The footprints of the past in our classroom
Since 1960’s there have been different ways and focus on teaching, known as frameworks, they were aimed to improve the educative praxis. As a result, teaching a second language was method-based that change improve the fundamental stones in the classroom. Thus, which features makes these frameworks important nowadays in a Colombian context?
First, when it comes to the contemporary era in English language teaching and learning, the focus on learners is quite important. They need to learn in an active and conscious way, allowing them to develop autonomy, interaction and heuristic thinking. In order that students enhance language and comprehensive skills centered in the input and output process. These principles are essential and need to be taken into account for most of the teachers and government in Colombia on time to develop a class. In the reality, there is a lack of tools, environment, and financial support, but these cannot be an excuse for not considering factors such: learners’ needs, their styles and strategies of learning and the improvement of didactics to teach the significant content. Therefore, teachers must be willing to cope and to overcome students concerns through the already mentioned aspects.Additionally, avoiding the linear, structured, and traditional teaching methods in which teachers assume the main role of learners is merely avoiding overcharged irrelevant information.
Second, the teachers’ role is important because they are the mediators between specific knowledge and learners. Teachers are responsible for making purposeful and pertinent activities where learners can develop substantial skills so that they can learn from previous knowledge. For example, in teaching second language, teachers ought to emphasize in context and use authentic language. In Colombian-context ESL have been seen as a class where learners cannot relate to the content, because the material that is used to teach comes from around the world, although this gives the student a wide view of the world. In terms of learning this is not appropriate because learners have multiple tasks in one simple activity, we need to focus on the activity and skills we want to develop, this must be clear-cut for learners. Contextualization in language teaching gives learners the tool to focus more on the language and to use it in their daily lives; we cannot ignore the outside factors that deeply affect the learning process.
Third and no less important, the teachers’ methods and the tools that they use for improve students’ learning, both are very essential for nowadays in the real context, since, teachers have lot of tools for develop on the best way students’ skills. As we already know, in 21st century we have now a technological support for teaching and for learning, for example, if any teacher would like to improve students listening skill, on internet they can find lot of tracks depending of their level need. The challenge here for teachers is to attach the students attention and have the best pedagogical method to enrich their knowledge and to permit them to create new things, share new information, learning by making mistakes and aloud themselves to challenger each other.
To conclude, the development of frameworks in the history have raised and developed vital ideas that teacher can keep in mind in order to make his/her classroom a place where students enjoy the process of learning, nowadays there are many tools that create strategies to make classes relevant and pertinent to learners. However, if teachers don't set up and apply new methods and strategies, learning process will be ineffective and useless for learners. As a result, the lack of knowledge and skills will increase and thus affect and trigger in huge learners shortcomings and gaps in their formative development.
