running head: implementing montessori method to …

Running Head: IMPLEMENTING MONTESSORI METHOD TO FOSTER EFL ACQUISITION 1

The Implementation of Montessori Method to Foster EFL Acquisition in Very

Young Learners at a Private School in Medellín, Colombia.

Ana Maria Ramírez Osorio

Universidad de Antioquia

Thesis, Research and Practicum Advisor

Lina Londoño

Medellín

Mayo 2018

IMPLEMENTING MONTESSORI METHOD TO FOSTER EFL ACQUISITION 2

Abstract

The following Action Research project involves exploring how the Montessori Method fosters

EFL acquisition in very young learners of a private school in Medellín - Colombia. To carry out

this project, the setting was explored and information was gathered through some class

observations, journals and an interview. Finally, conclusions of this Action Research project

suggest that implementing strategies following the principles of Montessori Method such as

prepared environment, the absorbent mind and sensitive periods, proved to be effective to foster

student’s English language acquisition.

Key words: Montessori Method, Language Acquisition, Preschool Education.


Degree Requirement

This action research project is submitted as a requirement for the Bachelor of Education

in Foreign Language Teaching (English-French) at the Escuela de Idiomas, Universidad de

Antioquia, in Medellín, Colombia.


Acknowledgments

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Lina Londoño, for her

expertise, her wise advice and loving guidance throughout this project. I would also like to thank

to my research group, Manuel Arcila and Fabio Parra, for their constant support and for making

this experience something pleasant.

I like to show my gratitude to my C.T and boss, Diana Restrepo, for her wisdom, patience

and professional guidance.

I am grateful to all of my classmates and friends to whom I have the pleasure to work

along my studies in the university. Likewise, I thank to all the teachers at Universidad de

Antioquia that marked my path as a teacher, setting real life examples of what I want to be as a

teacher and what I shouldn't become.

My most sincere gratitude goes to my mother, whose endless love, support and patience,

took me to the right path. Thanks to you, I became the woman I am today. I also want to thank

all my family for their unconditional love, help and support. And I would like to dedicate this

project to my late grandmother, Silvia Osorio.

Most importantly, I wish to thank my beloved husband. Thank you for your infinite

company, love and support. For being the perfect example of discipline, dedication, hard work

and commitment. You always encourage me to do things better, to be a better version of myself.


Table of Contents

Preface.............................................................................................................................................6

Description of the Context...............................................................................................................7

Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................................9

Theoretical Framework..................................................................................................................11

Research Question.........................................................................................................................20

General Objective:.....................................................................................................................20

Specific Objectives:...................................................................................................................20

Action Plan....................................................................................................................................20

Development of Actions................................................................................................................22

Findings and Interpretations..........................................................................................................25

Conclusions....................................................................................................................................30

Reflections.....................................................................................................................................31

References......................................................................................................................................32


Preface

This paper reports the Action Research project undertaken at Montessori School, in

Medellín. The implementation of this study was developed during the whole academic year

2017-2018, with a group of nineteen Prekindergarten students.

As a practicum student and as a homeroom teacher of the Preschool, I found that children

who are learning under the Montessori Method can become more respectful, responsible and

autonomous learners and human beings, since the method offers a holistic understanding of

children development. They have the benefits of learning within a child centered and prepared

environment under the supervision of the Montessori Guides or Teachers, providing them with

materials and experiences for them to explore and learn through the senses.

In this project, by data collection from different sources and its respective analysis, plus

the design and adaptation of different Montessori strategies, activities and materials, we will

discover the impact in the acquisition of English language with positive outcomes.

Hopefully, readers will find this study useful if interested in fostering EFL acquisition

through the Montessori Method, or readers interested in approaching the language classroom in a

more constructive way to promote meaningful learning in very young learners.


Description of the Context

Montessori School is a private trilingual (Spanish - English - French) institution which

was founded in 1976, located at San Lucas - El Poblado neighborhood: serving grades from

daycare to eleventh in high school during the day and, starting the schedule from 7:30 a.m. up to

3:00 p.m., in regular classes. School calendar is B, starting the school year in August and

finishing it in June. The school recently changed the calendar, since the high school diploma is

international. This school has 1150 students, both male and female whose ages are between 2 to

17 years old. Classes have from 12 students in daycare, 19 students in preschool, 23 to 25

students in elementary, middle and high school. Students in this institution belong to upper-high

socioeconomic level and, they live in nearby neighborhoods.

The school was named after Maria Montessori, since the school’s pedagogical model is

based on Montessori’s principles for education. Therefore, the mission of the institution is to

develop respectful, autonomous, responsible and, competent individuals; becoming “global

citizens with qualities which enable them to lead the processes to bring changes”. The institution

believes that every pedagogical action should be mediated by affection: “we touch the child’s

heart in order to reach the child’s mind”. As well as every student has potentials that can be

developed during the educational process. Responsibility, autonomy, respect, the pursuit of a

greater good are the institutional values founding the activities and specific projects to develop

across the school year. Within school’s philosophy, there are some mottos leading the

educational process according with the values previously mentioned: Freedom with

responsibility; Being over having; Today I do it well; tomorrow, even better; and, Forming over

penalizing.

