ISSN electrónico: 2145-9444 ISSN impreso:1657-2416 Nº 17 julio-diciembre de 2012 Fecha de recepción: 5 de julio de 2011 Fecha de aceptación: 3 de mayo de 2012

ARTÍCULOS DE REFLEXIÓN
REFLEXION ARTICLES

The article is the result ot a teaching experience conductec at Universidad Del Norte in the international Relations' :FL program to maximize students' learning and toster the development ot competences.

TERESA BENÍTEZ VELÁSQUEZ
Docente de inglés en relaciones internacionales, departamento de lenguas Universidad del Norte profesora de diseño de materiales en la especialización en la enseñanza del inglés Universidad del Norte magister en educación con énfasis en enseñanza del inglés investigadora del colectivo: enseñanza y aprendizaje de las lenguas del grupo lenguaje y educación del departamento de lenguas, Universidad del Norte
benitezt@uninorte.edu.cc

RESUMEN

Maximizar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes, desarrollar sus competencias básicas y brindarles la oportunidad de aplicar el inglés de una manera práctica se han convertido en objetivos muy importantes en el programa de inglés en Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla-Colombia. Para lograr estos objetivos, se ha implementado un método integrado para la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera que involucra la enseñanza conjunta de contenidos y lengua. Este método, llamado "Método Híbrido," incorpora dos reconocidos enfoques para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje: Enseñanza Basada en Contenidos y Enseñanza Basada en Proyectos. La idea fue concebida teniendo en cuenta las necesidades académicas y profesionales de los estudiantes; su interés por experiencias de aprendizaje significativo; las características y exigencias del contexto, y la necesidad de un método de enseñanza-aprendizaje que no solamente contribuya al desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas en inglés de los estudiantes, sino también al desarrollo de competencias básicas que les ayuden a desempeñarse adecuadamente en el ámbito académico y ocupacional. Este método aprovecha los recursos y facilidades tecnológicas que ofrece la universidad y contribuye positivamente en el proceso de aprendizaje de los estudiantes de Relaciones Internacionales con quienes se ha implementado.

Palabras clave: Enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera; aprendizaje integrado; competencias; método pedagógico; competencia comunicativa; método híbrido; Enseñanza Basada en Contenidos; Enseñanza Basada en Proyectos.

ABSTRACT

Maximizing students' learning, developing competencies, and giving them real opportunities for applying English in practical ways have become important goals in the International Relations' English program of Universidad Del Norte, Barranquilla-Colombia. In order to achieve these goals, an integrated pedagogical method which involves teaching English and content together has been implemented. This method, called "Hybrid Method," incorporates two well-known approaches to language teaching and learning: Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Project Based Instruction (PBI) The idea was conceived regarding students' academic and professional needs; their interest on significant learning experiences; the characteristics and demands of the context, and the need for a method that not only contributes to the development of students' English communicative competence, but also fosters the development of competences that help them perform adequately in both academic and occupational settings. This method takes advantage of the resources and technological facilities offered by the university and has become a positive contribution in the English learning process of the International Relations students with whom it has been applied.

Keywords: EFL teaching; integrated learning; competences; pedagogical method; communicative competence; Hybrid Method; Content Based Instruction (CBI); Project-Based Instruction (PBI).

INTRODUCTION

In a globalized world in which technological, industrial, economic, and social advances bring countless opportunities for us, Colombians, in the educational and occupational fields, learning a foreign language, especially English, has become more than essential in order to have access to these opportunities for advancement and progress and become more competitive. These challenges fueled by globalization led to a rethinking of the Colombian educational system in order to adjust it to the new and future demands that our country would face.

In this context, the role of foreign languages was also redefined, regarding the need for Colombian citizens able to communicate and participate in the exchange of knowledge, goods and services in foreign countries. The National Ministry of edu cation issued the National bilingualism program in order to give Colombian students the possibility of learning a second language and becoming more competent and competitive (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, MEN, 2006). Therefore, English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) has become a must at schools and universities in Colombia; students are expected to reach higher levels of communicative competence that allows them to communicate better in international settings, understand other cultures, access and transmit knowledge, and play an important role in the development of the country (MEN, 2006).

Nevertheless, being communicatively competent by itself will not ensure Colombian citizens' success in foreign countries. A number of other basic competences, along with the communicative one, need to be developed in order to have the capacity to act appropriately and create diverse and suitable solutions to problems in a determined context (Salas, 2005). Thus, English language courses, especially at university levels, should aim at the development of suitable competences that allow students not only to learn and use the language, but also to acquire skills for acting appropriately in different settings and solve problems they will normally face in real life However, implementing this kind of approach implies becoming more responsive to students' needs and interests and adjusting the program to these and the characteristics of the context where it is going to be applied. "Transmissionist" practices must be replaced by learner and learning- centered experiences in which the students are guided to make sense of what they are learning and are given opportunities to acquire life-long skills. In other words, such an approach needs to give students a more active role than simply observers, listeners, or receivers of information, taking them to a state of "knowing what to do and how to act in context" (Marín, 2002 in Salas, 2006, p.6) through the development of necessary skills.

