Furthermore, institutions like CONAPE, CINDE, MEP and Universities contributed to the

improvement of teaching-learning process of English by offering monetary funding to students, by proposing standardization of the levels of English depending on the demands; and the implementation of scholarships in universities, like in the case of University of Costa Rica, which provided students with an opportunity to take an English program divided into 10 modules conversational modules.

Along with the efforts made by the government, public and private institutions worked on new projects to make the English language a national priority for the Costa Rican citizens; and this is how the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is decreed as a

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program of public and national interest on March 11^th, 2008 during Oscar Arias Sánchez’ administration. The same as the English National Plan, Costa Rica Multilingual is headed by the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Public Education, the Ministry of Foreign Commerce, the National Learning Institute, the Coalition for Development Initiatives, and the Project of Strategies for the XXI Century; besides the Industry and Commerce’s Direction for the Technical and Regulation

Improvement forms part of this important National program.

In an attempt to come across solutions to demands of the globalization, the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is aimed at, [Providing the country with a population with communication skills that enable greater personal and professional development,

increasing their access to universal knowledge and higher-paying jobs] (2008-2017, p.3) According to the CINDE’s Department of Research (2012, p.4), the most important actions of this program are:

<b>1. Review and implementation programs and educational methodologies. 2. Teacher training and education. </b>

<b>3. Training programs at all levels for students and professionals. 4. Professional certifications. </b>

To carry out those actions, within the collaborating efforts made by the institutions involved, Greer (2012) points out the contributions of the Ministry of Public Education in the 2010-2014 term, in which established “the strategic educational policies for primary and secondary schools to include the development of students’ entrepreneurial capacity by improving students’ foreign language competency”. Additionally, the MEP implemented the Project of “Teaching of English as a Foreign Language”, in which the

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computer program for English language acquisition for primary and secondary learners is also comprised; following this initiative, the training of the teachers to administer the English computer program effectively was under the MEP’s supervision. In summary, the goal of this project relies on the students’ acquisition and development of foreign language skills by the performance of exercises in the computer program.

In order to fulfill the needs demanded by the private sector, the educational program has recently undergone a modification process aimed at coping with all the challenges aforementioned. As a result of this, amid the private school sector, there are world-class institutions with a cultural emphasis on the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Israel (CINDE, 2012). This diversity of the educational frameworks brings with it a lot of benefit for the country, since Costa Rica has become the third country of destination for outsourcing practices of foreign companies. Greer (2012) affirms that Costa Rica Multilingual has “received funding from the Inter-American Development Bank and international corporations such as Intel in its ambitious objective of improving Costa Ricans’ foreign language skills”. Particularly, the program’s objective focuses on the development of English; however, depending on the program’s success, the idea is to incorporate other foreign languages; therefore the programs’ name, Multilingual (Greer, 2012).

Although the English National Plan and the Program Costa Rica Multilingual respond to the specific need to improve the English mastery, they both aim to improve the teaching process of English in primary and secondary schools’ level. As the English National Plan (2007, p. 28) states:

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