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HOW is a biannual publication by and for teachers of English who wish to share outcomes of educational and research experiences intended to add understanding to English language teaching practices (ELT). Therefore, the journal falls within the field of education and, specifically, the teaching and learning of English as a second, foreign, additional, or international language (ESL, EFL, EAL, EIL).

HOW is an academic publication led by ASOCOPI, the Colombian Association of Teachers of English. The journal is indexed in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Latindex, Redalyc, SciELO Colombia, and Publindex.

It is also registered with Citas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades (CLASE), Dialnet, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), EBSCO, Educational Research Abstracts (ERA), Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), InfoTrac GALE Cengage Learning Informe Académico, and the MLA International Bibliography.
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Vol. 31 No. 1 (January / June 2024) by HOW Journal

Editorial 2024-1

by HOW Journal and Myrian Cristina Vera

Vol. 31 No. 1 (January/June), 2024

Editorial

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy to Analyze the Scope of CLIL Classes with Children

by HOW Journal and William Ricardo Ortiz Garcia

HOW Journal, 2024

This paper reports the results of a qualitative action research study conducted with children fro... more This paper reports the results of a qualitative action research study conducted with children from a private Colombian institution. This study aimed to analyze the learners' cognitive and knowledge outcomes measured according to the revised Bloom's taxonomy once content and language integrated learning was implemented. Data were gathered through an interview with the learners' parents, observation, and video recordings. Results give evidence that learners develop different processes simultaneously, classified by the mentioned taxonomy. This taxonomy is a helpful approach for English learners since it allows them to perform cognitive and knowledge processes without following rigid systematic learning. As a conclusion, this implementation with children allowed participants to develop cognitive processes with greater emphasis in levels 3 and 4 (apply and analyze), whereas level 2 (understand) was developed as part of the process. Meanwhile, the factual and conceptual knowledge 1 He holds a B.Ed. in Modern Languages (English and Spanish) with a specialization course in Human Rights Teaching from Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. He also holds an M.A. in Higher Education and a Ph.D.

Exploring Listening Assessment in a Colombian EFL Context: A Case Study

Vol. 31 No. 1 (January/June), 2024, 2024

Listening comprehension is a crucial skill in English as a Foreign Language education, yet listen... more Listening comprehension is a crucial skill in English as a Foreign Language education, yet listening assessment still needs to be explored. This study aims to understand how listening is assessed in a Colombian private language institution and its potential connection to students' underperformance in listening proficiency tests. We characterize the listening assessment used in B1-level classes through a descriptive case study. Utilizing a rubric, we analyzed fourteen listening tasks from various sources, including course materials and a mock PET exam. Our analysis had two primary objectives: (a) to uncover the rationale behind test design and its alignment with the curriculum, and (b) to evaluate the knowledge types targeted and the forms of listening assessment employed using categorization. Our findings reveal that despite the curriculum's holistic listening development goals, assessments predominantly focus on phonological knowledge through dictation tests, in which students primarily engage with audio media and recordings. These findings suggest a misalignment in the way listening is approached during the whole course, the examinations used to assess listening during the B1 level, and 1 She is an English language teacher and a master's student at Universidad del Norte in Colombia. Her research interests include L2 listening comprehension and assessment.

Factors Contributing to EFL Learners' Construction of Arguments in Culturally Infused Discussions

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June , 2024

This study describes the factors that enhanced students' construction of arguments when participa... more This study describes the factors that enhanced students' construction of arguments when participating in culturally infused discussions at an undergraduate English as a foreign language British Culture course. The research was conducted at a university in Northwestern Colombia. This paper presents a section of the results of a larger project whose objective is to identify the elements that aid participants in building and elaborating arguments in culturally infused discussions. Socratic questioning was an integral element of the discussions. To attain the purpose of this study, a qualitative single-case design was employed. Findings show that the factors facilitating the construction of arguments could 1 He holds an M.A. in English Teaching from Universidad de Cordoba. He currently works as an English and French teacher at Universidad de Sucre and as a primary English language teacher at a private school. He is keen on researching culture-related issues, argumentation, and discourse analysis.

