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Article |
Potenciando los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible y la Educación para
la Ciudadanía Global con presentaciones orales cooperativas en inglés
María Martínez Lirola[*]
Abstract
This article presents a
didactic proposal to introduce the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the
principles of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in cooperative oral
presentations in the English as a foreign language class in higher education.
Thus, it enhances reflection on social situations that need to be transformed
to advance social justice. The methodology is mixed, incorporating
qualitative-descriptive aspects associated with the observation of students'
performance in oral presentations. Quantitative data are also offered based on
the results of a rubric completed by both the teacher and the students and a
questionnaire completed anonymously by the students at the end of the sessions.
Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), Global Citizenship Education (GCED), active methodologies, social
competencies, university education.
Resumen
Este artículo
presenta una propuesta didáctica para introducir los Objetivos de Desarrollo
Sostenible (ODS) y los principios de la Educación para la Ciudadanía Global (ECG) en
presentaciones orales cooperativas en la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera
en la educación superior. Así, se potencia la
reflexión sobre situaciones sociales que necesitan ser transformadas para
avanzar en justicia social. La
metodología es mixta, incorporando aspectos cualitativos-descriptivos asociados
a la observación del desempeño de los/as estudiantes de las presentaciones
orales. También se ofrecen datos cuantitativos basados en los resultados de una
rúbrica completada tanto por la profesora como el estudiantado y en un
cuestionario que el alumnado completó al final de las sesiones de manera
anónima.
Palabras clave: Objetivos de
Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), Educación para la ciudadanía global (ECG),
metodologías activas, competencias sociales, educación universitaria.
Introduction
The University of the 21st century must contribute
to social transformation. To this end, it must train students as active,
cosmopolitan, critical and responsible citizens concerned about the social
changes that must be carried out to advance in the construction of a better
world (Hernán Losada and Anguita Osuna, 2023). In this sense, higher education
must involve not only the student body, but also numerous social sectors such
as public and private institutions in the academic sector, the business sector
and politics.
University students in the 21st century need to
receive a comprehensive education that will enable them to face global
challenges (equality, social justice, sustainability, among others) and to
assume a social and political participation in society (Risberg, 2021). Such
training must offer tools for the understanding of different social aspects, in
the words of Saperstein (2020) "To deepen cross-cultural understanding
through the study of current transnational issues" (p. 125). To this end,
active methodologies, pedagogical approaches, activities and materials must be
selected to help students deepen their understanding of current social challenges
while acquiring the contents of the subjects ( Crous et
al, 2024 ).
This research responds to the need for teaching to
offer a holistic education that allows students to relate the contents they
learn with social demands. In this sense, framing the teaching-learning process
in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations for
the year 2030 (United Nations, 2015) and in the principles of Education for
Global Citizenship (ECG) helps students to deepen their understanding of
current global challenges by providing classes with social content. This entails
betting on a multidimensional training that favors students to become aware of
the need to advance as critical citizenship and committed to the construction
of fairer societies, in which social justice occupies a central place
(Murga-Menoyo, 2018).
The global nature of the SDGs allows students to
delve into social realities other than their own. This will lead them to
broaden their outlook and be open to other cultures, aspects that are related
to the GCE by paying attention to different aspects of reality from both a
local and global approach. In this sense, we are faced with a pedagogical
approach that contributes to student empowerment (Contreras León and Chapetón
Castro, 2017; Martínez Lirola, 2022) as it offers opportunities to enhance
critical thinking by reflecting on social issues linked to social justice
(Gkonou et al., 2020)
It is considered that students have little
understanding of the relationship between the SDGs and the content of an
English as a foreign language course. Therefore, the starting hypothesis is
that preparing oral presentations on the SDGs will foster the development of
students' social awareness. The main objectives of this article are: 1) to
design and implement a didactic proposal to work on oral skills and acquire
social competences through cooperative oral presentations based on the social
issues raised by the SDGs and the principles of the GCE, 2) to promote
reflection on the SDGs so that students reflect on the social situations that
need to be transformed to advance social justice, and 3) to know the students'
opinion on the proposed pedagogical proposal. To this end, a questionnaire was
prepared and answered anonymously by the students after they had participated
in the proposed activities (see section 4). The main research question is the
following: Do cooperative oral presentations based on the SDGs allow students
to reflect on global issues, the principles of GCE and acquire social
competences while working on the skills and contents of an English as a foreign
language subject in higher education?
