MEMORIAS DEL V FORO DE ESTUDIOS EN LENGUAS INTERNACIONAL (FEL 2009)

ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

Building Bridges between the Unach Tuxtla Language School &

the Tuxtla Gutierrez Fire Department
M. en Ed. Ana Maria Elisa Daz de la Garza
M. en Ed. Mara de Lourdes Gutirrez Aceves
Escuela de Lenguas Tuxtla
Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas

Abstract
Now in their second year, Teaching Outreach Programs called UVDS (Unidades
de Vinculacin Docente) have been created at the Autonomous University of
Chiapas (UNACH) seeking to build bridges to transform the climate of ideas
and the future of the community in an attempt to transform the lives of diverse
communities of learners through innovative quality education. UVDs provide LEI
(Licenciatura en la Enseanza del Ingls) trainees with opportunities to practice
teaching and learning skills and to develop learners foreign language skills
under the guidance of mentors. This article is intended to offer a view of our
experience at the Tuxtla Gutierrez Fire Department. The Autonomous University
of Chiapas (UNACH) has fostered the creation of UVDS (Unidades de
Vinculacin Docente) to act as a bridge between our university and the
community. The primary goals of these outreach programs are to enhance and
support improvements in education in the state of Chiapas, Mexico by using the
unique resources available at the university to serve diverse communities of
lifelong learners with innovative programs. It is our belief that the government
and the educational community must work together as partners to improve the
educational opportunities for our state. UVDs provide LEI (Licenciatura en la
Enseanza del Ingls) trainees with opportunities to address issues related to
foreign language learning and teaching through experiential learning under the
guidance of Teacher Trainers with the aim of developing TESOL student
teachers future job skills with a focus on social impact and relevance.
This paper is intended to offer a view of our experience at the Tuxtla Fire
Department in helping trainees to enhance their teaching learning skills by
developing firefighters foreign language skills during the 2009 Spring term. By
describing this process and our findings, we hope to encourage other
practitioners to continue exploring the value of UVDs to create teaching and
learning communities in their own professional venues.
This investigation was coordinated and headed by M. in Ed. Ma. De Lourdes
Gutierrez Aceves, together with the participation of M. in Ed. Ana Mara Elisa
Daz de la Garza, both members of the Academic Body Professional
Development and Evaluation in Teaching Languages (Desarrollo Profesional y
Evaluacin en la Enseanza de Lenguas), .along with the valuable
collaboration of Mtro. Gabriel Llaven Coutio and Lic. Damin Martnez Villatoro
of the Tuxtla Language School.
The student teachers involved in this investigation were trainees from third and
fourth semesters of our TESOL Teacher Training Program at the Tuxtla
Language School of the UNACH (Autonomous University of Chiapas, Mexico).

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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

INTRODUCTION
The Tuxtla Gutierrez Fire Department (H. Cuerpo de Bomberos de Tuxtla
Gutirrez), was founded forty eight years ago in an effort to protect our
communitys safety.

It is a sad fact that most firefighters have had few

opportunities to develop their foreign language skills and that they have lost many
opportunities

for

Continuous

Professional

Development

(CPD)

regarding

methodology, emergency rescue efforts and efficient firefighting techniques due to

the fact that they are not eligible for training opportunities in the United States and
Canada if they do not have a command of the English language.
The local fire department is currently funded by private donations as well as
an added surtax to the municipal water bill which provides limited funds for training
personnel.

At the request of the Coordination for Sustainable Development

(Coordinacin de Desarrollo Sustentable), the fire department inquired about the

possibility of receiving foreign language instruction from the Tuxtla Language
School at the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH). Since the UNACH
sponsors special outreach projects like this in order to support the community
these are fully subsidized and firefighters were provided with free English lessons.
The Licenciatura en la Enseanza del Ingles (LEI) was opened in 1999 at
the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH) in Tuxtla Gutierrez to train future
EFL Teachers. Student-teachers attend seven hours of instruction on a daily basis
and will have obtained 430 credits upon completion of the current nine semester
study plan.
However, results from the Language Schools follow-up studies project have
provided evidence that LEI trainees require as many opportunities as possible to
develop their teaching practice, especially in the areas of language teaching
methodology and class management. (Diaz de la Garza 2006: 13). It is our belief
that there is therefore a great need in our community to prepare future teachers
with a bridge between being students of teaching to becoming teachers of
students.

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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3
Teaching is a reciprocal process, situated in practice, interacting with the context of the
learning, the community, the culture, the students, and all the surrounding environs. Greene
(2005:11)

Thus, the social impact of this investigation was to provide:

Teaching/learning opportunities to develop 20 firefighters basic level ESP

EFL language skills.