The project will be carried out in Prekindergarten C class. It is a group of 19 students, 8


girls and 11 boys. Most of them are turning 4 years old. Only two students just turned 3 on July

2017. One of the girls is a U.S. citizen, who just arrived to the country last July. And, one of the

boys is Brazilian; but he has spent a couple of years living in the country and he has an older

brother in second grade. The group had spent a whole year in daycare in the institution, where

they acquired habits and routines based on the Montessori Method such as dressing up, setting up

the table, hygiene habits, and they got familiar working with Montessori material.

They started Pre-Kindergarten in August 2017. During the first weeks of school, they had

to take up with the routines, the adaptation process in the new group, new spaces and new

teachers. It is in this grade where they start learning English, teachers are supposed to speak in

English the whole time. Spanish is spoken just in some particular moments such as having a

formative reflection. Nevertheless, the idea is to provide as much English input as possible.

During the first month of school, they became familiar with some instructions, vocabulary such

as greetings, colors, some school supplies and songs. On January 2018, Christmas holidays were

finished after 4 weeks off. This time they did not cry for coming back to school. On the contrary,

they were calm, they seemed happy and they were used to the routines. Children seemed more

mature, they know the routines pretty well since I do not have to tell them what to do all day

long, just give the instructions to complete some activities. The second term of the year will be

finished in March. Therefore, we are about to begin the last part of the school year,

accomplishing all the goals for this grade.

The classroom is provided with some shelves containing Montessori material, with an

appropriate size for the kids. This material varies according to the topics and the skills the

children are developing. The shelves are divided into four different areas: language, sensorial,

math and, practical life. The classroom is provided with one white board, some drawers to


storage material such as paint, crayons, and papers. It has some decorations with classroom rules

and calendar. It has one big window, making the place illuminated and with proper air

circulation. The children do most of the work on the floor. There are only 3 tables for working

with some specific material of practical life.

There are always two teachers in daycare and preschool classrooms. One is the

homeroom teacher and the other, is the assistant. The homeroom teacher is in charge of doing the

planning and implementing it, as well as developing new material. She is the one who can

introduce the new material and lessons. The assistant supports the work of the homeroom

teacher, and she also has to redirect the children who are not paying attention and to correct the

use of the material. My role during this project, is being the researcher while working as the

homeroom teacher. One of the big changes after the Christmas holidays, was that our aid teacher

was replaced. Nevertheless, the group already knew her, so it did not represent a traumatic

change for them.

For the purpose of this research project, my CT is the Preschool Director. She is a

technologist in Preschool Education from Tecnológico de Antioquia, she holds Bachelor in

Didactics and Learning Difficulties from Ceipa University, Specialist in Mental health of young

children and teenagers from CES University. She has been working at Montessori School for 27

years. She started working as an assistant teacher, and then she was promoted to Transition

homeroom teacher and held that position during 14 years. She has been the preschool director for

13 years.

Statement of the Problem

Having observed the group for a two-month period has brought into light some issues

about the setting and the participants around this project.

IMPLEMENTING MONTESSORI METHOD TO FOSTER EFL ACQUISITION10

Firstly, being the observer and homeroom teacher has allowed gathering as much

information as I could, since I get to spend all day with the students. This enables the possibility

to explore the setting in a deeper way as I take part in the planning sessions, carry out the lesson

plans, prepare the materials and I know the issues about the children’s processes. In addition, I

have been able to reflect on my teaching practices and self-evaluate constantly.

It is mandatory to recall, that the institution works within the Montessori method in the

preschool grades; meaning that the lessons must be planned following the method’s guidelines

and incorporating active learning in order to achieve the goals for each grade and term. And also

taking into account the goals established for the National Ministry of Education. Furthermore,

activities must be suitable and meaningful for 3 to 4 year old students.

During this observation period and having systematically reflected on several issues of

the setting, I became aware of some advantages and disadvantages of this specific setting and

participants.

There some advantages in terms of classroom dynamics and methodology. In one hand,

having an assistant teacher facilitates the work with the children. Her role is to support the work

of the homeroom teacher and assist the children when needed. On the other hand, by instruction

of school’s director, teachers must split the group into little groups of 5 to 7 students to explain

or introduce a lesson or a topic during some minutes, while the rest of the group is working with

Montessori material under the supervision of the assistant teacher. This was proposed as a way to

guarantee to work within the attention span of the children and with better time and space use.

These two elements, the assistant teacher and, splitting the group, make the work easier allowing

the learning process to be more personalized with these strategies. Furthermore, the social

background of the children facilitates a good physical and cognitive development. Another


element to bear in mind is the exposure to the target language that school provides. At this stage

they are to be exposed to as much English as the teachers can provide for them. Therefore, with

only two months of the school year, children have already learned quite a lot of vocabulary.

