This seminar-workshop was developed at the request of Ephesians Publishing Inc. for the Manila Central University teacher training series for elementary school and high school teachers. This was conducted on May 29, 2013.

1. Practical Approaches for
Cultivating English Proficiency
Cindy Cruz-Cabrera
Professor | Consultant | Gender Specialist
about.me/cindycruzcabrera

2. The Philippines
and English Proficiency

3. • English – the language of choice for
education, business and professions
• English – a second language
• Everyone speaks a level of English
• The country’s rank in English proficiency
• Our advantages as English speakers and as an
English-speaking nation
– Within the country
– Abroad

4. What is “English proficiency”?

5. • Expertness in the English language
• A display of well-advancement or competence
in the use of the English language
• The ability to speak or perform in an acquired
language (for most Filipinos, a second
language)
• The language arts: reading and listening
(receptive); speaking and writing (productive)

6. What aspects are measured to
determine English proficiency?

7. Accuracy
• Vocabulary
• Pronunciation
• Structure
Fluency
• Prescriptive language
• Descriptive language
• Avoidance of code-switching
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

8. Prescriptive Grammar
VS
Descriptive Grammar

9. Prescriptive Grammar (standard rules-based)
• Standard academic English with a certain set of
rules
• Formal, academic and traditional as certain
people or groups think it should be taught
• Considered politically correct / socially proper
Descriptive Grammar (usage-based)
• English as actually used by speakers / writers
• Everyday English
• More ambiguous, changeable, flexible
• Varies with countries, states, and cultural groups

10. What are your thoughts
and insights?

11. • How would you handle the following in your
classroom?
– Mistakes in pronunciation
– Mistakes in vocabulary or word choice
– Sentence structure problems
• In your classroom, would you allow only
prescriptive grammar? Or would you
accommodate descriptive grammar? Why or
why not?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

12. Why is English proficiency
important?

13. • Certain pursuits and industries require a
prescribed level of competence in the
language
• Employment – candidates must have the
language skills necessary to perform their jobs
• Academic study – candidates must be suited
for academic work in English
• Extensive reading, writing and research;
participation in discussions, debates and
defence of written work

14. Why is English proficiency
measured?

15. • Admission to a foreign university
• Employment abroad
• Working in a sector or an industry where
English is the primary language, language of
business
• Professional proof / internationally accepted
standardized measurement of English
proficiency

16. How is English proficiency
measured?

17. • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
• International English Language Testing System
(IELTS)
• Pearson Test in English (PTE)
• Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)
• Business English Certificate Higher (BEC
Higher)
• Test of English for International
Communication (TOEIC)
• Language Placement Tests for schools

18. • English Proficiency Verification VS. English
Proficiency Certification (vary per institution)
• The American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages (ACTFL) puts a premium on
“what a speaker can do with the language
rather than focusing on the structures and
abstract vocabulary that a speaker knows” and
uses the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to
measure this.

19. • The Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR)
developed a set of descriptions of abilities to
communicate in a language.
• The Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages – guideline used to
describe achievements of learners of foreign
languages.
• It regards language users as social agents who
develop general and particular communicative
competences while trying to achieve their
everyday goals.

20. Interagency Language
Roundtable (ILR) Scale

21. Elementary Proficiency – Level 1
• Able to satisfy routine travel needs and
conduct themselves in a polite manner
• Able to use questions and answers for very
familiar topics within a limited level of
experience
• Able to understand basic questions and
speech, allowing for slowed speech, repetition
or paraphrase

22. Elementary Proficiency – Level 1
• Has only a vocabulary large enough to
communicate the most basic of needs
• Makes frequent mistakes in pronunciation and
grammar
• Makes frequent punctuation and grammatical
mistakes in writing of the language
• Able to perform most basic functions using
the language such as making purchases,
telling the time, ordering simple meals and
asking for and giving simple directions.

