Abstract:

One of the main concerns in English language education is related to the lack of interest and participation of students in oral practice. In this context, this study aims to contribute to the study of the assembly (also known as the morning meeting or morning circle) as an educational strategy to increase the motivation of students.

Despite new linguistic branches and laws of Education that focus on developing communicative competence, it is still not enough to get real and fluent communication, since in daily lessons students do not have so many chances to use real language situations. The reasons are numerous: only one teacher cannot supervise and provide his/her students' background; unsafe feelings of the students; lack of previous experiences in oral communication and fair to fail are some sceneries to try new ways to encourage and make students speak safely.

The purpose of this paper is to research new ways to implement foreign language classrooms, oral communication, and smoother participation to improve oral competence.

Spanish current law LOMLOE, from preschool to Higher and further education, supports the democratic values along the whole Educative System. Besides, the Common European Framework of Reference of Languages refers to democracy, debates, and assemblies such as good and important practices.
Authors such as Bruce (2006) choose the Morning Meeting to create an atmosphere of equality and respect in the classroom, in which every student can communicate without pressure to build a micro-community to interact in a foreign language.

The morning meeting is the perfect space to create a safe climate for the students in which they can express themselves freely and safely. The model chosen has been the “Responsive Classroom” (Betchel, 2004; Kriete y Davis, 2020). Morning Meeting propounded by Kriete y Davis (2020):
1- Greeting: Students greet each other using greetings, rhymes, songs, movement, and other activities are included.
2- Sharing: Students share information about their feelings, likes, thoughts, and ideas.
3- Group activity: the whole class gets together to reinforce the learning and increase Group cohesion.
4- Morning message: Each session is finished with a guessing, a riddle, or a reflection focused on the Group cohesión.

This experience was carried out during the Primary education Stage and preschool with pretty good results, incorporating the Morning Meeting practice into the daily classroom routine. Moreover, it has been implemented in other areas with satisfactory results.

On the other hand, last year, there was a similar problem with the participation and motivation to speak English in public. It was thought that it could be interesting to apply the same model as in the schools.

Results evidence that it has been a great experience because all students have participated more than before this implementation and in the classrooms, there is a better atmosphere of respect and democracy.

The next steps are to put in common the data of the university project about the morning meeting or “uni-meeting” and draw conclusions.

References:
[1] Betchel, L. (2004). Doing Morning Meeting. Stenhouse Publishers, Greenfield, MA
[2] Bruce, S. (2006). Making Morning Circle Meaningful. Teaching exceptional children plus. 2(4)
[3] Kriete, R. and Davis, C. (2020). The Morning Meeting Book. Center for Responsive Schools. MA.
[4] Organic Law 3/2020, of December 29, which modifies the Organic law 2/2006, of May 3, of Education.

Keywords:

Morning meeting, Foreign Language, Primary Education, University students, and Responsive Classroom.