DEVELOPING THE PEDAGOGICAL COMPETENCE
By EZEQUIEL ÁLVAREZ CUESTA
Specific Pedagogical Processes
Foreign Languages Program
Universidad del Atlántico Faculty of Education
Language teaching takes its theoretical principles from varied disciplines like Education,
Psychology, and especially from Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics. These
theoretical principles have made possible the appearance of different approaches and
methods to teach languages. In fact, linguists and educators have developed their
recommendations to teach foreign languages from the ways people learn their native
tongues.
The academic community of language has also agreed on the use of language in “real
situations”. This communicative approach puts its effort and resources in developing a
communicative competence on learners and not only a part of this capability as the
Grammar Translation Method pretended. But facing a communicative approach requires
from the teacher a communicative competence. And this is one of the aspects to deal in this
paper.
This didactic experience takes place at Universidad del Atlántico, Foreign Languages
Program, in the Faculty of Education. Learners in this program are formed to be teachers.
According to the purposes of the program, they must be able to propose and execute
alternative ways of teaching foreign languages, with focus on communication, avoiding the
grammar-centred curriculum and its aims in learning structures out of context.
On this paper, I try to reflect upon my teaching experience in a subject called Specific
Pedagogical Processes –That is the name used to replace what in the old curriculum was
called Didactic-. According to Rafael Flórez Ochoa (2000: XVI), pedagogic reflection
should be open, flexible, transdisciplinary and multimethodological. I try to guide my
reflection by some principles coming from the linguistic science, contributions from psycho
and sociolinguistics, as well as education. The purpose of Education is let people to
recognize their culture and become a human being, by developing their abilities and skills
that include, not only the cognitive skills, but the motor, the social and the affective ones.
I reflect on my experience as a teacher and a learner at the same time. This way, I try to
wide both of them, my pedagogical and my communicative competence. In these pages, I
wish to open a window to show my goals, the contents I select, the strategies I employ, the
message I share with my students and the experiences we build together.
Teaching and learning are processes that language facilitates. The interaction is possible
when learners and teachers share some purposes. Most of time, this communication is
broken, but our teaching ability consists of letting interaction flows.
English educators seem to be no fond of this term called “Didactic”. In the bibliography
about language teaching, one can not find a reference to this term. They talk about teaching,
learning, methods, approach, but they do not use the word “Didactic”. Let us reflect on
some definitions. The Oxford Dictionary refers to this word as an adjective “designed to
teach people sth, especially a moral lesson.” It gives another meaning: “telling people
things rather than letting them find out for themselves” (2002: 347). This definition could
be understood as a way of teaching something to someone, and the definition refers to
Conductism. The on line Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Didactic as “a treatise on
teaching or education.” These examples shows that didactic is considered more as an
adjective form than a discipline.
I try to paraphrase what Rafael Flórez Ochoa thinks about Didactic. He says Didactic is the
operative and instrumental part of pedagogy. According to him, Didactic refers to teaching
methods and strategies that let an effective teaching. He adds that each pedagogical model
proposes its own didactic way. Therefore, we can deduce that Didactic is a practical
discipline that has its basis on theories coming from different disciplines. And that each one
of them traces a way, a didactic.
Things are not so different in the Spanish language community. Although we are more
accustomed to the term, the field is not so clear. Alicia W. De Camilloni (2001: 21),
sustains that Didactic feeds from other sciences and disciplines like Psychology, Sociology,
Anthropology. She says the field we call Didactic is not definite. She refers about a
controversy if Didactic really exists, or if it is replaced by its object of knowledge, e.g. the
curriculum. My opinion is that Didactic has different objects –related among them- and
these objects are viewed from different points. So we must try to concentrate on the special
principles that rule language. According to these principles, language teachers must
conceive our goals.
In this course (Specific Pedagogical Processes), I try to think in what are the needs of the
learners. When I think about their needs and interests, I also think on my own, and in the
needs and interests of their future students. Here, I present some of my goals:

To develop the learner´s pedagogical competence.

To motivate learners to be effective and communicative teachers.

To guide the future teachers to think of students´needs and interests.