Opportunities to develop 18 ESOL Student-teachers teaching skills :

o 8 trainees from 3rd Semester
o 10 trainees from 4th Semester

Three subjects were chosen from the LEI study program:

1. Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary ( Didctica de la Gramtica y los
Elementos Lxicos)

2. English IV (Ingls IV)

3. Teaching Reading Comprension (Didctica de Comprensin de Lectura)

We believe that these practical subjects were ideal for our study since they
help learners to develop integrated skills, especially English for Specific Purposes,
whilst providing trainees with significant teaching/learning opportunities to develop
their teaching practices.
FINDINGS
Traditional approaches towards teaching English as a Second Language
may be considered boring by most students since they might feel that it is not
significant and may be unmotivating to learners which may possibly lead to
unsuccessful academic results or to a high failure rate in ESOL. . In addition, a
great number of firefighters informally commented that they were afraid that
studying English as a foreign language was going to be challenging and boring.
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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

However, thanks to the LEI students hard work and creativity, as well as to the
great enthusiasm of the teacher trainers involved, fire fighters became greatly
motivated. Due to the fact that learners needs focused mainly on receptive skills
(reading comprehension and developing listening skills), eclectic approaches
towards teaching English were employed in this project.

As mentors in this UVD we had two main objectives:

a) In the case of the firefighters:

To develop learners Knowledge/Awareness & Skills (KAS) towards EFL

to be able to communicate effectively in the target language at a basic
level.

To provide students with more opportunities for Continuous Professional

Development.

b) For the Teacher trainers to:

Develop trainees KAS concerning teaching and learning.

Develop trainees abilities to teach real groups.

Develop trainees abilities to design and adapt teaching resources.

Develop trainees reflective skills in and on practice.

Provide opportunities to link theory and practice with on the job

training.

METHODOLOGY
From the beginning of this UVD trainers and trainees met to design and plan
the program for the course which was based on the Tuxtla Language Schools
basic level English program. Trainees were provided with the general plan and
topics in an effort to allow them enough time to prepare appropriate materials and
lessons. Trainees taught four classes per week which were scheduled to meet
firefighters busy schedules. Nonetheless, classes were sometimes cancelled in the
event of emergencies.
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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

Firefighters progress was assessed by student teachers on a monthly basis

under the guidance of their mentors who met with them once a week.

Trainees

were instructed to write reflections in a learning log regarding significant personal

experiences in this project.

Developing trainees reflective skills was of prime

interest since according to Moon (2004:101) reflection is a part of learning . and

is intimately linked with the learning process.
Upon analysis of their reflections we learned that most trainees felt that the
experience of visiting the fire department had been rewarding and that they felt that
it had been meaningful to work with them to develop their creativity and teaching
skills. In addition, they were able to take full advantage of their English skills in
preparing materials which helped them to present effective lessons. In addition, the
challenge of working with adults provided them with the opportunity to explore the
English level of learners in this community.
All participants commented that this had been their first experience
collaborating in an UVD and that they felt that it had been an enriching experience
since they had been mentored throughout the process by qualified Teacher
Trainers. The opportunity to design lesson plans, didactic resources and practice
their teaching skills has been an extremely beneficial experience which has
benefited their training enormously. Main issues which were addressed include
contact with authentic learners, opportunities to deal with class management, error
correction, and motivating learners. Most participants remarked that they would be
delighted to continue to collaborate with this type of project in the future.
This event was so successful that the fire department has invited us to
continue to participate with more outreach programs and have encouraged us to
open new groups to provide more opportunities for public servants in our
community.
EXPLORING SUCCESS & FAILURE IN THIS OUTREACH PROJECT
Since teaching is more an art than a science, it is a demanding experience.
Therefore, great care needs to be paid to provide trainees with practical
experience in real life contexts during ITT so that they can learn to deal with
these situations effectively. In addition, teacher trainers or mentors need to

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MEMORIAS DEL V FORO DE ESTUDIOS EN LENGUAS INTERNACIONAL (FEL 2009)

ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3
guide student-teachers through this process to promote reflective
practices.(Diaz de la Garza 2006:11)

Many LEI trainees commented that they enjoyed the opportunity of working
in real-life contexts under the guidance of their Teacher Trainers to develop
teaching

skills

and

have

worked

diligently

teaching/learning reflective practices. However,

towards
we

developing

must admit that

their
we

encountered some challenges during this investigation. In the following section of

this article we would like to share both our success and the challenges we faced so
that other practitioners may take them into consideration if planning on conducting
a similar study.
SUCCESS
In general, most participants commented that they felt engaged in the
project and were motivated to help their learners to develop their foreign language
skills. According to the evaluation results obtained at the end of this UVD we feel
that we accomplished a great deal in this study since a great number of learners
achieved our course objectives. We are proud to report that two of the participating
firefighters were selected to travel to the United States to receive training in a
saving lives workshop; which would most likely not have been possible without
this course.
In the case of trainees it is our pleasure to report that they felt satisfied,
motivated and convinced that they have chosen the correct career. Most felt that
their professional skills had been enriched as a result of this outreach program.

