How well is English taught in the DR?

Kati07

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As both a language teacher and teacher educator, I am very interested to know what you think of the way English is taught in the Dominican Republic.
What are the basic methods used to teach? How would you rate student motivation regarding the learning of English?
 

Marianopolita

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It depends....

I think there are great disparities and the quality depends on if you are referring to English taught in the public school system vs. the private school system vs. in an American school in the DR. As well, it makes a difference if the English teacher is a native speaker or the teacher speaks English as a second language and learned English in the DR. That is one key observation that I have made. I do believe that teachers who speak English as a second language can be very good however, I noticed that those who have had exposure to the English language outside of the DR have an edge. A very good friend of mine is an English teacher in the DR (dominicana) in a private school and teaches English to primary grade students. I personally have never heard her speak English but my friend admittedly is not fluent in English, has an okay vocabulary but no real fluency (this is her assessment of her English). So I don't believe we could generalize here more so case by case assessments may be more appropriate.


Regards,

Lesley D
 

Rick Snyder

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Nov 19, 2003
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My own experience

is that I have taught English to two classes of students between the ages of 18 - 22 and they were very receptive and would do their homework, pass the tests that I gave but they would only speak English in class and never in their barrios. When questioned about this they said that it was due :confused: to "vergunza". I also taught 128 children from 5 different barrios and they were between the ages of 9 -14 and I taught them in their barrios but of those 128 students there were no more then 12 students that had a desire to learn. The younger ones have not realized the importance in learning a second language whereas the older ones did know how important it is. My older students would speak very good English but I was never able to get them to talk amoungst themselves. When they see me in the street or pass by my house they always greet me in English and will carry on conversations with me but that is the only time they will speak it. Go figure.

Edited for spelling
 

Kati07

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Lesley

WOW! Thanks for your quick reply, Lesley. To be honest, I'd like to know about both private schools and public schools. I have a zillion questions about all of this. What does the government require in terms of time spent studying English? How ofter per week do students study English? How long are the class periods? I agree that, if someone speaks English well, this could be an advantage. However, simply being able to speak a language does not make a language teacher GOOD at teaching. Because of that, I am most interested in learning about HOW teachers teach English to Dominican students from primary grades through secondary grades. Also, I am curious about your friend and wonder why she does not even attempt to speak with you in English. I would think that should be instinctive for a language teacher. Honestly, thanks for responding so quickly. I want you to know that it is very much appreciated. I have a lot that I want to learn about all of this. :nervous:

QUOTE=Lesley D]I think there are great disparities and the quality depends on if you are referring to English taught in the public school system vs. the private school system vs. in an American school in the DR. As well, it makes a difference if the English teacher is a native speaker or the teacher speaks English as a second language and learned English in the DR. That is one key observation that I have made. I do believe that teachers who speak English as a second language can be very good however, I noticed that those who have had exposure to the English language outside of the DR have an edge. A very good friend of mine is an English teacher in the DR (dominicana) in a private school and teaches English to primary grade students. I personally have never heard her speak English but my friend admittedly is not fluent in English, has an okay vocabulary but no real fluency (this is her assessment of her English). So I don't believe we could generalize here more so case by case assessments may be more appropriate.


Regards,

Lesley D[/QUOTE]
 

Kati07

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Questions about common strategies...

Hi Rick! Thanks to you also for responding so quickly. How lucky to have someone respond who is a teacher! I hope you can describe for me the normal flow of a typical English class. I need to know what kinds of techniques the teachers use to help students learn English. I understand the lack of motivation. Many students simply have not yet seen or understood the advantages that additional languages will give them. I also think it's common for students to avoid practicing the language outside of class, unless others are doing so as well. Peer pressure is a might strong factor. :cross-eye In the case of your students, I wonder if that was the source of their "verguenza" to be seen as TOO different in their own barrio?? I'm looking forward to whatever else you have to share.


Rick Snyder said:
is that I have taught English to two classes of students between the ages of 18 - 22 and they were very receptive and would do their homework, pass the tests that I gave but they would only speak English in class and never in their barrios. When questioned about this they said that it was due :confused: to "vergunza". I also taught 128 children from 5 different barrios and they were between the ages of 9 -14 and I taught them in their barrios but of those 128 students there were no more then 12 students that had a desire to learn. The younger ones have not realized the importance in learning a second language whereas the older ones did know how important it is. My older students would speak very good English but I was never able to get them to talk amoungst themselves. When they see me in the street or pass by my house they always greet me in English and will carry on conversations with me but that is the only time they will speak it. Go figure.