Pedagogies of Well-being: A Narrative Perspective to Explore Two English Student-Teachers' Experiences

by HOW Journal and Diego Ubaque-Casallas

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June, 2024

This article reports on a series of narrative events extracted from an action research methodolog... more This article reports on a series of narrative events extracted from an action research methodology that explores teaching practices and pedagogical experiences to foster well-being in English language student-teachers. Although the study adopted an action research methodology, it does not account for the implementation of the pedagogical process per se. Instead, it resorts to its stages (i.e., planning, reflecting, and acting) to situate the narrative events regarding well-being. The study was conducted in a public university in Bogotá, Colombia, exploring the experiences of two student-teachers at the practicum stage. The purpose was to document narrative events concerning teaching practices and pedagogical experiences implemented to foster well-being. These experiences reveal that studentteachers engage in thought-affective pedagogies or pedagogies of well-being that coexist with traditional language pedagogy, although they are not cognitive-oriented pedagogies. Interestingly, student-teachers could engage in more human pedagogical practice to see the other not as a learning object but as someone who feels and requires attention and care.

Critical Reading inside a Cross-curricular Approach Lectura Critica dentro de un Enfoque Trasversal

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June , 2024

This qualitative action research study explores six reading strategies to engage students in more... more This qualitative action research study explores six reading strategies to engage students in more dynamic reading through the implementation of workshops focused on the cross-curricular approach to develop critical reading skills among ninth graders at a public school. The study was conducted with 22 students selected, in the city of Manizales, Colombia. The data collection instruments were students' artifacts, teachers' field notes, focus group questionnaires, survey questionnaires, and documentary analysis. The findings demonstrate that the use of reading strategies within a crosscurricular approach facilitates the development of critical reading in students. In addition, the design of materials (workshops), based on topics related to the students' environment, has an impact that not only contributes to improving their knowledge of English but also to expanding their knowledge in other areas of the academic field.

The Contribution of Board Games to Pre-Kindergarten Students' Oral Production

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June , 2024

During the last decades, global interest in learning English as a foreign language has increased,... more During the last decades, global interest in learning English as a foreign language has increased, encouraging countries to include it in school education. This trend was followed by the Chilean Ministry of Education, which suggests teaching English based on a communicative approach starting in early childhood education. To foster students' learning, it is imperative to acknowledge that children learn differently than older learners and that English as a foreign language teachers should be able to identify their needs and implement age-appropriate strategies. This article reports the action research findings that explore the contribution of board games, memory, and bingo on pre-kindergarten students' oral expression when participating in English lessons. A group of 19 children aged four from a private school in Concepción, Chile, took part in this study by playing online and board bingo, and memory games. Data were gathered by qualitative methods, such as an observation checklist, a semi-structured

Information Literacy and Discourse Analysis for Verifying Information among EFL Learners1

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June, 2024

The task of verifying credible and original information is now more complicated, especially for u... more The task of verifying credible and original information is now more complicated, especially for undergraduate students. This study uses information literacy and discourse analysis to develop English as a foreign language learners' critical reading skills while verifying information on social media. A 1 This article was funded by the deanship of scientific research at Jazan University under project W41-030. 2 He is an assistant professor of educational linguistics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico, USA. His research interests include Classroom Discourse, Teacher Talk, L2 Writing and Feedback; he has also published articles on areas related to Conversation Analysis, Sociocultural Theory, and Scaffol

Addressing Emotional Aspects in the Second Language Learning Processes

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2024): January / June, 2024

Learning a foreign language incorporates cognitive, communicative, emotional, and social aspects.... more Learning a foreign language incorporates cognitive, communicative, emotional, and social aspects. Some of these aspects have to do with the structure of the language being studied; some others deal with social and psychological issues that influence the environment where the learning process takes place. This reflection paper addresses various emotional aspects that can bring up positive outcomes along the foreign language learning stages. Elements such as motivation, attitudes, levels of anxiety, acculturation, ethnicity, and personality are considered for this work. Readers should be able to find useful ideas for their ESL/EFL classes.

