Rodrigo Rincón

1. Title: 

The impact of teachers´ level of proficiency in speaking to develop the speaking skill of
learners
2. Problem: Importance of proficiency of teachers as input for learners.

For second language acquisition and most of these theories advocate the importance of
input for language acquisition. Gass (1997) once summarized that the concept of input is
perhaps the single most important concept of second language acquisition (SLA).Input that
learners receive in the learning process of L2, plays a very important role in the language
acquisition, where acquisition is gaining knowledge unconsciously as opposed to learning
which is gaining knowledge consciously.

Teachers in Szpotowicz (2009) also varied in English language proficiency. Teacher

language competence is likely to have an impact on learning outcomes, with Munoz (2006)
stating that not only does exposure need to be intense but that it also needs to “provide an
adequate model” (p. 34). Teachers’ linguistic skills are likely to be especially relevant to
the acquisition of grammatical features, particularly within usage-based theories of
language acquisition

3. Abstract
This document aims to measure the effect of teachers´ proficiency level in speaking on the
language learning in speaking skills of learners from 12 to 14 years old. The participants
will be students with an A2 English level, between 12 and 14 years old who are attending a
state school. The tests will be stored quantitatively in order to facilitate the analysis of the
results.

4. Research Questions

 What is the effect that the language proficiency level of teachers by speaking has on
the language speaking fluency development of the English learners from 12 to 14
years old?
 En que medida podría el nivel de inglés del professor contribuir en el mejoramiento
o desarrollo de las habilidades del estudiante.

Introduction:

For second language acquisition and most of these theories advocate the importance of input
for language acquisition. Gass (1997) once summarized that the concept of input is perhaps
the single most important concept of second language acquisition (SLA).Input that learners
receive in the learning process of L2, plays a very important role in the language acquisition,
where acquisition is gaining knowledge unconsciously as opposed to learning which is gaining
knowledge consciously.

For many English learners, perhaps the most difficult skill to develop is the speaking, there can
be many reasons for that, but the one which is going to be researched and analyzed what is
the role of the teachers´ proficiency level in speaking on the English fluency speaking in
learners. Although in our context the exposition to the English language is limited, teachers try
their best in classrooms to teach learners.

Ministerio de Educación (2012, july 19). Docentes de inglés serán evaluados con el examen
internacional TOEFL. Retrieved from:

http://www.educacion.gob.ec/home/1331-docentes-de-ingles-seran-evaluados-con-el-
examen-internacional-toefl.html

According to Peña V and Sanchez G ((2013) page 7), "5,022 English teachers were evaluated by
the Ministry of Education along with the public school SENESCYT through an exam called
TOEFL." The result of this assessment was that "74% of teachers are assessed at A1 and A2
levels, and the remaining percentage (26%) can reach B1 levels."

The Ministry of Education states that in Ecuador, teachers need to be proficient at the B2 level
at least.
Introduction

Learning a foreign language corresponds to how people develop more ways to interact
with others, except for those who speak the same native language. It represents a way to
correlate the desire for ambition with personal improvement to achieve a better
lifestyle, based on the use of target languages to overcome obstacles in today's society.
College students in particular are directly involved in learning a new language because
the updated information is included in English books.

Because current research can be used to find negative aspects that influence the learning
process and to develop solutions that help students in Ecuadorian public institutions
better learn and use English. It is important to investigate the factors that influence
learning English as a language. English to actually convey the target language.

It is important to recognize that individuals benefiting from this study are specifically
dealing with a group of individuals involved in foreign language education. It consists
of school authorities, managers, and English teachers who plan interventions and
pathways for change and can take action to improve the learning process; students of all
levels, and young people in public schools. Has the opportunity to improve the way
they receive instruction and get a better education in their target language.

For second language acquisition and most of these theories advocate the importance of
input for language acquisition. Gass (1997) once summarized that the concept of input
is perhaps the single most important concept of second language acquisition
(SLA).Input that learners receive in the learning process of L2, plays a very important
role in the language acquisition, where acquisition is gaining knowledge unconsciously
as opposed to learning which is gaining knowledge consciously.