Considering the above, with the aim of maximizing students' learning and fostering life-long competencies, English professors from the Language Department of Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia have implemented an integrated pedagogical method for teaching English as a foreign language to undergraduate students of the International Relations Program, an eight level content-oriented program in which students are taught English through the content of their specialty. The idea was conceived regarding students' future needs as specialists in International Relations, their interest on significant learning experiences, their characteristics as young adults who will soon face real life experiences, and the need to respond to the University's curricular modernization plan, which is targeted toward the integral formation of the students, with special attention to the development of competences that make them more reflective, critical, and able to face the challenges of a changing world (Vicerrectoria Académica Uninorte, 2008). We intended to come up with a method that both contributed to the development of students' English communicative competence and fostered the development of life-long competences that help them perform adequately in both academic and occupational settings.

This method, called "Hybrid Method" because of its integrated nature, follows a constructivist approach that fosters learning by doing. It is based on two well-known constructivist approaches to language teaching and learning: Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Project Based Instruction (PBI); these approaches, although different, possess characteristics that can complement each other very well to achieve the proposed goals in our English courses: Developing communicative competence, as well as other basic competences through the specific content of the students' specialty, in this case, International Relations. In this Hybrid Method, language is learned in context through active interaction among teachers and learners; therefore, it involves teaching English and content together in a problem-solving atmosphere.

Before providing a more detailed description of the method, a brief description of its basic underlying principles will be provided.

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

According to the Constructivist approach, learning is a process by which new knowledge is constructed from learner's previous experiences (Piaget, 1950). This approach conceives learners as active beings who are able to participate actively in their learning process and solve problems. In other

words, learners are able to learn by doing. However, according to Jonassen (1997), this kind of learning is possible when "well structured learning environments with appropriate scaffolding are provided." Thus, teachers should adopt a coaching role. Rather than doers, they are supporters of the students' knowledge construction, which means teachers should provide the conditions for students to learn. Savery (1996) supports this idea stating that a facilitator should guide students to achieve objectives, but at the same time, provide learning experiences that are open and free enough to allow learners to discover, enjoy, interact, and make up their own ideas of the reality. Learning then is the result of learners' work in the interaction with meaningful learning experiences that awaken their imagination, critical thinking and interest for learning.

Regarding the above, constructivism allows for the implementation of active learning environments in which critical thinking and life-long skills can be fostered. Therefore, a constructivist approach to language teaching might match quite well an EFL teaching and learning program where the development of competences is nurtured.

CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI)

Content Based Instruction (CBI) is the term given to the integration of language and content in language teaching. Since its appearance in the 1980s, this approach has marked a difference in ESL and EFL pedagogy because of its multiple advantages which make it different from other approaches to language teaching and learning.

One of the advantages attributed to CBI that applies to teaching EFL at university levels is its appropriateness for the development of independent learning skills, highly needed at this stage. On the other hand, according to Kasper (2000), it "enables college English students to develop and refine necessary linguistic and critical thinking skills that allow them to access, understand, articulate, and critically analyze conceptual relations" (p. 3). Besides, it provides students with the basis for developing higher order thinking skills, such as critical thinking, and helps them develop the ability to communicate with others and articulate needs in the language (Kasper, 2000). Similarly, Peachey (2003) highlights the following advantages of CBI:

These distinctive characteristics make of CBI a suitable approach for teaching English across the curriculum and provide the conditions for teaching EFL at university levels through the specific subject matter of students' careers. Thus, students will acquire both language and content knowledge and a series of skills that will enhance their academic performance.

PROJECT-BASED INSTRUCTION (PBI)

Project Based Instruction aims at providing students opportunities to apply known language and skills in natural contexts. It is considered by Stoller (1997, in Beckett & Miller, 2006) as a "versatile vehicle for fully integrated language and content learning (p. 4)," so it harmonizes very well with Content Based Learning. Besides, it promotes the implementation of activities through which learners' different cultures, abilities, interests, and learning styles can be addressed. Railsback (2002, p. 9-10) gathered from different practitioners of PBI a set of advantages that we considered would suit the needs of our university students:

Other advantages of PBI highlighted by Kraft (2000) are:

Another important aspect to be considered is PBl's capacity to keep students interested and motivated while they are learning due to its contextdriven nature, versatility, and practicality. These conditions are necessary ingredients for success in EFL and ESL teaching and learning processes.