Edited for spelling
 

Chirimoya

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I think this is like asking 'how long is a piece of string?' I've come across living proof of excellent teaching and the other extreme too. I know several people who have never lived outside the DR who speak English like native speakers. In some cases better! One of these is a poster on this forum. ;)

I've also met people who have been learning English for years who still can't string a sentence together. My husband's niece had been attending English classes at her primary school (private, but not a good one) for two years when I tried to have a simple conversation with her, at her mother's request. Getting nowhere, I asked her "?como se dice hola, o "buenos dias" en ingles?" The best she could come up with was a blank look.

The better private bilingual schools and schools that teach exclusively in English use a total immersion method. As Lesley said, not all the teachers are what you would call fluent, but they seem to produce results.
 

Kati07

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String, rope, twine....

Hello Chirimoya! I suppose it was a rather broad question, but I wanted to leave it pretty wide-open to a mulititude of responses. Instead of asking how long the string might be, I'd prefer to ask what kind of material (string, twine, rope, etc) are given to the students to tie the words and rules of language together ? In other words, HOW are they taught? I agree with your assessment of immersion for learning language. It's great but, realistically, most students are not exposed to that. What I really want to know is what types of teaching methods and strategies are used in general? Any and all help you can give WILL be sooooo appreciated. ;)



Chirimoya said:
I think this is like asking 'how long is a piece of string?' I've come across living proof of excellent teaching and the other extreme too. I know several people who have never lived outside the DR who speak English like native speakers. In some cases better! One of these is a poster on this forum. ;)

I've also met people who have been learning English for years who still can't string a sentence together. My husband's niece had been attending English classes at her primary school (private, but not a good one) for two years when I tried to have a simple conversation with her, at her mother's request. Getting nowhere, I asked her "?como se dice hola, o "buenos dias" en ingles?" The best she could come up with was a blank look.

The better private bilingual schools and schools that teach exclusively in English use a total immersion method. As Lesley said, not all the teachers are what you would call fluent, but they seem to produce results.
 

Marianopolita

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Kati07,

Unfortunately I cannot answer your questions because I don't know the specifics about what the government requirements are i.e. time spent studying English, the required hours and frequency etc. Hopefully someone else on the board knows those details.

I agree being able to speak a language well does not make for a good teacher. Actually, ironically the opposite holds true. Some people speak a language well but know absolutely nothing about the grammar of language and proper second language acquisition is grammar based/driven. Therefore the combination of being able to speak well, understand the grammar and being able to explain concepts to the students is essential. Yes, I am curious too about the actual classroom teaching methodology as well. Especially in the primary grades.

Regarding my friend it's definitely a case of stage fright. We have had the conversation many times and I give up. I told her it would be to her advantage because she does not have the opportunity to practice speaking English in Sto. Domingo but she said to me: "we both speak Spanish so there is no need to speak English". I agree with you as a language teacher one would think she would take the opportunity but different strokes for different folks I guess. What puzzles me is that she has plenty of grammatical questions and there are many concepts that she does not understand in English but I always have to explain it to her in Spanish.

Hope this helps.

-Lesley D


Kati07 said:
WOW! Thanks for your quick reply, Lesley. To be honest, I'd like to know about both private schools and public schools. I have a zillion questions about all of this. What does the government require in terms of time spent studying English? How ofter per week do students study English? How long are the class periods? I agree that, if someone speaks English well, this could be an advantage. However, simply being able to speak a language does not make a language teacher GOOD at teaching. Because of that, I am most interested in learning about HOW teachers teach English to Dominican students from primary grades through secondary grades. Also, I am curious about your friend and wonder why she does not even attempt to speak with you in English. I would think that should be instinctive for a language teacher. Honestly, thanks for responding so quickly. I want you to know that it is very much appreciated. I have a lot that I want to learn about all of this. :nervous:

QUOTE=Lesley D]I think there are great disparities and the quality depends on if you are referring to English taught in the public school system vs. the private school system vs. in an American school in the DR. As well, it makes a difference if the English teacher is a native speaker or the teacher speaks English as a second language and learned English in the DR. That is one key observation that I have made. I do believe that teachers who speak English as a second language can be very good however, I noticed that those who have had exposure to the English language outside of the DR have an edge. A very good friend of mine is an English teacher in the DR (dominicana) in a private school and teaches English to primary grade students. I personally have never heard her speak English but my friend admittedly is not fluent in English, has an okay vocabulary but no real fluency (this is her assessment of her English). So I don't believe we could generalize here more so case by case assessments may be more appropriate.


Regards,

Lesley D
[/QUOTE]
 
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Kati07

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Does ANYONE know?