In addition, having just 19 students with two teachers can be a privilege compared to other

institutions. The group is not that large and the possibility of being with two teachers makes the

environment more secure and efficient. Nevertheless, this same issue can be a disadvantage in

terms of children's’ age. Having 19 students makes it a large group to attend and satisfy students’

needs. Children at this age are to be looked after carefully. Plus, we need to take into account

that classroom management can be complicated since they are learning to socialize, to self-

control and to self-regulate their bodies and emotions.

It is also important to think that several issues and features of the setting such as having

two students who are native speakers of other languages different from Spanish, namely

Portuguese and English, and the fact the rest of the kids are just learning English and (mastering)

Spanish language, make the group into a mixed ability class in terms of language. Besides, these

children are considered very young learners, due to their age and the characteristics of their

cognitive development; for this reason, they are unaware of the learning process.

Owing to the characteristics of this particular setting, teaching materials and activities

must be planned taking them into account. Students’ needs, age, attention span, Montessori

method, will guide the creation and implementation of the different materials and activities to

support the learning process of the children.

Theoretical Framework

This literature review presents the theory that supports my Action Research project. The

main objective of my work is to explore how Montessori Method fosters EFL acquisition in very


young learners, therefore it is mandatory to go through the theory developed by Maria

Montessori which will enlighten the focus of my research. Afterwards, I will explore some

previous studies applied in the field of foreign languages in Montessori education, to nourish the

perspectives that will help me carry out my project further.

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who spent many years observing and working

with children (NAMC, 2014, p. 4) Thanks to this process, she was able to develop her own ideas,

materials and methods for children education. The outcome of her work for over 50 years is now

known as Montessori Method, which consists in “an encouraging, stimulating program where

children could learn the skills they needed to eventually become responsible, productive,

independent and loving citizens of the world”. (North American Montessori Center [NAMC],

2014, p. 4).

In the early stages of her work, she began working with children with disabilities and

children of lower social classes, introducing methods and sensorial materials, which she would

use later on and became the core of her work. When instructing children in everyday chores such

as preparing snacks, cleaning and tidying, she discovered children’s motivation towards these

tasks (NAMC, 2012, p. 15). Those activities were interesting for them, children did not show

energy towards destructive behavior: “having constructive activities appeared to give them a

sense of competence and self-worth” (NAMC, 2012, p. 15).

According to Khachatryan (2015), implementing a scientific method through direct

observation, gave Montessori a view from the children as eager subjects for knowledge.

Therefore, this method “helps children to develop creativity, problem solving, critical thinking

and time-management skills, care of the environment and of each other” (Khachatryan, 2015, p.

305).


When Maria Montessori developed her ideas of education and how humans learn, she

established that learning happens in waves (NAMC, 2012, p. 35), and the human being goes

through four planes of development, as she called them, and these planes are: from birth - 6

years; 6 - 12 years; 12 - 18 years; and 18 - 24 years. During each plane, the human being is keen

to develop certain skills and abilities “and can make enormous progress if they have

opportunities to explore and practice them” (NAMC, 2012, p. 35). Therefore, Montessori

Method aims to make the most of these planes of development.

For the purpose of this particular Action Research project, I will focus on the first plane

of development: The Absorbent Mind. According to Lillard (1996) “Montessori noticed that

the infant seems to possess a capacity for absorbing the surrounding environment merely by

being in it” (p. 26). This happens thanks to the information from the environment the child

absorbs through the senses and then is incorporated into his mind. The process is random since

the child “soaks like a sponge” every experience he gets: good or bad, beautiful or ugly, peaceful

or violent (Lillard, 1996, p. 26). During this plane, language is acquired, motor and cognitive

skills are developed, social skills are copied from the adults that surround the children and this is

why Dr. Montessori stated that children should start their education process as soon as possible

(NAMC, 2012, p. 36). The Absorbent Mind is divided into two stages: The first is “unconscious

absorption”, from birth through the age of three, where “sensorial impressions are merely

registered within the mind” (Lillard, 1996, p. 26). The second stage corresponds to “conscious

absorption”. In the latter, according to Lillard (1996) the child uses these impressions to

categorize and classify them. Montessori (cited in Lillard, 1996) stated, “The multitudinous

impression unconsciously absorbed, are used again by being known in a different way as the

basis on which conscious life is built up” (p. 27). Therefore, consciousness as well as reason,


memory, will and self-knowledge is built upon these impressions. (Lillard, 1996, p. 27).

During this process, the hand plays a crucial role when the intellect of the child is created,

since the hand is the instrument of intelligence. (Montessori cited in Lillard, 1996, p. 27).

As cited in Lillard (1996), Montessori also stated that “Sensitive Periods are transitory time

periods in which the child appears to be working on one specific area of development to the

exclusion of all others” (p. 24). The child seems to focus all his energy and interest developing a

certain ability and this period can end suddenly. According to Montessori it is during these

sensitive periods that the child learns faster and easily than at any other time. For this reason it is

important to give the child the opportunity to follow his inclinations (NAMC, 2012, p. 37).

