students have deficiencies in pronunciation and/or oral expression. The study concludes that these

deficiencies in fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary management, and communication effectiveness can

be attributed to the lack of an implemented teaching strategy that fosters English language learning as

an integral element in education. Furthermore, the study suggests that tackling diction issues, which are

not only limited to the English subject but also prevalent in students' overall speech, should be

incorporated into the curriculum for comprehensive development.

El presente articulo científico tiene como objetivo el de determinar la potencialidad de una estrategia

de enseñanza para mejorar la pronunciación del idioma inglés; para lo cual se realiza una revisión de

las fundamentaciones psicopedagógicas y didácticas relacionadas con el aprendizaje del idioma inglés.

La investigación tuvo un enfoque cuantitativo de tipo descriptivo con el método analítico sintético,

aplicando la técnica de la encuesta y test a los estudiantes de 8vo año de Educación General Básica de

la Unidad Educativa Picoazá de la ciudad de Portoviejo, los hallazgos demuestran que los alumnos

presentan deficiencias en la pronunciación y/o expresión oral; concluyendo que las deficiencias en la

fluidez, pronunciación, manejo de vocabulario y efectividad de los estudiantes al tratar de comunicar

alguna idea se debe principalmente a la falta de implementación de una estrategia de enseñanza que

The importance of learning English is a universally acknowledged fact; across social, economic,

cultural, educational, and technological sectors, it is widely recognized that for a country, culture, or

nation to increase in a globalized world, it is imperative for their children and young people to acquire

Acquiring proficiency in English in Latin America presents numerous new opportunities, potential

sources of income, and enhanced security. The advantages of learning and speaking multiple languages

are evident, with English proficiency unlocking a broader spectrum of job opportunities. Besides,

English serves as a prevalent "business language" and is widely utilized in diplomatic settings. Across

various fields such as tourism, science, and computer science, English distinguishes as the dominant

and often indispensable language.

However, acquiring proficiency in English or a second language is not an easy task. The IDI English

Proficiency Index indicates that, as of 2020, Latin America has the lowest levels of English proficiency

(p. 03). This deficiency in language skills is attributed to the deficient quality of language teaching

programs in public education and challenges in accessing alternative training options (p. 34). The root

Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of educational development.

According to the report "Work in Progress: English Teaching and Teachers in Latin America" (2018),

"Many, if not most, English teachers in Latin America lack the necessary English skills, pedagogical

skills, or both, to be effective educators in the classroom" (p. 23). However, the majority of Latin

American countries lack structured programs to ensure that English educators receive the training

The Ministry of Education in Ecuador (2020) is presently employing Common European Framework

of Reference (CEFR) knowledge levels to categorize students based on their proficiency in the English

language. Nevertheless, the limited utilization of effective academic resources, classrooms lacking

technological tools, and insufficient support for the integration of electronic devices in educational

institutions are impeding students from achieving the desired proficiency levels as outlined by the

CEFR.

In general, teaching involves many strategies and methods for educating students. To better understand

these strategies, you can organize them into two distinct approaches: didactic teaching and pedagogy.

If you're working with children, it's helpful to learn about these approaches and understand how they

contrast.

classification can provide educators with a nuanced perspective on the diverse approaches available to

foster effective teaching and learning environments.

García-Ros et al., (2018) point out some didactic strategies for teaching the English language:

Characteristics of the teaching strategy

García-Ros et al., (2018) indicates that “When we talk about teaching strategies, we must begin by

establishing that these are used by the teacher from the very act of planning. Teaching strategies trace

technological advances, teaching strategies go beyond a plan in which guidelines are drawn up.

At present, the educator must consider that students are characterized by what has been called a virtual

mind. Schools and teachers cannot ignore the new ways of reading and interpreting the world with

which today's students approach school content and tasks.

Aldana (2018) identifies and explains some characteristics of this new group, He considers that they

use a variety of resources to obtain information: web pages, hard drives, cell phones, virtual

communities, etc.; They use and decode different types of language that, furthermore, are not presented

sequentially, but simultaneously, such as animations, photographs, graphics, texts, hypertexts; create

new productions from parts of other products (copy-paste); They are relativists par excellence; on the

one hand, because the website is constantly updated, and on the other, because all information is

to provide pedagogical help. For this reason, the teacher must have a broad background of strategies,

knowing what function they have and how they can be used appropriately” (p. 23), other

characterizations of teaching strategies are based more on teaching work, an example of this is the one

that the teacher makes to guide teaching in order to promote the learning of their students” (p. 09). Here

they are presented rather as general guidelines on how to teach content considering what you want

that is transmitted to students, the intellectual work that they do, the values that are put into play in the

class situation, the way of understanding social, historical, scientific, artistic, cultural content, among

others.

