1. Rhode Island College
FSEHD – Instruction to Classroom Research
FNED 547-01
Instructor: Dr. Janet Johnson
Final Research Project
Francisca Silvia Lima
May 2011
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2. INTRODUCTION:
“ Fala português! Essa semana é do Português!”
(Speak in Portuguese! This is Portuguese week!)
“Speak in Portuguese! This is Portuguese week! You must speak in
Portuguese!” These were my words to my 2nd and 3rd grade students when I
heard them speaking in English during Portuguese week. They are enrolled in a
dual language program with a 50/50 model, which means that 50% of the time
they have to speak in English and 50% in Portuguese. In my setting, we divide
this time weekly. In one week they learn everything in Portuguese and in the
following week they go to the English class to learn in English. The main goal of
a dual language program is to promote bilingualism and biliteracy. Hence, it is
required that teachers maintain the target language a hundred percent of the
time while they are giving instructions or socializing with students.
As the Portuguese teacher, I started to question how I could make my
students more aware of the importance of speaking Portuguese with me and with
their peers. I realized that just asking them to speak in Portuguese was not
working. Most of my students learn Portuguese as a heritage language. It means
that Portuguese is not their first language. They are learning it because their
parents want. So the majority of them speak English as their first language.
Facing this obstacle, I felt the pressure to investigate what teaching strategies
and techniques would enhance my students’ Portuguese speaking skills.
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3. Therefore, in this paper I argue that the level of Portuguese speaking in a
dual language Portuguese/English classroom will increase if the teacher
differentiates activities and integrates reading, writing, and listening with
speaking. Another effective way to promote Portuguese speaking in the same
setting is to group students into cooperative learning groups, according to their
levels of proficiency in Portuguese as well as gender.
“Hello, Hola, Olá”
(English, Spanish, and Portuguese)
I have been teaching at the same school for about 7 years. It is a
multicultural, urban, and dual language school. It currently enrolls grades
Kindergarten through 5th grade. It has a student teacher ratio of 18-1, with
teacher assistants in all Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. It uses a dual
language bilingual education model, in which all students learn 50% of the time in
English and 50% of the time in either Spanish or Portuguese, depending on the
program strand of choice. For this reason, students need to develop all language
skills in two languages. They basically learn content through the language of
instruction. Therefore, they need to listen, speak, read, and write in two
languages. All the language teachers (Portuguese/Spanish) are bilingual, but the
majority of English teachers are monolingual.
There are about 306 students enrolled at this school. One third of these
students are enrolled in the Portuguese strand. There are three classrooms for
each grade level, two in Spanish and one in Portuguese. This school has 47 staff
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4. members, including classroom teachers, teacher assistants, two special
education resource teachers, a reading support teacher, a nurse, a librarian, a
behavior specialist, a speech therapist, a social worker, the principal’s assistant,
and the principal.
“Nós falamos Portguês!”
(We speak Portuguese!)
I am currently teaching Portuguese to 2nd and 3rd grade students. My 2nd
grade class has 17 students. There are six boys and eleven girls. Seven of them
come from Cape Verdean families, five from Portuguese families, three from
American families, and two from Brazilian families. My 3rd grade group has 18
students. There are 13 boys and only 5 girls. Twelve of the students come from
Cape Verdean background. There are three students whose parents are
Brazilian and three whose parents are Portuguese.
As I have mentioned before, I teach in dual language setting. Hence, I
have to teach all the content areas, Science, Math, Reading, Writing, and Social
Studies in Portuguese. My students are required to speak, listen, read, and write
in Portuguese, during the week they come to my classroom. I teach them every
other week. One week they go to the English class and the following week they
come to my Portuguese classroom.
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5. I do not have any teacher assistant or reading support for Portuguese.
The curriculum is the same for both languages, but as I teach in Portuguese, I
have to translate, create, or adapt the curriculum according to my students’
needs and levels of proficiency.
For this reason, working at this environment has been challenging, but at
the same time rewarding. Facing these challenges helped me to be more
determined to research ways to make my students to succeed as bilingual
Portuguese/English speakers. From these thoughts, my research question arose.