For many English learners, perhaps the most difficult skill to develop is the speaking,
there can be many reasons for that, but the one which is going to be researched and
analyzed what is the role of the teachers´ proficiency level in speaking on the English
fluency speaking in learners. Although in our context the exposition to the English
language is limited, teachers try their best in classrooms to teach learners.
Ministerio de Educación (2012, july 19). Docentes de inglés serán evaluados con el examen
internacional TOEFL. Retrieved from:

http://www.educacion.gob.ec/home/1331-docentes-de-ingles-seran-evaluados- con-el-examen-
internacional-toefl.html

According to Peña V and Sanchez G ((2013) page 7), "5,022 English teachers were
evaluated by the Ministry of Education along with the public school SENESCYT through
an exam called TOEFL." The result of this assessment was that "74% of teachers are
assessed at A1 and A2 levels, and the remaining percentage (26%) can reach B1 levels."

The Ministry of Education states that in Ecuador, teachers need to be proficient at the B2
level at least.

Teachers in Szpotowicz (2009) also varied in English language proficiency. Teacher

language competence is likely to have an impact on learning outcomes, with Munoz (2006)
stating that not only does exposure need to be intense but that it also needs to “provide an
adequate model” (p. 34). Teachers’ linguistic skills are likely to be especially relevant to
the acquisition of grammatical features, particularly within usage-based theories of
language acquisition

Muñoz, C. (2006). The effects of age on foreign language learning: The BAF project. In C. Muñoz, C.
(Ed.) Age and the rate of foreign language learning (pp. 1-40). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters

Szpotowicz, M. (2009). Factors influencing young learners’ vocabulary acquisition. In M. Nikolov

(Ed.) Early learning of modern foreign languages: Processes and outcomes (pp. 195-211).
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd
 Literature review

Teachers in Szpotowicz (2009) also varied in English language proficiency. Teacher

language competence is likely to have an impact on learning outcomes, with Munoz (2006)
stating that not only does exposure need to be intense but that it also needs to “provide an
adequate model” (p. 34). Teachers’ linguistic skills are likely to be especially relevant to
the acquisition of grammatical features, particularly within usage-based theories of
language acquisition

Research carried out in Pakistan by Malik (1996), on the need of teachers' proficiency for
students' acquisition, explores its need for university students and focuses on the need for
teacher training and education for teaching English at tertiary level. Warsi (2004) examines the
conditions in which English is taught in Pakistan, including the English language curriculum,
materials, methods and techniques. In addition to this, research has been carried out by Din et
al. (2010) focuses on the lack of formal qualification of language teachers, affecting the
students' results at secondary level. However, significant research regarding the teachers' low
proficiency affecting young learners' language acquisition has not been conducted in Pakistan.

English language

Comprehensible Input

Among all the researchers, Krashen has been the most persistent to the importance of input
for SLA. Krashen's input hypothesis proposed in 1982 states that we acquire language by
understanding input that is a little beyond our current level of acquired competence.
According to Krashen (1985) all factors that encourage second language acquisition are
effective, only when they contribute to comprehensible input. Krashen's input hypothesis
claims that progressive speaking cannot be taught directly. It emerges as acquirers build up
their competence through meaningful input (Krashen, 1982). Learners move from their
current level of competence (i) to their next stage (i + 1) by understanding input which
contains ( i+1) (where i+1 may be a block of structures) These structures, above the existing
level of competence are understood by using context and knowledge of the world together
with the existing competence. According to Krashen (2003) language is acquired only when we
understand messages, which is possible when we obtain comprehensible input. Ellis (1999)
also proposes that acquisition is promoted when the input to which learners are exposed, is
made comprehensible.

Incomprehensible Input

While Krashen’s input hypothesis limits SLA to exposure to comprehensible input,

incomprehensible input is considered to enhance the process of SLA through providing the
necessary input. One of the potential types of language input is incomprehensible input
(White, 1987). In his incomprehensible input hypothesis, White underlined the point that
when language learners come across language input that is incomprehensible because their
interlanguage rules cannot analyse a particular second language structure, they have to
modify those interlanguage rules to understand the structure. Consequently the
incomprehensible input catalyses the process of SLA. White maintains that the acquisition of
the missing structures may not take place in the presence of an aspect of comprehensible
language input . We may summarise that according to White, the incomprehensibility of some
aspects of the language input draws the learner's attention to specific features to be acquired.