To reflect on principles and theories that explain the process of learning a language.
In our first interactions, I ask them to write down their experience with English and tell
about the methodology and resources their teachers used. Their answers show that theories
coming from the 70´s are not being applied yet, for many teachers in the recent years.
Later, They are asked to describe what they watch at schools and the scenery has not
changed so much. As a result, English continues being taught with a grammatical view, and
students do not go beyond some words and expressions.
Didactic, in most cases, is tied to grammar aspects. The only resources employed in some
classrooms are markers and boards, but they are used to write down lists of words with its
corresponding Spanish translation. No communicative context is provided. If Didactic is
the practical operator of Pedagogy, as Flórez Ochoa says, the learner receives inadequate
pedagogical input that he/she tries to practice whenever he/she teaches students.
In my first contact with students, while we plan together what we are going to do during the
course, I realize they have a different proficiency in English language. At the present
semester, I am working with three groups in 3d semester –A, B, C- The students from
group A have a lower level than students from group B, who have a lower level than
students from group C. As known, the proficiency varies too from student to student in
every group. But their proficiency is not the only factor that intervenes, but the attitude to
language and the motivation to participate in class activities. As teachers, we must have all
these ideas in mind in order to lead the work.
With students, we also agreed on the languages we are going to use: English, French,
Spanish. The type of tasks they are going to be involved in and the contents we are going to
study. Students are always demanding for strategies to manage the class, how to teach, how
to motivate. These needs are the field of Didactic.
Facts seem to be what students are interested in. But when they are guided to face the
theories, they seem to find out a world of possibilities. Therefore, the way to follow is to
combine the theory and the procedures according to these theories. The future foreign
language teachers need to know what are the theoretical principles, under some strategies
they have experienced. To follow this path, the communicative approach needs to be
known.
In this context, students must know and reflect about the process of communication. It is of
great importance that they understand the different dimensions the communicative
competence involves. Once they internalize that the Grammatical competence is a
dimension of what Bachman (1987) calls organizational competence, and that
communicative competence also includes pragmatic factors, they can understand the
principles of communicative language teaching:

In the classroom goals must focus on all the components of communicative
competence: textual, pragmatic and not only on grammatical competence.

Forms must be related to functions and not to teach only vocabulary and structures.

Interacting and understanding the messages –communicating- is the goal.

The classroom must become a communicative place where students use the language.
When we teach English, we must have in mind the language skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing. In early stages of the language, the focus must be in listening and
speaking – although students should not be forced to speak- as a way to introduce reading
and writing, later, when they can be able to recognize concepts in the foreign language.
Another helpful reference is the Natural Approach, for it aims to develop basic language
skills to be used in everyday situations. As Brown says: “The initial task of the teacher is to
provide comprehensible input, that is, spoken language that is understandable to the learner,
or just a little beyond the learner´s level” (1987: 164). Natural Approach is based on the
theories of second language acquisition presented by Krashen. Tracy Terrel, the developer
of the theory, considers the learner, in the early stages lives a “ a silent period”, in which
he/she does not need to speak. Students who are preparing to be teachers need to reflect on
these ideas and concepts in order they understand what are the cognitive processes a
language learner follows. This way, students consider the three stages Terrell proposes on
his theory:

The preproduction stage, when teachers must provide comprehensible input to develop
the listening skill.

The early production stage, when students begin to use the language. Teachers must
understand that using the language involves real or pretended real situations, like role
plays, and not repetition of structures. Therefore, the focus is on meaning not on form.

The last stage is when the learners can use the language in more complex
communicative situations.
For all these stages, teachers have lots of strategies like games, role plays, dialogs,
discussions, and so on.
According to Brown (1987: 165), “the most controversial aspects of the Natural Approach
are its ´silent period´ (delay of oral production) and its treatment of error. To solve this
case, teachers must have in mind the personal characteristics of learners and provide
comprehensible input all the time, as well as create communicative situations in the
classroom to let students to use the language and to motivate them to use it.
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD
When I prepare my course, I think of my students, and try to reflect on the characteristics of
most language classrooms in public schools as well as in private ones. In most schools we
do not find 25 students per classroom, as an ideal average, but 40 students or more in a hot,
narrow room. No flash cards, no play recorders, no cassettes or video- tapes, or VCR or
DVD. –Even in our foreign languages program, we lack of the needing resources- what to
do then?
The teacher needs to develop a pedagogical competence. This capability requires:

The teacher to be open mind and to reflect on his/her teaching goals and put them into
practice.

A teacher who can use the language in a communicative context.

A teacher who knows approaches, methods and strategies to deal with contents.

A teacher who can guide students to feel motivated in learning English as a foreign
language.

A teacher who creates a communicative and playful environment in the classroom.

A teacher who encourages students to use the language, not focusing on mistakes, but in
meaning.

A teacher who can propose projects to students.

