ABSTRACT. Teaching and Learning Languages requires more than just teaching grammar, syntax and vocabulary. The importance of the cultural context of language and mediating language teaching and learning and culture has been the topic of many studies and research since the 1980’s (Valdea and Swan 1986, Buttjes and Byram 1991, Byram, Gribkova and Starkey 2002 and Hinkel 2011). This presentation discusses the dynamics and importance of integrating inter-cultural and multicultural perspective in designing educational programs in general, especially those related to the teaching and learning of languages. Designing educational programs however is just the first phase necessary for teaching and learning innovative curriculum. There are processes involved in implementing the innovative curriculum successfully which also require multicultural and inter-cultural competencies. These processes will be presented through analyzing case-studies of European Commission Curriculum Reform Capacity Building Programs that successfully integrated inter-cultural and multicultural perspectives in several disciplines, including language teaching and learning.

ABSTRACT. The following study emerges because of the need to enhance English language learning of students at Corporación Universitaria Del Caribe- Cecar. To foster students’ learning it was taken into account the use of technological devices in order to apply an active methodology called Game Based Learning (GBL) to motivate students to learn and teach with it. The population that was part of this study was eight students from early childhood pedagogy degree in Sincelejo, Sucre. This is a qualitative study to explore, discover and determine the students’ process through direct observations and interviews to face this problem in the real context. One of the findings of this research project was that students were able to improve their speaking level through using the significant strategy. To conclude, it is essential to mention that integrating this type of methodology, the change was not just perceived from the students but also for their students’ learners in their pedagogical practicum.

ABSTRACT. Tutoring has become a language teaching-learning practice of interest among researchers and pedagogues in language education. In the ESL/EFL fields, socio-psycholinguistic and sociocultural theories have foregrounded tutoring practices for the development of linguistic competence and language skills. Moreover, tutoring practices in language education contexts have been traced in cooperative and interactional events such as peer tutoring sessions, expert-learner relationships, and tutor-tutee lessons. However, little knowledge exists on the effects that tutoring practices held between non-native pre-service teachers and EFL students have on English learning. This ongoing qualitative study examines traces of sociocognitive alignment during EFL tutoring lessons for the learner’s fluency improvement by means of a multimodal interaction analysis model, following theories by Dwight Atkinson (2011) and Charles Goodwin (2000). Data yields from video recordings of three tutoring sessions held between one novice tutor (pre-service teacher) and one EFL university student (English level 1). Preliminary findings show that some semiotic resources and affordances in tutor-tutee conversations, variations in tutor-tutee roles/relationships, and the learning environment have seemingly positive effects on the tutee’s fluency. Implications for language teaching are under construction with regard to the pre-service teachers’ readiness to become EFL tutors at university level from a sociocognitive approach to ELT.

ABSTRACT. Children acquiring reading and writing in the first or in another language struggle with memorization methods for spelling, phonetics, and phonology. This presentation reports a small scale study with Jolly Phonics which is a fun and child-centred approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics. With steps for each of the 42 letter sounds presentation, the multi-sensory approach motivates children and teachers, who can see their achievement. A class of 15 boys and girls between the ages of 7-9 years old at a school in Bogotá learned a set of sounds in combination rather than the names of the letters. With qualitative action research, preliminary results indicate that participants enhanced the pronunciation and discriminated the meaning of the sound-letter combinations of expressions as cat, cop, can, bin, bat. The audience will be involved in identifying expressions in English given in synthetic phonetics. They will share how they tackle reading at early ages and discuss the potential of Jolly Phonics in their contexts.

ABSTRACT. This report presents the results of a research process aimed to determine the perception of students from a private school about the inclusion of Projects Based Learning elements to the regular English Language classes. Despite the fact of being well directed and showing results, English classes needed variations to make the language acquisition process more attractive to students. The concepts of Projects Based Learning from Lipova, Knoll and Kilpatrick were used as theoretical references together with the experiences of Bas and Beyhan to determine the results obtained by applying PBL methodologies in the development of multiple intelligences. Furthermore, the theories of Psaltou-Joycey and Catapano in terms of Cross-curricular approaches were analyzed. The process was carried out through a cross sectional study. A random sample of Secondary Level students at Bosques de León School in Sincelejo - Sucre was selected to collect data through a LIKERT type survey composed by ten questions. Results showed a positive impact of the application of PBL strategies, inviting this way the school English team to continue implementing actions and methods pointing to work through projects, extending the strategy to Primary and 6th and 7th grades in Secondary.

ABSTRACT. The Integrado Juan Atalaya School has undertaken the challenge of implementing the Suggested curriculum by the MEN, considering the important role that the context plays in its construction and the need of strenthtening the English teaching practice. Hence, the purpose of this research project is framed in the analysis of the classroom context to foster the integrated skills in EFL through task-based language teaching in seventh grade. For its achievement, the action research has been set as the methodological design. Bearing in mind that this is an ongoing research, some of the preliminary findings have shown that most of the students don’t have the English level required due to the lack of contact with the language outside the classroom and the use of grammar-centered strategies. Moreover, some update workshops were conducted with the participant where it was identified as major struggle the missconception about the futility of new methodologies and how they make the teaching process complex. However, through these workshops, it has been also possible to rethink a new curriculum starting from its pedagogical basis and a planning and implementation process focused on the development of contents through tasks including the use of language skills in the immediate context.

ABSTRACT. This research project analyses the premises of using metacognitive teaching in order to promote the development of reading comprehension in English as a foreign Language in a group of high school students at a public school in Montería, Colombia. An action research methodology is being carried out in this study. The first step in this process is to gather some preliminary data related to the main issue of this research. This process is being carried out with both teachers and students through semi-structured interviews, discussion groups, questionnaires and a journal. The following step will be the collaborative design and implementation of a proposal oriented to promote the development reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. After that, the researcher will collect and analyze data in order to reflect and adjust the proposal repeating this cyclical process to understand better each cycle point and improve the actions that will be implemented.