THE POST-METHOD ERA

Throughout the history of language teaching, finding "the best way of teaching and learning a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL)" has constituted one of the major concerns on the field. The need of helping learners become proficient users of a language brought as result the proliferation of different approaches and methods whose underlying philosophies determined how languages should be taught in order to ensure learning. In this way, methods such as the Grammar Translation Method, Audiolingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching, Natural Approach, Direct Method, Task-Based Language Teaching, among others began to be adopted worldwide as the "panacea" for the language teaching and learning problem. Thus, a "method-based era" framed ESL and EFL teaching around the world in which teaching and learning processes were grounded upon "one set of teaching aims and objectives realizable through one set of teaching principles and procedures" (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, p.171). This is illustrated by Richards & Rodgers (2001) as follows:

The commonest solution to the language teaching problem was seen to lie in the adoption of a new teaching approach or method. One result of this trend was the era of so-called designer or brand-name methods, that is, packaged solutions that can be described and marketed for use anywhere in the world (p. 244).

However, as students' needs and contextual factors became important and determinant in decision making in the language class, the functionality of these methods began to be questioned. EFL/ESL teachers realized that not always the underlying views of language, teaching and learning of these adopted methods were applicable in their own contexts, so transformation and adaptation of one or more methods to make them fit specific needs of students and contexts became a common practice. This resulted in a new era of needs and context-dependent methods known as the "Post-method era" (Kumaravadivelu, 2006; Richards & Rodgers, 2001), in which language teaching methods are more adaptive to the particular situation of particular students and teachers. Then, ESL and EFL teaching entered what Kumaravadivelu (2006) calls "The post method condition," which according to him:

.. .Is a sustainable state of affairs that compels us to fundamentally restructure our view of language teaching and teacher education. It urges us to review the character and content of classroom teaching in all its pedagogical and ideological perspectives, and drives us to streamline our teacher education by refiguring the reified relationship between theory and practice. (p. 170)

This means, teachers are urged to turn their eyes to their students' needs and consider the characteristics of their contexts when making decisions about what to teach and how to teach it. Therefore, they should rely on their own practice and devise their own methods regarding their specific needs, rather than applying imposed methods created by others. Regarding the above, "Hybrid Method" could be considered a pedagogical method from the post method era.

DESCRIPTION OF HYBRID METHOD

As stated before, our Hybrid Method for teaching English as a foreign language fosters significant language learning as well as the development of competences such as communicative, collaborative, research, leadership, cultural, social, and citizenship, among others through a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Project work is the core of the process in order to give students real contexts to work on. They are embarked on a project work from the beginning of the semester whose product is built step by step throughout the course both cooperatively and individually (PBl). Students are given freedom to choose the project they want to work on from a list provided by the professor. However, they can propose their own ideas if their interests are not reflected in the list provided, but their decisions are subject to the professor's approval. (See appendix 1)

The tasks carried out in every step, make students apply reading, writing, listening, speaking and concepts in a practical way, incorporating their interests and talents. The reading and listening content that constitutes the input for students' project work comes from authentic sources and is taken from students' subject areas (CBl + PBl). Since research is an important component of the project, students are guided on the selection and use of reliable sources of information. Therefore, instruction on how to search in data bases and academic sites is provided to them along with reading strategies and techniques to process the information they find.

Concepts, skills, and competences are worked out in context throughout the process as students perform the different tasks in the completion of their products in each step of the project (CBl + PBl). This type of work gives them a reason for learning and willing to participate actively in the process. Besides, it provides the opportunity to apply content, language, and skills in a practical way as well as transferring knowledge into real-life situations, similar to the ones they will encounter in their professional lives, which favors the development of competences. ln order to foster critical reading and thinking skills, students read and analyze different types of authentic texts during the process, at the same time they are guided to construct knowledge on the way the language works (CBl).

ln Hybrid Method teachers are conceived as both coaches and facilitators of students' learning process (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). They are expected to provide students with tasks, activities, and materials that promote their acquisition and implementation of basic concepts and skills at every level, support students on both language and content difficulties, guide students on the elaboration and completion of their projects, and provide opportune feedback that help them refine knowledge, improve their work and reflect on their own learning. On the other hand, students are considered active beings and critical thinkers who are able to solve problems and reach high-order thinking skills that will take them to become autonomous learners (lbid)

Hybrid Method's methodology is active and varied. New language topics and content are introduced through lecturing, round tables, students' oral presentations, and class and web forums, among others. These concepts and skills are put into practice in the elaboration of their projects, where students perform individual, pair, and group work and carry out workshops. The use of Tic's is essential in this method. Through the University's Web Catalog, students are provided with and encouraged to access world wide data bases, audio visual material, and a considerable number of sources that help them in the completion of their tasks and projects. We also take advantage of the multiple applications of the Web 2.0 for making students create blogs through which they are motivated to share information of their projects, read, write, and exchange ideas about environmental issues. Their blog posts are also taken by teachers as a source for language and content work in the class, giving students the opportunity to edit and improve their work after appropriate feedback is given to them. Some examples of students' blogs can be found at: http://ecothree5.blogspot.com and http://ani-malsleagueuninorte.blogspot.com/ .

