'Using Cooperative Learning Activities for Teaching EFL in Secondary Education: Fostering Students' L2 Communication Skills'

Este trabajo fin de máster se centra en el uso de diferentes estructuras cooperativas en la clase de EFL para fomentar el desarrollo y mejora de las habilidades comunicativas de los estudiantes. Para ello, se ha diseñado una unidad didáctica en la cual los estudiantes tienen que trabajar juntos en equipos cooperativos durante todo el proceso. Esta unidad está basada en el aprendizaje cooperativo de Kagan y en el aprendizaje por proyectos. De hecho, los estudiantes reciben nueva información durante la unidad, la cual les permitirá analizar y evaluar de una manera crítica con el fin de poner en práctica en forma de producto final todos los conocimientos y aprendizajes que han adquirido a lo largo de la unidad. Este producto, que es un anuncio para la nueva campaña de Coca Cola, facilitará la autonomía y creatividad de los estudiantes, lo que a su vez hará que estos aprendan inglés en un entorno favorable. <br /

Learning with technology. The use of ICT Tools and digital resources to avoid the overuse of the English textbook in order to boost students’ motivation

El presente estudio analiza e intenta dar solución a la excesiva dependencia del libro de texto de inglés y a la falta de motivación de los alumnos en la clase de inglés en un grupo de 2º de ESO de un instituto concertado de Zaragoza durante las segundas prácticas del máster. Por ello, este trabajo lleva a cabo una propuesta didáctica cuyo objetivo final es mejorar la necesidad indicada utilizando herramientas TIC y recursos digitales e integrando una combinación de diferentes áreas de estudio que van desde la enseñanza comunicativa de la lengua, el currículo aragonés perteneciente a la ESO, el aprendizaje de lenguas basado en proyectos y el aprendizaje cooperativo.<br /

Student interaction through a PBLL approach: An attempt to place peer interaction at the core of the Teaching/Learning process. “Social Media: Utopia and Dystopia through BlackMirror”

AbstractDuring my placement period in La Anunciata, a private with a state funding school in Zaragoza, I attended several ESO lesson from different years. Here, I observed that there was little interaction between students during class activities. Therefore, the main aim of this Dissertation is to design a learning unit that focused on a PBLL in which the activities designed around student interaction are essential in order to advance in the project. This lesson plan is based on several communicative language teaching and cooperative principles. These principles will also be essential for the development of communicative competences. Furthermore, the guidelines provided by the LOMCE Aragonese Curriculum for ESO have been taken into account for the development of this unit.ResumenDurante mi periodo de practicas en el Colegio La Anunciata, un colegio concertado de Zaragoza, asistí a varias clases de diferentes años de la ESO. Durante este periodo, pude observar que la interacción entre alumnos durante las actividades realizadas en clase era escasa. Por tanto, el objetivo de mi trabajo es diseñar una unidad didáctica basada en el método PBLL en el que las actividades estén orientadas a la interacción entre estudiantes y que éstas sean esenciales para el progreso del proyecto. La fundamentación teórica de esta unidad se basa en el Método Comunicativo y en el trabajo cooperativo. Además, se ha llevado a la práctica las recomendaciones propuestas en el Currículo Aragonés de la ESO.<br /

CLT approach as a basis of a learning unit. Unit proposal to promote communication between students in 3rd year of Compulsory Secondary Education

In this dissertation a unit plan whose main purpose is to develop communicative skills of students will be analyzed. What is intended with the design of this unit is that learners can develop the different skills in a communicative way, which will allow them to increase their motivation and their ability to express orally and in writing using the target language. Therefore, the development of CLT approach will be one of the most relevant bases of this project. The need to establish a communication-based teaching arises after the Practicum Period in which we did not have the opportunity to teach students face to face. Therefore, the contact with the student is lost and they do not have the opportunity to exchange opinions among them in a fluid way constantly. Moreover, another of the needs that has led to the creation of this dissertation was the analysis of a unit plan of a textbook that I carried out for a master's project. This book is focused on grammar and vocabulary aspects while it gets away from fostering communication between students. The unit plan is designed to develop a topic that can be motivating for students such as crime and punishment. During this unit, learners will also put into practice other skills such as their autonomy to learn, group work, cooperation and ability with technologies among others. To develop some lessons, the PBLL methodology will be used, culminating in a final product. Several materials created and adapted will be used in each session. The analysis that appears in this dissertation on this unit plan consists of a theoretical framework, which has been designed taking into account different readings from the master’s degree and outside it, and a curricular framework elaborated following current laws. <br /