Simultaneously with the Absorbent Mind, two Sensitive Periods are predominant for most

children. On one hand, the absorption in learning and developing gross motor skills, namely:

crawling, walking, climbing, etc. On the other hand, the absorption of language takes place and

this is why children love listening to and replicate sounds. Montessori education makes the most

out these sensitive periods, in this particular case, children’s disposition towards language

providing opportunities for:

- “learning to recognize and repeat the individual sounds that make up their language

- learning to name, recognize, and pronounce the names of objects in the environment.” (NAMC,

2012, p. 37)

There are two more sensitive periods during the Absorbent Mind: and absorption with

order and with counting. This happens all along when the conscious mind is developing. Hence,

“these factors combined draw the children to prefer an environment that facilitated finding things

and having freedom to make choices” (NAMC, 2012, p. 38). In the light of these ideas, the

Montessori environment provides order and orientation to children thanks to a “well-structured


environment, the sequencing of material, and the consistency of educational approach” (Lillard,

1996, p. 15). Each material has its own place in the classroom and is arranged in a sequential

order, going from the simplest to more structured activities. Montessori stated that the Prepared

Environment “is the main educator of the children. It is designed to welcome the children,

encourage them to interact with the people and objects in the environment, and help them to

develop physically, cognitively, and socially” (NAMC, 2012, p. 143) and is a “place of

simplicity, beauty and order” (Lillard, 1996, p. 22). According to Lillard (1996) it is not only the

specially designed materials the main component in the Montessori education, but the whole of

the prepared environment that is important: the other children, the teachers, the non-

manufactured Montessori material, the way in which the classroom is carefully arranged.

Therefore, Montessori as cited in Gahart (2000) explained that language and other life skills are

learned without conscious effort, from the environments in which children are immersed.

One of the main characteristics of the prepared environment is that children have the

possibility of self-correction and they can learn from their own mistakes. In the second place, the

prepared environment:

Is a place children can manage and, therefore, they feel safe. This sense of

security is not just the result of having a loving teacher upon whom they can depend; it is

the natural outcome of the children being in a place where they can trust their own

powers (Lillard, 1996, p.15).

The Montessori Method establishes that long segments of work should be provided to

children so they can work at their own, favoring the sensitive periods, where they like to work

repeatedly in particular activities. The importance of working within an organized and cluttered

environment is that it helps the children to easily focus during longer periods of time avoiding


distraction (NAMC, 2012, p. 143).

Besides being part of the prepared environment, the teachers or guides are also the

keepers of it (as well as the children). Gahart (2000) quoting Montessori described that teachers

are in charge of setting a clean, organize the environment for the children and they must know

how to arrange an interest and beautiful environment since this makes part of teaching and

learning. Teachers must be aware of what they are providing children with, since this

environment will educate the senses. Montessori as cited in Gahart (2000) claimed, “children

learn best through sensory experiences. She thought the teacher has the responsibility to provide

wonderful sights, textures, sounds, and smells for children. She also believed that part of sensory

experience for children is having tools and utensils that fit their small hands and tables and chairs

that match their small bodies” (p. 24).

“Teach little and observe much” is one of the paradigms in the Montessori Method

(Gahart, 2000). Although teachers must plan purposeful activities and design materials to

children, observation and reflection are the tools that allow teachers to really know what children

are interested in and need to learn and at the same time to reckon what is missing in the

environment. In addition, teachers must be self-aware of what she does, how she does it and

when does it. “Modeling has a crucial role in the Montessori classroom because young children

are exceptionally impressionable and naturally imitate most everything adults say and do”

(Carver-Akers, 2013, p. 39)

Knowing the theory and the main concepts proposed in the Montessori Method is

mandatory. In addition, to carry out this project, I also need to be familiar with the studies that

had been conducted applying the Montessori theory in the field of second and foreign language

acquisition.


Wysmulek (2009) compared Montessori education in Canada and in Ukraine by

identifying elements she could use in the Ukrainian early education. To begin with, Wysmulek

(2009) states that:

The student in a Montessori classroom is not a passive observer; he or she

understands the organization of the classroom material and can readily explore it at will.

Montessori teachers are required to organize the learning environment in such a way so

that primarily only necessary material is accessible which supports them to the ultimate

learning objective (p. 448)

The author also claims that having the possibility to choose have a good impact on

children since they can freely make their own choices to work with certain material. Furthermore

they can also choose where to sit and with whom they will share the work, developing social

skills and the ability to collaborate. Life is based on choice (Wysmulek, 2009, p. 449). As

Wysmulek (2009) exposed, “Hands on Education” is the means to learn within the Montessori

environment since children learn by doing, making experiments, basically “learning by using

your hands to understand objects and concepts” (Wysmulek, 2009, p. 451). In this way I can

continue applying in my project activities where children can explore, create, smell and even

taste some EFL concepts or activities proposed by this author such as project making, portfolio

method, role plays among others. Wysmulek (2009), describes the Montessori Method beneficial

for the language class since it helps meeting the educational needs in the classroom, providing

elements like, firstly, the humanization and individualization of the learning process by freedom

of choice creating a child center environment and, secondly, allowing children to learn at their

own “tempo”, or learning pace according to their individual abilities.