Vol. 30 No. 2 (July / December 2023) by HOW Journal

Editorial 2023-2

How Journal, 2023

Editorial

From the President of Asocopi

How Journal, 2023

As an undergraduate student, I learned of ASOCOPI, the Colombian Association of Teachers of Engli... more As an undergraduate student, I learned of ASOCOPI, the Colombian Association of Teachers of English. I saw this association as something big and full of learning possibilities. I also saw it as a community of practice that should be cherished, nurtured, and deeply valued as a treasure. Some years ago, I got actively involved in ASOCOPI, thinking about how relevant it would be for me to be part of this community and show all the English language teachers in Colombia and the world that together, we can do important actions for the education of our communities. The English language is an excuse to get together and share our dreams of a more equitable world. Those dreams, this English language teacher has, are part of a task that ASOCOPI can endure, although such a task can be difficult. Today, when I am writing this letter, I want to invite our readers, teachers, educators, and researchers to become actively involved in an association that is going to be 60 years old in 2025; an association that needs the strength, efforts, and synergy of all generations of the English language community who believe and work for ASOCOPI.

Participants' Narratives of the Fulbright FLTA Program on their Intercultural and Professional Experience

by HOW Journal and Lizeth Andrea Martínez Burgos

How Journal, 2023

This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural a... more This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural awareness, and professional development in eight former participants of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant -FLTA- program. This study used written narratives to collect data from eight participants of the FLTA scholarship program who belonged to the cohort 2017-2018. The results of this study showed that after being a FLTA, participants improved their English language skills; they became more aware of their teaching practices by implementing and adapting different teaching methodologies, they experienced cross-cultural interaction, and understood better cultural differences which really fostered their personal and professional development as English language teachers in their home countries.

Embodied Femininities in Language Pedagogy. A Study of Two Language Teachers’ Experiences

How Journal, 2023

Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. ... more Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. This study uses a narrative inquiry approach to inspect two language teachers’ life stories in an initial teacher education program. We document how their femininities and identities are embodied through their language pedagogy since it is a praxis that allows resistance and resurgence against paradigms that limit their identities. Findings reveal that femininities provide a broader spectrum of individual gender realities and constructions. Teachers’ femininities are embodied in teachers’ practices. This is why some traits of these embodiments can be related to hegemonic aspects of gender, without this necessarily meaning that there is no resistance in the pedagogical field. On the contrary, it shows the capacity to redefine these attitudes that, from the pedagogical perspective, resist the hegemony of teacher gender identity.

English Teachers' Perceptions of a Language Assessment Literacy Course

by HOW Journal, Frank Giraldo, and Daniela Escalante-Villa

How Journal, 2023

Language assessment literacy has gained recent attention in the field of language testing, partic... more Language assessment literacy has gained recent attention in the field of language testing, particularly on teachers’ profile. However, the literature on LAL is limited regarding teachers’ perceptions of language assessment courses. In this paper, we used a case study method to characterize the perceptions of eighteen English language teachers into three components of an online assessment course: contents, activities, and impact on their professional development. For data collection, we used a questionnaire and a focus group interview. Findings indicate that the teachers perceived course contents as organized, relevant, and useful; they also considered test analysis and collaborative tasks as valuable. Regarding professional development, the teachers explained that test-analysis tasks made them aware of their mistakes in assessment. Finally, the teachers suggested that the course raised their awareness of what language assessment is and does. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for LAL courses elsewhere.

Portraying Students’ Emotions in English Conversation Clubs at a Colombian University

by HOW Journal, Anthony Ceron, and Norbella Miranda

How Journal, 2023

Emotions are ubiquitous and permeate all aspects of human life, including language learning. Howe... more Emotions are ubiquitous and permeate all aspects of human life, including language learning. However, little attention has been paid to emotions in the ELT curriculum, let alone in the design and implementation of conversations clubs. In this article, we share the qualitative results of a mixed-method study on students’ emotions while participating in a conversation club at a public university in Colombia. Findings show an ample range of students’ emotions, factors commonly associated with these emotions such as academic load and personal life, and the connections of emotions with students’ language learning processes. This study identifies how emotions can facilitate or interfere with language learning, highlights the importance of emotions in the development of oral skills in the context of conversation clubs, and contributes to the understanding of the language learner from a holistic perspective in the field of Applied Linguistics.

EFL Teacher Professional Development Needs: Voices from the Periphery

How Journal, 2023

EFL teachers’ professional development in Colombia has been characterized by top-down policies th... more EFL teachers’ professional development in Colombia has been characterized by top-down policies that neglect the regions in terms of contextualized professional development programs and resources. This article is an effort to make EFL teachers’ needs in the Eastern region of Antioquia, Colombia, visible for academic institutions and local authorities to propose coherent professional development programs. This report is based on a section of the findings of a larger study called “Diagnosis of the needs about plurilingualism in the regions of Antioquia”. Findings show that EFL teachers in the Eastern region claim for ongoing and contextualized professional development programs, differentiated for primary and secondary-school teachers, and focused on instructional material design and adaptation according to the resources available in the local communities. Conclusions from this study outline implications for educational institutions to support teachers in pursuing their professional development within their contexts, methodological limitations for researchers, and possibilities for further research for stakeholders in the territory.