ABSTRACT. This presentation will report on a case study aimed at understanding whether pre-service teachers’ pre-conceived beliefs influence their first teaching experience. This study took place in the Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages English-French program in a public university in Colombia, and involved three fifth-year pre-service teachers. Two research questions guided this study: Do pre-service teachers hold pre-conceived beliefs regarding a foreign language, if so, which ones? How do pre-conceived beliefs influence the eighth semester student’s first teaching experience? Data was gathered over four-months through a questionnaire, six classroom observations, three semi-structured interviews and field notes. Bearing in mind that this is a case study, data was analyzed qualitatively in the light of the research questions, using MAXQDA and Hatch’s (2002) interpretive analysis. In this presentation we will report the findings, including some key issues to consider about the beliefs pre-service teachers hold before starting their practicum and how these beliefs are essential in their teaching careers.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to analyze the incidence of the application of the social pedagogical strategy in the prevention and reduction of bullying in 8th grade students of the Marceliano Polo Educational Institution of the municipality of Cereté - Córdoba. A social strategy "Educating my emotions" in the prevention and reduction of bullying was implemented. The study is of qualitative approach and is framed within the case study design with a sample of 36 eighth grade students and 2 teachers. The instruments were the survey form, the interview form and the field diary. Likert scale analysis and content analysis with cognitive maps were performed. The results obtained were able to establish the characterization of the students against bullying which was in a high percentage in the Verbal and Social dimensions, in terms of the teachers' perception it was shown that they know about the problem of bullying but do not use prevention strategies. Finally, the application of emotional intelligence workshops allowed to improve the behavior and coexistence in students, as well as better face everyday and non-everyday situations.

ABSTRACT. “Bilingualism for peace” is a social project based on the need to expand English language learning among young learners from low income levels, mostly from public schools, who cannot afford to pay a course at the Universidad de Cordoba Language Center. This presentation shows preliminary results of an on-going exploratory research study about the impact of a project about the development of the English communicative competence in children from 7 to 12 years old. The purpose was to contribute to the bilingualism goals established by the National Ministry of Education- B2 at the end of secondary level. The language program from Universidad de Cordoba committed with the social development and the promotion of equity and peace in regional contexts, implemented as a piloting project the same methodology used in the English courses from the language center, with pre-service teachers assisted with their mentors. Three public schools were selected and 500 learners from 13 different schools participated from the study. These students from vulnerable conditions would have the chance to learn English in a different way and learning environment improving their communicative competence in the foreign language

ABSTRACT. The democratization of assessment (Shohamy, 1998, 2001) exemplifies well how language testing and assessment involve social justice. This is because it entails the active agency of teachers in the development of sound assessments in their classroom, which is completely dependent on context. In Colombia, language assessment (LA) has not been given all the attention it deserves. This presentation gives account of my review of the literature to set the stone for my doctoral research. I searched for publications regarding language teacher education and LA in six well-known Colombian journals during the last 10 years. Findings show that when scholars report their research on language teacher education in Colombia, the focus is the pre-service teacher practicum, the role of research in such programs, pre-service teachers' beliefs (about issues other than assessment), or competencies of teachers. The educational community does not consider LA when establishing the competencies an English language teacher in Colombia should have (Cortés Cárdenas, Cárdenas Beltrán, & Nieto Cruz, 2013). In addition, I have found that still very few of the accredited language teaching programs have a course on evaluation or assessment in their curricula.

ABSTRACT. A crucial instructional goal in the foreign language classroom is developing students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC). While there are several theoretical frameworks, definitions, and models of ICC, foreign language teachers continue to face challenges in incorporating it into our teaching practices. Byram’s intercultural communicative competence model, one of the most well-respected in the field, disaggregates the concept into three dimensions: knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Using this model as a guide, - and with a particular emphasis on ICC attitudes of curiosity, openness, and the ability to suspend judgment - strategies of incorporating intercultural communicative competence into our classrooms will be shared. Specifically, how does the explicit teaching of multiple cultural contexts shape English language learners’ ICC attitudes? How does highlighting the relationships between language and identity, particularly at a local level, position our students to enhance their intercultural communicative competence? And finally, how does grappling with issues of power, privilege, and prejudice deepen our students’ willingness and abilities to engage constructively and respectfully with those who are different from them? Teachers / attendees will leave this session with a strong grasp of Bryam’s model, an understanding of the importance of incorporating ICC in their classrooms as well as the inspiration to further delve into the critical nexus of intercultural communicative competence and language development.

ABSTRACT. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is known as a neurobehavioral disorder that affects the ability to pay attention, being children and adolescents the most common affected population. Nowadays there are some research studies related to ADHD and English teaching; despite all the studies carried out in order to know how ADHD affects the learning process and established and implemented teaching strategies, few of them have focused on understanding teachers’ lived experiences when dealing with ADHD students. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of primary school teachers dealing with ADHD students. This proposal follows a phenomenological study since this method helps us to understand and analyze better the subject matter of this study. Balls (2009) stated that “Phenomenology focuses on consciousness and the content of conscious experiences, such as judgments, perceptions, and emotions” (cited in Connelly, 2010). A semi-structured interview is chosen as the most appropriate data collection procedure to be applied to two primary school teachers of English. The data will be analyzed by following Giorgi's phenomenological method. We expect to gather enough information from this study to serve as an important part of future training for English teachers that have ADHD students in the classroom.

ABSTRACT. The development of oral communication plays a crucial part in the process of learning a foreign language in an EFL classroom. However, from our experience in past observations, we noticed that when students tried to speak using the language, they had memorized it instead of doing it spontaneously. In other words, students’ ability to communicate orally is poor. The purposes of this action/case study are to explore the changes, if any, in EFL students’ oral communication when telling anecdotes during Reading to Learn (R2L) lessons using the application Toontastic 3D, and to describe what are students’ perceptions towards it. R2L is a set of strategies that enables teachers to support students in their reading and writing skills at their grade level. Yet, R2L will be used to develop students’ oral communication. Toontastic 3D is a storytelling and animation application to tell anecdotes. We will use observations, semi-structured interviews, production tasks, and field notes to gather information from 8th graders from a state school in Monteria. Findings will provide students a better way to practice their speaking skill using an app and also will provide teachers with pedagogical tools to contribute the improvement of oral communication through the implementation of R2L.

