Tesis – Maestría en Pedagogía del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera (Sin Restricción)
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Implementación del Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje en clases de inglés y su impacto en el aprendizaje del idioma desde la percepción docente(PUCE - Quito, 2026) Ponce Cano, Daniela Alejandra; Schneider, Kathrin FriederikeEl presente estudio analiza las percepciones de docentes de inglés como Lengua Extranjera (EFL) sobre la efectividad de la implementación del marco educativo “Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje” (DUA) en la adquisición de una segunda lengua; se centra específicamente en analizar su impacto percibido en el aprendizaje estudiantil y los desafíos de implementación. El estudio fue realizado en una institución particular ubicada en Quito, Ecuador. La política educativa ecuatoriana ha enfatizado la educación inclusiva y la eliminación de barreras para el aprendizaje utilizando DUA como referente; sin embargo, existe escasa evidencia sobre la percepción y aplicación de esta herramienta, especialmente en contextos de enseñanza del inglés. Para esta investigación se ha utilizado un diseño descriptivo, no experimental y transversal, con un enfoque predominantemente cuantitativo. La recolección de datos se realizó mediante una encuesta aplicada a docentes de inglés que enseñan desde séptimo grado hasta primero de Bachillerato, estos resultados se comparan con una encuesta aplicada en la misma institución a todo el personal docente sobre DUA. Los hallazgos indican que los profesores ven esta herramienta como un marco útil para fomentar el compromiso, la comprensión y la motivación en las clases de inglés. Las técnicas de representación y compromiso se utilizan predominantemente; mientras que la acción y la expresión, especialmente en el ámbito de la evaluación flexible, son más difíciles de implementar. Los principales obstáculos identificados fueron las limitaciones de tiempo y la necesidad de formación continua. La comparación muestra que los profesores de inglés utilizan el DUA de manera más consistente que otros profesores. Este estudio ofrece evidencia contextualizada de las percepciones de los profesores sobre el DUA en Ecuador y destaca la necesidad de apoyo institucional y orientación específica por área disciplinaria.Item Open Access Volunteers in the EFL classroom: supporting public institutions in Ecuador(PUCE - Quito, 2024) Borja Román, María José; Fierro Echeverría, Samuel EnriqueEste artículo destaca el trabajo de voluntarios norteamericanos realizado a través de organismos internacionales en las aulas de cinco Colegios Públicos de la costa del Ecuador. El objetivo de este artículo es aportar más información a la escasa existente y proporcionar resultados y literatura de apoyo que se centre en el trabajo realizado por los voluntarios. Se realizó una investigación descriptiva y cualitativa mediante observación no participante. Cinco clases de inglés fueron observadas en las que voluntarios apoyaron a docentes ecuatorianos. Estos datos fueron analizados y reportados, concluyendo que es una ayuda que los estudiantes disfrutan y los docentes apoyan, ya que coinciden en que la exposición a un hablante nativo ayudó a los estudiantes con la pronunciación y práctica del lenguaje hablado.Item Open Access Task-based Learning Vocabulary Activities for Fourth Grade(PUCE - Quito, 2023) Araujo Garzón, Neiva Margoth; Dragosavljevich Garzón, Milica MargaritaDeveloping speaking skills has been one of the most difficult challenges for students, especially for children due to a lack of vocabulary when they want to express or answer any question. Students struggle to say what they think or give ideas due to their lacking vocabulary, as words taught in classrooms are not put in context in a real-life situation it makes the acquisition of said. On the contrary, vocabulary is taught in isolation where words are learned mostly by writing. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of task-based learning activities in fourth graders in learning vocabulary and acquiring the ability to produce it orally. For this reason, the need has arisen to apply and evaluate a task-based learning teaching approach that gives students the opportunity to work in a natural environment using different activities. This study uses qualitative andquantitative methods to evaluate pretest and posttest vocabulary, students' oral production and a final survey to know the children's opinions about the activities performed in class. Students consolidate their activity by working in groups. Results show that in the vocabulary posttest that most of the students mastered the required learning; only one student is close in achieving the required task; demonstrating great progress. Besides, in oral production, they use varied vocabulary to express opinions, preferences and ideas. They were fluent and confident; their intonation was clear, and theirmisuse of grammar was better than before.Item Open Access Thought-based superior speaking: an EAP higher-order thinking course designed to accelerate the spoken language proficiency of advanced EFL students(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Melsada Frame, Sharon; Monteros Altamirano, Ivanova MercedesA growing demand for English proficiency in the global economic sphere has accelerated the pace of EFL learning, especially in functional, spoken language skill competence. The purpose of the study is to investigate the need for an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course design that fast-tracks the speaking proficiency skills of advanced L2 learners by cultivating their higher order thinking. Using mixed-method analysis, the research examined a general English Superior Speaking course I piloted two years ago to determine how it could be restructured to create an effective EAP speaking course by integrating metacognition to accelerate students’ verbal language skills. The probe explores ways to turbocharge the students from rote learners to cognitive thinkers to metacognitive strategists. This way, they become self-directed, autonomous scholars who use functional language to plan, evaluate, and monitor their own mental and verbal