23. Limited Working Proficiency – Level 2
• Able to satisfy routine social demands and
limited work requirements
• Can handle with confidence, but not with
facility, most basic social situations including
introductions and casual conversations about
current events, work, family, and
autobiographical information
• Can handle limited work
requirements, needing help in handling any
complications or difficulties

24. Limited Working Proficiency – Level 2
• Can get the gist of most conversations on non-
technical subjects (i.e. topics which require no
specialized knowledge), and has a speaking
vocabulary sufficient to respond simply with
some circumlocutions
• Has an accent which, though often quite
faulty, is intelligible
• Can usually handle elementary constructions
quite accurately but does not have thorough
or confident control of the grammar.

25. Professional Working Proficiency – Level 3
• Able to speak the language with sufficient
structural accuracy and vocabulary to
participate effectively in most conversations
on practical, social, and professional topics
• Can discuss particular interests and special
fields of competence with reasonable ease
• Has comprehension which is quite complete
for a normal rate of speech

26. Professional Working Proficiency – Level 3
• Has a general vocabulary which is broad
enough that he or she rarely has to grope for a
word
• Has an accent which may be obviously foreign;
has a good control of grammar; and whose
errors virtually never interfere with
understanding and rarely disturb the native
speaker.

27. Full Professional Proficiency – Level 4
• able to use the language fluently and
accurately on all levels and as normally
pertinent to professional needs.
• can understand and participate in any
conversations within the range of own
personal and professional experience with a
high degree of fluency and precision of
vocabulary

28. Full Professional Proficiency – Level 4
• would rarely be taken for a native speaker, but
can respond appropriately even in unfamiliar
grounds or situations
• makes only quite rare and minute errors of
pronunciation and grammar
• can handle informal interpreting of the
language.

29. Native or Bilingual Proficiency – Level 5
• Has a speaking proficiency equivalent to that
of an educated native speaker
• Has complete fluency in the language, such
that speech on all levels is fully accepted by
educated native speakers in all of its features,
including breadth of vocabulary and idiom,
colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural
references.

30. The Common European
Framework of Reference
for Languages

31. A – Basic User
A1 - Beginner
• Can understand and use
familiar everyday expressions
and very basic phrases aimed
at the satisfaction of needs of
a concrete type.
• Can introduce him/herself and
others and can ask and answer
questions about personal
details such as where he/she
lives, people he/she knows
and things he/she has.
• Can interact in a simple way
provided the other person
talks slowly and clearly and is
prepared to help.
A2 - Elementary
• Can understand sentences and
frequently used expressions
related to areas of most
immediate relevance (e.g. very
basic personal and family
information, shopping, local
geography, employment).
• Can communicate in simple
and routine tasks requiring a
simple and direct exchange of
information on familiar and
routine matters.
• Can describe in simple terms
aspects of his/her
background, immediate
environment and matters in
areas of immediate need.

32. B - Independent User
B1 - Intermediate
• Can understand the main
points of clear standard input
on familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, school,
leisure, etc.
• Can deal with most situations
likely to arise while travelling
in an area where the language
is spoken.
• Can produce simple connected
text on topics that are familiar
or of personal interest.
• Can describe experiences and
events, dreams, hopes and
ambitions and briefly give
reasons and explanations for
opinions and plans.
B2 - Upper Intermediate
• Can understand the main ideas
of complex text on both
concrete and abstract topics,
including technical discussions
in his/her field of
specialisation.
• Can interact with a degree of
fluency and spontaneity that
makes regular interaction with
native speakers quite possible
without strain for either party.
• Can produce clear, detailed
text on a wide range of
subjects and explain a
viewpoint on a topical issue
giving the advantages and
disadvantages of various
options.