CHALLENGES
One of the main issues we wish to address is that of firefighters having to

miss classes due to the fact that it was the dry season and many farmers were
using slash and burn techniques to plant crops. Every time a fire got out of hand
the firefighters had to respond to the emergencies which meant that classes were
interrupted and our goals could not be met. Another problem was the flu epidemic
which hit Mexico very hard in May. Due to the H1N1 outbreak

English sessions

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MEMORIAS DEL V FORO DE ESTUDIOS EN LENGUAS INTERNACIONAL (FEL 2009)

ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

had to be cancelled for three weeks which did not allow us to achieve all of our
aims.
We would also like to mention that we failed to take into consideration
classroom observation when we began this outreach project. We are now aware
that it would have been beneficial for trainees to observe classes before going into
the classroom to teach since
Observation is commonly used in education as a tool to support understanding
and development. It is one of two common ways of getting information which
can help us make sense of educational situations, gauge the effectiveness of
educational practices, and plan attempts for improvements. (Maldarez
2003:179)

In addition, trainees pointed out that they sometimes felt uncomfortable

because this was the first time some firefighters had ever had the opportunity to
take English lessons which became an obstacle for trainees, who had never
taught non-heterogeneous groups. Student teachers felt confused regarding how
to handle multi-skilled groups since they had had no prior experience addressing
this issue. In retrospect we are now aware that perhaps trainers should have
divided the group after a diagnostic exam and worked with different levels of
English to be more successful in this project.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
We feel that this project has been valuable for all involved and hope to
continue with Phase Three of this project in 2010. In the following phase we hope
that students who have the opportunity to be part of this project are as significantly
involved and motivated as was the case in this UVD. One of the ideas emerging
after evaluating the course is to include the opportunity to use role plays using the
language required for emergency situations, so that firefighters may practice
authentic ESP. We also will do our best to reinforce topics being covered in class
to ensure more effective consolidation of foreign language learning.

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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of conducting an outreach program between the Tuxtla
Language School LEI program and the Tuxtla Gutierrez Fire Department was to
provide Trainees with opportunities to be able to develop reflective skills and to
share knowledge as they explore issues such as class management, resource
design and effective teaching practices which they wished to address
collaboratively under the guidance of a Mentor in a real life context. Learners and
firefighters benefited greatly since they were provided with opportunities to develop
their L2 languages skills. UVDs have the potential to provide practical experience
for trainees and a support system for overburdened and overworked public
servants. Were committed to providing the practical knowledge and skills both
trainees and government workers need for immediate impact on the job.
We hope that other practitioners will continue exploring the value of
Outreach Programs such as those in place at the UNACH in the form of UVDs to
create learning communities in their own professional venues.

Universidad de Quintana Roo Departamento de Lengua y Educacin

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REFERENCES

1. Diaz de la Garza, A. (2006) Tesis ADFs AS LIFE RAFTS FOR NEWLY QUALIFIED
TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS submitted to the University of Exeter as a dissertation for the
degree of Master of Education by advanced study in Education(Special Field: Trainer
Development English Language Teaching).

2. Greene, C. (2005) Creating Connections: A Pilot Study on an Online Community of

Learners Journal of Interactive Online Learning 3/3. [Online]. Available from: www.ncolr.org.
Accessed 5/Oct/05.
3. Maldarez, A. (2003) Observation. ELT Journal 57/2.

4. Moon, J. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning. London :

Rothledge Farm.

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ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

Biodata

Ana Mara Elisa Daz de la Garza is a Teacher Trainer at the Autonomous

University of Chiapas. She has been awarded an MEd degree in ELT Trainer
Development, Perfile PROMEP; is an oral examiner for Cambridge Exams,
member of the Academic Body Professional Development & Evaluation in TESOL
and has developed research projects and written academic articles.
Contact:amediaz57@hotmail.com

Mara de Lourdes Gutirrez Aceves is a Teacher Trainer at the Autonomous

University of Chiapas. She has been awarded the COTE, a MEd degree in ELT
Trainer Development, and studies the doctorate in Education; member of the
Academic Body Professional Development & Evaluation in TESOL and has
developed research projects and written academic articles.
Contact: gualiz@yahoo.com.mx

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