By implementing the didactic proposal designed, the
teacher intends the students to develop the different skills of the subject,
especially oral and written skills. In addition, the development of social
skills is encouraged, among which communication and cooperation occupy a
central place, reflection on global issues related to the SDGs and the review
of lexical-grammatical aspects of the C1 level such as, advanced vocabulary of
the selected topics, review of verb tenses, conditional sentences, passive, indirect
style, articles, adverbs and adjectives, among others.
Consequently, in addition to the contents of the
subject related to learning vocabulary, grammar, and developing all the skills
required at an advanced level of English, students put into practice their
critical capacity by delving into the social issues related to the SDGs. Thus,
the principles of the ECG are strengthened by delving into the global issues
included in the SDGs. Likewise, students become aware of the pedagogical
principles associated with this didactic perspective and can apply them in their
daily lives, which can contribute to building a better world, thus having a
clear social impact.
Materials and methods
In 2015, the Member States of the United Nations
adopted a set of common goals for the development of the planet through the
approval of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015)
framed in the 2030 Agenda. These seek to provide a common framework to advance
global challenges and prevent human suffering on which all institutions and
social agents must work. The 2030 Agenda is universal, integrated and
indivisible by nature and seeks not only to end poverty or hunger, improve the
quality of education or preserve the environment, but also to reduce
inequalities and promote more just, peaceful and inclusive societies (United
Nations, 2019). The 17 SDGs presented in the United Nations 2030 Agenda break
down 169 targets and 232 indicators that summarize the main challenges facing
our world (United Nations, 2015).
Incorporating the SDGs in the teaching-learning
process helps to promote social justice and to focus not only on the
acquisition of knowledge, but also on developing the integral formation of the
individual, which involves the acquisition of social competencies. Working with
this type of competencies in higher education helps students to become active
and critical citizens so that they can apply what they learn to the labor
market in particular and to society in general (Escalona Pardo, et al., 2020;
Villa Sánchez, 2020).
In recent years, much research has been published on
the desirability of using the SDGs at all educational levels and in all
disciplines. For example, Muñoz Teheran et al. (2022) offer the benefits for
primary school students of a teaching proposal based on the SDGs. Barba-Martín
et al. (2021) emphasize that the social theme of the SDGs requires the use of
materials that allow linking the contents of the subjects to the social
challenges through active methodologies that allow students to learn by doing.
Regarding higher education, there are studies that
reflect on the role of the University in the implementation of the SDGs, such
as the research published by de la Rosa Ruiz et al. (2019) and link it to
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Similarly, Garzón-García et al.
(2023) focus on the experience developed over several years in the geographical
study of tourism framed in ESD. The book coordinated by Liesa Orús (2021) links
the inclusion of the SDGs in higher education with the service-learning methodology
and with an improvement in educational quality and equity. In addition, the
book by Merma (2020) and the book by Miñano and García (2020) present different
experiences of integration of the SDGs in university curriculum design.
Other research offers practical applications. For
example, Ramos (2021) highlights their relevance in promoting the development
of essential competencies and offers applications of the SDGs in different case
studies. The author stresses the relevance of the SDGs for working on
"relevant cross-cutting sustainability competencies" (p. 94). The
book by López Esteban (2022) presents several models and experiences in which
the SDGs are used in the Master's Degree in Compulsory Secondary Education and
Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching (MUPES). The included
studies highlight not only the positive results of the didactic experiences but
also the present challenges.
There are several works that focus on the usefulness
of the SDGs for working in foreign languages. The article by Rodríguez
Peñarroja (2022) focuses on the Tourism degree and frames the SDGs in Education
for Sustainable Development. This study refers to a project in which the
teaching of English is focused on the sequencing of communicative tasks that
are integrated with the SDGs. The work of Sánchez (2022) offers an
investigation in which the SDGs are introduced in a subject of the MUPES, in
the specialty of English in which students are trained on how to work on the
SDGs through effective tasks. On the other hand, Oliete Cruz (2022) reflects on
the possibility offered by the ODS of using real fragments of foreign languages
in the classroom context in order to use the language in a real way, which
favors effective learning.