Is there anyone out there who knows what type of teaching methods or strategies are used to teach English in primary and secondary schools? :cry:
 

LatinoRican

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Kati07 said:
Is there anyone out there who knows what type of teaching methods or strategies are used to teach English in primary and secondary schools? :cry:

The answer is NO. Do they use the Audio-Lingual method, Total Language, Communicative Approach, Collaborative Approach, or Multiple Intelligences? Who knows what they do in their classroom. Most Dominican teachers have a limited knowledge of English to begin with, but do the best they can with the little they have.
 

LOPTKA

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Kati07 said:
Is there anyone out there who knows what type of teaching methods or strategies are used to teach English in primary and secondary schools? :cry:

We lived in Tenares for the school year of 02-03. My daughter, who was in 2nd grade started at public school where English was not being taught at all. We ended up taking her out and putting her in a private school, although was not a good one, and there she had English lesson 3 times a week. It consisted of them writing 10 words in their notebook. The teacher would tell them what the word meant and say it in English to them. The lists sometimes had a theme but usually not. Each day they would be told a totally new list of words, usually objects. They never went over words that had been given previously either. My daughter would usually show the teacher how to pronounce the words completey. The teacher would also have side conversations with my daughter as a way of practicing her english but my daughter did not understand her very well. The only good thing I can say about her spending the entire school year in the DR was that she went not speaking a word of spanish to being almost totally bilingual. Kathy
 

Marianopolita

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Something else to consider...

Kati07,

I was waiting for a few more responses before I further comment. The last two postings were interesting which reaffirms that the teaching of English as second language in the DR needs much improvement but not to say that currently good teachers do not exist but I think they are scarce. On one of my visits a few years ago I coincidentally met some English teachers from La Vega. I was with a couple of friends who did not speak Spanish very well so they saw it as an opportunity to practice their English skills with my colleagues. Well, in a few words all I can say is that I could not understand them and I had to ask them to speak Spanish. What bothered me was that they were completely incomprehensible and if they are teaching English to Dominican children then you can understand better why many Dominican children have very limited English skills if they don't get better teaching and more exposure. I used to be a teacher. I used to teach Spanish at a heritage school so I know the ins and outs of teaching very well at all levels and in some cases the old adage "in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king" comes into play. It could be that good English teachers are scarce in the DR therefore those who have minimal skills sets are those who get the jobs. Once again my friend that I referenced earlier is a perfect example. I am still waiting for day that she utters two words to me in English.

-Lesley D
 

Chirimoya

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From what I have gathered, the teaching techniques in the not-so good schools, like the one my niece attended, include learning songs like "amarillo - yellow, blue - azul...". OTOH I know a teenage boy who has been educated mostly in the state system and his English is impressive. Next time I see him I'll ask how he was taught.

In the bi-lingual schools or the schools that do most of the teaching in English, like New Horizons, I am told that the incoming pupils who know no English are immersed gradually. This is from my husband's older niece and nephews who went there and now speak English very well indeed. This has qualified them to work for call centres and get away with telling the clients they are calling from the US!
 

Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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My experience

I taught English Literature at a private school in S.D. for a year and a half. They claimed to be a bilingual school - or were getting ready to get ready to get ready to become a bilingual school. I think "bi-focused" might be more appropriate.

Lesley D's first post sums it all up very well. The American schools are - by all acounts - very formidable with schools in the states (hence the name i guess). Public schools are borderline criminal*, and the private schools are in it for the money mostly, but can - and do - offer a decent alternative.

As for the government's requirements, well, umm.....do the math. They ain't too sharp. Education to them is seemingly just another pothole in the barrio - let someone else worry about it. I could offer a few UNBELIEVABLE stories for you on their "requirements".

I taught 6-12th grades. We used Harcourt's literature books. In general, we used about 1-2 grades below the students actual grade level - so 11th graders were using 9th grade level reading and so on.

Personally (and many students agreed) I thought that was shooting a bit too low, and may even be considered a waste of time for some. However, when you have a classroom full of kids with a great divide in levels, an arguement exists to promote this approach. Regardless, if you were inspired, you could make it work. I had better stories than most of the textbooks, so we often used "Gringoinshorts" books intead of "Harcourts".

Considering there was no mission statement, no definitive guidelines or formal curriculum development in this school ? and I had little-to-no teaching experience, the Harcourt books were ideal. They included lesson planning help, basic comprehension tests, and the stories were of an appropriate length to inhibit even the most ardent of daydreamers - me included!