I decided to investigate “What teaching strategies and techniques will enhance
my 2nd/3rd grade bilingual students’ Portuguese speaking skills?” This paper
outlines the strategies I used to support my students’ speaking of Portuguese in
social and learning situations.”
METHODS:
“Como se diz “Oh my God” em Português?”
(How do you say “Oh my God” in Portuguese?)- A 2nd grade boy asks a girl in his
group.
After deciding what I wanted to investigate, I started to gather data. I
collected data from both groups, during a period of twenty days, ten days for
each group. Within these days my research went farther than my expectations.
What I envisioned began to appear like pieces of a puzzle that you put together
to see the whole picture. Gathering different kinds of data helped me to keep
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6. track of how much Portuguese my students were speaking and when they were
speaking.
At the beginning of my research, I started to take notes of different
moments of my teaching. I used a Teaching Journal to collect this data.
Everyday, after school, I took notes and observations of when my students were
speaking in the target language, with whom they were speaking, and what kind of
strategies facilitated them to speak in Portuguese. Throughout the day, I wrote
bullets in post-its, so I could remember what to write after school.
I first started with the 2nd grade group, without any specific moment. I
focused more on when they were speaking Portuguese and what I thought was
helping them to succeed. During the first week of observation, I realized that it
would be more effective to focus on the main blocks of my teaching, such as
Morning Meeting, Reading, Writing/Social Studies, and Math. So, from the
second week on I tried to write specifically about those moments. I also decided
to observe my students interacting socially with me, or their peers. I have
observed them during recess, snack time, lunch, or quiet time, when I was not
giving instructions to them. During those moments, I wanted to find out if they
would speak Portuguese socially with me, or with their peers.
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7. Writing about my daily routine in my Teaching Journal was very useful to
reflect about my own practice. It also helped me to identify patterns that I was not
aware of before.
My second way to collect data was an Observation Checklist. After
going through my Teaching Journal notes, I decided to pay closer attention to the
students who were speaking in Portuguese and when they were speaking. It was
also a good way to identify their level of proficiency in speaking. My Observation
Checklist had the following categories: who speaks P (Portuguese) with the
teacher; who speaks P with their peers; who speaks P during instructions (Math,
reading, etc); who speaks P in social interactions (recess/snack/lunch/quiet time);
and their level of Portuguese. With this other tool, I was able to identify and
quantify the students who were speaking more Portuguese, the ones who were
speaking with me and their peers as well as to identify their level proficiency
which I categorized as very low, low, medium, good, or excellent. I have collected
it during a period of five days in each group. I used one consecutive week, five
days, for 3rd grade, while for my 2nd grade group I collected two days in one week
and three days on the following week.
My Observation Checklist also allowed me to use another means to collect
data. As it was extremely hard to have the checklist in my hands and keep track
of all students throughout my daily routine, so I decided to videotape my
students interacting in the classroom. For each group, I made the decision to
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8. videotape them during two specific times in the classroom: working in
cooperative learning groups during reading workshops, and sharing a piece of
work after that they had written about it. My goal with this new tool was to
observe if working in cooperative learning groups and writing before speaking
would help them to sustain their speaking in Portuguese.
As my research progressed, revealing new thoughts, I finally decided to
take a closer look at other relevant aspects for my findings. Therefore, I decided
to survey my students. My intention was to confirm if the results of my previous
data were accurate. This survey had about eight multiple questions and two open
ended questions. As I said before, it was a way to complement the data I had
collected before. I asked questions such as: Do you speak Portuguese at home?
Which language do you speak mostly at home? Do you like to learn Portuguese?
With whom is easier/more difficult to speak in Portuguese? Name three friends
who help you to speak Portuguese at school. When is it easier to speak in
Portuguese in the classroom? Why is it important to learn Portuguese? What is
the easiest for you, speak, read, understand, or write in Portuguese? This survey
was done in Portuguese. I wanted to ensure that their answers were honest, so I
read aloud and translated it to English, especially when they couldn’t understand
the meaning of words. The results of this survey allowed me to validate some of
my previous results and to prove that I was going on the right track.
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9. All four types of data were useful to conduct this research. Reviewing and
comparing each one of them was essential to find patterns as well as the
answers for my research question. The themes emerged from this research are
supported by the data I have collected throughout this investigation. I haven’t
found anything surprisingly new, but I have confirmed what literature proves to be
true.
