Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
DOI: 10.31876/er.v5i36.778
36
Recibido: 07 de enero de 2020
Aprobado: 18 de mayo de 2020
Cite this:
Guevara, G. (2021). Exploring the Students’ and
Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities.
Espirales. Revista Multidisciplinaria de investigación
cientíca, 5(36), 36-47.
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions
about Classroom Activities
Explorando las percepciones de alumnos y profesores sobre las actividades
en el aula
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez*
Abstract
For many years, the use of activities inside and outside
the classroom in order to promote an activate learning
has been very common. A challenging area in the eld
of education is the acquisition of languages so there no
doubt that learning a second or foreign language is not
easy for all learners. In fact, some have to face different
barriers in the process such as lack of learning support and
motivation. Nevertheless, some authors have advocated
that using the appropriate activities in classes can make
a big difference in the results of those students who are
interested in learning a second or foreign language. The
present paper has chosen English as the foreign language
since it is considered one of the most requested language
in Ecuador where this study has been carried out. Besides,
it would be also important to mention that the aim of this
paper is to help teachers realize if they are choosing their
classroom activities considering their students’ learning
styles and interests.
Key words: effectiveness, activities, learning styles,
interests, motivation.
*
Master in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
Universidad Estatal de Guayaquil, Guayaquil,
Ecuador.
E-mail: gabriela.guevarag@ug.edu.ec
ORCID: 0000-0003-0375-0758.
Google Scholar
37
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
Resumen
Durante muchos años, el uso de actividades dentro y fuera del aula
para promover un aprendizaje activo ha sido muy común. Un área
desaante en el campo de la educación es la adquisición de idiomas. No
hay duda de que aprender un segundo idioma o una lengua extranjera
no es fácil para todos los estudiantes. De hecho, hay algunos que tienen
que enfrentar diferentes barreras en el proceso. El presente trabajo ha
elegido el inglés como lengua extranjera, ya que se considera uno de
los idiomas más solicitados en el Ecuador donde esta investigación
ha sido desarrollada. Además, el objetivo de este trabajo es ayudar
a los profesores a darse cuenta de si están eligiendo las actividades
utilizadas para impartir sus clases a través de los estilos de aprendizaje
de sus estudiantes y sus intereses.
Palabras clave: ecacia, actividades, estilos de aprendizaje, intereses,
motivación.
Introduction
The use of classroom activities in the learning process, especially in the acquisition of a foreign
language (FL), has been receiving widespread attention since they are considered as active
learning strategies. The use of them will depend on the teachers’ main objective in order to
pursue students’ achievements.
There is no doubt that exists a variety of different activities that can be implemented in the
classrooms when teaching a foreign language such as pair/group work tasks, listening to tape
recordings in order to ll in some gap-exercises, and the use of ashcards to learn new words,
among others. These activities have been used over the years and have given good results
when acquiring a second language at any level such as school, high school, or university.
However, it is necessary to explore what the teachers’ and students’ perceptions of those
activities are. Both should converge in one direction which is the benets for students as
well as teachers. As a consequence, this study is crucial because it is the way to know how
appropriate the classroom activities are and what improvements teachers can make from
the results obtained.
38
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
Undoubtedly, learning a foreign language, English for example, is a challenge for some
students. That is why, it is important to bear in mind different factors that might be affecting
the acquisition of the FL. One of those factors is the insights that students may have related to
the types of activities which are being implemented during their lessons. Anderman & Miggly
(1997) claim that teaching methodology and details in the school system evoke effects in the
learners’ academic performance because the self-regulated learning requires orientation to be
successful. Joy, environment, challenges, selection of topics, students’ interest and participation
in the selection of items to be studied are some of the details that are required.