33. C - Proficient User
C1 - Advanced
• Can understand a wide range
of demanding, longer
texts, and recognise implicit
meaning.
• Can express ideas fluently and
spontaneously without much
obvious searching for
expressions.
• Can use language flexibly and
effectively for social, academic
and professional purposes.
• Can produce clear, well-
structured, detailed text on
complex subjects, showing
controlled use of
organisational
patterns, connectors and
cohesive devices.
C2 - Mastery or Proficiency
• Can understand with ease
virtually everything heard or
read.
• Can summarise information
from different spoken and
written sources,
reconstructing arguments and
accounts in a coherent
presentation.
• Can express him/herself
spontaneously, very fluently
and precisely, differentiating
finer shades of meaning even
in the most complex
situations.

34. Issues on English Proficiency:
What are your thoughts
and insights?

35. • Switching and mixing codes, with English
as a second language or foreign language
• Bilingualism and plurilingualism
• Native language structure, accent and
pronunciation vs. that of English
• Would you allow your students to code-
switch or answer in Filipino in your class?
Why or why not?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

36. • Varieties of English
• Cultural considerations –
colloquialisms, idiomatic expressions
• Philippine English
• Would you accommodate varieties of
English, cultural language differences and
Philippine English in your classroom?
Why or why not?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

37. Philippine English

38. • Grammatical structures – inverted (Spanish
influence)
• No F, thus [p]
• P and F confusion – F not originally
present, hyper correction
• No V, and in Spanish [v] and [b] both
pronounced [b]
• Some dialects have naturally occurring F
and V (Ibaloi, Manobo)

39. • Short vowels (American) not sounds
present in our language/dialects
• “brick” i = happy
• [bit] and [beat]
• [hit] and [heat]
• Some dialects have only 3 vowels (a i u)
Manuvu
• [back] and [buck], also [back] as in [alin]
• *cat+ and *cut+ (my dad says “kets”)

40. • [pass] and [puss]
• [beach] and [bitch]
• [ble] [fle] ple] = marbol, waffol, peopol
• [gle] and [dle] = googel, handel, German
Moreno “gels”
• Travel [trabel]
• Computer [computer] (this is how I say it in
Filipino, of course!)
• Circle [sirkel]

41. • No Z [sipper] [soo] [sigsag]
• Words beginning with S = es+word (Spanish
influence) – estrella, estatua, estricto,
estofado
• Older generation of Filipinos = istar, ispade,
istampede, islide, isky, ischolar – ISKO ng UP
• Direct translations – every language has these
difficulties
• “Open the light.” “Side.” (Tabi!)
• “Tapos na tayo. The wedding is over!”

42. Other Languages
• Japanese – No [L] sound
• French – [s] at the end of words is always
silent
• French and Spanish – similar to Filipino
construction (“a lot a lot of...”+“major major”)
• “The IG (egg) is the child of the man chicken.”
• “Cindy, what is the opposite of ‘dog’?”
• “There were many hobbits.”
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

43. • Implications of proficiency, or a lack thereof
(impressions, judgments, self-concept)
• English proficiency as a class phenomenon
• Marginalization in the classroom
• Background and personal history
• Examine your own background and
personal history vis-a-vis the learning of
English. What factors encouraged and
hindered acquisition of the language?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

44. Classroom Experience
• What are your thoughts or observations on
English proficiency and the study of concepts?
Do you feel there is a correlation between
them?
• What are the things that signal to you that
your students are well-equipped to discuss the
subject matter in English? Not very well-
equipped? Have difficulty?
• How do you plan your lessons or handle the
class given these observations?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

45. Improving English Proficiency

46. • Continued exposure and experience >>>
opportunities and practice >>> investment
• Join or form an English conversation group
• Watch English TV programs and movies
• Listen to English songs, radio and audio books
• Read English books, magazines, newspapers
• For gamers, watch tournament webcasts
• Go online – social media, stumbleupon,
google currents, pinterest
• Write or blog publicly or privately

47. Cultivating English Proficiency

48. • Create an emotionally-safe learning
environment which encourages creative risk-
taking.
• Relating lessons and activities to their lives
makes the subject matter relevant to them –
students will be more willing to talk and write
about them.
• Games give students opportunities to use the
language they are learning in non-
threatening, enjoyable contexts.
• Assign activities and exercises that require
students to interact and use the language.
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

