LITERACIES

CÓMPLICE PROJECT (EDU2013-44176-P)

Mejora de la COMPetencia en comunicación LIngüístiCa del alumnado de Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria (EDU2013-44176-P)

Acronym COMPLICE

This research project (EDU2013-44176-P) was developed between the years 2014 and 2017, and focused on improving the linguistic communication competence of Early Childhood Education (EI) and Primary Education (EP) students, resorting to an intervention strategy based on teacher training and the use of digital resources for programming and evaluation. The COMPLICE R + D + i project was financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the 2013-2016 State Plan for Excellence - R + D Projects.

Competence in linguistic communication constitutes a basic part of the school curriculum, and its evaluation in the classroom entails certain difficulties derived from the high number of students per classroom and the scarcity of adequate instruments. Results from successive international evaluations (PISA, PIRLS) show that student levels still leave room for improvement.

Therefore, the team's objectives were to diagnose the situation in the centers regarding the procedures and methodologies used to teach competence in linguistic communication, in order to design a continuous programming and formative evaluation of the learning of linguistic competence training program for Elementary and Primary Education teachers, and develop digital tools to carry out these teaching tasks. In addition, both the training program and the digital resources designed for the linguistic competence teaching-learning process were evaluated, with special attention to their impact on the learning outcomes achieved in this area by Elementary and Primary education students.

Methodologically, the project took on a collaborative approach, seeking to promote joint work between researchers and education professionals in Elementary and Primary Education. The first phase consisted of a diagnosis of the state of things, reviewing the way in which language competence is being taught in schools in order to identify the existing problems and the needs of the teaching staff, with the goal of improving teaching. After this first phase, the diagnosis was that the teachers had significant difficulty to evaluate the children’s competence in linguistic communication. In a second phase, we sought to respond to these difficulties and the weaknesses found in the teaching methodologies put into practice in the classrooms, developing a teacher training program based on the “assessment for learning”assessment for learningaimed at improving their teaching performance; and designing digital resources to improve the programming and evaluation of language competence. Finally, the third phase evaluated both the training provided and the resources designed, assessing their design, their implementation, and the results obtained; in terms of the development of the schoolchildren's linguistic competence.

The objectives of the investigation were:

  • Identifying the current situation in schools, regarding the procedures and methodologies used for the teaching of linguistic competence by Elementary and Primary Education teachers.
  • Designing an ongoing education program for focused on the formative evaluation of the learning of linguistic competence.
  • Developing digital tools to assess the learning of language communication competence, aimed at Elementary and Primary teachers and with the participation of families under the supervision of the management teams.
  • Applying and evaluating the success of the teacher training program and digital resources designed.
  • Analyzing the impact of the proposed strategy on the teaching and learning of the competence in linguistic communication of the students.

The execution of the project involved the development of a comprehensive strategy for programming, teaching and assessing the competence in linguistic communication, with the aim of using it in the centers that provide Early Childhood Education and Primary Education, assuming a change in the way to approach the teaching of this basic competence.

The effects achieved also represent a contribution to the general improvement of school learning. Competence in linguistic communication is a facilitator of success in various disciplines, especially those in which oral and written expression and understanding are the fundamental vehicle for learning.

The dissemination of the research results was carried out through participation in various congresses and other scientific meetings, presenting them in the most relevant forums in the educational field:

  • XVI National Congress and VI Ibero-American Pedagogy. Organized every four years by the Spanish Pedagogy Society, our participation took place in 2016.
  • XVII National Congress of Educational Research Models. Organized by the Interuniversity Association for Pedagogical Research (AIDIPE) every two years, our participation took place in 2015.
  • European Conference on Educational Research. Organized by the European Educational Research Association (EERA), which takes place annually.

Regarding the publication of articles in specialized journals, this research project included the following articles:

  • Guzmán-Simón, F., Torres-Gordillo, J. J., & Caballero, K. (2020). Understanding Assessment Processes for Communicative Competence through an Analysis of Teachers’ Reported Practice. Education Sciences, 10(4), 116. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci10040116
  • Torres-Gordillo, J.J., Guzmán-Simón, F., & García-Ortiz, B. (2020). Communicative competence in assessment for learning: effect of the application of a model on teachers in Spain. PLoS-ONE, 15(5), 16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233613
  • Olivares-García, M. de los Ángeles, González-Alfaya, M. E., & Mérida-Serrano, R. (2016). Diagnóstico de la competencia lingüística en la metodología de Proyectos de Trabajo en Educación Infantil. Un estudio multicaso. Ocnos. Revista De Estudios Sobre Lectura, 15(1), 81-96. https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2016.15.1.913

Finally, this research project published a monograph where different aspects of both the process and the evaluation of the entire project were addressed:

  • Navarro-Pablo, M & Guzmán-Simón, F. (2020). La mejora de la competencia en comunicación lingüística en Educación Primaria. Síntesis.
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