Some studies have shown the advantages of classroom activities. For example: Moore (2011)
thinks that classroom activities can (i) engage students in learning activities, facilitate learning
by doing, and practice communication skills; (ii) provide many benets, give immediate feedback
to students, arouse a high degree of students’ interest and enthusiasm, meanwhile allow
teachers to work with a wide range of student capabilities, and allow experimentation with a
model of the real environment (Huang, & Hu, 2015).
There is a light of evidence that taking into account the students’ learning styles makes learning
less dicult or frustrating. Of course, it is essential to know what students’ weaknesses and
strengths are, but it is also important to know what their interests are as well. In fact, Reid &
Dixon (1999) mentions some of the benets of increasing learners’ awareness of their own
learning styles: “higher interest and motivation in the learning process, increased student
responsibility for their own learning, and greater classroom community. These are effective
changes, and the changes have resulted in more effective learning” (p. 300).
“Learning style is the biologically and developmentally imposed set of characteristics that
make the same teaching method wonderful for some and terrible for others” (Dunn, & Griggs,
1988, p. 3). In other words, “they are considered as general approaches that students use in
acquiring a new language or in learning any other subject” (Oxford, 2003, p. 2).
An outstanding fact to mention is that about 98 % of all new learning enters the brain through
the senses (Jensen, 1997). As it was previously mentioned, every person has each own way
or preference to learn. It can be through visual, tactile, or auditory experiences.
On the other hand, it would also be essential to consider the importance of the theory multiple
intelligences (MI) at the moment of selecting the activities to be done in our lessons. According
to Gardner (1985), there are at least nine types of intelligence and every person has all of
them. However, not all those bits of intelligences have been developed by each individual. In
other words, there are some intelligence in which we are weak as well as strong.
Some authors such as Arnold & Fonseca (2014), advocates that there is a relationship between
the MI and the foreign language learning. In their study, they claim that teachers must use
39
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
different types of tasks to engage learners and help them feel more involved in their lessons.
As a matter of fact, at the end, students’ proles will be more outstanding.
It is worth noting that the learning styles and the MI go hand in hand. That is why it is necessary
to emphasize that every human being is capable to do many valuable things regarding his
weaknesses which may affect his development in some ways during the learning process
(Armstrong, 2009).
As the last point, it would be vital to mention a special key when acquiring a foreign language,
it is ‘motivation.’ It is an essential component since it controls students’ attitudes towards the
activities they are asked to do in their lessons. Motivation refers to “the reasons underlying
behavior” (Guay et al., 2010, p. 712). In other words, “it involves a constellation of beliefs,
perceptions, values, interests, and actions that are all closely related” (Lai, 2011, p. 5).
Materials and Method
The aim of this study is to establish the level of relation between students’ and teachers’
perceptions of a group of classroom activities which are used in the acquisition of the second
language. In order to carry out this study, the following question needs to be answered: What
teaching and learning activities do teachers and students consider most useful and ecient
in learning the second language?
Identication of variables in the objectives or research question that have been formulated:
The following independent variables have been considered in this study: language competence;
pragmatic competence; and types of activities.
The population used for data collection: The participants in the study are a group of 30 students
from seventh grade as well as their teachers from English, Science, and Social Studies subjects,
who agreed to take part in the investigation. Students received 18 weekly hours of classes
distributed in 14 for Language Arts, 2 for Science, and 2 for Social Studies.
School context: Participants belong to Unidad Educativa Bilingüe Nueva Semilla which is a
bilingual institution located in Guayaquil. At this school, even though students are close to
second language since they are little kids, formal instruction starts when they are in third
grade where they are induced by a Cambridge programme which is called Starters; Movers
(A1) for fourth and fth graders; and Flyers (A2) for sixth and seventh graders. At the end of
the year, learners are assessed through those Cambridge exams, and they got the certicate
if they prove they have reached the correspondent level.
40
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
Procedures for data collection: A questionnaire was conducted to students as well as
their English teacher to make a comparison between the perceptions that both have on
classroom activities.