English teaching in Ecuador

Peña V 2017 pagina 25 y 26

El Gobierno Nacional ha estado pendiente en mejorar la calidad de educación en todas la

áreas desde que se realizó la reunión en Dakar en el año 2000.20 Luego de este encuentro, el
país se comprometió a ser parte del plan “Educación para Todos”. 21 En nuestro país se
institucionalizan los objetivos de este compromiso en lo que se conoce como “Plan decena
2005-2015”, que tiene ocho políticas educativas y varios objetivos a cumplir.22 El objetivo
número cuatro del plan establece que se deben potencializar las capacidades de los
ciudadanos para lo cual hicieron cambios curriculares.

Uno de los más relevantes fue el realizado en 2011 a través de la actualización de la Reforma
Curricular,23 que realizó transformaciones en la estructura de mallas en todas las asignaturas
y comenzó con el proyecto “Es hora de enseñar inglés”.24 En él se intentó mejorar el sistema
de enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera, y se tomaron en cuenta aspectos de
metodología y competencias docentes. Adicionalmente, en el acuerdo 0041-14 se logró que el
 inglés ingresara al currículo formal con una carga horaria de 5 horas a partir del octavo año de
educación básica.25 Con esto se procuró mejorar el nivel de competencias lingüísticas de
estudiantes a través de la capacitación de docentes en esta área.

En el año 2000 se propone la idea de educación para todos, que busca llegar a la universalización de
la educación, establecer la educación inicial como prioridad e incluir el uso de la tecnología en
educación.
21 Edward B. Fiske, “Informe final del Foro Mundial de la educación”, Foro Mundial de la educación
(Francia: Unesco, 2000).

Proficiency level of teachers in Ecuador

According to Peña V and Sanchez G( (2013) pagina 7) The Ministry of Education along with
SENESCYT evaluated 5,022 English teachers in public schools through an examination called
TOEFL which is graded according to the Common European Framework of Reference for
Language. From this evaluation, 74% of teachers were placed at A1 and A2 levels, the
remaining percentage (26%) could reach B1 level. According to the Ministry of Education an
instructor has to master B2 level, which corresponds to an independent user who can
understand the main idea in a lecture, interact with a degree of fluency, between other
intermediate skills of using the language to be able to teach properly. These results showed
that the majority of teachers in Ecuador did not have communicative skills in English to
perform teaching tasks. Thereby, an urgent necessity to improve the process for learning and
teaching English in public schools all over the country has arisen.

Uno de los primeros pasos que se dieron fue el evaluar a los docentes mediante
el examen internacional TOEFL, que mide las destrezas y competencias en el idioma
inglés. La evaluación fue realizada a un grupo de 5022 profesores, de los cuales el 74%
fue ubicado como “usuarios básicos”, a pesar de que el Ministerio de Educación
establece que los docentes deben manejar el idioma en un nivel intermedio alto (B2).26
Los resultados se evidenciaron en un estudio realizado en el año 2013. Peña y Sánchez
establecen que el 73,33% de docentes tiene un nivel de competencia lingüístico bajo;
lo que afecta al proceso de enseñanza de los estudiantes.27 La falta de competencias
lingüísticas del docente es sin duda un factor que debe ser corregido, ya que el
estudiante aprende el idioma con falencias: Los estudiantes conservan los errores
gramaticales o de pronunciación aprendidos desde los primeros años. Susan House
explica que los estudiantes deben comenzar a aprender el idioma inglés desde los primeros
años de escuela con buenos métodos para que puedan dominar su uso en la etapa
universitaria.28

