REFLECTIONS ON THE FOURTH WEEK OF INTERVENTIONS

🔥👉FOURTH WEEK INTERVENTIONS👈🔥

FROM NOVEMBER 11TH  TO 16TH

The first intervention of the week was carried out face-to-face on November 11th from 7:35 am to 8:25 am at the University of El Salvador during tear Intermediate English class. To do this, a member of the research team previously contacted the teacher in charge of the group engaged in the investigation, who kindly accepted to give the second half of his class to do the intervention. In face-to-face activities, the students showed more enthusiasm and participation while developing the activities, and it was a precious opportunity to have more interaction with the students of the target sample. 

This class was designed according to the teacher in charge's directions, but he gave the opportunity to adapt the class according to what the team is investigating. So, this time the class began with a warm-up, which was a speaking activity and all the students participated giving their opinions and responding the proposed questions. The second activity was an audio and the students were asked to fill in the blanks with the information given in the audio. The first activities were the ones that the teacher asked to take into account for the class. To end with the class, the researcher in charge of this intervention prepared a fill in the blanks activity in which students were asked to complete the sentences in present perfect using “just”, “already” and “yet”, and then they read the sentences completely and correctly. 

This intervention helped the research team to confirm that some, if not the majority, students are having difficulties using the present perfect, especially when it comes the use of past participle verbs. But this also encouraged researchers to continue with the interventions, and the rest of the interventions of this week were asynchronous. Some students of the group being investigated have commented that they like and want to participate in the classes as these are helping them to practice and learn about this tense. Those comments also encourage researchers to not give up and continue with the classes.

The classes were well-prepared, carefully designed to align with the teacher’s directions while incorporating the goals of the research project. Activities such as the warm-ups, audio-based and videos, fill-in-the-blanks, and present perfect practices were chosen to engage students and assess their understanding of key concepts. However, there is room for improvement in planning. For instance, a contingency plan to support students struggling with the past participles could have been included to make the lessons more inclusive and effective.

The lessons were organized in a clear and logical manner, starting with a warm-up activity that encourages student´s participation. All of them followed by activities that were gradually built on the lesson objectives, making the progression smooth and easy to follow. Students appeared to understand the instructions well, as shown by their active engagement. However, reinforcing instructions with written guidance on the board or handouts could have been beneficial for visual learners who may process information differently.

Communication throughout the class has been effective and appropriate for an Intermediate English level according to the context. Efforts were made to simplify complex ideas when necessary, ensuring students could follow along. Despite this, there were moments of hesitation, especially during the activities involving past participles. This highlighted the need for more scaffolding or pre-teaching of irregular verb forms in future lessons to better address these challenges.

Interaction with the students was a strong point of the intervention. Participation was actively encouraged, particularly during the grammar-focused activities, which created a supportive and engaging environment. Questions and doubts were handled effectively, but incorporating more collaborative tasks or peer discussions could have further deepened student engagement and understanding.

The resources used, such as audio tracks, videos, quizzes and worksheets, were appropriate and effective in meeting the lesson’s objectives. These tools supported the students’ practice in listening and grammar skills. Nevertheless, the addition of visual aids, such as verb conjugation charts or example slides, enhanced their comprehension of key concepts. In the asynchronous lessons, integrating interactive platforms like Quizizz helped maintain student engagement and make the activities more dynamic and enjoyable and at the same time helping them to practice the structures explained in each class.

Overall, the interventions successfully highlighted areas of student difficulty, like the use of past participles, while offering valuable insights for improving future lessons. The positive feedback from students about their learning experience are particularly motivating, encouraging the research team to continue refining their approach.