Although Maria Montessori never elaborated on the concept of foreign language learning,


research has provided some elements to apply in this particular field. Winnefeld (2012)

mentioned some highlights in foreign language teaching in Montessori education in Germany.

Whereas many Montessori institutions only have government policies, others offer the language

lessons and materials during the three-hour segment of work, and many others apply a bilingual

program where children are immerse in the foreign language during “Freiarbeit” (individual and

independent learning cycles, based on personal interests, free choice and self-education).

Winnefeld (2012), claims that “the option of implementing bilingual education in a Montessori

environment seems to be convenient because the three hour-cycle of Freiarbeit does not need to

be interrupted and individual learning according to Montessori is not disturbed” (p.71).

Immersion programs are understood as an intensive form of bilingual education where foreign

language is the means of instruction and classroom communication in all the different curriculum

areas (Swain and Johnson 1997, cited in Winnefeld, 2012). Wesche (2002) as cited in Winnefeld

(2012) stated that “compared to learners in traditional foreign language classes, immersion

learners develop a higher competence in the foreign language”. This is a plus in my context and

for my project. Being a bilingual preschool group, I have to provide as much input in L2 as I can

to my group. In other words, my students are learning within an immersion context and

furthermore, they have the possibility of having the long segments of non-stop working cycles,

where they can fulfill their needs and satisfy their interests.

Sensory education is mandatory on Montessori Education. Jendza (2016) conducted an

action research project to describe the impact of Montessori environment on the foreign language

classroom in an Elementary school in Poland. She claims that “movement, feelings and

understanding are very closely interrelated” (Jendza 2016, p. 291). Consequently, Montessori

teachers need to organize an environment with concrete and authentic language materials that


children can manipulate, and also include activities of motion and physical activity, very similar

to the Total Physical Response method.

According to Jendza (2016), it is mandatory to bear in mind that it is forbidden to use

external rewards, prizes or punishments in the Montessori education. Every child has a seed of

interest that teachers need to awake.

The author also describes the importance of the meaningful context of learning: “the

contents of foreign language activities must be connected with students’ everyday life and their

everyday needs - it must be something that is comprehensible and important for the learners”

(Jendza, 2016, p. 293). To follow this principle teachers firstly, must be aware that what is

familiar to adults is not always familiar to children; in the second place careful observation and

proper reactions to children spontaneous behavior; and thirdly teachers must be flexible by

giving room to some pedagogical improvisation (Jendza, 2016). In all, “the teachers job is also

contextualize the content of the (foreign) language curriculum so that learners perceive it as

comprehensible, important and interesting” (Jendza, 2016, p. 293).

In terms of Montessori language material, the author exposes that most of it can be

lexically and grammatically complex to some age groups. Furthermore, the language material is

imported from Anglo-Saxon countries where English is the mother tongue, in other words is

meaningful to a certain group of students from a different context. Therefore, Jendza (2016)

states that children “should be provided with materials corresponding to both their personal

needs and English language competences, which mean a customization of didactic aids” (p. 301).

As a matter of fact, in my particular context most of the material for English, Spanish and Math

lessons has to be created and adapted, nonetheless this is positive for my project since one of my

objectives is to create and adapt material for my classes.


In general, all the ideas and concepts presented will support and guide my project.

Bearing in mind the characteristics of the planes of development proposed by Maria Montessori,

as well as the importance of the environment in which children are immerse when learning life

skills and, in this case, a foreign language. Also, the features a Montessori guide should have in

terms of self-awareness and behavior model, and being the facilitator between children and

learning.

Research Question

- How can the implementation of Montessori Method foster EFL acquisition in very young

learners from a private institution in Medellin?

General Objective:

- To explore how Montessori Method fosters EFL acquisition in very young learners.

Specific Objectives:

- To implement Montessori Method for second language learning in a private bilingual

school.

- To identify which specific principles of the Montessori method help in second language

acquisition.

- To describe the impact of implementing Montessori Method on EFL acquisition in very

young learners.

Action Plan

The core of my project is Montessori Method to foster EFL language acquisition in very

young learners. In order to achieve the purpose of my project, I will carry out some research

tasks to achieve that goal.


As I previously stated in the problem setting, activities and materials should be planned

taking into account the characteristics of this particular setting, such as students’ age and

attention span and Montessori Method. Since those elements will guide the creation and

implementation of different materials and activities, I will take the mandatory topics from the

English and Math syllabus, try to integrate them and find a way to present them to the children

according to the Montessori principles. Therefore, I will bear in mind the purposefulness of the

EFL activities as well as the materials, which allow the children to explore, experiment, and

learn by doing. The observations will allow me to identify which kind of trays the children like

the most. Having prepared and adapted trays and activities, will help me to identify which

specific principles of the Montessori Method help in the acquisition of the foreign language

according to students’ performance and output.

