#4 El fin

Research Question: How do teachers use culture to influence the development of oral language proficiency, particularly in the area of pronunciation?

Methodology:

1. Subjects – 6 high school Spanish teachers from different levels
2. Measures – Teachers will be individually interviewed and at least one class period observed, using field notes (purposive convenience sample).
3. Procedures – Interviews will be audio recorded. Questions will focus on areas such as: What techniques do you use to develop oral proficiency? How often do you introduce a native speaker’s voice into the classroom? Are there any techniques that you would like to implement, but do not have the resources/time to do so? Do you make any effort to encourage a near-native pronunciation? How often and in what ways to you teach culture? Do you find that this has any effect on the students’ receptiveness towards gaining oral proficiency?

Field notes will concentrate on noting teachers’ implementation of cultural awareness and oral proficiency techniques, especially those which promote a near-native pronunciation. Special attention will be given towards noting areas in which the teacher failed to implement techniques which he/she espoused during the interview.

4. Analysis – Interviews and field notes will be coded according to the areas mentioned in the interview questions. From the coding general themes will be extracted using the Mac method and traced using Inspiration.