SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH: ADAPTATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AT MIDDLE SCHOOL

Abstract

English learning has changed its role in Mexican Education throughout the years. Recently, in 2011, but with initial proof programs since 2009, the Federal Office of Public Education in Mexico proposed the National English Program in Basic Education, which included K-9.

National English Program was new for some states, while others had to migrate and adjust the ones they had. Recently in 2017 some adaptations were made, the most important was the name of the program, but maintained its essence. In Zacatecas state, there was not a background regarding English learning, at least for K-6 students. In middle school (7-9 grades) most of the schools have teachers. Currently there are still some struggles in Zacatecas, English teachers for K-6 have not been hired to cover all schools, although its number has been increasing since 2011.

This situation has broadened the proficiency levels of English commonly obtained by students. The study was carried out in Middle School #48 in the city of Zacatecas considering three 7^th grade groups. The research is a mixed study, which considered different information gathered during the 2017-2018 school year, the intervention was based on Vygotsky’s theory, and planning according to the National English Program, at the end of the school year, results were collected, demonstrating the importance of effective planning based on context and students’ abilities.