LITERATURE:
“Posso ir para nurse? Eu tenho uma stomachache!”
(Can I go to the nurse? I have a stomachache.)
I have been teaching languages for more than ten years. Since I started
my teaching career, I have heard from different authors and linguists that in order
to teach a second language, teachers need to focus on the teaching of the four
skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They also need to speak the
target language all the time, avoid translation, and try to expose students to that
language’s culture as much as possible, using authentic language resources.
This recipe seems to be easy, but when it is time to put the ingredients together,
there is always something missing! With this research I am making an effort to
develop strategies and techniques that will allow my students to speak in the
target language.
Second language learners usually learn the “input” better than the “output”.
Hence, L2 students will have more difficulties in speaking the target language
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10. fluently than reading or understanding it, for example. Even having years of
experience in a dual language Portuguese/English setting, I have always been
concerned that my students are not speaking enough Portuguese, especially
when they are speaking with their peers. They are either speaking in English or
mixing the two languages. Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan (2000) state that, “it is
natural for EE (Enriched Education) students to sometimes mix aspects of the
two languages they are learning” (p. 61). Students do this for different reasons.
First, the native language is stronger and controls the second language.
Secondly, the students might mix the language when they do not know the
vocabulary they need to speak the target language. The same authors also wrote
that, “even later, when proficiency has been attained in both languages, students
may mix the two languages purposefully for social reason; this is referred to as
code switching” (p.63).
Although I have noticed all the aspects, described above, in my
classroom, I truly believe that I need to emphasize the use of Portuguese solely
as much as possible with my students. That will help them to become more
proficient in the target language. On the other hand, being bilingual, I catch
myself code switching sometimes in different kinds of situations. Teachers may
code-switch in order to negotiate lesson content, encourage participation, give
praise and enforce discipline (Willans, 2011). Furthermore, code-alteration, i.e.
switching languages (or codes) in the same conversation, is an extremely
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11. common practice among bilinguals, although code-alternation patterns may vary
considerably even in the case of one individual (Musk, 2010).
But, even though I understand that code switching is normal, I believe that
my students need to gain fluency in both languages without mixing them up at
first. After acquiring oral fluency in both languages, they will be able to code-
switch responsibly, the way true bilinguals do. The literature indicates that code
switching should be avoided in dual language setting as much as possible. As
Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan defend, the first reason for avoiding code switching
in the classroom is the fact that “it will be easier for students in the long term if
the two languages they are learning are kept as separate as possible so they
have clear expectations of when and where the use of each language is
appropriate” (p.65). The second reason for not allowing code-switching is
because at a 2nd/3rd grade level, students’ language is still developing. “They are
code switching because it is easier, and not because they are controlling the two
languages for social reasons and in a skilled way” (Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan,
2000, p.65).
Taking this into consideration, over the last seven years, I have tried to
use strategies to develop more oral language skills in Portuguese with my
students. However, I truly believe that I need to be more consistent and use the
ones that have proven to be more effective. Researchers have found that
“students will benefit more from cooperative learning if they understand that
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12. communicating and sharing with peers is a language learning strategy that they
can apply outside a class setting” (Gömleksik (2007). Other authors believe that
teachers should “provide an optimal language learning environment” to their L2
students (Cheng, 1996). The same author also suggests that teachers should
“create opportunities for confidence-building social interactions, such as
practicing show-and-tells, in which students can share culturally familiar objects
and skills”. For this reason I have tried to incorporate this strategy during my
Morning Meeting everyday.
I also feel that I have a significant responsibility for teaching my students
all language skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I believe that 2nd and
3rd grades are important years for my students’ development as second language
learners. If they do not acquire the foundation of the language during these
years, by the time they go to 4th grade, it would be harder for them to keep
progressing in their Portuguese learning.
The literature also indicates that two-way immersion bilingual programs
are known for their separation of languages deliberately and systematically, by
the time of the day, or day of the week, or subject area, or teacher (Palmer,
2009). In my situation, I teach week-to-week, only in Portuguese, all subject
areas. It is very intensive and overwhelming sometimes. I feel like I am always
battling with my students to choose Portuguese over the powerful dominance of
English. Palmer (2009) states that students in two-way classrooms are all
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13. expected to develop bilingualism and biliteracy, and given the extent to which
English serves as the language of power in the U.S., it does seem that teachers’
options are limited in terms of encouraging their students to maintain and deepen
their hold on the minority language. But, even though, I believe that teachers can
make a difference if they are really committed to research and use their findings
to better support their choices in their classrooms.