intelligence. Results of numerous task-based, higher order thinking activities were measured to assess the potential success of such a unique EAP course. Also, audio, video and written testimonials from participating students were found to attribute dynamic improvement in their thinking and speaking skills to the metacognitive teaching approaches I experimented with in my current Superior Speaking class, and now proposed for the EAP course. The study definitively offers credence to the notion of an EAP public speaking course that uses higher order thinking to boost advanced EFL students’ speaking prowess. Further study is needed to explore ways the causal relationship between higher order thinking and higher order speaking can be further developed in L2 students well after the EAP class ends, and to investigate how these students can perpetuate their own self-ditermined language acquisition.Item Open Access Intonation of questions and requests in lower intermediate adult EFL students(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Vaca Barragán, Diana Alejandra; Dragosavljevich Garzón, Milica MargaritaThis paper investigates the intonation of questions and requests produced by 10 adult lower intermediate EFL students. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the most common intonation mistakes. It is significant to study the current state of intonation in order to propose methodological activities to improve specific intonation problems. In fact, the study compares the pitch contours of two questions and two requests produced by native speakers with the intonation of EFL learners. This descriptive study concluded that: the learners seem not to be aware of pitch contours and the function of intonation patterns; and that the L1 influences the production of the L2. These results suggest that some technological tools such as Praat can be used in the process of teaching and learning intonation.Item Open Access Implications of teaching english idioms to L2 learners through digital gamification at a public school(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Portilla Ayala, Oscar Roberto; Dragosavljevich Garzón, Milica MargaritaThe purpose of this study is to determine the impact of teaching English idioms through the use of digital gamification on students who are learning English as a second language at a public school. Sixty students and eight English teachers from the school participated in this research. The students were divided into two groups, a control group and an experimental group with 30 students each. Pre-tests and post-tests were applied to the participants in both study groups. For this descriptive study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Several scientific instruments were applied to collect data as well as observations and analyses of the recorded classes by the teachers who participated in the study were carried out. After the discussion and analysis of the results, it was possible to conclude that the use of methodologies based on gamification positively impacts the learning of English idioms in students of the public institution. This study suggests that the application of gamification for teaching idioms has favorable results in student learning It was determined that learning methods through digital games motivate both students and teachers, making students acquire and use idiomatic expressions in their everyday language. After concluding the investigation, several recommendations for future studies were raised, mainly concerning a larger sample to obtain reliable results and additional tests at different times after the experimentation. On this basis, observations in-person classes and use combined teaching methods should be used to verify which is the most effective method for teaching English idioms.Item Open Access Error analysis of english articles and pedagogical implications for EFL students(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Pilapaña Anaguano, Carina Beatriz; Moscoso Loaiza, RosanaThe present research analyzes the frequency of errors that 40 adult English learners and 11 English teachers make in the use of English articles. It investigates the different types of errors (addition, omission, and selection) and the sources (interlingual and intralingual). For data collection, a test with writing, speaking, and grammar sections were conducted for this research. For teachers, a grammar and writing a paragraph task was administered. Following the conventions of Error Analysis (EA) and Contrastive Analysis (CA), this study found that adult learners face problems in using articles that deserve attention, especially in the definite article, which often appears where zero article is required to have well structure utterances. In errors of the addition category, transfer of the mother language was found as the primary source of the identified errors for students and teachers. Errors behind the Intralingual source disclose a low level of occurrence. Due to the features of these errors, count and non-count nouns in different contexts need to be timely taught to reduce the misuse of articles. Based on the results, some pedagogical implications are put forward to help teachers and students improve the acquisition of articles.Item Open Access Buzz Group methodology to improve the english pronunciation skills for A1 students(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Vallejo Delgado, Alberto Esteban; Serrano Prato, Gabriela PetruskaThis study presents a methodological proposal based on cooperative learning, with the use of the Buzz Group strategy, which motivates students to develop oral expression skills in small groups. The general objective of the work was to determine the incidence of the Buzz Group strategy to achieve a clear pronunciation in English from a high school student group during the 2021 school year. A qualitative approach at a descriptive and exploratory level was applied. Pre and post-intervention tests were designed from which the main data related to pronunciation and the use of the Buzz Group strategy were obtained. Where the impact of this strategy on English pronunciation was observed, bridging the gap between strategic learning and pronunciation in the communicative language teaching approach. The study recommends paying greater attention to pronunciation and the use of active and cooperative strategies which comprehensively improve the learning of a foreign language.Item Open Access Tongue twisters as a strategy to enhance the pronunciation of lexicon of senior students(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Reinoso Pinto, Maribel Alexandra; Dragosavljevich Garzón, Milica MargaritaCommunicative skills have been considered essential when giving and receiving information or establishing effective communication. For this reason, pronunciation has been considered the core of this research using tongue twisters as a strategy to strengthen the skill. Quasiexperimental - explanatory research and qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to collect information to support and validate the study from the student and teacher perspectives. 