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Tesis (Magíster en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera) Esta investigación busca descubrir las percepciones de estudiantes adultos en relación al trabajo en pares en un aula donde se enseña inglés como lengua extranjera. El estudio se realizó en un instituto de idiomas, con un programa ofrecido por la Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO). Para esto, se aplicó una encuesta a un grupo de 13 estudiantes adultos. Curiosamente, a través de este método, se descubrió que estos participantes disfrutan escuchar las instrucciones del profesor y desarrollar actividades que involucren a toda la clase, pues sienten que aprenden mejor de esta manera y sus errores son corregidos inmediatamente. Sin embargo, estos participantes están conscientes de las ventajas que el trabajo en parejas pudiese tener y se dan cuenta que podrían beneficiarse del trabajo con sus pares. En otras palabras, les gusta trabajar de forma individual o como grupo-clase, aunque no tienen problema de trabajar con un compañero o compañera, si es necesario. Se requiere investigación más extensa para ver si es que los rasgos de personalidad y/o estilos de aprendizaje tienen una influencia significativa en las percepciones de los estudiantes adultos sobre el trabajo de pares This research seeks to uncover adult language learners’ perceptions of pair work in an English Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. The study was conducted at a language school in Concepción, in a language program offered by The Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO). To this effect, a survey was applied to a group of 13 adult learners. Interestingly, through this method, it was found that these participants enjoy listening to the teacher’s instructions and doing activities as a whole class because they feel they learn better this way and their mistakes are corrected immediately. However, they agree on the advantages of pair work and realize they can benefit from working with their partners. In other words, they like working individually or as a class, yet, they do not have problems to work with a partner if needed. Further research is required to see whether personality traits and/or learning styles have a significant influence on the adult language learners’ perceptions of pair work activities.

Tesis (Magíster en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera) The Chilean Ministry of Education frameworks the teaching of English, by and large, in the Communicative Approach. This study attempts to determine the degree of congruence between the methodologies used within English classrooms and the tenets proposed by the Communicative Approach, in three municipal schools in Hualpén. To this end, data was collected from three English language teachers and five students randomly selected from each the three teachers’ classes. A semi-structured interview was used with the former participants and a focus interview with the latter. Also, a content analysis procedure was used to carefully examine the teachers’ lesson plans. The results suggest that despite the use of different proposals of the Communicative Approach, communicative competence is not being enhanced among students who do not have the possibility to use the English language as a communicative tool.

Tesis (Magíster en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera) The present study aims to determine the extent to which the design of a Chilean Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) program’s language curriculum supports the achievement of an advanced level of English language proficiency at program completion. This language curriculum is competency-based, and underpinned by a technical-rationalist perspective of curriculum. To this end, a content analysis of the syllabi in the language strand of the curriculum was applied in reference to six pre- established categories: 1) presence of objectives, 2) competency descriptions, 3) syllabus design, 4) articulation among courses, 5) balanced inclusion of the four language skills, and 6) articulation towards advanced language proficiency. Data gathered through the content analysis was compared with that collected through four semi-structured interviews with university instructors from within the program. It was also cross-referenced with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the British Council-EAQUALS Core Inventory for General English for purposes of determining articulation among courses and towards the pre-established exit goal of advanced language proficiency. The results clearly establish that the language curriculum does not meet the tenets of a competency-based language program, and therefore must be taken into consideration when analyzing the weak results of high- stakes testing conducted in this learning context.

Tesis (Magíster en la Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera) This study attempts to explore the differences and similarities between native English speaker (NES) teachers and non-native English speaker (NNES) teachers in their oral evaluation ratings ofthe same university level English language learners. To this effect, the iBT/Next Generation TOEFL Test Independent Speaking Rubric and a questionnaire were employed. The results reveal that NES teachers are more lenient in their oral evaluation ratings than NNES teachers. In regards to the questionnaire employed, it was found that NES teachers take into consideration the aspects of fluency and pronunciation more so than NNES teachers when orally assessing students, while NNES teachers take more into consideration the aspects of grammatical accuracy and vocabulary. Further research is required in the area of oral assessment specifically pertaining to nationality, age, work experience, and knowledge of a second language. Este estudio procura explorar las diferencias y similitudes entre profesores de inglés nativos del idioma (NES del inglés) y profesores de inglés no nativos (NNES del inglés), en relación a su evaluación oral a estudiantes que cursan el mismo nivel universitario. Para ello, se utilizaron dos instrumentos: iBT/Next Generation TOEFL Test Independent Speaking Rubric y un cuestionario. Los resultados revelan que los NESs son menos severos en su evaluación oral en relación a los NNESs. En referencia a los resultados del cuestionario utilizado, éstos revelan que los profesores NES consideran más los aspectos de fluidez y pronunciación en comparación con los NNESs cuando evalúan el desempeño oral de sus estudiantes, mientras que los NNESs enfatizan más la precisión gramatical y el vocabulario. En el área de la evaluación oral aún se requiere mayor investigación, específicamente en relación a la nacionalidad, edad, experiencia laboral y conocimiento de una segunda lengua.