In order to inspire myself to continue this research, I have decided to
observe my students’ speaking skill in Portuguese and try to find teaching
strategies and techniques that will enhance this skill. Musk (2010) found, in his
research about code-switching and code-mixing in Welsh bilinguals’ talk, three
different groups of students: Welsh-dominant, “Floaters”, and English-dominant. I
will apply his findings to my classroom because I believe I have the same
pattern. I consider some of my students to be Portuguese-dominant. At first
glance, I believe this group of students usually shows confidence in speaking
Portuguese because they either speak it at home or because they have
Portuguese as their first language. The second group, the “Floaters”, mix both
languages when trying to maintain a conversation in Portuguese, either with me,
or with their peers. A third group, the “English-dominant”, is the one who speaks
more in English than in Portuguese. Therefore, after identifying these groups in
my classroom, I think my goal with this research is to try to find strategies that will
guide all of them to speak in the target language during the time they are
required to.
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14. How am I going to accomplish this goal? I believe my role, as the
instructor and also as a bilingual model for my students, is extremely important.
Developing strategies, techniques, scaffolding, and differentiating are some of
the ways I have found to accomplish my mission. On the other hand, I will
continue to use English during the moments that I think it will be necessary,
especially to breakdowns in communication or for clarification during discussions,
or with individual students who require more explanation. Willans (2011) states
that teachers alternate between languages in order to enhance understanding or
to relate topics to experiences outside class, thus accommodating students’
needs. This same author also found in his research that the teacher’s presence
influences the use of the target language. She found that interactions in which
the teacher is involved are carried out entirely in the target language, while those
in which only students participate are carried out entirely in their native language
or in a mixed code of the two languages. I need to be aware of this fact and try to
find ways to socialize more with my students or to promote more group
discussions with them.
In addition to socializing and having discussions in groups, I will also try to
increase the moments of storybook reading in Portuguese everyday. Research
shows that storybook reading benefits oral language development by exposing
children to storybook discourse patterns and by structuring conversational
exchanges to meet the needs of young children (Kabuto, 2010). Knowing that
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15. storybook reading can benefit my students’ oral performance will help me to think
about ways to connect reading to speaking during the reading workshops.
Sharing about books they read, making comments or suggestions about the
stories, having discussions about books or texts read previously, suggesting
books, etc. are some of the strategies I will try to incorporate in my classes on a
daily basis.
Furthermore, I will also emphasize more the practice of cooperative
learning groups in my classroom, as a way to promote successful oral language
practice in Portuguese. Research demonstrates that collaborative quality in
social learning redefines learning through guided practice, which provides a
perspective to help up focus on the varied ways that children learn as they
participate in and are guided by the values and practices of their cultural
communities (Kabuto, 2010). Social Studies and Science are great areas to try to
use more cooperative learning groups. I will organize groups based on language
level proficiency, mixing up students with different levels of speaking. Interacting
and making conclusions about the content learned could help my students to
sustain the use of the target language.
Finally, I will also try to mix genders when I group my students. Many
studies have proven that female students use more language learning strategies
than male (Ghee, Ismail & Kabilan, 2010). Other studies also show differences in
language acquisition according to gender. Xiong (2008) wrote in her article about
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16. gender differences in language acquisition that girls develop their pronunciation
organ earlier than boys. For this reason they are better in listening and
expressing than boys (p. 09). For this reason, I will make sure the girls in my
classroom are able to work with the boys as partners, or teams.
As my 3rd grade group has more boys than girls, I will try to form groups
with, at least, one girl in order to encourage boys to speak more. I will try to do
the same with my 2nd grade group. Differently from the 3rd grade, 2nd grade has
more girls than boys, so I will try to put at least one boy in each group, during my
grouping activities in general.
