Abstract:

The present research study was carried out because the exit profile of the ELT program at UNAE university demands the graduates to be able to teach effectively; however, the teaching methodology to develop this competency is not stated in the major’s project. This fact led the author to propose the following overall aim: To illustrate how demo lessons can contribute to the development of the professional competency in the exit profile of the ELT training program at UNAE. For this purpose, the author applied the action research methodology using class observation, self-reflection and interviews. This process was developed in two cycles. The first cycle did not show the expected results so a second cycle was planned and developed to mitigate the weaknesses identified in the first one and it offered more satisfactory results. In the first cycle, the observation took place when teams of two or three students made demo lesson presentations using the Total Physical Response (TPR) teaching method. Once presenters finished teaching, the rest of the class, acting as peer evaluators, provided feedback to the presenters. After that, the observed teacher (the class teacher of Didactics) also gave feedback to the presenters on the demo lesson and the two external observers gave feedback to the class teacher so that he could improve his teaching process. The main suggestions were on use of mother tongue by the class students when doing group work, suggestions about checking if students had understood instructions to do the activities etc. Then, a second cycle was planned and developed. In cycle 2, the observation process was similar to cycle 1, but the students planned and taught a demo lesson using the Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP) methodology and the teacher of Didactics incorporated the recommendations made in the first cycle. This time, before the students started teaching the demo lessons, the teacher showed a Power Point slide with written general rules, discussed them with the students, and asked students to consider them when teaching the demo lessons. These included general rules for presenting and for evaluating the presentations, as well as other important points to observe while the demo lessons were taught. This second observation offered the following results: The two observers noticed an improvement in the students’ presentations and in the teacher’s conduction of the class and on how he gave feedback to the students. The two observers coincided in their points of view. They considered that the teacher had implemented most of their recommendations and suggestions and that he had improved his teaching skills. Finally, the 26 students who participated in the study were interviewed. The interview results expressed a feeling of satisfaction with the demo lessons. The students said that they had learned and had developed their teaching competencies by means of the demo lessons.

Keywords:

Demo lesson, ELT training program, exit profile, professional competencies.