Data analysis: A quasi-experimental design has been adopted in this study since the groups
have been pre-established and the subjects have not been randomly chosen (Nunan, 1992).
Besides, a Likert-like scale was used in the questionnaires; thus, quantitative data was provided.
With regard to this, the SPSS programme has been used to get the mean and the standard
deviation from the results. This analysis could be done using the Descriptive Statistics option
from the programme. In this option, two commands were employed: The Frequency and the
Descriptive Commands.
On the other hand, despite the obvious advantages of the questionnaires in identifying the
students’ and teachers’ perceptions on classroom activities, there is also a disadvantage that
appears regarding validity and reliability. Indeed, the problem starts when the participant is
not sincere enough and tries to modify his or her answers to please the enquirer, to cause a
good impression, or to obtain a greater degree of Social sanction (Madrid, & Pérez Cañado,
2001). Thus, in order to counter this issue, students were asked to explain their reasons and
support their ratings in each item of the questionnaire.
Results
Once collecting all the data from the 22 activities included in the questionnaire, with it has
been awarded considerably high scores, the most widely accepted are the following:
Table 1. Results of the questionnaire about the perceptions of effectiveness from some English activities
From Students’ viewpoint From teachers’ viewpoint
1. Internet (4,90) 1. Project (5)
2. Vocabulary (4,87) 2. Visual Aids (5)
3. Pronunciation exercises (4,50) 3. Oral exercises (5)
4. Playing games (4,47) 4. Internet (5)
5. Visual aids (4,43) 5. Vocabulary (5)
6. Watching videos (4,30) 6. Watching videos (4.67)
7. Listening to songs (4,23) 7. Pronunciation (4.67)
8. Oral (interaction-teacher-students) (4,20) 8. Activities on the Sociolinguistics (4,67)
41
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
From Students’ viewpoint From teachers’ viewpoint
9. Projects (4,17) 9. Culture ( 4,67)
10. Spelling activities (4,10) 10. Spelling activities (4,33)
11. Culture (4,07) 11. Strategies (4,33)
Source: author own elaboration.
The results can be interpreted considering the following rates:
Table 2. Rates used in the questionnaire
1 Of no importance
2 Of very little importance
3 Somewhat important
4 Very important
5 Important
Source: author own elaboration.
A group of 30 students, as well as their teachers, were asked to rate classroom activities. The
average score obtained was the following:
Table 3. Students’ perceptions about classroom activities
No. Mean Standard Deviation
Pair-work exercises 30 3,57 1,251
Group-work exercises 30 3,50 1,408
Data-gathering/interviewing foreigners on the street 30 2,37 0,890
Projects 30 4,17 1,117
Watching videos 30 4,30 0,794
Listening to tape recordings 30 1,97 0,765
Listening to songs 30 4,23 0,679
42
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
No. Mean Standard Deviation
Playing games 30 4,47 0,507
Visual aids 30 4,43 0,679
Oral exercises (interaction) 30 4,20 0,847
Internet 30 4,90 0,305
Dramatizing 30 2,80 1,031
Oral comprehension exercises 30 1,90 0,960
Strategies 30 2,43 0,728
Reading 30 3,00 0,910
Written activities 30 3,83 0,791
Pronunciation exercises 30 4,50 0,682
Vocabulary 30 4,87 0,346
Grammatical exercises 30 3,13 1,042
Spelling activities 30 4,10 0,995
Activities on the sociolinguistics 30 3,13 0,629
Culture 30 4,07 1,015
Source: author own elaboration.