Data Collection Instruments

My route of action will include several data collection instruments. On one hand, some

mandatory self-observations at the beginning of the project, in this particular case, to gather

some data about the group, the way they work, register how the activities went on, in other words

to reflect on the dynamics of the classes and other key elements necessary to my research

project. These observations will provide some emergent categories that I will later use for the

categorization in the data analysis. In addition, I plan to keep journals throughout the project to

register in detail the development of my classes, containing my perceptions, thoughts and

interpretations of events, to keep reflecting on the different events that occur during my

interventions. These two instruments will allow me to identify which activities work best in

terms of the method regarding language learning, I will learn about the kids and their

preferences, learning styles and learning pace, plus learning about the Montessori Method itself.


On the other hand, I plan to explore and deepen on my CT’s knowledge and perceptions about

the Montessori method applied to language learning. The questions for the interview will be

designed based on the objectives of the project. This interview will enlighten my project in terms

of getting data for designing the material needed for conducting my research thanks to the vast

experience my CT has had working with this method.

Furthermore, I aim to design and adapt Montessori material taking into account the

syllabus from the school, self-observations and the information gathered from the interview. The

data from that implementation and the outcomes will be collected based on my journals and

students’ performance in class.

Development of Actions

Since the very beginning of the project, I kept a series of self-observations to assure

gathering as much data as I could. During the first phase of the project, those observations were

mandatory to my practicum, and thanks to those I started writing my project. I got to know and

reflect on my general context and the group itself: context, problem setting, topic and research

questions emerged thanks to the observations. Emergent categories were firstly drawn based on

some aspects and classroom dynamics my advisor identified thanks to her constant feedback.

Having stated my topic, allowed me to explore the literature on Montessori Method and the

impact of the method in foreign language development. This step of the project was really

helpful in terms of I got familiar with the philosophy that Maria Montessori developed when

working with children. I understood the principles of the method and how a Montessori

classroom should operate. This process really enlightened my project, since I was able to design

the action plan I wanted for this Action Research. Therefore, I established the data collection

procedures I needed according to the public I was working with; which actions I should


implement and how I was going to implement them. If going through the literature set the path of

the project, interviewing my CT clarified what I was going to do in terms of creating and

adapting material. I already had some ideas in mind, but based on the experience she shared with

me and the ideas she also proposed, I determined which lessons I should implement in my

classroom.

It is important to bear in mind that planning the lessons was done by the group of

teachers who have the same grade. Due to some institutional meetings and tasks, I was unable to

fully participate in the planning sessions during some weeks during January and the beginning of

February, but then I was able to take part of it. The first topic we had to cover was the Family

and we developed a thematic unit, although we called it project. Activities included thinking

routines about what a family is and its members; charts to collect data from surveys done in class

with the students allowing visible thinking; songs; hands on activities using different materials

and even their own family photo; and role plays. Math and English lessons were integrated with

this topic. Nonetheless, sometimes Math classes focused on introducing the concept of a number

using traditional Montessori lessons; counting numbers and number-quantity association. At the

beginning of April, when the third and last term began, all the materials from the classrooms

were to be changed. During some advisory sessions with my CT and the rest of Prekindergarten

teachers, she gave some guidelines on which trays were mandatory to have in the classrooms and

the rest of the environment should be cleaned and renewed as well (meaning posters, personal

material, etc.). And so we did following those guidelines. The result was quite positive since the

classroom looked more organized, clearer, and every time new material is introduced in the

classroom the children are eager to work with it.

For the third term, new topics were to be introduced as well. Since the renovation was


carried out, I took advantage of the situation to create new trays I needed for my research project,

being more independent from my colleagues when creating them, although following the

activities from the planning we did together. The unit was about “Farm Animals” and it was

introduced approaching the children with some toys animals and introducing the “Old

McDonald” song. We practiced the song every day, so children could get used to the new

vocabulary, always using the printed materials for reading purposes for very young children or

the toys. At the beginning, children only repeated some parts of the song but I wanted them to

name the animals. So I was very systematic singing the song every day and I introduced a

language tray for the song which consisted on a basket containing the animals from the song and

maracas. I modeled how to use the tray and every day, invited a couple of children to come to the

front and do it for their classmates. This was a way to encourage them to use properly the tray. A

second language tray, included some animal photos and food photos. The students had to match

the animal with the food they eat. The third tray created, was an animal shadow match. There

was a piece of paper with silhouettes of five farm animals and 5 toys animals. The children had

to match the toys according to the silhouette.

Thanks to the observations, I identified that children love working with water. So I made

a practical life tray in which they had to wash a cow and a pig. For this curriculum area, I also

created a tray with two containers to classify animals whether if they live on a farm or not.