ABSTRACT. Listening is the English language skill that models language for students to understand sounds, intonation, differences in accents, and so forth as stated by Tomlinson. This skill allows people to share effectively messages making it possible to communicate. After initial observation carried out in a primary school, it was possible to identify students’ difficulties when understanding listening activities. This action-case study explores how primary students’ listening skills may change when using animated cartoons in L2 lessons. The study will also investigate students’ perception toward this tool. Data will be collected through observations, two semi-structured interviews, initial and final test, and journals with students after each lessons. It is expected to improve students’ listening skills as well as provide teachers a tool that might help them to develop this skill in their students.

ABSTRACT. Oral participation is a key factor when practicing and improving speaking skills. However, students in this action research proposal have been reluctant to participate in oral activities within classes. Besides, they do not get involved in them despite being called on by the teacher. Wicaksono (2018) acknowledged the effectiveness of self-recording videos (SRV) on students speaking skills. In addition, recording videos led students to develop self-correction strategies after examining their outcomes. Likewise, flipped learning contributes to students’ development by learning and practicing at home through virtual platforms and recording videos. Thus, learners participate in class for receiving feedback at school. Hence, this study seeks to explore the effects of SRV for promoting oral participation and describe the perceptions within SRV in 32 primary students at a Colombian school. Data will be gathered through speaking tasks, 4 semi-structured interviews for teacher and students, 4 audio-recorded observations, an initial and a final test, a focus group with 5 students and student's journals. This study is expected to promote students’ use of ICT’s as a self-learning strategy, and to dredge into using SRV for enhancing students’ oral participation and self-confidence. Besides, to show alternatives for teachers to create more interactive lessons.

ABSTRACT. Kinesthetic learning activities (KLAs) can be defined as any activity which physically engages students in the learning process (Begel, Garcia & Wolfman, 2004). The implication of KLAs in school programs helps improve learning outcomes in students, also encourages them to think in new ways about topics and rises interest and participation. Even though some research has been done concerning KLAs into English classes, this field needs to be expanded for additional research of the effects of KLAs might have in secondary school students’ participation within English classrooms. This action case study will explore the use of KLAs in 8th graders’ English classes in a public school in Monteria. Specifically, it will aim to seek the effects KLAs might have in students’ involvement and performance. Data will include video-recorded observations, focus groups and semi-structured interviews on students and teachers. The expected outcome of this study is to promote 8th grade students’ involvement within English classes by the use of activities based on the kinesthetic learning style. The present study will suggest English teachers new choices and reflections regarding the use of KLAs for promoting secondary school students’ involvement in the English classroom.

ABSTRACT. Virtual platforms (henceforth VP) offer an educational opportunity to promote EFL learning outside the classroom by recreating a natural setting for students. Although a variety of studies have been conducted about the effectiveness of virtual platforms to learn English, few of them have focused on the use of VP outside the classroom and how these may help teachers to promote spaces for students to interact with the language. The purpose of this case study is to determine how virtual platforms might help teachers to promote student´s use of English outside the classroom after the adoption of Taysomroom. The study will also explore the teacher’s and student´s perception while using Taysomroom for learning English. Data will be collected through in-depth interviews, audio recorded lessons, notes, questionnaires and teacher´s and student’s journals. Once this study ends, is expected that English teachers use Taysomroom to offer their students spaces to interact with English outside the classrooms. This study suggests that using VP in English classes give students the opportunity to keep in contact with English beyond classroom walls.

ABSTRACT. Multimodality is an approach in which the information is presented through the combination of multiple ways of learning. According to Kress & Van Leeuwen (2001), multimodality means “the use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product" (p20). Few studies have been conducted in regard to use a multimodal approach to teach attention deficit hyperactivity disorder students. This is one of the most common disorders in childhood, characterized by constant physical activity and school difficulties. Consequently, this exploratory practice research will describe in detail all the process of implementing this approach to teach students with ADHD, and report all the challenges faced when using Multimodality with ADHD students in a mainstream classroom. Data collection will include teacher’s journal, two audio-recorded observations, document analysis and semi structured interview to the students. Findings might be show how multimodality works for keeping students’ attention and how the teacher can use multimodality effectively to help an ADHD student during EFL lessons. This study may help to understand the impact of multimodality in ADHD students during their learning process.

ABSTRACT. One of the main challenges of English teachers is to implement authentic audiovisual materials in the classroom to develop students’ listening skills. Previous studies about the use of these resources have been conducted, and most of them revealed the great importance of these aids for the development of the listening skills. However, few studies have stated the reasons of why these authentic audiovisual materials are neglected to teach the foreign language. The aim of this action case study will be to describe benefits (if any) that authentic audiovisual materials can bring for the development of primary students´ listening skill at a public school in Monteria. The researchers will employ observations and apply semi-structured interviews to the teacher in-service and some students to collect the data of the EFL class. The findings of the current study will shed light on the insights of the educator and the learners with the incorporation of authentic audiovisual materials in the EFL class at a primary level.

ABSTRACT. Research about the use of Traditional stories concerning the effects they have on Second Language Learning has been conducted in different contexts. Previous studies focused on the impact fairytales and storytelling have on reading performance. Nevertheless, few studies emphasize on the use of folktales and the effects it has on reading skill development in Colombia. This proposal aims at exploring how the use folktales contributes to improve reading comprehension practice in fifth grade students in a public school in Monteria. The present proposal adopted an action case study design. Data will be collected through Tests, classroom observation and category systems. Consequently, Inductive procedure will be used to analyze data as well as discourse analysis for written and oral outputs. Inquiry on the subject addressed will provide significant insights to English Language Teachers about the use of literacy-based lessons and the way it might influence on learning a second language. It will also encourage teachers to overcome some limitations regarding the implementation of reading skill for assessment and selecting content. The possible findings will involve implications for English language teaching practice in general and language teachers to commit in their own performance and practice improvement.

