F. Molinero's article highlights a recurring problem in Catalonia: after ten years of studying English, secondary school students do not reach the expected level. Basic competency tests reveal serious deficiencies in oral and written expression, despite investment in class hours and immersion. The lack of real contact with the language and a methodology focused on grammar hinder learning.
How technology could change the pedagogical approach 💡
The problem is not one of hours, but of method. While students spend years memorizing grammar rules, tools like conversational AI exchange platforms or simulations of English-speaking environments could offer real practice. Voice recognition apps and chatbots already allow for practicing oral expression without pressure. Integrating these technologies into the classroom, along with tasks requiring spontaneous communication, would replace passive repetition with active use of the language.
Ten years of English and we still don't know how to order a coffee ☕
Ten years. Almost nothing. Long enough to see three generations of mobile phones be born, grow, and die. But not enough for a student to order a coffee in London without pointing a finger. Meanwhile, we keep conjugating the verb to be in the present simple as if there were no exam tomorrow. Ironies of a system that invests millions in class hours, but forgets that English is learned by speaking, not by highlighting.