Towers gave me this great opportunity to develop my internship in a virtual environment and I must say that it has been a significant experience. I have been able to acquire totally new learning strategies, I have been able to teach students from different countries (Peru, Chile, Venezuela) and I have been able to get to know each of them through activities and personal evaluations. On the other hand, the Teacher Development course has given me knowledge and teaching strategies that I have been able to apply in my practice environment. The different bibliographical references have given me new ideas about the development of the teacher in the classroom. In this course I also have learnt about investigative articles regarding teaching and learning a second language.
I have to say that a very noticeable problem at Towers is the interaction with the intern. Personally, I have been able to identify that the institution has a very low population level (currently enrolled students) so that on some occasions it has been impossible to have contact (virtually, in my case) with them since the interns are too many and there are few students. It should be noted that this practice space at Towers has been a solution for LILEI students who have not been able to find a face-to-face setting and therefore the area leader has given them this solution to be able to fully comply with the practice subjects. Being in such a recognized language institution in the department of Norte de Santander and knowing firsthand the numbers that are handled in each course of English, French, German and Portuguese, is very gratifying. However, the institution should be more organized with respect to the number of teachers in training, they should not receive so many interns that there are not enough students to be able to fulfill each task that the university asks of us.
Students in evidence.
On the other hand, I have had the opportunity to observe English classes level B1-B2 and C1 where the students' skills do not seem to be according to the level, and it is very evident at the time of speaking which makes me question whether or not I am learning something that will really serve me later (especially in Towers' pedagogical strategies). I must also make a big observation when giving a lesson, as I said before there are some students who should not be at certain levels such as B2 and C1 since they are levels where a learner should be able to have a fluent conversation about any topic, there are some who sometimes do not understand the instructions given by the teacher (I have been able to evidence this in B1 levels). My point is that they should be more
meticulous when promoting a student to the next level, because they may have excellent writing and grammar skills but when it comes to speaking they cannot demonstrate what they have learned.
Uso de L1 y L2 (L1 = Lengua maternal L2= Lengua extranjera)
Use of L1 and L2 (L1 = Mother tongue L2 = Foreign language)
In the practitioner training we are told that depending on the level of English we should use a certain percentage of L1 and L2 in the course of each lesson. I say that this is a good idea and in advanced levels such as B2 and C1 the use of L1 in the class should be completely eliminated, however in levels such as B1 where there is always a lack of L1 or L2 it is very important to continue using our native language so that they have a better concept of what they have learned in that lesson and in levels A1 and A2 the use of L1/L2 should be half and half. When they have their first immersion with the language it is impossible for them to advance speaking only English or the language they are learning, that is why the use of the mother tongue (L1) at the initial moment is very important and this will mark a turning point to know if their learning process will be fruitful or not. When a language teacher wants his teaching to be successful, he must awaken the student's interest through motivation and tolerance, naturally they will be a little attenuated and will feel that the process could become tedious, therefore, using both (L1 and L2) in the classroom should be an indispensable requirement in the first levels of the language in order to obtain an optimal and successful learning.
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