27 seniors’ students (18 men and 9 women) between the ages of 16 and 17 participated in the research, all native Spanish speakers with a B1 level of English. This research allowed to raise awareness among students and teachers about the importance of proper pronunciation of words in the English language, applying tongue twisters and repetition through active thinking as a strategy. This study was carried out in 8 weeks in the 2020-2021 school year in a private school, the classes were synchronous on Zoom sessions, 4 hours per week. The Instruments that supported the research in a significant way were PRAAT (a computerized software that analyzes speech) and the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). The process included a pre-and postexam. which were compared and analyzed statistically in the Excel program, obtaining important results and discoveries for the project. The tests and materials, as well as the tongue twisters applied in the study, were analyzed according to the needs of the students by the researcher in specific phonemes (minimal pairs) / p /, / b /, / f /, / v / in the lexicon.Item Open Access Interactive vocabulary learning strategies for intermediate EFL students(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Proaño Merizalde, Ana Lucía; Gavilanes Jijón, Christian GeovannyThis research presents the proposal Interactive Vocabulary Learning Strategies for Intermediate EFL students. This proposal has the participation of four students who attend the third year of International Baccalaureate from a public school at North of Quito. The objective of this proposal is to get students to learn English vocabulary through the implementation of interactive vocabulary strategies. The research used in this proposal is quasi-experimental. First, students took a pretest to identify the students’ vocabulary knowledge level. The mean got in this test is 17.5. After that, six interactive vocabulary strategies were applied. Students worked with Comic Pixton, Educaplay, Flipped classroom, Wordart, Flipgrid, and Vocabulary Dictation. Students received three sessions per week, which facilitated the application of all interactive vocabulary strategies. Finally, students took a post-test with the aim of proving if the strategies worked and if the students learn new vocabulary with these interactive strategies. The mean corresponds to this test is 22.5. According to the post-test results, students learned English vocabulary through interactive vocabulary strategies. Students increased a 25.7% in their vocabulary English level. The objective was accomplished in this research. This proposal motivates teachers and students to continue working in an interactive way and acquire new learnings with the implementation of new strategies.Item Open Access Grammar focused activities to improve writing production: an error analysis study(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Latacunga Freire, Gabriel Agustín; Gavilanes Jijón, Christian GeovannyThe current study aims to help tenth grade EFL students in Cumbaya, Ecuador, reduce morpho-syntactic errors in their writing skills at an A2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Firstly, a pre-test was given to 40 tenth grade learners to identify and classify morpho-syntactic errors. In the first writing prompt, participants were asked to write an email answering 3 questions. In the second writing prompt, they were asked to write a brief story of the objects that they had in 3 separate images. The most common morpho-syntactic errors that the pre-test revealed are: word order, subject verb agreement, Morpheme/word Omission, Morpheme/word addition. Second, learners were given grammar-focused activities for two months to help them make less morpho-syntactic errors. These activities were based on the errors they made on the pretest. Third, the students took a test after the two-month program to see if they had made less morpho-syntactic errors. The researcher found that the post-test showed a big drop in errors. The post-test gave the researcher information about how the tenth graders' writing skills had improved by the end of the program. The study has implications for teaching because it can help teachers come up with ways to improve their students' writing skills.Item Open Access Surface acting in the classroom affecting public ecuadorian english teachers in a Facebook Group(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Gavilánez Congacha, Jorge Luis; De Angelis, Adeline JennyThe purpose of this paper is to show the exhaustion of teachers caused by surface acting that teachers feel in their everyday activities and the health problems that it causes when applying it in the class. This investigation shows different points of view of teachers when giving classes related to surface acting, health and stress. This descriptive investigation uses qualitative and quantitative methods applied through a survey and focus group, both applied to Ecuadorian Public English Teachers. This paper shows that teachers are suppressing their real feelings when giving classes and students’ interaction is an important feature that affects teachers negatively but mostly positively. Survey and focus group results show that surface acting has a close relation that ends in teachers’ exhaustion and sometimes serious health problems. Results show that teachers