INTERVIEW WITH AN ENGLISH TEACHER

-Hello Elisa.

-Hi Marta.

-First of all, could you introduce yourself?

-My name is Elisa, I am 49 years old and I have been teaching English in Spain for 25 years. Although my parents are Spanish they moved to the United States in the early 60’s, so I grew up there, attending Northeast Elementary, DeWitt Middle, Ithaca High and the State University of New York.

After completing my degree majoring in English, I moved to Madrid where I began working as an English teacher at the Montfort, Mirabal and Los Naranjos private and chartered schools as well as several public schools.

-         -And how did you become involved in education?

-Well... My father (now retired) was a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, so education was always a big part of my family. I had excellent teachers growing up who I admired and inspired me.

Because of these influences, I have always wanted to teach  and my University degree from the State University of New York is in English language and literature. This degree certified me as a middle and high school teacher in New York State schools. When I arrived in Spain, the Ministry of Education validated my degree but only for primary education, and this is why I am currently teaching at this level.

-       -Focusing on that, what is your opinion about the way English is taught in Spain?

-I think English education is improving overall.  English learning begins at a younger age, parents are more aware of its importance and teachers are much better prepared. More importance is given to communicative competence instead of grammar perfection and this motivates student participation.

When I first arrived in Spain, only private schools offered daily classes with native English teachers. Most teachers in the late 70’s and early 80’s had only a basic level of English, and most instruction was centered on grammar and reading and writing skills. Very little time was dedicated to listening and speaking, and thus entire generations of Spanish students studied English but are unable to speak it. Now teachers must have a high level of English to pass the teacher selection process, and many schools offer native teachers to improve students’ pronunciation. The time spent in learning English has increased greatly and all of this has contributed to improving all four skills and creating students who are confident using English.

- What methods do you use in your lessons? And why?

- Because my students are young and are only just starting to read in their native language, I use TPR, where I include a lot of dynamic activities, songs and games. I stress listening and speaking skills and use simple drama and role playing exercises so that they are using their limited vocabulary from the very first day. This motivates the students, regardless of their language level.

-       - Do you know CLIL method? 

-I used CLIL methodology at a public bilingual school where Science and Arts and Crafts are taught in English. My class was in first grade and the content in Science, English and Arts and Crafts made it easy to carry out cross curricular activities. The problems I faced had more to do with the fact that at that time pre-school had only two or three English sessions per week. The children in first grade were not ready to learn Science in English, as they lacked basic vocabulary. Recently, legislation has changed and public bilingual schools now offer bilingual preschool education so this should help students entering primary CLIL classrooms.

- What is your view about it?

- I personally like CLIL teaching, although I know that Spanish language teachers feel students lack competences in their native language when taught in a CLIL setting.

-        - What do you think about the Bilingual Education Project?

- I think that the idea itself is wonderful and greatly needed now that we live in a globalized society. Students are exposed to many hours of English and learn the language in a more natural way. What I feel the project lacks is better teacher training, not only at the university level, but also for working teachers who would like to improve their English.

For example, physical education and music teachers with bilingual certification are in great demand but these profiles are rarely included in the training programs offered by the ministry of education. The majority of the courses offered are for English language teachers only. This creates a problem for the many bilingual schools who would like to offer music or physical education in English.

Another problem I see with the program is the external examination process.  I agree there should be periodic evaluations for both students and  teachers, but the Trinity or Cambridge exams in third and sixth grade have no real value are costly for the government and cause undue stress to small children.

-       - For finish, what advice would you give to future English teachers?

- If you don’t absolutely love teaching, find a different job.

- Oh, such a good advice. Thank you very much Elisa.

- It's been a pleasure.