A teacher who is able to build his/her own teaching materials.
All these requirements are related to Didactic. That is, Didactic feeds from theories coming
from different disciplines and according to those theories, there are procedures to manage
the foreign language class.
This type of pedagogical principles are experienced in the projects we follow during the
course.
THE SONG PROJECT
After showing my students the information about project work, I asked them to decide what
project the whole class would prepare. In 3d. A, the students decided to make a project
about songs. The story is as follows. We were planning how to teach greetings and leave
takings to primary school children. I suggested students they could create their own songs
instead of taking them from books. We listened to songs and also read about Jazz Chants by
Carolyn Graham. So students faced the goal.
In their teams, students wrote songs. Then, they gave the rhythm. At the beginning,
students were lack of confidence. But they went ahead. All this experience took place in the
classroom. I saw the possibilities of these songs. They were in English, but one of them was
in French. When students decided to make the song project, it was time to organize things.
Beiso – the musician of the group- got in charge of the musical arrangements. Dayanis
proposed herself for the choreography. Every student had his/her own role.
Little by little, students began to get involved in the project. We agreed, they should play in
front of real students. The selected school was “Normal Superior del Distrito de
Barranquilla”. Some students were afraid, but they faced the situation and began to prepare.
For two weeks, we rehearsed in the classroom, they called for help to Franklyn and Jor, 4 th
semester students who are musicians. We checked up what was needed. The presenters
were selected and things were organized by November 6th. They decided to make a general
rehearsal for Saturday the 7th. A piano keyboard, a guitar a drum and some cymbals were
got. Students prepared the music and the choreography. A group felt frustrated. I
encouraged students and told them the most important was their effort and not the
performance itself.
Things were almost ready. I wrote a letter to the head director of La Normal, asking for the
5th grade students, the room and the amplifiers. Wednesday the 10th of November arrived. It
was a rainy day. In the afternoon the rain stopped. For we decided to record the experience,
we had several technical problems. We had planned to begin at 2 o´clock, but we could
begin at 4: 30. We had to do some more changes, instead of three groups, we decided to
work with two. We needed to record first and then work with children, so the interaction
was real.
Edward, one of the presenters, sang his French song. When the second team began, I
suggested them to practice the song with students. So they did, and it was a good idea.
Children were not just watching a show, but learning and using English in an easy and
happy way. The team commanded by Dayanis and her group of dancers, performed: then it
was the turn for Silvana, Lina and Lilibeth. They formed the team that felt frustrated during
the rehearsal. They asked for help to Eder, who studies Artistic Education, their
performance began and the kids asked for more. All the teams did their best and then they
worked with children using games and puzzles. They realized some children did not know
the greetings and they taught them. The goals were reached.
THE NATIVITY PLAY
3d C is a group where students have a better English proficiency. Students thought about
several projects, but they agreed to work on a Nativity Play as an intercultural project. The
next step was to select the students who would represent the different characters. Students
suggested names of their classmates. Mayra as Virgin Mary, Kelly as the Angel. Two
students wanted to perform Joseph. A casting was proposed and the class chose Christian. I
proposed Jonathan to be Herod and he agreed. Katherine was a leader organizing the play.
She brought a project book, then Mayra brought the story from an English book. During the
next sessions, the play was organized. Students wrote their lines. Katherine got some carols
and a group of students formed a chorus of angels. Students told me they were not singers. I
answered them they should do their best. Students considered two narrators were needed.
Carmen proposed herself to be the sheep and she convinced to other girls to be sheep and
they prepared the masks and their movements. Students got their own costumes and
accessories, and it was an exciting experience.
HALLOWEEN AND ANGELS
Group 3d. B decided to work on an intercultural project about Angels and Halloween. This
way, children could learn about two parties. Halloween, as we know, is a celebration from
the North that arrived in our country. Angels is the colombian and catholic celebration,
plenty of folk rhymes. As a way to integrate the two celebrations, in order children could
profit the best of them, the different teams prepared their songs and games. In the
classroom we translated a typical Angel song:
We are angels
And come from Heaven
Asking for candies
to ourselves.
A team also adapted a tune: “one, two, little three, little angels…”
During this experience, students prepared games, puzzles, songs and flashcards to teach the
vocabulary. The four language skills were in mind when they prepared their materials.
They interact with children from La Normal. To assess learning, a game was proposed, Hell
and Heaven. All these ideas can be better developed.
This experience combined the celebration time and the working time. Children could use
the language. They develop their motor skills when creating cards, coloring and decorating
them. They practiced their reading and writing skills, as well as their cognitive skills by
solving puzzles and match games. This way, we can show that games can be related
pedagogically to teaching and learners feel high motivated. The social skills were also
increased for students shared with other younger learners.
For the youngs, who are preparing to be teachers, this is a way to practice in a different
atmosphere. Teaching and learning English can be sometimes a hard task for teachers and
learners because of the routines it implies. But the open mind teacher must try interesting
options, that is a way to improve the pedagogical competence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALCARAZ, Enrique and MOODY, Bryn. (1983) Didáctica del Inglés. Madird:
Alhambra.

BROWN, H, Douglas. (1987) Principles of Language Learning. New Jersey: Prentice
Hall.

BROWN, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles. An interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents. Pages 190-211.

DE CAMILLONI, Alicia W. Et al. (2001) Corrientes Didácticas Contemporáneas.
Buenos Aires: Paidós.

FLÓREZ OCHOA, Rafael. (2000). Evaluación, Pedagogía y Cognición. Santafé de
Bogotá: Mc Graw Hill, 2000.

GENESSE, F. And UPSHUR, J. (1998) Classroom – Based Evaluation in Second
Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pages 35 – 73.

HARMER, Jeremy (1999) How to Teach English. Edimburgh: Longman.

M.E.N. (1999) Lineamientos Curriculares Idiomas Extranjeros. Santafé de Bogotá:
Magisterio.

UR, Penny. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. Pages. 33 – 45.

VALE, David and FEUTEUN, Anne. (1996) Teaching Children English. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press-

WEHMEIER, Sally –editor- (2002). Oxford Advanced Learner´s Dictionary. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.