ANALYSIS:
This research has helped me to find important information concerning my
Portuguese students ability to speak Portuguese on a daily basis. In order to
support the claims that I made, I had analyzed my data, which allowed me to
identify possible themes or patterns that guided me towards my claims. These
claims are also supported by literature that supports and gives more information
linked to my findings in this research.
15

17. “Hoje eu li um conto de fadas. O título do livro é…”
(Today I read a Fairy Tale. The title of my book is…) - A student sharing about a
book he/she read during reading workshop.
My first claim is that differentiating activities and integrating reading,
writing, and listening skills improve speaking fluency. By analyzing my data, I
have realized that students in both groups spoke more Portuguese when they
had different kinds of resources and texts to support them. Examples of these
resources are journal entries, graphic organizers, word wall vocabulary, posters,
pictures, dictionaries, videos, Total Physical Responses activities, etc.
Analyzing my teaching journal notes, I have observed that most of my
students were able to speak in Portuguese during my Read-aloud lessons. When
I read a book aloud, students were able to use pictures or text as a resource to
understand better the story. I usually write on the board important information
about the book, such as title, author, main characters, plot, etc. So, I think this
written information associated with visuals, give support for oral production,
facilitating their speaking.
“O Gato de Botas”
(Puss'in'Boots)
A good example that illustrates how differentiation and integration of other
skills work to improve speaking was observed on my Teaching Journal notes of
March 3rd, 2011 during my 2nd grade week. I read aloud the book “O Gato de
Botas”. That week I was teaching about Fairy Tales and my 2nd graders were
very engaged in the lessons. ES, who usually has problems to focus and sit still,
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18. was “focused and listened to the story”. After I read, I asked partners to talk
about some parts of the story in pairs. After that, I asked some volunteers to
share to the whole class. A total of seven students out of 17, volunteered to retell
the story. I asked comprehension questions to the rest of the class and they were
able to answer my questions in Portuguese. I had differentiated the questions to
the ones who are low. Instead of a wh-question, I asked them a yes/no question.
Observing the videos, I also noticed that my students were able to speak
in Portuguese more often, if they had a written support in their hands or on the
walls to look at. It was easier for them to share during morning meeting, or to
share about a book they read, or a project in Social Studies, if they had written
before about the subject they were supposed to talk about. Writing before the
moment of speaking, helps them to organize better their thoughts.
“Eu gosto muito disso!”
(I like this so much!) – A 2nd grade boy referring to the Portuguese pastries
in his Socia Studies project.
During the presentation of a Social Studies Project, my 2nd graders were
enthusiastically speaking in Portuguese about a country they chose to share.
Each student had a poster with pictures and labels describing the pictures to
share with a partner. A lot of them knew exactly what to say and used a lot of
vocabulary that they had learned previously at home when they writing the
posters with their families. SV wrote about Cape Verde. Her poster had beautiful
pictures and she was able to point to the pictures and tell us specific information
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19. about each picture. She described each picture with details and she was very
excited about her presentation. EL dressed up in a Chinese costume and
presented her poster about China in details. She had worked very hard with her
Portuguese, but she was not only reading the poster, in fact, she was explaining
details about the Chinese culture and people. Another student who surprised me
was DF. He wrote about Spain and he was able to read all the labels in his
pictures and also answer simple questions about it. DF is a new student who
speaks very low Portuguese. Each student was able to present their posters
according to their level of Portuguese, which allowed me to differentiate
instruction and integrate skills in order to improve their Portuguese speaking.
“Eu acho que eu tenho um 3 porque eu não falei em Português o tempo todo.”
(I think I have a 3 because I did not speak in Portuguese most of the time.) - A 3rd
grade student evaluating himself at the end of an activity in cooperative learning
group.
Another data that supports this claim is my checklist observation. I have
observed in both groups that when my students are working in cooperative
learning groups, they are able to speak more Portuguese. I usually set up
expectations to my cooperative groups before grouping them to work in groups.
One student is the one responsible to sustain the target language. I call this
student “polícia” because he/she has to remind the other students to speak in
Portuguese. They also have to help each other with the right answer to the task
they are doing together. They also have to do an evaluation at the end of their
work. In this kind of group activity, the students who are better speakers or better
academically are able to help the less fluent speakers or the students with less
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20. academic skills. It is a good opportunity to group students according to their level
of proficiency in Portuguese, academic strengths, social skills, and gender.