The flipped classroom and the oral production in english in a second grade class

El presente Trabajo Fin de Grado pretender servir de acercamiento a un modelo innovativo y pedagógico, el “Flipped Classroom”, a través de una investigación teórica, pero también una implementación práctica del mismo, ya que este método cambia la forma de la educación, invirtiendo la manera de enseñar. En primer lugar, se ha expuesto el marco teórico, y después, se han dado a conocer diferentes aspectos del Flipped Classroom.Es importante destacar que el principal objetivo de este trabajo es ver, si este método ayuda al alumnado a desarrollar las destrezas orales, y probar su efectividad, en comparación a otros métodos.Para desarrollar dicho método, se ha utilizado el vídeo educativo, como principal recurso para explicar la teoría. Esta herramienta es el motor del método, y con ella el alumnado podrá aprender los contenidos desde sus casas, pudiendo ver los vídeos. Para que esto ocurra y poder recoger los resultados, la principal herramienta utilizada será Edpuzzle, descrita a lo largo del trabajo.Además, se desarrollarán varias sesiones utilizando el método Flipped Classroom, así como tareas comunicativas, en las cuales se podrá ver si funciona y cómo el alumnado es capaz de aprender, teniendo en cuenta su ritmo de aprendizaje. Las conclusiones extraídas muestran que este método se adapta mejor a cada estudiante, pudiendo ajustarse a la diversidad.<br /

Application of the project based language learning and cooperative learning methodologies to a learning unit proposal about cooking titled “bon appetit!” for english as a foreign language of first year of secondary education

Learner-centered methodologies are nowadays gaining importance in English as a Foreign Language classroom. Hence, granting the students’ independent learning and motivation in a higher position than instruction itself. Nevertheless, this is not always the case, and there are still many teachers using traditional methodologies in which they are the reference, and the students acquire a secondary and passive role. During a temporary placement period observing a Secondary Education classroom, some specific needs were identified such as lack of motivation and too much reliance on individualism. In order to correct these necessities, it could be useful to combine two different but complementary methodologies that placed the focus on the learner: Project-Based Language Learning and Cooperative Learning. Consequently, and considering the Aragonese Curriculum’s (2016) specifications about Communicative Language Teaching, this learning unit plan aims at increasing the students’ motivation and engagement within the EFL classroom at the same time that it enhances their communicative and linguistic competences’ development by integrating the previously mentioned approaches. Bon Appetit! is an imaginative and productive unit that requires the students to carry out, plan and design cooperatively a poster’s recipe and present it by sticking to the genre’s specifications. Interaction and cooperation are enhanced through diverse activities and tasks, tempting the students to engage in the organisation by acting as if they were the chefs. Besides, through cooking matters this learning unit also helps to develop the students autonomy and originality.<br /

Learning Literary Content in the EFL Classroom: Implementation Proposal for 3rd ESO BRIT

El presente ensayo examina el rol de la literatura y el análisis literario dentro de un enfoque comunicativo de la enseñanza de la lengua, proponiendo una unidad didacta como ejemplificación de los argumentos demostrados en su contenido, a saber: que la riqueza de la literatura, una fuente de input auténtico con facilidad para ser utilizada como recurso didáctico en la clase, ayuda a la adquisición de habilidades comunicativas, competencias claves y todas las destrezas necesarias para los alumnos en una forma motivadora y atractiva. Con esa finalidad, se discute en este ensayo, el uso histórico de la literatura en el aula, así como los puntos de vista actuales de este medio como herramienta de enseñanza, utilizando literatura académica del aprendizaje de Inglés como lengua extranjera para establecer los criterios de selección de texto y diseño de las tareas. La unidad didáctica propuesta sigue para ello un enfoque basado en tareas, así como un enfoque cronológico y de respuesta lectora, en una mezcla de currículums basado en contenidos y en estas primeras. Está dirigida a estudiantes de 3º ESO BRIT, y cubre el tema de la literatura gótica. Al fin de esta unidad, los estudiantes cubrirán tanto conocimientos sobre el lenguage (condionales, futuros, argumentar opiniones…) como temáticos (elementos del gótico, estilo literario de Poe, el rol del monstruo…), todo bajo el alcance del curriculum de secundaria español (ECD/489/2016). Los estudiantes serán evaluados mediante la producción y defensa de un análisis literario en parejas del libro de su elección dentro de una lista preseleccionada, con gradación en base a su dificultad y extensión. Esto se hará mediante rúbricas, preguntas sobre las presentaciones de sus compañeros y actividades graduadas en ciertas tareas. Finalmente, la eficacia de la unidad didáctica se comprobará mediante una evaluación diagnóstica y de resultados al principio y al final de la unidad, respectivamente, que preguntará sobre hábitos de lectura y conocimiento de los contenidos de la unidad.<br /

A Trivia to the Land of Culture: A didactic unit proposal on the topic of culture, lifestyle and customs to foster motivation and dynamism in an A1 EFL classroom

The didactic unit proposed in this Dissertation emerges as a result of the needs I detected in the observations I carried out in an A1 class of Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Nº1, Zaragoza. This project proposal originates with the aim of solving the lack of motivation from students and the lack of dynamism in the environment of the class. Thus, this didactic unit follows both a project-based approach and a game-based learning approach with gamification as its main technique. Thus, multiple games have been used to teach both grammatical contents and specific vocabulary on the topic of culture, lifestyle and customs. The unit pursues a communicative approach emphasising collaborative pair and group work. All these factors will help students to the creation of the final project that is to design questions for a Cultural Trivia adapted from the wellknown board game Trivial Pursuit<br /

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality