An investigation of teacher behaviour in first year Spanish classrooms in secondary schools of Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

This investigation was undertaken in order to identify the factors that lead to lack of success in the teaching of Spanish in the secondary school classrooms of Trinidad and Tobago. The chief indicators of the unsatisfactory state of the teaching/learning situation are: 1) a high rate of attrition in the numbers of pupils beginning Spanish in Term 1 and those who continue to study it after Form 3 or 4, and 2) the persistent poor performance at the CXC examination taken at the end of Year 5. The investigation took the form of an examination of the teaching of Spanish at the Form 1 beginning level. The sample consisted of six secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago and included the various school types representative of the secondary system. The main techniques employed were classroom observation and in-depth interviews of teachers in their purposes and practices. Each classroom was visited on three occasions. Lessons were audio-taped and both investigators made detailed notes of the lessons taught. Each teacher interview was audio-taped for subsequent analysis. Data analysis revealed that teachers' statements about their intentions and classroom procedures were not borne out by classroom observation. Teaching was in the main concerned more with the explanation of grammatical rules than with the development of functional language skills. Teacher talk predominated and a whole-class teaching strategy was favoured over small-group activities that might facilitate communicative language practice. Thus, learners were in general allowed very little chance to develop functional control of the linguistic structures necessary for eventual success at language learning