22 Ministerio de Educación, Plan decenal 2005-2015 (Quito: Ministerio de Educación, 2005). Edición
electrónica.
23 Ministerio de Educación, “Actualización de la Reforma Curricular”, Actualización Curricular básica
y bachillerato (Quito: Ministerio de Educación, 2011). Edición electrónica.
24 “Es hora de enseñar inglés” es un proyecto auspiciado por el Ministerio de Educación, que busca
mejorar la calidad de enseñanza del idioma a través de la capacitación docente.
25 Ministerio de Educación, “Acuerdo ministerial 0041-14” (Quito: Ministerio de Educación, 2014).
Edición electrónica.
26 Nivel de competencia intermedio de acuerdo al Marco Común Europeo, organismo regulador de la
enseñanza y proficiencia de idiomas en el mundo.
27 Vanessa Peña y Gladys Sánchez, Factors that affect English language teaching-learning in
Ecuadorian public high schools (Quito: UTPL, 2013).
27

Karas y faez 2020 p. 8 What level of proficiency do teachers need to teach English in
different settings? Perceptions of Novice Teachers in Canada
Minimum Level of Proficiency Required for Teaching English in Different
Settings
To assess teachers’ perceptions of the minimum levels of proficiency teachers need to teach
across a variety of settings, participants evaluated 18 different settings. These were based
on students’ proficiency level, student age, and finally the context (EFL vs ESL). For each
setting, teachers wrote in the minimum level, based on the CEFR, they believed was
required to successfully teach in that setting. Table 2 provides the mean score for each of
the 18 settings. Teachers indicated the minimum levels required to teach in ESL contexts
were slightly higher than the EFL contexts. The lowest minimum level was for beginner
children in an EFL context (2.77) which was around the A2 – B1 level. The highest level
was for advanced adult learners in an ESL context (5.87) which was approaching the C2
level. For 4 settings in the EFL context, participants identified the minimum required level
as below the B2 level (all Beginner settings and Intermediate Children), 3 settings at or
around the B2 level (Intermediate Youth,
Intermediate Adult, and Advanced Children) and finally 2 contexts where teachers believed
the C1 to C2 levels were required (Advanced Youth and Advanced Adult). Perceived
required levels for the ESL context were generally higher with only 1 setting rated below
the B2 level (Beginner Children). Four settings were rated at or slightly above the B2 level
(Beginner Youth, Beginner Adult, Intermediate Children, Intermediate Youth) while 4
settings were rated at above the C1 level as the minimum requirement (Intermediate Adults
and all Advanced settings).

When learning is spontaneous and informal, e.g. when a young child is exposed to a
language, it is acquired naturally without any thought about its structure, sound system,
grammar or vocabulary (Krouse, 1992:40).

The question arises if a person learns to speak by means of copying another

person. If that is the case then rote learning occurs with endless language
structure drills in the modern language classroom. However if that is not the
case, then rote learning and drill work should no longer bore generations of
learners (Wessels and Van den Berg, 2002:144). A positive response from
the teacher, follows every time when a child uses a word and therefore a
deeper understanding of the word is established. When understanding
becomes an integral part of the production of speech sounds, then, even
though infantile, these attempts cannot be regarded as mere imitation since
every sentence uttered by the speaker is an expression of the speaker's
creativity, because then every meaningful sentence is an original one. Good
speaking ability and expressing oneself adequately will prevent
misunderstandings, promote unity and establish endless opportunities for
meaningful communication daily.
Communication by means of speech is an essential skill that should be
developed thoroughly. It is only through practice that this skill can be
developed. Obviously the more learners practise the better they will speak
(Van Aswegen, 2004:22). Every language has its own peculiar patterns of
speech, its unique way of arranging words and phrases and its own
vocabulary. To be accurate and fluent in a language a person has, among
other things, to be able to use the correct word order and sentence pattern or
language structure. The learner also has to pronounce the words correctly
and speak with correct intonation (Krouse, 1992:41).
Feelings of insecurity and shyness often prevent learners from wanting to
express themselves in front of others, and from becoming good
communicators. The less criticism the learners experience the more they will
be prepared to try to speak. The teacher should therefore cultivate an attitude
of acceptance and tolerance by giving an easy smile and always be ready to
praise (Wessels and Van den Berg, 2002:145). Ngwenya (1990:19) has
found that black first year students are often overwhelmed by the rapid
speech of the lecturers and have little self-confidence and ability to participate
in tutorials or lectures. The uninitiated English second language student finds
native speakers' speech to be too fast. Furthermore the students' blindness
to sentence boundaries, word boundaries, body language and suprasegmental
clues add to the students' speaking difficulties.
According to Silva (2003:4) in South African English, pronunciation and
intonation, and often vocabulary and sometimes even grammar, differ
considerably from one ethnic community to another. Silva claims that there is
no one South African English but a number can be distinguished, namely
mother-tongue-English, Afrikaans-English, Black-English, Coloured-English
and Indian-English, each with its own standard form. The RNCS (DOE,
2002:54) contends that learning to speak an additional language confidently
and intelligibly is a challenge and learners need much opportunity, support
and encouragement to achieve this. Furthermore in the "Speaking" learning
outcome of the English learning area, learners must develop the ability to use
the spoken language with correct intonation and rhythm (DOE, 200259).
English second language learners who attend schools in which the majority of
learners and teachers are themselves first-language English speakers benefit
because the second language learners are provided with sufficient input and
with sufficient opportunities for output in the second language. However, it
does not benefit the majority of learners in South Africa who are not
surrounded by English first language speaking peers and who are not taught
by English first language speaking teachers (Sweetnam Evans, 2001:3).
 Methodology