I pushed really hard to get the seniors (this was the first senior class at the school) to tackle novels instead of the stodgy and elemental textbooks. I chose Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Cyrano de Bergerac and a few other classics. We also found a book called "Voices from Vietnam" to be really interesting and timely - as in we f'd up there just as we are in Iraq.

The teaching approach I took with the novels was to avoid getting too caught up in themes, symbolism and motifs, but focus more on what the reading meant to them.

Instead of having them stammer for words in english to depict the elemental parts of the novel, I just let them offer their opinions on what the book(s) meant to them, totally personal.

They would be graded not on being right and wrong to what the book meant, but what they took from it and how they identified the important (to them) parts and how they formed their opinions and especially how they defended them. We would break sections of the book(s) apart and come up with some raucous debates (not arguing - that was a rule) on characters development, it's significance in the storyline and how we might (personally) approach some situations differently - as we are, here and now.

The end result was some students reaching far beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for, some amazing improvements in writing. Also - the real beauty of this - was how crazy some thought processes were of these students. That alone raised the interest level to epic proportions and really got some, heavily involved. Yes, we'd get off topic, but to get some of the lower level students involved it took a little wandering.

What I impressed upon their parents was that they may not know bunk about the motifs of Tom Sawyer or Cyrano, but they are building skills to use english in a way that will help them in the future - to build positions, defend them and do so in a measurable and meaningful manner. It sounded good at the time....

One thing I learned for sure is that the learning of languages is far easier in the very young, before they've formed a social picture of themselves; uninhibited, oblivious to embarassment, failure and the rest.

Also, being a native speaker (and with no espanol to begin with) I had an advantage (for work anyway) in that I couldn't revert to their native tounge. I noticed time and time again the natives going back to spanish to get a point across; disciplinary or whatever. That opening always invited more and more spanish and that's a tough tide to fight.

There is no comparison to teaching adults and teaching students. The adults are paying out of their own pocket and are hungry. School-age students are NOT hungry and NOT paying. School is just another obstacle to the weekend and the beach.

Another advantage is that I had a lot of life experiences to draw from and could make my stories entertaining AND with a theme. That keeps interest and conversation high, and if we found a subject to talk about, that everyone could tune into, the books wouldn't get opened and we'd just dive right into whatever was of interest. From there came opportunities to examine and use (practice) the language on various fronts.

Probably not what Harvard is looking for, but when they only get 52 minutes of english a day, it better be a good 52.

(*) "criminal" is probably inappropriate. I don't KNOW anything about public schools really, just what we all hear and read - and what many of my students and their parents offered for reference.
 
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NYWELSH1

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how much in santiago englsih schools

how is it in santiago for , english teaching for student ?
 

Kati07

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Thanks to everyone!

Sorry, but I've been away and now that I'm back I want to thnak everyone who replied to my queries about how English is taught in the DR. I think I probably have a fair idea now of what to expect. Thanks again!! :nervous:
 

LatinoRican

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Kati07 said:
Sorry, but I've been away and now that I'm back I want to thnak everyone who replied to my queries about how English is taught in the DR. I think I probably have a fair idea now of what to expect. Thanks again!! :nervous:

Since my past reply, I spoke to a fellow English professor who has given many ESL workshops in Santo Domingo and she told me that they teach English by rote. For those who have no idea of what rote is, it is simply memorization and repetition. The teacher utters a statement and the student(s) repeat it. They may or may not know what they are saying, but the belief is that sooner or later they will get the meaning of what they are repeating.

Ex. Teacher: My name is Carmen.
Student: My name is Carmen.
Teacher: My name is Carmen.
Student: My name is Carmen.
Teacher: What is your name?
Student: My name is Carmen.

And so it goes...
 

bienvenido

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Teaching English In Dr..part II

Teaching English in DR today is not different from ELT anywhere else in the world (with the exception of public schools). PS still using the grammar translation method , and teachers are normally not proficient ELT. ELT in DR changed in the 80s. Today DR have many bilingual schools, and English is taught as a first language language in many schools acroos the coutry. The mist that English need to be taught by a native speaker is descriminatory in nature (Please see International English). The term NS as a requirement to teach or learn English decriminate against NNS. Furthermore, researches had shown that Language learning take place in and outside the class room or through interaction , that is, using the language in different situation in/outside the classroom and the teacher do not need to be NS, but well articulate and proficient in the TL. Moreover, the media had become a strong learning tools for Ss , particularly those learning /EFL) English as a foreing language or in foreing countries (kDR). Linguistics/researchers determined that none can teach you a language: LL is not like learning math where a formula will give you a base to determine a solution to a problem, it is a individual human development agenda. Teachers can only provide the tools or create the situation for language learning to take place. Nonnative speakers (NNKS) who are competitive in the TL can achieve the same results as NS; They just have to rely more in learning resources.
 