Betting on training based on the SDGs in order for
students to advance as planetary citizens is clearly related to the principles
of the GCED (Murga-Menoyo, 2018; Murga-Menoyo and Novo, 2017). This is because
both the GJU and the SDGs endow the teaching-learning process with a global
character by focusing on global issues that require efforts from all
institutions, including universities, in a way that empowers working for social
improvement on an international scale. Murga-Menoyo
(2020) points out that "[...] the "planetary citizenship"
approach is particularly suited to meet the challenge of the SDGs, as well as
the ecological and social transition towards sustainability" (p. 5).
GCE is a paradigm that establishes relationships
between the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that students need to
contribute to a more peaceful, just, tolerant, inclusive, safe and sustainable
world (UNESCO, 2014a). In this sense, relevance is
given to education in the process of understanding and solving global issues
that affect culture, economy or sustainability, among others. This educational
proposal goes beyond knowledge or the development of cognitive skills by
betting on values and competencies that contribute to social transformation and
international and local cooperation. Consequently, importance is given to the
social, civic and political role of education so that students can face the
challenges of the 21st century society (UNESCO, 2014a).
GCE promotes learning that contributes to social
transformation so that the world becomes a more just, ethical and responsible
place. It is a pedagogical approach that pays attention to different aspects of
reality from both a local and global approach, which helps students to broaden
their vision and reflect on global challenges and their effect on local reality (Martínez Lirola, 2022). One of the main objectives
of the ECG is to empower students to advance as active and critical citizens,
capable of contributing to making the necessary changes for societies to move
forward. Thus, it is committed to transformative learning that leads to a
global common good, taking into account the global challenges in the classroom
( UNESCO, 2014b, 2015, 2016 ).
The principles of GCED are suitable for work at all
educational levels. Thus, if they are worked from primary school, students will
gradually become aware of current challenges and will be trained to face these
challenges through the use of materials, methodologies and didactic experiences
that contribute to their formation as global citizens, in addition to acquiring
the contents of the subjects themselves (
González-Monfort et al., 2023 ).
In order for students to deepen their understanding
of the principles of the ECG, a methodology that allows them to learn by doing
and interact with their peers has to be selected. In this sense, cooperative
learning has been chosen because of its convenience to work on different
essential social competences in the subject, such as cooperation or
communication. These skills are important in interpersonal relationships and in
the labor market (Martínez Lirola, 2021). Opting for this methodology implies that
students and teachers share responsibility, so that egalitarian relationships
are enhanced by offering students the opportunity to manage their learning and
make decisions while learning. These aspects are relevant not only during their
learning process, but also for their personal lives and for their incorporation
into the labor market (Johnson and Johnson, 2004; Martínez Lirola, 2021).
Cooperative learning encourages students to work
with their peers in order to achieve a common goal, i.e., they seek their own
benefit and that of the group (Prieto Navarro, 2007; Saavedra Serrano, 2018).
Consequently, the students become the protagonist of the teaching-learning
process and the whole group is responsible for the final work. Therefore, it is
necessary to negotiate, dialogue, discuss, distribute tasks, establish
relationships between theory and practice and make decisions, among others, during
the learning process. This leads to the acquisition of social competences and
the development of skills that are useful both in the subject and in the labor
market (Escalona Pardo et al., 2020; Larraz et al., 2017). Opting for a
cooperative methodology enhances the interaction of students and grants them an
active role while learning. Thus, the teaching-learning process helps to form
committed professionals, a fact that favors students to grow as active
citizens, since they learn by doing through a cooperative methodology (Johnson
et al., 2007; Martínez Lirola, 2021).
There were 81 people enrolled in the course in the
2024-2025 academic year (63 women and 18 men), whose ages ranged from 20 to 23
years. Of the 81 people, 17 obtained an Erasmus scholarship at other European
universities. The students had previously studied English in high school and in
the previous two years of their degree. Most of the students want to work as
teachers in primary or secondary schools or in translation-related work in
companies.
Two instruments were used
to carry out this study: on the one hand, an anonymous questionnaire in Google Forms was used, which all
students completed at the end of the term. It consists of eight questions (four
dichotomous questions, two short answer questions, one multiple choice question
and one Likert scale question) and was designed by the teacher in order to know
the students' opinion about the didactic experience in which they participated.
