Finally, 92% of respondents believe that teachers should supplement the
course books they use, as these cannot cater for the particular needs a group of
students might have (see appendix IV, p. 121, table 47).
A last finding arising from this part of the questionnaire is that, with the
exception of one case, all respondents agree that teachers should be specially trained
in order to teach Young Learners (see appendix IV, p. 123, table 54).
3.1.1.1.5 Classroom practices (answers to questions 58-80)
Although 68% of respondents stated that they are usually confident with what
they do in class (see appendix IV, p. 124, table 58), at the same time 72% feel the
need for some special training in order to be more effective (see appendix IV, p. 124,
table 59). Concerning the degree to which respondents follow the methodology
suggested in the teacher’s book, most respondents stated that they do that either
usually (36%) or sometimes (31%), while there are only 6% of them who do that
always, as it is shown in figure 13 below (see also appendix IV, p. 124, table 60).
When I teach, I follow the methodology
suggested in the teacher's book
Never
8%
Rarely
19%
Always
6%
Usually
36%
Sometimes
31%
Figure 13. The frequency to which respondents follow the methodology suggested in the
Teacher’s Book.
As for the way reading texts are exploited, figure 14 shows that a large
percentage of respondents resort to a word-by-word translation (see appendix IV, p.
124, table 61). However, such an approach does not train students deduce the meaning
of words from the context, something which, according to Gillette (1996: 211),
differentiates effective from non-effective readers. In addition, Wong-Fillmore (1985:
35) claims that when translations are used, teachers do not make the kinds of
modifications as they might otherwise make and, therefore, English fails as input
because it is not properly adjusted. Moreover, by relying too much on a detailed
word-by-word translation, students are not helped to respond to the discourse as a
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