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Marianopolita

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English teaching will be a focus next year....as per la Secretaria de Educaci?n

According to an article in today's List?n Diario English as a second language will be the focus in the new year and new programs will be implemented geared towards bilingual education. We collectively identified here in several posts that English teaching in the DR has gaps. I hope that The Secretary of Education will be attentive to the inefficiencies of English teaching as a second language. In my opinion having the programs is a step in the right direction but if the quality of teaching is not comparable to that of an English language school then we are back to square one.

Specifically to your comment Bienvenido, I think that there is a difference in the quality of teaching of a second language if the teacher's first language is not English and the same holds true the other way around. Don't get me wrong, I truly believe there are teachers who are strong in two sometimes three languages from a grammatical stand point. As well have the ability to speak each language fluently. However, second language acquisition without any classroom instruction is difficult as it is therefore if a student (at all levels including adults) has the opportunity to benefit from classroom instruction it must be superior and accurate. For this program to be successful I believe they need to have the following:

* superior teachers- which includes fluency in English and "espa?ol del bueno" with a strong grammatical background (in both languages).
* a program that is proven to be effective and conducive to ESL learning
* eradication of existing ESL teaching methodologies (in the public school system at least). New methods may prove more effective.

-Lesley D

================

Here are highlights from today's article in el List?n Diario:

*La Secretar?a de Educaci?n arrancar? en enero la implementaci?n de cuatro grandes programas de ense?anza del ingl?s, como segundo idioma, que abarcar? desde el nivel preescolar hasta el bachillerato.

* La cartera educativa se propone impartir de 5 a 6 horas semanales de ingl?s en el nivel preescolar, y ofrecer por lo menos una asignatura en ese idioma, que podr?a ser Matem?tica.

*El programa del nivel inicial, denominado ?Ingl?s Progresivo? comenzar? a partir del pr?ximo a?o escolar con los estudiantes de cinco a?os, as? como los que est?n cursando primero y segundo grado de b?sica.

*Para el per?odo escolar venidero se incluir? en el sistema educativo el programa de ?Ense?anza de Ingl?s como Segundo Idioma?, que en un principio se lanzar? como plan piloto de educaci?n biling?e en 17 escuelas b?sicas, ubicadas en cada una de las direcciones regionales.
Los centros seleccionados para ejecutar este proyecto deber?n reunir las condiciones requeridas: que dispongan de centros de inform?tica, profesores con buen dominio del ingl?s, y que est?n ubicados en las regiones de mayor desarrollo tur?stico, de zonas francas e industrial, a fin de dotar a los estudiantes de las competencias ling??sticas en ingl?s requeridas en el mercado laboral.
 

Linda Stapleton

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Students Deserve the Best

I am a native English speaker, teaching English in the Dominican Republic. I use the Communicative Language Teaching method, which emphasises the importance of being able to communicate in the target language. I trained as a teacher in England and completed my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) training with Quisqueya here in the Dominican Republic. The course was excellent, focussing on International English and emphasising the importance of recognising cultural differences in language teaching and learning.

I have experience of teaching in public and private schools, and in a language school, as well as now working with students on a private basis.
My experience has been that teenagers and adults are very keen to learn English, understanding the importance of speaking a second language, as stated in an earlier post. Younger children also respond well if the material is appropriate.

Whilst I have been very impressed by the level of English some students have achieved, often with very little or no formal training, I am also frequently saddened to see how many mistakes are made by students who have been taught by Dominican teachers. As the same mistakes keep recurring, even when students have been taught by different teachers, I have to conclude that they are not all caused by student error. I am not referring to differences in pronunciation, and believe that comprehension and the ability to communicate are to be aimed for rather than a perfect replication of English or American accents. It is very difficult to eliminate the influence of one's native language on accent, as my very English Spanish exemplifies. In addition to this, whilst students may have a reasonable or good vocabulary, many find it very difficult to express themselves in English, which would tie in with the previous comments about learning by rote.

Many Dominican students and their families make huge efforts and sacrifices to find the time and money required to study English. I firmly believe that they deserve to receive the best teaching available, whether that be from a native English speaker, or not. Moreover, the teachers who are entrusted with teaching English, especially in the public schools, deserve to be sufficiently equipped for the task. Good teaching begins with a very adequate knowledge of English and an informed approach as to the most effective teaching methods available. The government needs to invest in training the teachers if the level of English language learning is to be improved upon and the students are to receive the level of teaching they deserve.