ABSTRACT. Many studies have been conducted about teaching-learning strategies and teachers started to use songs in their lessons. There is a lack of knowledge about how songs can be useful at the time of learning vocabulary and speaking skills. The aim of this research will be to explain the use of songs as a teaching strategy to improve vocabulary and speaking skills for a group of students in an English program in a public school in Monteria. The researchers will employ an explanatory action case study as a type of research. The data of this study will be collected through two methods including, observation and interviews. The findings of this study will be helpful for ESL students since it is important to have suitable and enough vocabulary when speaking. Using English songs can be a good way to teach English to ESL primary school students because songs contain original language, are easily obtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar, and cultural aspects. The discoveries will have implications for students and educational institutions concerning students’ performances and development.

ABSTRACT. Many studies about Motivation have been carried out in the education field. Nevertheless, few investigations have focused on the impact that motivational strategies can bring to students’ performance in the classroom. Besides, students’ oral production is something that has yet to be study from the motivational field. The aim of this descriptive case study will be to describe the use of motivational strategies to improve eighth-grade learner’s oral production at a public school in a city in Colombia. The study will employ Bogdan & Bliken (2003) design of two- stages to analyze qualitative data. The first step is to break the data into manageable units by using the coding technique and the second one is to interpret the data. The researchers will employ classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. The findings of this study will benefit teachers and authorities who want to know more about the problem of the lack of motivation in the classroom. And also this study will help to identify those motivational strategies that can be implemented in the English classes to improve learners’ oral production.

ABSTRACT. Previous studies have shown an interesting perspective on how games contribute to the development of skills such as speaking, vocabulary, and pronunciation in a second language. However, few studies have focused on the use of games to promote students’ oral interaction. The aim of this action case study will be to explore how games such as guessing, matching and describing games contribute to the development of oral interaction and what students’ insights are towards these games in EFL classes. The data gathering will consist of observations, semi-structured interviews, production tasks, and a researcher’s journal. This study will employ an inductive method to code patterns from the data collection techniques into categories to analyze data. This study will shed light on possibly understanding the influence that games could have on students’ oral interaction during L2 classes and providing teachers experience with an economical and inexhaustible resource.

ABSTRACT. Curriculum innovation is defined as the deliberate actions to improve a learning environment, the materials, lessons and academic content taught. Curricula are designed to facilitate learning by establishing quality relationship between what is learned and experienced. Efforts have been made in Colombia to adopt the Suggested Curriculum stated by the Ministry of Education, though it would seem that the objectives have not been accomplished. These efforts included different training sessions dictated along the country to qualify L2 teachers (Correa, Usma & Montoya, 2014). Despite studies have addressed the implementation of the Suggested Curriculum in Colombia, there is a need to conduct deeper studies of the transformations and adaptations made by institutions and teachers. This case study will explore institutional changes and the way teachers negotiate their policies in the classrooms. Data will include questionnaires and open interviews to two L2 teachers and the documentary analysis of the new suggested curriculum. This research is expected to show the way in which schools and teachers have adopted the SC and its policies, and the changes achieved, if there have been any. This study will be important to expose the accuracy of the policies stated in the SC for public schools.

ABSTRACT. Technology integration is the use of tools in education areas that allow students to apply devices to support their learning. However, only a few studies have focused on how elder teachers introduce technology in their classrooms; there is a need to investigate the challenges that it has brought in the process of integration. This phenomenological study will describe the experiences of two elder primary school teachers who have been trying to integrate technological devices. Data will include three detailed interviews and three journals monitoring teachers. Findings will show that the teaching of a foreign language could be improved if elder teachers integrate technological tools to support their classes. However, it could only be possible if teachers know how to use and adapt them, taking into account the different learning styles of each student. This study might suggests that the integration technology in the classroom is important, since it is an opportunity to contribute to the learning process of a L2, allowing an enjoyable teacher-student interaction.

ABSTRACT. Motivation has been a topic of intensive research in recent decades and it is considered a crucial variable for successful second/foreign language learners. Without sufficient motivation learners are unlikely to persist long enough to learn any really useful language. The present study focuses on the maintenance of motivation in an instructional setting such as task-based language teaching within the framework of Dörnyei (2001) motivational strategies. The objective is to evaluate the long lasting motivational effects of a motivated macro strategy for learning English in ninth grade students. The design will be quasi-experimental on the basis of the validated Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) in three different aspects: self-efficacy, active learning strategies and learning environment. The experimental treatment will involve class-time exposure to motivational and cognitive strategies within task based lessons over a 10-week period; the control group will receive traditional teaching methods. The results are expected to prove that motivational and cognitive strategies have a sustained effect on both motivation for learning English and in learning achievements.

ABSTRACT. ABSTRACT This research examines Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a methodology to understand the relationship between language and society. This approach will to analyze teachers´ discourse at mainstream classroom, analyze the power at the moment to speech if is inclusive or not and if is promoting a healthy environment. Few researches have been focused on the analysis of teachers ‘discourse at mainstream class about inclusive environment promoting through the discourse and the importance that has to create a good relationship. The purpose of this study is analyze teacher´s discourse teaching English to blind learners at a mainstream class, analyzing teachers impact in students with disabilities how their discourse is reflecting in the classroom and if is being inclusive or not. Data study will be collected from semi-structured interviews, stimulated recall observations, conversation analysis, and structured interviews and journals. Findings might offer information about how teachers perceive inclusion in the language they use during interaction with special education students. This study attempts to suggest CDA as a method to analyze the verbal power as a way to promote equity in the classroom without segregated.

ABSTRACT. Mobile application language learning (MALL)is a teaching-learning technique applied lately in schools, this technique provides the learners' electronically information concerning the educational content helping the achievement of knowledge. Although there have been several national and international research on the educational field regarding vocabulary, very few studies have focused on exploring the challenges that can be faced by the teacher when using mobile devices to teach vocabulary in an EFL classroom. The purposes of the current study will shed light on distinguishing teacher's methodology, approaches, and components implemented for the application of mobile devices to teach vocabulary and understanding possible challenges faced by the teacher when applying this learning strategy. Data will be gathered through the development of non-participant observation, two Semi-Structured interviews divided into two sessions; a journal and, an ethnographic narrative from audio recorded lessons.The current case study will seek to explore what is happening,and will describe and analyze how the process of incorporating ICTS has been carried out through the use of MALL. This study will be relevant due to the support and knowledge it can provide to further research based on the implementation of ICT'S into the educational field.

ABSTRACT. This article discusses some advances of an innovative practice in order to stablish to what extent personal learning environments (PLE) resulted in the integration of English communications skills of students of Communication V at University of Córdoba. This project can be classified as qualitative descriptive due to the descriptions of the features found in the population sample during the process. In order to collect information about students’ English levels before and after the implementation of the PLE, different techniques will be carried out, such as tests, questionnaires, interviews, videotaping, and check list observations in the classrooms which will help to discuss outcome of the study about students’ needs and interests, the benefits of personal learning environments to enhance students communicative competences using different web resources, the role of instructional materials, the appropriateness of the learning contents, and finally the selection of classroom materials. In response to the objective, a work system with different web resources was designed and implemented; the first one, was called Personal Learning Teaching Management Environment (PLTME); and the second one, the treatment in which students designed and implemented their Personal Learning Environment, (PLE). The teachable curricula were chosen to respond to the B2 level.

ABSTRACT. E-learning is a method of learning which has been implemented worldwide which uses internet as an option to face-to-face interaction by providing students with online interactive content so as to make students more responsible towards their learning. It is usually seen that students in an EFL class highly depend on teachers’ instructions to start performing a task which it means they have a lack of autonomy about their learning process. Therefore, this study will evaluate the effectiveness of Google Classroom for developing learners’ autonomy. Data will be gathered using qualitative methods among them interviews, in-depths questionnaires, a focus group, and a forum through a virtual platform to four learners to see their perceptions about their autonomy. This study contemplates to find that Google Classroom is an accurate way to promote students’ autonomy. The importance of this study lies on seeing whether Google Classroom is an accurate way to promote learners’ autonomy so as to give pedagogical suggestions to teachers about the matter.

ABSTRACT. This action case study will explore whether educational heroes’ strategy contributes to improving speaking abilities through leadership in high school students. Educational heroes is a leadership strategy that functions taking into account the cooperative and meaningful learning, so that students with highest skills regarding the speaking ability should support other students that present flaws and needs about this skill, with the purpose of establishing a learning environment. Data will include lesson plans, observations, production tasks, semi-structured interviews, observation (field notes), pre-test - final test, focus group: semi-structured interviews, and students’ journals. Educational heroes’ strategy will enhance students’ knowledge and leadership attitudes such as self-confidence which is improved through group participation, it also will increase autonomy in students that present low order thinking skills. In the teaching-learning process of the second language the educational leadership acts as a facilitator to achieve the effectiveness of this procedure, because this contributes positively on both sides, in the students develops innumerable qualities and capacities and on the teacher’s side cooperates powerfully to the development of their pedagogy, since this takes the first step to engage and motivate students focusing on the transmission of meaningful and constructive knowledge for these.

ABSTRACT. Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) is an innovative student-centered methodology for e-learning, where learners work collaboratively and are catalysts for their knowledge construction. This research will follow a process aimed at students’ construction of autonomy at the time of developing long-distance activities in groups. Although some research has been found about the performance of students when facing the ability of reading, they do not meet the need of describing the effects on students experiencing this teaching and learning methodology. The purpose of this study will be to describe any effects online collaborative learning has in EFL students experiencing this learning method as the main bridge for acquiring English as a second language. The research will aim to describe what the lived experiences of EFL students that learn through OCL are. The participants will be students at different points of their learning process from a private university located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Data will include in-depth interviews, focus group and researchers’ diary that will provide the information needed for the completion of the study. Regarding the expected results are a clear positive effect on students’ reading level, which is the main problem with the current method used for teaching English.

ABSTRACT. National Bilingual program (2004-2019) was one of the latest language policies implemented in Colombia to improve English teaching and learning practice in the country. The Suggested English Curriculum is a booklet designed for schools to reach the expected objectives; it contains the scope and sequence, syllabi, and methodological and assessment suggestions. In 2018, according to ICFES, the results from the public institutions applying the curriculum were not the expected. Whilst some studies have done research on the same matter, scarcely any of them have inquired teachers’ perspective. This phenomenological study will explore and describe how two teachers experienced the implementation of the new English Suggested Curriculum in a secondary public school in Colombia. Particularly, their truth and reality as it is lived. Data will include recordings of semi-structured in depth interviews to the teachers, and researchers’ reflection journals. This study aims to discover details concerning former inconsistencies the participants may have experienced with the implementation of the curriculum. Findings might be significant to further inquiries interested in upgrading the current language legacies.

ABSTRACT. Edmodo platform is a supplementary tool that provides teachers with an opportunity for posting quizzes, assignments and didactic activities that ease students' learning process. However, Edmodo lessons imply feasible difficulties during the planning process such as non-significant tasks and lack of time control. Although some cases studies about this platform has been conducted, they were focused on how to use it effectively rather than analyzing deeply the process teachers should go through when of planning Edmodo lessons This case study will analyze an L2 writing strategies’ teacher when planning using Edmodo and the challenges he/she might face during a five-month-semester. Data includes one structured interview regarding Edmodo, lesson plans provided by the teacher and Edmodo activities focused on the improvement of the writing competences Findings are expected to provide a clear sight about steps to be followed when at planning Edmodo lessons, and advices regarding solving Edmodo planning challenges. This study will possibly provide a wide view inside the process of planning Edmodo lessons, which implies that the challenges of the process might be identified. Besides, independence of time, place, and the accurate and easy exchange of ideas and information might be practical benefits for the instructor.

ABSTRACT. Audio recording tools are used in language instruction to support learning and teaching processes. They are commonly employed to keep track of students’ oral performance in the form of audio files, allowing teachers to make a thorough analysis of such deliveries. Although research has been conducted about the integration of audio recording tools into language teaching, there is little information as to whether these tools might be beneficial to promote language awareness of errors. In this sense, this proposal seeks to explore and describe the changes, if any, of students’ overall speaking capabilities after implementing audio recording tools into the class. In particular, this proposal intends to analyze the role of self recorded audios for developing students' sense of language awareness of error-correction during oral production tasks. To conduct this research, observations, researcher and students’ journals, oral production tasks and semi-structured interviews have been selected as means to gather data. Findings might show whether language awareness is developed and possible changes in students’ oral performance. This research might suggest ways to best-implement audio recording tools into the L2 teaching as a way to foster language awareness and speaking skill.

ABSTRACT. Motivation is defined as the act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated; a motivating force, stimulus, or influence; incentive; drive; something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person or student to act (Merriam-Webster, 1997). This phenomenon has become an essential and significant factor in the English learning process. Although there have been some researches about student's motivation and the factors that influence it. There is still a need for further studies focused on a phenomenological perspective. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the 9th-grade students' motivation regarding their lived experiences in their English learning process. Data will include observation field notes to achieve bracketing and in-depth interviews with four groups with around thirty-five ninth-graders per group. This research will describe the lived-experiences that ninth-graders have and whether their motivation can be affected negatively or positively towards the English learning process. The study will be meaningful to the educative community in Monteria-Colombia. There are several features to take into account. Therefore, this study needs to be carried out, to identify those factors that are influencing the students' motivation.

ABSTRACT. Content-Based Instructions (CBI) is an approach in language education, introduced to provide second-language learner’s instruction in content and language, also, has become increasingly popular as a means of developing linguistic ability. This action case study intends to implement Content-Based Instruction with the purpose of improving students’ oral skills from a public institution in the rural area of Córdoba. Many authors (Crandall, 1987; Krashen, 1982; Mohan, 1986; Mohan, Leung & Davison, 2001; Snow, 2005; and Stroller, 2004) stablished that, Content-Based Instruction has entered its fourth decade and by many accounts is prosperous in foreign language settings. This approach has been primarily used for the development of learning content and language, however, few studies have focused on the rural areas. Hence, the purpose of this study will be to identify the possible improvements in students’ oral skills after the implementation of CBI lessons. The data collection will provide the students' overview after this implementation. This data will be gathered by semi-structured interviews, task production and observation in a nine graders EFL English class. This study will contribute to the improvement of teaching practice, mainly oral skills; to fill a gap that exist in most public institution concerning oral skills improvement.

ABSTRACT. Technology has brought many advantages in people's lives and it has supported many fields, including the educational field. Teachers and students have been benefited with the inclusion of technology inside the classrooms. There have been several studies related to the benefits that technology has brought for the schools, specifically for the teaching and learning process. However, those investigations have left aside what teachers have faced when using technology in their practices. There is still a need to investigate teachers' experiences regarding the use of technology. This phenomenological study will explore the secondary-teachers’ lived experiences regarding the use of technology in their classrooms. Particularly, the challenges that they have faced during their teaching practices. Data will include recorded in-depth interviews and a researcher diary to register the researcher’s experience. This study expects to present teachers' experiences and beliefs related to the changes that their teaching practices have faced due to the inclusion of technology in their classes. This phenomenological study will suggest that teachers' lived experiences need to be highlighted in order to understand what they have dealt with the use of technology in their teaching process.

ABSTRACT. Reading comprehension is a receptive skill that encompasses linguistics features from lexical and syntactic elements in which the reader understands texts by decoding and visualizing meaning. This skill has been promoted through technological alternatives as a mean of updating traditional reading learning for the demands of the new era. Although the implementation of this strategy is being boosted in Colombia, few opportunities have been given to public schools to approach it, resulting in low motivation and achievement in traditional reading tasks. Considering this fact, this action-case study seeks to explore possible changes in reading comprehension when using News in level and Kahoot! in a course of 10th graders from a public school in Montería. Moreover, this proposal aims to describe learners’ attitudes toward reading. Data will be collected through an initial test, a final test, reading production tasks to students as well as participative observations and learners' diaries. The findings of this study will present a possible enhancement of learners’ reading comprehension and transformation of learners’ attitudes. This study might provide a new overlook to strategies to teach reading implementing technology, and generate awareness of the importance of learners’ interest in reading.

ABSTRACT. Leadership skills have been found to create improvement in different contexts. There have been many studies inquiring the impact of leadership in different knowledge areas. Despite that, it seems as though there are no studies addressing the role of leadership skills in teachers inside the classroom. Bearing this in mind, this case study describes the leadership skills of secondary English teachers and how they use those skills in the classroom. Data includes semi-structured interviews, open-ended questionnaires to teachers and two video-recorded lesson observations. This study expects to contribute to the knowledge of teachers´ leadership skills used in classroom practices. In addition, this research may highlight the importance of teachers´ leadership as a competence in teachers.

ABSTRACT. Reading to learn is an instructional approach that leads students from aided to independent creation of meaning in reading and writing. R2L follows a cycle with a set of strategies leading students to independent construction of a specific text-genre. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the use of R2L to promote learners’ oral production, most specifically of oral exposition texts. Neither has it been researched yet the use of this methodology along with mediation tools in the EFL class. Therefore, this action-case study is intended to describe the changes in learners’ oral production of exposition texts after using R2L lessons and group-based flipped strategies. As well as to identify the challenges students face while implementing R2L during oral expository discourse activities. This study will be conducted on tenth-graders in a public school from the rural side of Montería, Colombia, who have been previously working with R2L. Throughout the intervention diagnostic tests, recordings, videotapes, observations, and semi-structured interviews will be useful for further analysis and reporting of the research findings. This study will attempt to shed light on the existing gap of knowledge pertaining to the implementation of R2L and Flipped instruction to prompt the participation of oral exposition texts in tenth-graders.