have ideas that can help reduce surface acting that mostly depend on authorities. This is the first time that an investigation of surface acting is applied to Ecuadorian Public English Teachers and it could be the beginning of future investigations that will help reduce surface acting in the class. This study recommends authorities by teachers’ comments to pay attention to teachers’ health caused by surface acting.Item Open Access Structured input grammar activities for penultimate year students at Fernández Madrid High School(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Riofrío Salazar, Evelyn Esdrey; Dragosavljevich Garzón, Milica MargaritaThis quasi-experimental research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of structured input grammar activities on students in their penultimate year at Fernández Madrid High School, during the school year 2020-2021. Pre-tests applied to 70 students of penultimate year showed a low level of grammar competence in topics as present perfect, tag questions, passive voice, used to and second conditional. Structured input grammar activities were incorporated in the experimental group of 35 students, while conventional strategies were applied in the control group of 35 individuals. There were 25 interventions of forty minutes in total to introduce input activities such as binary options, surveys, supplying information, matching, selecting alternatives, ordering, and ranking to facilitate the internalization of linguistic forms. The process culminated with a post-test to experimental and control group to compare and analyze the grades of both groups. The results demonstrated that a better average was achieved in the group to which structured input grammar activities were incorporated. In consequence, the incorporation of structured grammar activities has had significant impact on grammar competence of students.Item Open Access Problem-solving speaking activities to develop critical thinking skills in B1 EFL students(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Encalada Neira, Jenny Marisol; Harutyunyan, LiliyaLearning a second language is among the leading factors in modern-day communities that help unite people from different backgrounds (Mehta & Mehta, 2019). Learners with additional needs are likely to express different levels of understanding of the offered context. Based on the complexity of some languages, it is worth noting that there are unique approaches that can assist the learners in quickly understanding the various aspects of the secondary language. Learners' creativity plays a vital role in determining their connection to the second language. Since some languages differ from the primary languages, teachers can create unique ways that may allow the learners to easily connect some aspects of the language and change their attitude towards the respective language. Critical thinking among the learners connects to the ability to make the right decisions for solving some of the problems that may directly affect them (Dolapcioglu & Doğanay, 2022). Based on the different forms of challenges that may influence one's language acquisition, their interaction and connection to the environment are always needed to make the right improvement. Critical thinking allows most learners to critically analyze a specific situation and decide on the most effective approach that may address the individual case and assist in attaining their educational objectives. Although there are several ways that learners can be encouraged to understand the context of a new language, it is worth noting that giving the learners a chance to solve the problems they go through quickly is a meaningful way to realize this objective. This research aims to assess the influence and connection between problem-solving communication in learners struggling with second language acquisition. Through the findings of this study, it will be relatively easy to create unique ways to improve the learners' overall understanding.Item Open Access “My Virtual Oratory”: a means to acquire british vocabulary communicatively(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Castillo Navarrete, Anita Dorlenny; Matts, Janine MarieThis research describes the application of a gamified methodology through the use of technological tools using virtual lessons. These are aimed at teaching British vocabulary to students in the fourth year of Basic Education in the primary section of a Catholic School in Quito. They are candidates for taking the international Movers exam, and it is expected they will obtain the A1 level of English, according to the Common European Framework’s standards. The main objective is to complement the preparation of the students through an academic course that exposes them to the most common British words they will face in the test. Games and technology are used to increase the participants’ intrinsic motivation to obtain better results in the teaching-learning process. The dare is to include the Salesian Pedagogy from Saint John Bosco in the development of the current course.Item Open Access Error analysis on the use of simple past tense in narrative texts in online learning(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Oviedo Zuñiga, Silvana Patricia; Vásquez Naranjo, Alejandra NathalyThis study aims to analyze the different types of errors made in Simple Past Tense in narrative texts by students in the EFL classroom in a high school from Quito. The group of learners of this study present difficulties in their English writing skills, structuring sentences, writing paragraphs in a correct way and narrating events in past. The participants selected for this study were 39 students between 16 and 17 years old. All of them were native Spanish speakers and learners of English as a foreign language. Three narrative documents written by the students were collected during synchronous and asynchronous environments. The researcher identified, classified and analyzed the errors in Simple Past Tense made by the participants and based the study on Error Analysis theory. The author found 309 errors items which were classified into Omission, Addition, Misformation, and Misordering errors (Dulay et al., 1982). These errors were made in Synchronous and Asynchronous