For math, I arranged a sorting tray. It contained 5 horses of different sizes and children had to

sort them by size and, at the end, counted how many horses there were. I also did one activity

where students had to classify farm animals according to the number of legs they had: two or

four. The children had to pick one animal, said the name, counted how many legs and put it in

the correct side previously labeled with number 2 and 4.


The rest of the math material is authentic Montessori material as well as the sensorial

material in which children had to sort, classify and count. I planned to adapt these farm animal

trays for the coming units of “sea animals” and “wild animals”.

Findings and Interpretations

The analysis done of the data collected throughout the research from my instruments, was

structured and organized in a way that it allowed me a better recognition of the most relevant

information. From the very beginning, I transcribed my observations, then my journals and the

interview to my Cooperating Teacher (CT). From those observations, some potential categories

emerged from the commonalities found in the data analyzed. As I continued in my readings for

analysis and reflection from all the instruments, those categories became the findings for my

project.

Child centered environment.

I have to remark the importance of the Guide or the teacher. As Montessori teachers, we

have to be under constant self-study to foster our competences as a guide and as a human being.

It also implies knowing the sensitive periods children are going through in order to provide them

with the appropriate activities and materials helping them to develop their abilities. My CT

talked about it during our interview: “Identifying sensitive periods will help to identify which

strategies and activities work best with them”; she also mentioned that: “Every child will learn at

their own pace and the teacher will develop different material according to their processes”

(CT’s Interview, April 10th, 2018). Therefore, by being active observers, teachers identify

children’s needs and, in this way, provide the material according to these needs. It was the case

with the water trays: “Observing and reflecting on children’s likes, help me to identify that

water activities are calming and they enjoy working with them. So I could adapt some trays


according to our current topic “Farm animals” (Journal entry, April 17th, 2018).

As I could identify, modeling is also part of this child-centered environment and it is

mostly a responsibility for the teacher. The outcome of an activity, has its basis on modeling:

I modeled to them how the activity should be carried out. I placed number two

and number four on each side and some animals. I started, so I grabbed one animal, said

the name, and counted how many legs and place in the appropriate number. Modeling is

very important with them. So the kids started doing it one by one, and it worked” (Journal

entry, April 18th, 2018).

But it doesn’t rely just upon me. The other children, in a very Montessorian way, were

models for their classmates: “Some of them answered in Spanish but some others did it in

English and that encouraged others to do it” (Journal entry, February 20th, 2018)

Children are absorbing everything from their environment. Exposing children to different

sights and sounds is a wonderful strategy. It does not only include images but also gestures from

the teacher and the constant input in foreign language. These actions are helping them to increase

their vocabulary and comprehension.

Another relevant element in a Montessori environment, as mentioned during the

interview, was that “children are able to concentrate more, they have a better attitude towards

learning, since they learn working in silence and there is a moment for everything. Those

elements help in learning in general, therefore, in language acquisition” (Interview, April 10th,

2018).

Suitable strategies and activities that work best with children.

As mentioned in the literature and as data showed, it is mandatory to know the

characteristics of each plane of development established by Montessori in order to provide


suitable opportunities for children to make progress in the specific skills they are developing. As

mentioned by my CT “(the role of the guide) implies knowing the lessons, objectives, how does

it help developing abilities in children” (CT’s Interview, April 10th, 2018). Having in mind these

elements, makes it easier to plan and develop an activity or certain material, since these two are

our tools to increase children’s vocabulary, comprehension and at some point, oral production.

My CT also commented about this:

In addition, through the lessons, children can foster their vocabulary: a tray for

colors, shapes, emotions, animals, parts of the plant, according to children’s needs, and

all of this is helping to increase vocabulary. Some trays are for the High Frequency

Words, and others more advanced with sentences containing those HFW and the children

have to read them. By observing the children, the Guide knows when to increase

vocabulary, structures (CT’s Interview, April 10th, 2018).

The fact that our school is bilingual is a benefit for the children in terms of language

learning. It gives me the opportunity to provide as many input as I can, and this is positive in

terms that children are absorbing language at this stage. Carrying out in English language our

routines, circle time, songs and rhymes, became powerful tools when working with children,

since providing repetition makes an effect on their memory and through time they understand

more and more what the teacher is saying. I found an example of this in my journal, when I

introduced the Old McDonald song: “I try to sing this song every day with them in order to get

familiar with it and with the vocabulary” (Journal entry, April 9th, 2018). And a couple of days

later I wrote this: “Then we sang Old McDonald, but this time they had to tell me which animals

I should grab. By doing this, I noticed they have already learned sheep, hen and rooster, because

they used to confuse the last two” (Journal entry, April 18th, 2018). It was amazing to see that


providing input and through repetition children were able to name more animals.