Table 4. Teachers’ perceptions about classroom activities
No. Mean Standard Deviation
Pair-work exercises 3 4,00 1,000
Group-work exercises 3 3,00 0,000
Data-gathering/interviewing foreigners on the street 3 1,67 0,577
Projects 3 5,00 0,000
Watching videos 3 4,67 0,577
Listening to tape recordings 3 3,67 0,577
Listening to songs 3 4,00 1,000
43
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
No. Mean Standard Deviation
Playing games 3 3,67 1,155
Visual aids 3 5,00 0,000
Oral exercises (interaction) 3 5,00 0,000
Internet 3 5,00 0,000
Dramatizing 3 2,67 0,577
Oral comprehension exercises 3 2,67 1,528
Strategies 3 4,33 0,577
Reading 3 4,33 0,577
Written activities 3 4,33 0,577
Pronunciation exercises 3 4,67 0,577
Vocabulary 3 5,00 0,000
Grammatical exercises 3 3,33 0,577
Spelling activities 3 4,33 0,577
Activities on the sociolinguistics 3 4,67 0,577
Source: author own elaboration.
From the evidence presented in this study, it would appear that in this English classroom,
both students and teachers have a close relation considering their perceptions from the 22
activities which were part of the questionnaire.
According to the results, the 90 % of the students consider the Internet as a very important
activity in the classroom, whereas the other 10 % think it is important only. In the same way,
the 86,7 % of the class believe that vocabulary exercises are also very important. Finally,
the 60 % of the students think that pronunciation is very important, whereas the 30 %
believes it is important.
The percentages presented above have a very close relationship with what the teachers from
this classroom think about. Regarding the use of the Internet, 100 % of the teachers agreed
that it is very important in the classroom. Besides, the same amount underline the importance
of increasing students’ vocabulary. In fact, one of the reasons from one of the teacher was that
in his opinion without an extensive amount of words in our vocabulary, even though students
may know a lot of structures, they will not be able to communicate.
44
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
Something positive from these results is the great connection that exists between the teachers
from these three different subjects and their students. It is evident the inuence that the
teachers have particularly in this classroom. Some of the reasons that the students gave for
the questions were close to what the teachers think. One of them was vocabulary activities,
for example, where both participants (teachers and students) coincide in its importance at
the moment of expressing ideas or just simply communicate.
Despite all the positive conclusions, it is important to highlight a special fact that was observed
with two of the variables from the questionnaire: strategies and sociolinguistics. It is worth noting
that students were in some way not really sure about these two variables. Of course, before
doing the questionnaire, students receive a brief induction about what they were supposed to
do, and they were allowed to ask questions from the items they were not sure about. However, I
still believe some of them just choose an option randomly. Indeed, most of them chose option
3 (somewhat important), perhaps as they were not totally sure, they just choose a score not
too high but not too low.
Discussion
From what it has been shown in the results, there is a signicant connection between both
sides (students and teachers). It can be an advantage since it will help with the development of
learners’ skills as well as the increase of their language knowledge due to the implementation
of these activities which from both viewpoints are the most appropriate when learning a
foreign language.
Motivation plays an important role considering that students will feel engaged with the activities
and their performance will be better. Thus, fruitful results will be obtained. In fact, motivation
“energizes” human behavior and “gives it direction” (Dörney, 1990) and is a signicant dimension
in language learning (Gardner, 1985; Lightbown, & Spada, 1993).
Regarding the variable that was rated as one of the lowest in the questionnaire (Data gathering/
interviewing foreigners on the street), it would be benecial for education systems to consider
this kind of activity more relevant since students will have the opportunity to get in contact
with a more “real language.”
One the one hand it is understandable that educational institutions avoid these kind of activities
because they are in charge of taking care of students; thus, it is a huge responsibility to
let students go outside from school since there are many dangerous people or situations
surrounding them. However, a possible solution could be to create that environment inside
the institution. They can invite some foreigners who want to collaborate with the bilingual
program and make a performance such as if they were on the street.
45
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
On the other hand, some learning centers do not pay attention to the previous activity since
they think students can get in contact with foreign people by themselves. Sometimes it is
because there are students who have the possibility to travel with their families to an English
speaking country so that they are able not only to practice but improve the language. However,
what they must bear in mind is that not all students have the same opportunities.