When applying teaching strategies, it is necessary to consider some aspects or factors, which are defined

by De La Cruz et al (2020) as essential aspects, these are:

Consideration of the general characteristics of the learners, such as level of cognitive development,

emotional factors, prior knowledge.

Type of mastery of general knowledge and curricular content.

The intentionality or goal that is desired to be achieved and the cognitive and pedagogical activities that

the student must carry out to achieve it.

Vega (2020) considers that "Pronunciation is more than 'listening and repeating'. Pronunciation includes

features of language (vocabulary and grammar) and skills (speaking and listening)" (p. 45) Like

vocabulary and grammar, we pronounce by noticing and understanding the rules and patterns that lie

beneath the surface of speech. For example, if an English word has two syllables, the accent is usually

on the first syllable for nouns and adjectives, and on the second syllable for verbs.

Since pronunciation is part of speech, it's also physical. To pronounce a new language, we need to

According to Tracey Derwing and Murray Munro, (2018) authors of Pronunciation Fundamentals, most

people who learn a new language retain the accent characteristics of their native language. However,

accent isn't necessarily a problem. You can keep the accent and still be understood.

English has become a lingua franca, or language that people use to communicate with each other

globally. People with different languages use English to communicate, even if there is no native English

speaker present.

In her book The Phonology of English as an International Language, Jennifer Jenkins (2018) argues

that the role of English as a lingua franca has implications for pronunciation teaching. "The goal is not

to sound like a native speaker, but to communicate effectively in a global context" (p.45). With this

vision, a learner's goal may be to communicate with other people around the world, not necessarily with

It means that the teacher should teach optional features of pronunciation to make words easier to say,

such as saying going to instead of going to. Going to may be easier for a learner to say, and it's closer

to the way many native speakers pronounce going to. However, it is optional because most listeners

will understand go to or go to.

speaking), but they do. According to John Wells (2028) in the Longman Dictionary of Pronunciation,

most people use glottal occlusion to replace the /t/ sound in words like button.

For Salamanca (2020) "Deciding to learn English with a British or American accent is not a ultimate

goal" (p. 67). Instead, the teacher should focus on features of pronunciation that could distort their

message. For example, Vietnamese speakers may miss consonants at the ends of words, and German

speakers may confuse the /v/ and /w/ sounds. This can make it difficult for listeners to understand some

words.

Salamanca also states that the most serious pronunciation problems are those that are not known. "For

example, people who speak Spanish already make sounds that resemble English /b/ and /v/. However,

in Spanish, /b/ and /v/ are allophones, variants of the same sound" (p. 90).

Chavez (2019) claims that English spelling is not useful for students. It evolved from speech, but then

speech and spelling went their separate ways. Consequently, there are often many ways to spell the

In terms of weaknesses in speaking English, the survey results indicate that 19% of students identified

fluency as their weakness, 26% pointed to pronunciation, 13% mentioned vocabulary, and 13%

indicated effectiveness. Interestingly, 24% of students expressed that all aspects (fluency,

pronunciation, vocabulary, and effectiveness) were their weaknesses. This suggests that a quarter of the

Among the main mistakes of students is pronunciation, which is what is most difficult for students

learning English. They generally have problems with vowels because there are more sounds in English

and they are often not pronounced as they are written. It can be difficult to distinguish between long

The introduction to this scientific article underscores the significance of teaching the English language

in the contemporary era, driven by the demands of globalization where English is considered a crucial

second language. The challenges associated with speaking English, as discussed by Macías (2017), are

multifaceted, with fluency being a key element. Macías, defines fluency in any language as the ability

to speak easily, reasonably quickly, and without frequent pauses. Fluency is essential for being well

understood by the interlocutor. However, the test results reveal that only about a quarter of the students

attain a strong evaluation, indicating a high level of adequacy, while more than a third are classified as

weak. This suggests a significant deficiency in fluency among students when speaking the English

language.

logical and impactful communication. These combined challenges highlight the multifaceted nature of

language proficiency issues among the student population.

The survey results provide further support for the identified challenges in oral expression. Only 26% of

students acknowledge vocabulary as a strength in speaking English, while a notable 21% admit to

having no strength at all. Pronunciation emerges as a significant weakness, highlighted by 26% of

students, and it's remarkable that many students indicate difficulties across all elements of oral

This strategy is based on the "Realia Strategies for Connecting Language Acquisition with the Real

World" by Herrell and Jordan (2014).

Given that the use of realia is essential for improving oral skills in learning the English language, several

definitions of this concept have been noted

Realia refers to real objects used in the classroom to develop basic knowledge and vocabulary. It

provides students with opportunities to engage all their senses in the learning process (Echevarría, Vogt,

& Short, 2010). Although it is not always possible to use realia in the classroom, it is often the best

option when students are learning about a particular topic. Realia allows students to see, feel, hear, and

even smell the objects they are studying

Love to Teach (2019) explains the importance of using physical (concrete) materials that can be

Figure 5.1 (on the next page) for suggestions of classroom realia that enhance powerful learning

experiences.