Integrating activities in the different areas was a good experience because we could work with

our main topic throughout the day in the English or in the math classes. For the activities, I

always used concrete material and realia if possible because visual aids are important with this

group age. Concrete material is a must since they are not able to elaborate on abstract concepts.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the theory, activities should be connected with everyday life; it

must have a context to make it comprehensible for children. During the school year, some

activities were planned taking into account children’s likes, such as exploring nature: “The

children enjoyed and did an outstanding performance. They understood pretty easily the

instruction and counted the objects carefully, plus picking up things from nature is something

they really love” (Journal entry, March 20th, 2018). And also working with role plays, which is

something mandatory for this age: “On Friday they had a blast when they came to school dressed

up as family members, they seemed excited to be all dressed up” (Journal entry, February 21st,

2018). Allowing the children to have this kind of experiences and involving them in constructing

knowledge.

The role of different materials to approach the English class in a communicative way

Analyzing the role of the materials used in the project was really valuable since the

material is one of the main tools of the method, hence, of my project. Most people think that the

only material used in the Montessori classroom, is the prefabricated and specific material

available online. It is true that material is important in the classroom, and is wonderful to have it

especially for sensorial education. Nonetheless, for the language area, most of the material is

customized and created by the teachers. That was my big task for my research project. Since

material will help the children to achieve the learning objective, I had to bear in mind what my


objective was, for this particular case, fostering English language. Interviewing my CT was a

great help to clarify what I wanted to do, she said I could use the material “to increase

vocabulary, making descriptions with colors, counting legs, sorting by habitat or size, counting

animals, where there are more or less, books about animals to read images” (CT’s Interview,

April 10th, 2018). So I arranged several trays for those purposes, as I described in detail in the

development of actions. Introducing the trays is necessary so the kids learn how to work with

them and it also gives me the opportunity to observe them carefully. Trays are introduced to each

kid one by one, although it takes time. Thus, I had to take little groups of 4 children or,

sometimes, depending on the difficulty of the tray, I did it with the whole group, for example:

I used animal toys to first, introduce the names of the animals and then, ask the

children to make the sound. They enjoyed this. I sang the song and the first time, they just

listened but sang when I made the sound (Journal entry, April 3th, 2018).

Children always have a positive attitude towards using the material. I believe it is because

the material is very appealing and it seeks to motivate them and leads them to learn:

I started introducing the new lessons today, many of them from practical life. The

kids were eager to work with the new material, they love using new material. I introduced

this new language lesson. As always, animal toys are very appealing to them and my

children enjoy music and singing (Journal entry, April 17th, 2018).

Besides from using the trays, some others materials turned out to be helpful in my

classroom. Using their family photos when we were working with the family unit, to keep a

connection between the daily life and the topics seen in class. Reading aloud with big books was

appealing to them thanks to the images and the way I read the book was a complement to the

activity. Most material for math is the traditional Montessori material. Nevertheless, when


integrating the units we were working on, I used toys for the children to sort, classify, and

associate number and quantity. I wanted to mention that although it was not part of my actions,

at the beginning of the school year we carried out activities such as tasting red or yellow food,

mixing colors, and many sensorial activities as resources to experience the concepts seen.

Whether it is the created or customized material, or any other appealing and purposeful

material used in the classroom, will allow the children learning by doing, by experimenting, by

using their hands to understand the world.

Conclusions

Implementing the Montessori Method to foster EFL language acquisition in very young

learners, turned out to be a positive and enriching experience. The Montessori Method offers a

holistic understanding of children development and the way they learn and construct knowledge.

By following its principles, I was able to provide children with engaging activities and materials,

for them to discover and acquire new concepts and vocabulary throughout the whole project and

the school year. Understanding that the teachers have a crucial role within that environment will

enlighten the work within the classroom.

Along with the activities developed and thanks to the fact the school is bilingual; the

children were constantly receiving input. Thus, I could witness how they absorbed what they

were getting from the environment. And this not only applied for the academic aspect, but also

for the formative element in their early education. The fact that the Montessori Method teaches

the children to appreciate working in silence, respecting others and everything from the

environment, and self-regulation, means that children are learning abilities for life itself.

In addition, children should be provided with sights and sounds to nourish their foreign language

acquisition process. As well as, having activities and materials that engage children favoring


their learning process, always taking into account their learning styles, interests and the

connection with their daily life. But above all, respecting every child’s learning pace.

Reflections

Life took me to the path of teaching very young learners and since the beginning; I

learned that it is a challenging but incredibly rewarding job. Having the opportunity of carrying

out my research project in my first year as homeroom teacher, was a milestone in my personal

and professional life. During this year, I have the possibility to go in depth exploring the

philosophy developed by Dr. Maria Montessori and I discovered how through education children

became autonomous, respectful and responsible human beings. I experienced that being the

keeper and the role model for the children, encouraged me to self-study by reading, and looking

for different activities to work with the children, since I am not yet certificated on Montessori

Method. Moreover, I found that within the method I could use several different approaches such

as learning centers, using realia, to mention some; always aiming to promote meaningful

learning among children.

Finally, I am aware being a Montessori teacher requires an inner work to know my

strengths and weaknesses as a person and as a teacher itself. Since I mentioned it before, I am the

role model to the children and they are absorbing everything, good or bad, love or violence,

beauty and ugly, from their environment.


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