I have observed four cooperative learning activities from each group. Most
of them were during reading, social studies, or playing a vocabulary game. The
table below shows the number of students who spoke Portuguese during the four
times that I observed them in cooperative learning groups.
Language 2nd grade students 3rd grade students
Spoke only in Portuguese 06 0
Spoke mostly in 02 05
Portuguese
Mixed Portuguese and 07 11
English
Spoke mostly in English 02 02
TOTAL 17 18
As the results of the table above show, the majority of the students are
able to speak Portuguese at a certain level during this kind of activity. Only two
students from each grade spoke in English the entire time.
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21. “Sra S., tu podes me ajudar por favor?”
(Ms. S., can you help me, please?) – A 2nd grade girl asking for help during Math
class.
My second claim is in regards to the correlation between gender and
speaking Portuguese. By analyzing different kinds of data, I have observed that
in both groups girls are speaking more Portuguese than boys. My second grade
group has 11 girls and 6 boys. In contrast, my third grade group has 13 boys and
only 5 girls. Through the analysis of my teaching journal notes, I was able to
observe that my 2nd grade group is speaking Portuguese more fluently than the
3rd grade group. I took notes of the students who were speaking more
Portuguese in both groups with me or with their peers. The table below shows
the number of students, by gender and grade, who had four or more entries for
speaking Portuguese in my Teaching Journal.
Number of students who spoke only in Portuguese with the teacher
7
6
5
4
Boys
3
Girls
2
1
0
2nd grade 3rd grade
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22. Another source that supports this claim is my survey. One of the questions
in my survey asked who they considered to be a good Portuguese helper in the
classroom. There were four girls with the highest number of votes in the 2nd
grade group and 3 girls and a boy in the third grade group.
By videotaping their social interactions in the classroom, I have also found
that it was easier for the girls to maintain a conversation in Portuguese. The boys
seemed to be more resistant to speak Portuguese among themselves or even
when they were talking to the girls. In a video taken on March 28th regarding a
poster project, 9 girls were talking enthusiastically about their project in
Portuguese. In contrast, there was only one boy who brought his project to share
that day, but he was not able to sustain his presentation in Portuguese.
My checklist observation also shows evidence of girls speaking
Portuguese more than boys in my classroom. I have observed for four days in
the second grade group and five days in the 3rd grade group who was speaking
in Portuguese with me. The table below shows the number of students by
gender, which spoke only in Portuguese with me during different times of my
observation.
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23. Number of students who speak Portuguese with the teacher
10
9
8
7
6
5 Boys
4
Girls
3
2
1
0
2nd grade 3rd grade
Although the table above shows the same number of students for 3rd
grade, it is important to note that there are 13 boys in that group and only 5 girls.
“Quem vai ser a polícia do português hoje?”
(Who is going to be the “Portuguese police” today?)
My third claim is that more fluent speakers are able to help less fluent
speakers to improve their speaking skills in Portuguese. Besides me, as the
Portuguese teacher, there are two other Portuguese teachers who usually come
to my classroom. One is the social worker and the second one is a substitute
teacher who comes once in a while to assist me. I also consider some students
to be fluent, especially the ones who speak Portuguese at home with their
parents.
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24. Within my data collection, I was able to identify similarities in my findings.
My observation checklist, for example, shows that on March 15, a total of 10
students, out of 17 2nd graders spoke a 100% in Portuguese either with me or
with the students who were sharing during Morning Meeting. I have also
observed that on March 25th, a number of 11 students out of 18 in the 3rd grade
group maintained their conversations in Portuguese during the time three
students were sharing during Morning Meeting as well. Morning Meetings offer a
good opportunity for students to share something that has happened to them
outside school. It is also a moment that students can ask questions or make
comments about what they have heard.
Through the analysis of my teaching journal notes, I realized that most of
my students spoke Portuguese with me during recess, snack or lunch, periods
that I usually interact socially with them. An illustration of this observation was
made on March 1st when I wrote the following quotation in my journal about the
2nd grade group: “During snack time I shared about my trip. They seemed to be
interested…and asked me questions. A couple of students came to me to share
something about their families. They both spoke in Portuguese.” This pattern was
observed during seven days out of ten days of observation in the 2nd grade and
four days in the 3rd grade group, out of ten days of observation. I believe, as I
am the model and as I speak Portuguese with them all the time, it seems to be
easier for them to speak in Portuguese with me.
