The teaching of a foreign language (English) in High School in México *

In Mexico the teaching programs of English were designed according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).¹ This framework establishes different levels of domain of a language, the Mexican education has adopted two of them as the basic domain levels should be acquired by students (at the end of basic education) and by teachers (as the tool that certifies their ability for teach the language).

¹http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Portfolio/?L=E&M=/main_pages/levels.html

*http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_en.asp

The method: Constructivism

The main idea of this method is that the students construct their own understanding, according to their past experiences and the new situations they get into. In this learning method the teacher works as a guide, without giving the knowledge to the students but creating the necessary conditions for they can construct it by themselves.

“The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning.”  (Eric Cohen)

http://www.funderstanding.com/content/constructivism

The Approach: Communicative approach

The main idea of the communicative approach is that the students be able to use English as a tool for express themselves, so, English became practical because students learn to develop abilities such as listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to communicate their needs, wishes or experiences.

The main point of this approach is the communication, but this doesn´t mean that another aspects of the language such as grammar are not important anymore, grammar still takes place in this approach, but is not the main point of it.

Some principles of the communicative approach, by Daniel Cassany:

*Use of complete (should express complete ideas) and genuine (should be spoken or written by native speakers) texts.

*The teacher should recreate situations from the real life into the classroom, for the students can practice.

*Feedback between teacher and students is very important for reach the expected learning.

*The students work in pairs or groups for  they can exchange information and reach a better understanding.

Some notes...