It mainly focuses on aspects related to the students' knowledge of the SDGs or
the GCE before taking the subject, to the social competences acquired or to the
relationship between the use of the SDGs in oral presentations and the
development of students as intercultural global citizens. The questionnaire
data were statistically analyzed with Excel
software (Microsoft office) to obtain univariate statistical parameters. On the other hand, a rubric was used, which the
teacher completed while the students made their oral presentation; the same
rubric was completed by the students at the end of their presentation (see
Table 1). Of the people enrolled in the course in Spain (64 in total), 89.06%,
i.e. 57 people, answered the questionnaire anonymously. This is a high
percentage of participation considering that completing the questionnaire was
optional.
In order for the students
to actively participate in the teaching-learning process, the teacher asked
them to organize themselves into groups of about four people. The students were
free to organize the groups and decide with whom they wanted to work. Each
group had to prepare a cooperative oral presentation and discussion based on
one of the global themes of the SDGs and taking into account the principles of
the GCED. In other words, the students had to elaborate on the selected SDG and
contrast aspects related to it at the local and global level. Students began
presenting in the fourth week of the semester, so that they could have time to
organize themselves and apply what they had learned in the previous weeks.
The teacher emphasized that the discussions to be
organized after the oral presentations should not only consist of asking
questions about the topic of the oral presentation. In fact, the debate is a
didactic technique that promotes creativity because it can be organized in
different ways. Therefore, the teacher offered the students some techniques to
prepare cooperative debates, among which the role play or preparation of short dramatizations stand out. The
students participated in a debate on human rights and the SDGs, paying special
attention to gender equality and SDG 5. The
purpose of this activity was to help students to deepen their understanding of
the SDG and the intercultural aspects related to it.
Leadership was also promoted because the students
who organized the debate had to prepare the questions and resources (some
students used videos to emphasize a particular aspect or to establish
connections between the oral presentations and the debates), to manage time and
make sure that everyone participated at the same time while promoting respect
for different opinions, among others. In addition, sometimes there were
conflicts because students disagreed. When this happened, the teacher pointed
out that differences are enriching and that there was always something to learn
from others' opinions. All the skills mentioned are important for the labor
market.
Results
This section is divided into two subsections. The
first presents the results of the questionnaire and the second presents the
results of the rubric used in the study.
Regarding the first question, it is striking that
almost half of the students surveyed, specifically 47.4%, responded that they
did not know about the SDGs before working on them in the subject, while a
little more than half of the students (52.6%) gave an affirmative answer. This
result shows us that, despite the fact that the SDGs were created in 2015, it
is clear that there are people who still do not know about them, so we must
continue working to give them visibility and show their applicability.
The second question was intended to find out whether
the students were aware of the ECG approach before it was introduced in this
subject. Only 21.1% answered in the affirmative, compared to 79.8% who
indicated that they were not familiar with this didactic approach. The fact
that we live in a globalized world invites us to deepen this educational
approach so that students can advance as global citizens, cosmopolitan and
capable of adapting to the global demands of the 21st century.
In question 3, 100% of the students surveyed
answered in the affirmative when asked if the SDGs and the GCE have contributed
to establishing relationships between the contents of the subject and social
demands. When delving into the reasons that justify their answer in question 4,
the following stand out: many social issues and the injustice of the need to
vindicate rights linked to various issues have been deepened; different skills
and competences have been worked on, such as intercultural skills, as well as
the development of critical thinking. They have also become aware of some
global conflicts and needs that they were not aware of. Some examples of
responses are the following: "To raise my awareness about some social
issues (e.g. in developing societies)", "I have a different
perspective in understanding the world. Studying the SDGs equips me with the
knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to engage as an empathetic, and
responsible global citizen" and "I have gained a deeper understanding
of the importance of diversity and inclusion in fostering harmonious global
communities".
Question 5 focuses on the competencies that students
consider they have developed the most when working on the oral presentations
linked to the SDGs. Figure 1 shows that the most developed social competence is
related to understanding other people with 31.6%, followed by cooperation
(26.3%) and communication (22.8%). These are essential competencies in the
subject and the social theme of the SDGs and the principles of the GCE have had
an effect on the fact that the social themes worked on have led to a deeper
understanding of the realities experienced by other human beings.
