Fostering sixth graders metacognitive learning strategies through content and language integrated learning lessons

Abstract

En el contexto educativo público, es una situación común para los maestros en secundaria iniciar el proceso de aprendizaje de inglés con los estudiantes que evidencian dificultades en todas las habilidades del lenguaje. Por lo tanto, se convierte en un desafío para los profesores de secundaria para hacer frente a esta situación mediante la búsqueda de opciones y estrategias que permiten superar esas dificultades y motivar a los estudiantes en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. En la pedagogía de hoy, la competencia de aprender a aprender ha adquirido mayor relevancia en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras, ya que pretende adquirir ciertas habilidades metacognitivas o capacidades que permitan a los estudiantes conocer y regular sus propios procesos de aprendizaje. Así, a través del desarrollo de esta competencia; Los alumnos pueden no sólo mejorar sus conocimientos lingüísticos, sino también participar en su proceso de forma más autónoma

Metacognition is an important aspect in the learning process that allows learners to recognize their strengths and weaknesses as well as organize their learning process for facing different learning challenges. The researchers faced the students` foreign language difficulties at the beginning of secondary level in a public school in Bogota; by fostering the use of metacognitive learning strategies along with the implementation of a set of lessons in the frame of Content and Language Integrated Learning and including the backward design as a class methodology. The researchers used the principles of Thematic Analysis to examine the different data gathered from several instruments such as students’ artifacts including a chart adapted from Chamot (1999), which was used for planning and evaluating students’ learnings, a task planner, a survey as well as researchers` field notes. The results revealed a progressive advance in the learners` use of metacognitive strategies, when relating new topics to previous knowledge and planning their learning goals. It was also evident that learners required more emphasis on the self-assessment process. This project also suggests a novel way to foster metacognition by articulating the Content and Language Integrated Learning to the backward design; the first which is a well-known approach, based on the use of subject content for language learning purposes whilst the target language is used for subject content learning; the second as an innovative planning framework in which teachers or designers are guided to establish and integrate precise learning objectives. Likewise, with the backward design the learners are challenged to use the new learnings in useful and meaningful contexts,