environments. The study found more Misformation errors in students’ writings – 193 total errors, 87 errors in the Synchronous modality and 96 in the Asynchronous environment. The findings in this study revealed that the high frequency of errors is caused by Intralingual interferenceItem Open Access A study of language teacher identity negotiations of ecuadorian english teachers(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Kandappankattil Narayanan, Vinu; Harutyunyan, LiliyaIn the changing social, political, and cultural environment of a language classroom, a Language Teachers’ professional identity plays a significant role. In the postmodern sense of the word, one’s identity is actively under construction. This fragmented, multiple, expansive identity determines one’s sense of self. Beyond professional and pedagogical knowledge that is expected of teachers, this multidimensional realm of teacher training receives little attention (Tsui, 2007). Language teachers and learners cannot remove themselves from the reality that they are engaged in the process of negotiating their identities. This process is made further complex because of the intricacy of the relationship between language and culture. English as Foreign/Second Language teachers and learners additionally struggle with the coloniality of the language and the globality of its position. These factors loom in the proscenium of an English class, actively interacting with every communicative activity conducted within. Cultural globalization, identity formation and English language education, and their interconnectedness cannot be brushed aside (Kumaravadivelu, 2008, 2012). In this research, the identity negotiation of an Ecuadorian language teacher is viewed through the looking glass of the native-nonnative dichotomy that exists in every decision and methodology in an English class. It then studies about how teachers reflect, reify, resist, and reinvent their subjectivities. In the conclusion, the implications of the fragmented and complex identities are analyzed and possible applications in teacher education is explored.Item Open Access Rethinking the role of feedback as constituent of a dialogic approach in the EFL class(PUCE - Quito, 2024) Pozo Reinoso, Ruth Abigail; Fierro Echeverría, Samuel EnriqueRegarding assessing teaching-learning processes, from the mid-XIX century to the most recent research by O’Donovan in 2017, challenges have been found concerning knowledge and the process of knowing and their effect on how students’ attitudes towards evaluation differ depending on how they perceive knowledge and knowing. There is a debate on why feedback has not yet been incorporated harmoniously within formative assessment, finding power structures around knowledge as an obstacle. Recent studies such as Ajjawi’s in 2018 have provided evidence of feedback being a fundamental aspect of learning and recommended it to be pluralist, contextualized, dialogic, and relational. In other words, the feedback’s principal component should be a dialog among peer students, teachers, and between students and teachers. Our research aims at questioning how feedback strategies respond or not to a constructivist and democratic dynamic and placing in our imagination the possibility of dialog in feedback during English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes by using interviews, surveys, and focus groups with teachers and students. We explored the perceptions of teachers and students on the role of feedback within education and their imaginaries about how to improve EFL skills through authentic feedback.Item Open Access Teaching phrasal verbs through a cognitive approach(PUCE - Quito, 2022) Procel Zarria, Mónica Margarita; Vásquez Naranjo, Alejandra NathalyMost of the time, teachers can see that students usually cannot communicate fluently in the English language because they have limited vocabulary. For this reason and due to the demands of the new era, it is essential to learn vocabulary that is used by native English speakers in their daily conversations. The following research focuses on teaching English phrasal verbs through a cognitive approach with the support of embodied experience and metaphor theory in order to promote quality learning, looking for more viable alternatives to reach a meaningful understanding. This study was based on experimental and descriptive research in which quantitative data helped the researcher collect information The project was applied to B1 level students of a private Institute in the city of Quito. These students were chosen because they have had a difficult time learning English phrasal verbs by memory without any context. The instruments used in this project were pre and post tests. Besides, a variety of interactive activities were applied in this project such as: videos, memes, wordwall website, comic strips, among others. Therefore, students felt more motivated and confident during classes.Item Open Access Analysis of errors in spoken production of french L3 learners of level A2 at a private school in Quito(PUCE - Quito, 2021) Erazo Jiménez, Rodrigo Javier; Matts, Janine MarieThe present study deals with the issue of exploring the possible sources for the most frequent errors in oral production of teenage learners of French who are Spanish native speakers and have also received instruction in English. To attain this objective, online oral interactions of 15 students of a private school of Quito and their teacher in an interview-like setting have been transcribed and analyzed in search of errors. The quantitative data evidenced the most frequent ones which subsequently underwent a qualitative analysis. It consisted of a description of the errors and ultimately, a formulation of hypotheses on their possible causes. The results show that the most frequent types of erroneous production have to do with form rather than content and do not represent a major impediment to communication. As for their causes, the detected errors seem to have their origin not only on the interference of the first or second language, but also on overgeneralization and oversimplification of the rules of the target language. The existence of a combination of several features or sources was also deemed possible.