To achieve the purpose of this study, it was necessary to collect information from the
Internet, past surveys, and various books found in the two libraries in the city where the
survey was conducted. The information obtained was used to fill in the subject of the
study variables and theoretically support the ongoing project. In addition, it was
necessary to collect information from classroom observations and send a
questionnaire to 2 public high school teachers and 15 students for later analysis of the
results.

Participants

This study was conducted in Portoviejo City. . The sample surveyed were 2 English
teachers from 2 different English courses. 10 students form each course were
randomly selected to complete the questionnaire. Finally, 10 classes of observations
were made to pursue the purpose of the study.

Research design

Data gathering

The research will be a quantitative one and is going to be executed in Ecuador,

taking as reference the state education in English language learning, in which participants
are going to be taken both, students and teachers. The selected students will have age
between 12 and 14 years old and will have an A2 English proficiency level, while the
teachers will have B1, B2, and C1 proficiency levels in English. The learners will have will
be divided randomly into 3 groups. The first group will have the B1 level teacher, the
second group will have the B2 level teacher and the last group will have the C1 level
teacher.
Firstly the students will attend a test to evaluate their English proficiency level in
listening and speaking taking as an instrument the sample test that Cambridge provides on
its web page and youtube for speaking, therefore no test will be created. The teachers who
will participate in this research, must provide an international certification and attend an
interview to measure their level of speaking, and the results will be scored against the
CERF. 
Next, 60 students who achieve the needed level will be randomly divided into 3
groups of 20, and each teacher will be managing one group. In the next 2 months, the
students will attend 3 times a week and 2 hours for each class. For the proposal of this
research, the teachers will have pedagogy freedom, but they will have to teach with a
communicative approach, therefore the suggested kind of activities are the following; role-
play, interviews, group work, information gap, opinion sharing, scavenger hunt. 
The use of English in classes will be measured through class observation, for this,
the researcher will attend to a different group for each day of class. After two months the
program will end and the students will attend the proficiency test in listening and speaking
again and the results of the pretest and the post-test will be compared. 

6. Significance of Research
According to EF EPI (2021) Ecuador has one of the worst levels of English in the
world and the worst level of English in Latin America, and securely there are a lot of
different reasons for that, this proposal tries to attend one of the possible variables which
affect the language learning in students, specifically in the speaking skill. The lack of
practice could be an important factor in this, especially when the instructor does not feel
confident to do it either. 
There is not a perfect way to learn a language, but some experts in the field like
Krashen, think that the interaction and natural communication or use of “real English” or
target language is the key to acquiring it; for this reason, the practice is an important part of
that learning process, therefore this research will be interesting for knowing to what extent
the teachers´ proficiency level impact on the language learning of students in a specific
skill.