According to Herrel and Jordan (2014), various categories of realia can significantly aid in developing

students' oral skills. For instance, household items such as eating utensils and kitchen appliances from

different cultures, as well as miniatures like household furniture and old-fashioned items no longer

commonly seen, can be utilized for active experiences, vocabulary development, role-playing, story

emphasize that the use of flowers and plants allows students to make size and smell comparisons.

1.- Household Goods

Utensils that are used for eating, kitchen appliances (from different cultures of Ecuador), miniatures

such as furniture for home, items used by grandmothers and that are no longer used today.

Uses

Active experiences, (each student says aloud the name of each object indicated) vocabulary

development, role plays, recreation of stories, pre-reading activities, oral language practice.

2.- Feeding

3.- Clothing

Different types of hats (from the coastal region and the mountains), shoes, sweaters, jackets, boots, any

example of dress from the region to support understanding.

Uses

5.-Agricultural or occupational articles

Rakes, plows, harnesses, tools, baskets, compost, nails, models of barns, silos, scarecrows, carts, farm

carts, (miniature models).

Uses

Pre-reading activities, role plays, vocabulary development, knowledge of dimensions and weight

6.- Flowers and plants

Examples of flowers and plants being studied or read about; unusual plants such as large sunflowers,

pumpkins

Uses

Sensory experiences, vocabulary development

8.- Craftsmanship

Weaving, making thread cords, necklaces, clay carving, potter's wheel, spinning wheel, loom,

Uses

of the learning process. For students at the preproduction level, the assessment involves showing two

objects and prompting them to identify what they see. At the early production stage, students are tasked

with observing two objects and discussing their use. As students reach the speech emergence stage, they

progress to naming objects. Additionally, realia can be utilized to evaluate students' fluency by

prompting them to describe and compare objects.

In the preproduction stage, often referred to as the silent period, realia serve as a valuable tool for

introducing new vocabulary. Meza recommends employing realia to familiarize students with new

words by passing objects around for them to observe and learn. Encouraging students to attempt

pronouncing the correct name of the object while holding it can facilitate vocabulary acquisition during

advises instructing students to verbally identify objects and describe their use. For example, students

may say, 'This is a computer, and it is used to process data.' This approach not only reinforces

vocabulary acquisition but also encourages students to express themselves more fluently and

comprehensively.

Here there are some activities:

Name two or three objects and suggest that students identify the correct object and pronounce it as you

name it.

Present two or three objects and ask students to identify the correct object by its use (e.g., "What is the

name of the text-making machine?").

Encourage students to compare objects.

Include objects of different color, size, and usefulness. Example: What's the difference between a

desktop computer and a laptop??

• Identify opportunities to use realia—Be aware of opportunities to include realia in lessons as you plan.

Pre read any stories that will be read aloud or used for reading instruction to identify vocabulary that

may be unfamiliar to the students. Once the vocabulary is identified, locate realia that will be helpful in

enhancing their understanding.

• Collect realia: Start collecting items that can be incorporated into the classroom and organize them in

a way that can be easily accessed for the teaching-learning process. You can use newspapers,

▪ Build a library of realia— Organize with the other teachers at the educational institution to create

▪ Use field trips as realia—If it’s too large to move and your students’ learning would ben- efit by

▪ Assess by using realia—Realia can be used to assess students’ vocabulary and under- standing of

To improve students’ oral skills by using realia as a teaching strategy at 8th grade Basic General

Objective: To talk about students’ homes.

Class stage:

Preproduction

The teacher presents the new vocabulary, modeling the pronunciation of the words.

Students prepare a short speech describing some objects.

Students prepare a short story using the new vocabulary.

Teacher evaluates this activity using a rubric with some criteria: number of words used, pronunciation,

related vocabulary.

Objective: To talk about the daily diet of students

Class Stage:

Students construct a sentence with the food of their choice.

The students prepare a short exhibition on the origin of a chosen food.

The teacher evaluates this activity with a rubric with some criteria: number of words used,

The teacher indicates common clothes and objects, using words and how to pronounce them correctly.

The teacher makes the following speech: Today I visited my grandmother, but I didn't want to leave

empty-handed, so I bought a jipijapa hat, a brown sweater; But I also bought a jacket for my nephew

who lives with my grandmother and since there was promotion, I bought a pair of cowhide boots.

The teacher asks the students to identify the clothing that is named in the speech

Speech Emergency:

The teacher asks the students to identify the objects or clothing that they are going to pronounce.

Students make a short sentence out of an object or clothing

Objective: To incorporate vocabulary that is used in written texts in different contents