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25. The survey is another data that supports this claim. When students were
asked with whom they think it is easier to speak in Portuguese, myself and the
teacher assistant got the highest number of votes. A total of 13 students from 2nd
grade, out of 15 who answered the survey, thought it is easier to speak
Portuguese with me. Five of these students also said it is easier to speak with the
teacher assistant and five thought it is easier to speak with their friends. When I
asked the same question to the 3rd grade group, 16 students answered that it is
easier to speak with me. These same students also voted for the teacher
assistant and the social worker. The three of us are fluent speakers of
Portuguese. The social worker usually comes once a week to my classroom to
work with them and she speaks Portuguese fluently.
Through my observation checklist, I have also noticed that the most fluent
students were the ones who spoke more Portuguese during the cooperative
learning groups. In both grades, I have mixed students with different levels of
Portuguese to encourage the low-level students to speak more. The videotapes
of their interactions show the ones who are more fluent encouraging the ones
who are less fluent to speak in Portuguese. On March 24th, for example, I have
observed that 7 of 11 students in the 3rd grade were able to sustain the use of
Portuguese during a Social Studies activity in groups. A number of four students
mixed the two languages and number of 6 students chose to work individually. I
had grouped them by taking into consideration their level of Portuguese.
Additionally to this example, I have also noticed that on March 15th, a total of 11
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26. students from my 2nd grade group spoke Portuguese with the social worker who
came to my room to teach them how to show respect to each other. She usually
asks them to role-play situations. These students were able to use Portuguese
during her class and to interact with each other speaking Portuguese.
Conclusion:
“Estou pronto para perguntas e comentários!”
(I am ready for questions and comments!) – Sentence prompt students use
during morning meeting after they share about something.
Trying to develop speaking skills in Portuguese in my classroom has
definitely been a challenge. At the beginning of my research I wanted to find out
strategies and techniques that would enhance this skill with my 2nd and 3rd grade
students in a Portuguese bilingual setting. For this reason, I started collecting
data to support my investigation. Through the analysis of this data, I found
patterns that helped to me to understand better my role as a teacher in order to
promote Portuguese fluency in my classroom. Reflecting and researching about
this subject has also increased my learning as a second language teacher and
researcher. I believe this research has also collaborated for my students’ growth
in Portuguese speaking.
Throughout this process, my investigation also led me to look for literature
to support the claims that I found. Other researchers’ views have provided new
thoughts about my second language teaching practice as well. Whether I am
promoting Portuguese to engage my students or leading them, as a fluent
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27. Portuguese speaker, I understand that is my responsibility to find strategies and
techniques to enhance their Portuguese oral competence.
Through the analysis of different kinds of data, I came out to the conclusion
that, as a fluent Portuguese speaker, I had a huge impact in their Portuguese
speaking performance as well as other fluent speakers of Portuguese who
interact with my students everyday. I realized that differentiating activities on a
daily basis and integrating reading, writing, and listening to speaking will enhance
their oral performance as well. And I finally became aware that there is a
correlation of speaking Portuguese with gender, so grouping my students
according to their Portuguese language performance and gender is also another
to way to successfully promote Portuguese speaking in my classroom.
As my investigation on this particular issue comes to the end, it is my
intention to continue my research practice in this area in order to improve my
students’ Portuguese speaking and my own language teaching skills. For
example, I wish to further investigate in which ways my students’ families are
supporting their children’s oral language at home. I understand that the
development of bilingualism presupposes the conscious effort by parents to use
the target language at home. I also want to investigate what skills and strategies
have worked for my colleagues at different grade levels. As we teach in the same
school and the same language, I believe we all should have similar expectations
and work on the same page.
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28. This research project has finally taught me that reflecting about my
language teaching practice and paying a closer attention to my students’ needs
are essential for my growth as a language instructor. Going through the process
of collecting data, analyzing, and finding relevant information about my students
has definitely opened my eyes for a different way to innovate my second
language teaching practice.
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