Elementary Teacher’s Conceptions towards the Incorporation of English in Their Teaching Practices

by HOW Journal and Willian Alexander Mora-Menjura

How Journal, 2023

Teacher´s beliefs and conceptions of teaching English are an important area for the professional ... more Teacher´s beliefs and conceptions of teaching English are an important area for the professional development path of primary teachers. Giving primary teachers opportunities to grow professionally and support their learning belongs to the wide variety of practices that can be implemented to foster early education today. To do that, the Colombian government has implemented different initiatives; however, through the exploration of literature, primary public-school teachers need more professional development opportunities to fulfill the objectives stated by the Ministry of National Education. This is why, the present study aims to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of elementary rural teachers involved in the incorporation of English in their teaching practices. A total of ten teachers were selected to be involved during a semester that lasts the implementation of the project. Through qualitative research under the exploratory paradigm, we identified frustration, motivation, and lack of expertise as the main perceptions that interfere the teaching practices of the selected population. Findings suggest that professional development strategies should be incorporated as an eventual strategy to foster the teaching practices in the classroom.

The Issue of Readability in the Chilean EFL Textbook

How Journal, 2023

At the end of high school in Chile, it is expected that students achieve a B1 English language pr... more At the end of high school in Chile, it is expected that students achieve a B1 English language proficiency level. In the present article, we measure the level of readability of the texts used in the new EFL Chilean textbook and compare it with the readability level of the texts used in the Cambridge B1 preliminary exam to check its appropriacy. The results reveal that, even though the classic readability indices show a similar level of difficulty in the texts, the index RDL2, which is specific for second language learning, shows that there is a statistically significant difference. This finding indicates that the texts in the Chilean EFL textbook are more difficult to read than the ones students are supposed to read. Implications at a local and international level are then shared.

Vol. 30 No. 1 (January/June 2023) by HOW Journal

Understanding Gender in the Dynamics of the Hidden Curriculum: An ELT Colombian Case Study

This article describes the main findings of a Colombian case study in which an English language t... more This article describes the main findings of a Colombian case study in which an English language teacher, who was enrolled in a gender-based optional course, carries out small-scale research to understand gender in her ELT practices. The study aims at describing what and how English language teachers learn when they incorporate their gender consciousness in their teaching practices. The study focuses on Martha’s case who seeks to understand how her learning comes about when integrating the gender perspective in her educational practices and teaching context. The qualitative analysis indicates, among other things, that Martha becomes aware of how the dynamics of the hidden curriculum affect her students’ gender subjectivities. Through this learning process, Martha adopts discourses and practices to promote gender equity, eradicate differential treatments, and contribute positively to her students’ learning experience.

Stories to Wake Up: Women Narratives Reconstructing Themselves as Sociohistorical Subjects

by HOW Journal and José Adriano Barbosa Corredor

Vol. 30 No. 1, 2023

This article reports on a research conducted at a private university in Colombia, as part of an E... more This article reports on a research conducted at a private university in Colombia, as part of an English language course in which the topics of study addressed the culture and history of Colombia and Boyacá through art. Narratives from three female students were analyzed, from a decolonial perspective, to observe their processes of reconstruction as sociohistorical subjects taking into account their experiences in the contexts where they study, live in, and come from. The data for this research was gathered inside and outside the classroom through learners’ diaries and dialogical interviews held with the researcher. Narratives served the purpose of making visible elements of those processes and allowed to explore three of them: (1) The construction of particular relationships in and with the world; (2) a perception of unity of past, present, and future; and (3) a sense of their personal and spiritual growth in time. Nevertheless, the narrative of each participant had unique features and values. The results showed that each female had specific anecdotes constructing their experiences, relationships, and plans in their world. One conclusion of the study refers to how the relevance of family, context, childhood memories, and life expectations offer meaningful and memorable topics of discussion within English language lessons for undergraduate learners.