ABSTRACT. Many studies about the relevance of playing leadership roles at public schools have been addressed at the University of Cordoba through phenomenology. However, none of them have addressed the issue of student leadership particularity on president students’ leaders at public institutions in Monteria. The aim of this phenomenological study will be to describe the lived experiences of 3 11th-grade president students while playing a leadership role at their public institution. This study will employ the Colaizzi’s (1978) method for analyzing phenomenological data. The researchers will employ “Bracketing” to put aside bias and assumptions. Besides, in depth-interviews, personal conversations and researchers diaries will be employed. The findings of this current study will have implications for educational public institutions, teachers, and the student community in general concerning the role of students while applying leadership roles.

ABSTRACT. Many studies have been conducted about teaching-learning strategies and teachers started to use songs in their lessons. There is a lack of knowledge about how songs can be useful at the time of learning vocabulary and speaking skills. The aim of this research will be to explain the use of songs as a teaching strategy to improve vocabulary and speaking skills for a group of students in an English program in a public school in Monteria. The researchers will employ an explanatory action case study as a type of research. The data of this study will be collected through two methods including, observation and interviews. The findings of this study will be helpful for ESL students since it is important to have suitable and enough vocabulary when speaking. Using English songs can be a good way to teach English to ESL primary school students because songs contain original language, are easily obtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar, and cultural aspects. The discoveries will have implications for students and educational institutions concerning students’ performances and development.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this paper is to outline the intercultural learning strategies with critical and creative thinking and written communication and flexibility through CBI (Stephens 2009; Zhao & Coombs, 2011) on the part of the lecturer to teach a course in English to both native and non-native English speakers. These strategies have been implemented from 2013-2019 and UTB students have shown their confidence´s increased when traveling overseas to study, the incoming student's integration easier. From the same period, both incoming/outgoing students' mobility has also been analyzed. A bibliometric analysis of interculturality studies is presented as well as the result of a survey conducted between a representative sample of national & international students is presented and analyzed.

This International Marketing, Logistics and Supply Chain course in the USA, Panamá and Cartagena, is co-offered by one university from USA and one from Colombia. This international course is conducted in English using CBI by professors from USA, Turkey and Taiwan which fosters global and culturally diverse students.

ABSTRACT. L'utilisation de la technologie est primordiale dans tout processus d'apprentissage en tant qu'élément d'une éducation évoluée qui lutte avec les modèles de classe traditionnels. L'apprentissage inversé est un outil pédagogique qui permet un apprentissage individuel et au même temps des interactions de groupe plus productives dans les salles de classe. Il existe un besoin perçu d'optimiser le temps passé en classe afin de développer les capacités de réflexion et l'autonomie dans le cadre des objectifs du niveau tertiaire. Au programme linguistique de l’Université de Cordoba, les cours de français sont une matière facultative avec deux heures par semaine, ce qui n’est pas suffisant pour atteindre les objectifs linguistiques des étudiants et développer leurs capacités de réflexion (taxonomie de Bloom). Cette présentation présente une étude de recherche-action visant à utiliser une approche d'apprentissage inversée dans les cours de français pour aider les enseignants et les apprenants à atteindre les objectifs linguistiques du cours et pour développer les LOT (habilités cognitives d’ordre inférieur) et les HOT (habilités cognitives d’ordre supérieur). Cette recherche-action qualitative peut démontrer que l’apprentissage inversé est une approche alternative pour travailler sur la potentialisation du temps, la construction de l’autonomie, la promotion de l’apprentissage hybride et l’apprentissage autonome des étudiants. De plus, les résultats de ce projet seront le point de départ pour appliquer cette approche pédagogique à d'autres langues, à l'anglais et à d'autres domaines.

ABSTRACT. Cette proposition a eu comme but d’immerger aux élèves à une perspective interculturelle de découverte entre La Colombie et La France. D’après Marandon (2003) il affirme que la négociation entre les langues d’apprentissage au milieu scolaire est indispensable pour diminuer les barrières de la différence entre les individus. Aussi, pour Abdallah- Pretceille (1999), le fait de parler plusieurs langues, nous donne la possibilité de devenir des médiateurs culturels, fonction essentielle en faisant attention qu’on parle de futurs professeurs de langues ; si on apprend plusieurs langues, on pourra améliorer la performance de chacune et mieux comprendre les diverses démarches culturelles. On a développé des activités de comparaison entre la culture française et la colombienne, parmi la méthode qualitative des aspects tel que : le système éducatif, le repas, la vie quotidienne, les loisirs, etc. ; où les élèves ont mieux appris sur leur culture d’origine en découvrant la nouvelle. Les élèves ont amélioré leurs compétences en FLE, parmi cette perspective. Il faut questionner les politiques linguistiques colombiennes et donner une place pas simplement au français, pourquoi pas aux langues indigènes, tziganes et afro ainsi que des cours de culturels des celles-ci, c’est-à-dire, décoloniser l’idée de l’apprentissage des langues.

ABSTRACT. Learning a language requires interacting with others in order to exchange information, ideas, and thoughts. This presentation reports a case study aimed at understanding how the A1-English course, at a public university in Colombia, facilitates part-takers speaking skills through group interaction. Data was collected through six non-participant observations and four semi-structured interviews; and organized with MAXQDA. These instruments provided enough information on the participants’ perspectives about the different types of interaction among teacher and students that helped answer three research questions: What type of student-student interaction and student-teacher interaction take place in an A1-English course? what is the influence of communicative classroom interaction in the development of A1-English learners’ language skills? And what role does mediation play in A1-English learners? we will report the findings, including the type of interactions that are given in a foreign language second semester English course; and the importance of mediation among A1- level learners of English