In further research, it would be strongly recommended that the items from the questionnaires
must be according to the students’ ages to avoid misunderstanding such as the one that
happens with “strategies” and “sociolinguistics.” In that way, the reliability of the study will not
be affected, and we will be able to get objective results as possible.
It would be also a good option to do the study separately. That is to say to compare and analyze
students’ perceptions, but not with the whole teachers’ viewpoints, but one at a time. So in that
way, we can have a profound insight of what the perceptions are according to each subject.
Conclusions
It is undeniable that learning a foreign language, English, for example, can be a challenge for
some students since there are some barriers that they have to learn to overcome during the
process. However, it has been proved that when using the appropriate activities, outstanding
results can be obtained.
The aim of this work has been to prove that it is not only important to choose activities that “as
teachers” we tend to think they are fruitful for our students in one way or another, but rather
to consider the students’ learning styles as well as the use of the MI since learners may have
different preferences when learning the language.
In the same vein, it is necessary not to forget the importance of motivation in the learning
process, especially when acquiring a foreign language. There is a light of evidence that when
students do not feel motivated, they will have more diculties when achieving their personal
goals in life. Regarding education, undeniably, motivation will help to make this learning process
easier since it makes learners feel condent about what they are able to do.
It is universally acknowledged that every human being is a different world. Thus, it is quite
simple to come up with the idea that every person learns differently, too. There is no doubt
that sounds easy, but it is very demanding to prepare lessons with different kinds of activities
in order to support the different styles that a teacher is supposed to have in the classroom.
However, once more, it is our commitment which moves us to do the best in the profession
that we decided to embark.
46
Exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Classroom Activities
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
References
Anderman, E.M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement
goal orientations, perceived academic competence,
and grades across the transition to middle-level
schools. Contemporary Educational Psychology,
22(3), 269-298.
Armstrong, T. (2009). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom.
Virginia, USA: ASCD.
Arnold, J., & Fonseca, M.C. (2004). Multiple intelligence
theory and foreign language learning: A brain-
based perspective. IJES, International Journal of
English Studies, 4(1), 119-136.
Dörney, Z. (1990). Conzeptualizing motivation in foreign-
language learning. Language Learning, 40(1),
45-78.
Dunn, R., & Griggs, S.A. (1998). Learning Style and the nursing
Profession. New York, USA: University New York,
National League for Nursing Press.
Gardner, R.C. (1985). The Social Psychology of Language 4.
Baltimore, USA: Edward Arnold.
Guay, F. et al. (2010). Intrinsic, identied, and controlled
types of motivation for school subjects in young
elementary school children. British Journal of
Educational Psychology, 80(4), 711-735.
Huang, X., & Hu, X. (2015). Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions
of Classroom Activities Commonly Used in
English Speaking Classes. Toronto, Canada:
Canadian Center of Science and Education.
Jensen, D.R. (1997). Conditioning and concentration of
principal components. Australian Journal of
Statistics, 39(1), 93-104.
47
Gabriela Geovanna Guevara Enríquez
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación cientíca, vol 5, No. 36
Enero-marzo de 2021. e-ISSN 2550-6862. págs 36-47
Lightbown, P.M., & Spada, N. (1993). How languages are
learned. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Madrid, D., & Pérez-Cañado, M.L. (2001). Exploring the student’s
motivation in the EFL class. In García, E. (ed.).
Present and Future Trends in TEFL (pp. 321-364).
Almería, España: Universidad de Almería.
Moore, D. (2011). Effective instructional strategies: From theory
to practice. New York, USA: SAGE Publications.
Nunan, D. (1992). Research Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press.
Oxford, R.L. (2003). Learning Styles & Strategies. Recovered
from https://web.ntpu.edu.tw/~language/
workshop/read2.pdf.
Reid, J.K., & Dixon, W.A. (1999). Teacher attitudes on coping with
grief in the public school classroom. Psychology
in the Schools, 36(3), 219-229.