ln our method students' process is as valued as their products, so both formative and summative forms of assessment are used to evaluate their performance and achievement. Assessment rubrics are given to students with every performance. These rubrics serve a double purpose, indicating students in advance what is expected from them on the tasks, and as evaluation criteria for them and the teachers (see appendix 2). Opportune feedback is provided to students during student-teacher conferences after the different tasks. This feedback is intended to help students become aware of their performance and acquire tools for improving. Other types of ongoing assessment applied in the method are: self/peer assessment, observed communicative activities, and practical or application quizzes (Carbery, 1999).

Summative evaluation is also applied to evaluate students' performance during the process since the university's evaluation system applies a scoring system from 1 through 5 to keep a numerical record of students' performance in the subject. Therefore, oral and written exams and project products, which evaluate students' content and language knowledge as well as their application of skills, are scored quantitatively. Thus, students' final grade in the subject is determined by the sum of both process and product.

SCOPE OF THE METHOD

Although a systematic research to assess the scope of Hybrid Method for EFL teaching and learning has not been conducted yet, preliminary surveys applied to students at the end of the semester evidence a positive attitude toward the subject and the tasks they have to perform within the project. Class observations indicate a growth in students' communicative competence, not only in the linguistic aspect but also in the discourse, strategic, and interactional ones. On the other hand, students' discourse in relation to environmental and social responsibility shows a marked sensibility toward other people's needs and an interest to work for mitigating environmental and social problems in vulnerable areas. Students' performance during the project's group work activities evidence a development of negotiation and problem solving skills. Research skills seem to be developing as well, regarding students' more frequent use of reliable sources of information, a growing use of data bases and academic sites. Nevertheless, despite these enlightening results, this data needs to be validated through research in order to emit a conclusive concept about the scope of Hybrid Method.

CONCLUSION

At a time in which learning English as a second or foreign language and developing competences are extremely important to Colombian students in order to become more competitive in both educational and occupational settings, the way of teaching and learning this language must shift from "transmissionist" practices to more learner and learning-centered experiences. Therefore, pedagogical methods to teach this language should be more responsive to students' needs and interests and to the characteristics of the contexts in which they will be implemented.

"Hybrid Method for EFL teaching" is proposed as an alternative method to meet this need. lt has incorporated creativity and dynamism to our English classes as well as it has provided a way to make content and language play together in a way that results attractive and motivating to the students. An integrated content-based and project-based approach gives students reasons for learning and developing language skills and competences in practical ways. Teachers act as guides who support students and help them achieve goals, while students are considered active learners who are able to think critically and develop higher order thinking skills. We are on the process of gathering data related to the impact of the model on teachers' performance and students' acquisition of objectives, which will be a matter of discussion on subsequent articles on this issue.

REFERENCES

Beckett, G. & Miller, P. (2006). Project-based second and foreign language Education Past, Present, and Future. U.S.A: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data.

Carbery, S. (1999). Practicalities of ongoing assessment. Shiken: JALT Testing & Evaluation SIG Newsletter, 3 (1), 2-9.

Jonassen, D. H. (1997). Instructional design models for well-structured and ill-structured problem-solving learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research and Development, 45, 65-94.

Kasper, L. (2000). Content-based college ESL instruction. U.S.A: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kraft, N. (2000). Project-based learning. Denver, Colorado: Research Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://www.rmcdenver.com/ useguide/pbl.htm

Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching: From Method to Postmethod. New York: Routledge.

Ministerio de Educación Nacional, MEN. (2006). Estándares básicos de competencias en lenguas extranjeras: Inglés. Formar en Lenguas Extranjeras: Inglés ¡El Reto!, 22.

Peachey, N. (2003). Content based instruction. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www. teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/content-based-instruction

Piaget, Jean. (1950). The Psychology of intelligence. New York: Routledge.

Railsback, J. (2002). Project based instruction: Creating Excitement for Learning. U.S.A: Northwest Regional Education Laboratory.

Richards, J. & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Salas, W. A. (2005). Formación por competencias en educación superior. Una aproximación conceptual a propósito del caso Colombiano. [Electronic versión]. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 36/9, 1-10.

Savery, J. & Duffy, T. (1996). Problem based learning: An Instructional Model and its Constructivist Framework. In Wilson, B. (1996), Constructivist Learning Environments: Cases Studies in Instructional Design (pp.135-150). U.S.A: Educational Technology Publications, Inc. Universidad del Norte (2008). La formación básica en la Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia: Ediciones Uninorte.

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