ABSTRACT. Information on academic exchanges is abundant, yet very disperse. The faculty and students cannot make sense of offers without a career development plan. Campus international offices, departments, and faculty should not only have a policy of mobility but also join in efforts to guide students and their families to make decisions that enhance their formation. This presentation draws on a study and training in campus internationalization conducted by the Institute of International Education that concluded that “Institutions are more vital and attractive places when they are internationalized, and these qualities strengthen their local communities.” It also concluded that “students and faculty return to their home countries with a more accurate, nuanced understanding of cultures and scholarship.” In campus internationalization, orientation is needed to mobilize institutional and personal resources. The presenter speaks of the credentials a student, a graduate, a faculty member or a professional should prepare to study, work, obtain a teaching position, an internship or a short term opportunity abroad. For example, research and publications constitute a springboard for professional development. The audience will learn about organizations, programs, and opportunities, and more importantly, will learn to outline a feasible long-term action plan for themselves or other stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. A key leadership imperative for organizations is driving organizational profitability. In this session, we invite participants to engage in dialogue about The Human Factor to Profitability: Building a people-centered culture for long-term success, authored by the facilitator, Dr. Jeanette Black. This presentation will describe the careful process and components necessary to create a people-centered culture – a culture that is the principal driver for increased profitability and long-term sustainability for organizations. The focus of this session is to showcase the evidence-based research using phenomenology of a people-centered approach and the impact on organizational profitability and productivity while engaging participants in discussion about the topic and implications for decision making for leaders, managers, and supervisors.

ABSTRACT. This paper illustrates team-teaching experiences between one international expert and one assistant professor from our faculty, as part of an adjunct course implemented for the undergraduate degree in International Business at Technological University of Bolivar (Colombia). The main purposes of this cooperative project are that students develop some cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, gain mastery of technical English language, the subject learned and as an internationalization at home strategy. The general plan consisted of the following steps: exposure to the selected topic, economic indicators (presented by the international expert in L2), and through team-teaching with use of L2 including a final oral and written examination for the students. This paper also describes the author´s experiences in planning and giving the course on English for Accounting and Finance using the techniques of CBI and student-centered learning. The results showed more motivated and more proficient users, both in English and the content taught.

ABSTRACT. This multiple case study aimed at exploring the influence of English teachers’ methodological practices over the learning process experienced by 20 students from different programs, belonging to two EFL mandatory courses at the University of Pamplona, Colombia. The study was guided by two research questions: What kind of methodological practices do teachers adopt when teaching English? How do teaching practices influence learners’ English learning process?; and also by Wang’s (2009) thesis, which includes six aspects, as follows: Instructional approaches, language pedagogy, use of textbooks, student modality, error correction, and classroom tasks. Along with Wang’s perspectives, this study also included how the learning process is evaluated. Additionally, data was gathered through six non-participant observations, field notes, two stimulated recall interviews, and three semi-structured interviews within each course. Besides, data was analyzed qualitatively in the light of the research questions and Wang's (2009) thesis addressed in this study. Finally, a number of aspects were found dealing with teaching practices, and their influence on undergraduate students’ English learning experience.

ABSTRACT. CLIL is an approach that focuses on the teaching of subject matter through a foreign language (Marsh, as cited in Giraldo, 2014). This study will seek to examine the impact of the implementation of CLIL to influence 11th graders’ speaking skills at a public school in Sincelejo, Sucre. By following the principles of CLIL, several learning styles-based lessons will be designed and implemented to evaluate the changes (if any) in students’ speaking performance. The current inquiry follows the guidelines presented by the action-case study theory, whose goal is to identify and provide possible solutions to problems in a specific context, and select specific cases to be closely studied (Yin, 2017). The data for this qualitative investigation will be gathered through focus group interviews, surveys, students’ reflective journals, artifacts, and video recordings. Consequently, data analysis procedures will be conducted through content analysis, the use of Atlas.ti 7 software, codification and triangulation of data. The expected results aim at strengthening the development of students’ speaking skills in the target group. Additionally, this study may serve as a new methodology in the local context to teach English incorporating communicative, content, cultural and cognitive features.

ABSTRACT. Reading to learn (R2L) is a genre-based  instructional approach for literacy development that leads students from aided to independent creation of meaning in both reading and writing. The approach is a didactic application of the systemic functional linguistics model of language and  therefore  uses whole texts or genres as the point of departure for instruction. To that end, the approach follows a series of strategies that make explicit the purpose, structure, register and lexicogrammar of texts. The purpose of this session is to introduce participants to the R2L model  and discuss  on the feasibility of this genre-based approach in EFL lessons. Session participants will identify the key principles and procedures of the R2L model by participating in  both individual and group hands-on activities following a short presentation of this genre-based model.

ABSTRACT. The Internet has provided, for a long time, a vast haul of possibilities for enriching our lessons, optimizing time, and reaching out to many more people interested in acquiring new knowledge. Along with it, there is a possibility to minimize our carbon footprint and help take care of our planet’s health and people’s welfare. This talk will provide some insight into the ways teachers can go paperless by using the countless possibilities the World Wide Web offers, creating dynamic, collaborative classrooms, and raising awareness of environmental citizenship.

ABSTRACT. Teachers usually have to select topics, texts, activities and resources that can support students’ language learning. However, they seldom acknowledge the literacy experiences students hold outside the classroom and their engagement in unofficial worlds through internet-connected devices. Thus, this presentation reports findings from a qualitative case study on how students are building a literacy in a foreign language with personal literacy practices that allow them to interpret and create meaning through texts, communicate, interact and learn, while connecting to peers who share specialized and niche interests whether they participate in social networks, online gaming, or specialized websites on topics of their interest. Following the New Literacy Studies (NLS) framework (Gee, 1990, Street, 1993, Pahl & Rowsell, 2009), it is argued that students’ literacy is more than reading and writing as two separate skills, and instead it is related to social purposes and with getting things done in particular times and places. Though, there is still much to learn about how and what students are learning through their personal literacy practices and in what ways they are contributing to their academic literacy, the initial findings highlight that students are increasingly using online spaces to collaborate and communicate through self-directed and interest-based literacy practices that allow them to share texts with authentic purposes and audiences.