Using realia in real contexts to enrich vocabulary learning in upper intermediate students under the project “mentoring” in the foreign Language Teaching program at the University of Córdoba

This report describes the internship carried out at the University of Cordoba in the Foreign Language Teaching Program under the mentoring program piloting stage. This program aims to preclude student dropout as well as to diminish the level of desertion to keep and arouse the permanence of the students in the program. A population of 15 participants from upper intermediate level in Communication 5 enrolled from first to fifth semester, were diagnosed and presented academic problems in terms of language acquisition which were mainly focused on mispronunciation and misspelling new words; they also had some difficulties memorizing the new vocabulary learned in class. Add to this, they did not have self-confidence when conveying their ideas because of the lack of vocabulary, and sometimes, were not able to understand what other people were saying, specifically when questions were asked, showing insecurity and hesitation when responding. The methodology applied in the mentoring sessions was founded on using realia in real contexts as main strategy to accomplish the expected objectives and learning communicative outcomes while implementing an eclectic approach which let the mentor teach English depending on the students’ skills and the purpose of the lesson. The results demonstrated that a good number of mentees enhanced their academic records and improved their English language performance, which gave the mentor great personal and professional satisfaction to make part of their peers' learning achievement.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 72. Pedagogical strategies .......................................................................................................... 10a. 2.1 Mentoring ................................................................................................................... 10b. 2.2 Eclectic Pedagogy ....................................................................................................... 11c. 2.3 The Use of Realia ....................................................................................................... 12d. 2.3.1 Vocabulary Learning ................................................................................................ 133. Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 14Activating previous knowledge ................................................................................................. 16Interviews .................................................................................................................................. 16P.O.T.D ..................................................................................................................................... 16a. Table 1. Duties chart ....................................................................................................... 174. Results (Experience description) ........................................................................................ 19a. 4.1 lesson plan ................................................................................................................... 19b. 4.2 Personal gains: ........................................................................................................... 234.3 students gains ..................................................................................................................... 235. Limitations ........................................................................................................................... 256. Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................................... 277. References ............................................................................................................................. 288. Appendix............................................................................................................................... 30PregradoLicenciado(a) en Lenguas Extranjeras con Énfasis en InglésPasantía