49. • Treat the students as authorities on their
hobbies and pursuits, encourage them to
relate these to the subject, and tap into their
expertise.
• Design learning activities which are
lively, interactive and fun WHILE maintaining
assessments that are valid and linked to class
instruction.
• Activities with rubrics provide for independent
group work and self-regulation.
• Technology can be learning’s best friend.
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

50. Rubric
A chart that communicates and outlines the
following:
• Expectations for the project / activity / exercise
• Criteria
• Scoring guide and corresponding performance
indicators / levels of quality
Rubrics are used to TEACH as well as EVALUATE.
• These focus on the process as well as the
product.
• These guide students to make dependable
judgments about their work and give feedback.
• Clarify standards for quality performance and
progress towards those standards

52. Cultivating English Proficiency:
What are your thoughts
and insights?

53. • Which of these things do you already do? In
what ways do these affect not only English
proficiency but also the learning environment
and the students?
• Sharing your best practices: Which of your
own methods, approaches, and ideas can we
add to our list for cultivating English
proficiency?

54. Sample Activities

55. • Report Card: Grade characters based on
intelligence, resourcefulness, and conduct or
behavior
• Change the story ending (or other parts of the
story) by making the villain win or making
something else happen in the climax (group
discussion with individual endings, or with one
student assigned to each character)
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

56. • Interactive Museums and Festivals
• Tours and Travel Brochures
Interview with ___________________
• Historical figure
• Scientist / Mathematician
• Book Character
• Artist / Writer / Composer
• Dancer / Sports Figure

57. Facebook: Harry Potter

58. Twitter: Harry Potter

59. Activities My Students and I Enjoyed
• Creating an island / landscape / 3D map
• Writing a brochure / giving a tour
• Grading characters in a report card
• Creating an interactive museum
(interdisciplinary project - collaboration with
other subject teachers)
• Book Character Day
• Solving a Murder Mystery

60. Planning Activities and Exercises:
What are your thoughts
and insights?

61. • What is your teaching philosophy? Based on
this, how can you integrate the cultivation of
English proficiency?
• In what ways can you cultivate English in your
subject area?
• What are examples of activities or exercises
that you can assign your classes?
• What challenges do you face or anticipate in
the cultivation of English proficiency?
ATTRIBUTION: Cindy Cruz-Cabrera

62. Open Forum
Connect with me!
cindycatz javadiggincat oldgirlinpeyups cindy cruz-cabrera
09166843723
cindycruzcabrera@gmail.com

63. References (Downloadable PDFs)
• TOEFL Speaking Rubrics
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/Spe
aking_Rubrics.pdf
• TOEFL Writing Rubrics
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/Writ
ing_Rubrics.pdf
• TOEFL Test of Written English Scoring Guide
http://eslbee.com/TWE_Scoring_Guide.pdf
• TOEFL
http://www.ets.org/toefl/english_programs/scor
es/guides/

64. References
• Dictionary.com
• Wikipedia.com
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILR_scale
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Refe
rence_for_Languages
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_English
• “The ILR Proficiency Scale” http://www-
01.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/MangngYrLnggLrnngPrg
rm/TheILRFSIProficiencyScale.htm
• “The Common European Framework in its political and educational
context”
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/framework_en.pdf
• ACTFL http://www.actfltraining.org/actfl_posting.cfm?recno=17
• Sample Rubic http://www.faeriekeeper.net/criteria38c.jpg
• Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=WhatIs

65. References
• “10 Tips to Improve English Proficiency”
http://www.eflsensei.com/10-Tips-to-
Improve-English-Proficiency/?tip&tipNum=3
• Helping Students Write The Best Research
Reports Ever by Lois Laase and Joan Clemmons
• Reading Strategies That Work: Teaching Your
Students to Become Better Readers by Laura
Robb