Figure
1. Answers to question 5.
When students were asked in question 6 whether they
considered that the knowledge and applications of the SDGs acquired during the
term had contributed to the development of intercultural competence and to
their development as global citizens, 100% gave an affirmative answer. With
respect to the reasons justifying the answer in question 7, it is indicated
that the global nature of the SDGs has allowed them to delve into social
realities other than their own. This has led them to broaden their view of the
main current social challenges while increasing their social awareness of these
issues, which has led them to become aware of their personal responsibility and
the importance of carrying out concrete actions. Some of the answers are the
following: "I am more aware of different humanitarian issues, I know more
about other countries and some difficulties that they have to endure with"
or "Yes, because I have become more critical of the situations that I
think are not fair, like discriminations and injustices". Finally, in
question 8, when students are asked to evaluate themselves as global citizens,
Figure 2 indicates that most of the answers are at 4 and 5 on the Likert scale,
that is, about three quarters of the students and only a quarter of the
students (26.3%) mark three on the scale.
Figure 2. Responses to question 8.
The results of the
questionnaire show that students have developed different types of competencies
while deepening their understanding of the SDGs and the principles of the GCE.
The cooperative methodology, the theme of the presentations and the competencies
worked on have contributed to the formation
of students as active and global citizens, with the ability to reflect on
current challenges and offer solutions that contribute to the construction of a
better world.
Table 1 presents the results of the rubric that both
the teacher and students completed at the end of the oral presentation and
weekly discussion based on the SDGs. The results are discussed below.
Table 1. Rubric with Likert scale for oral presentations.
|
Aspects
to evaluate |
1 Strongly
disagree Professor
Alumni |
2 |
|
|
5 Totally agree |
|
Practice of
vocabulary on SDGs. |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
100% 100% |
|
Discussion on global issues related to the SDGs. |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
29,82% 12,28% |
70,17% 87,71% |
|
Cultural
literacy. |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
45,61% 47,36% |
24,56% 26,32% |
29,83% 26,33% |
|
Advancement as a global citizenry. |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
23,21% 25% |
51,79% 51,79% |
25% 23,21% |
|
Development of
intercultural competence and social skills. |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
0% 0% |
49,13% 40,36% |
50,87% 59,64% |
The first item in the rubric focuses on SDG
vocabulary practice. Both the teacher and the students agreed in scoring the
highest on the Likert scale, as focusing the oral presentations and discussions
on the SDGs facilitated the use of vocabulary related to the selected SDGs.
Regarding the second item focused on the discussion of global issues related to
the SDGs, both teacher and student responses were between 4 and 5 on the scale.
However, it is observed that the teacher scores a little lower in number 5 with
70.17% and, consequently, in item 4 the percentage is higher than that offered
by the students with 29.82%. This is due to the fact that the teacher considers
that some students could have participated more in the debates or with more
elaborated contributions.
The third item of the rubric focuses on the
development of cultural literacy and global awareness. It is striking that
almost half of the students' and teachers' responses (45.61% and 47.36%
respectively) are offered in number 3 and about a quarter in 4 (26.32% of
students and 24.56% of teachers) and 5 (26.33% of students and 29.83% of
teachers), a fact that indicates that a large part of the students do not
consider that they have effectively improved this literacy. This indicates that
it is necessary to insist that working on the SDGs linked to local and global
challenges contributes to improving this literacy by providing students with
opportunities to deepen their understanding of cultural differences.
In the next item, again the teacher's results are
similar to those of the students and are found only in the responses 3, 4 and 5
of the scale. The percentages vary with respect to the previous item, since in
this case only about a quarter of the responses (25% of the students and 23.21%
of the teacher) are in response 3, with 4 being the choice with 51.79% of both
the teacher and the students with the most responses. This indicates that both
the preparation of the oral presentations on the SDGs and the participation in
the debates have favored the development of students as global citizens by
offering them opportunities to learn about the global challenges integrated in
the SDGs. The fact that around 25% of the responses are in 5 indicates that it
would be necessary to design other activities in the subject that would favor
the students' progress as cosmopolitan citizens with the capacity to respond to
the challenges of the 21st century.
Finally, when evaluating the development of
intercultural competence and social competencies, again the responses are only
in items 4 and 5, with the students' responses being higher in 5 compared to
those of the teacher. This variation is due to the fact that, although the
teacher is happy with the results obtained in this item, she considers that
some social competences such as communication or cooperation could be developed
a little more in some groups.
The incorporation of the SDGs into the
teaching-learning process is justified by their usefulness in helping students
to establish relationships between what they learn in the classroom and current
demands, since they are working with social issues that need to be improved at
a global level, hence the relationship between the SDGs and the GCED.
Consequently, the fact that the oral presentations of the subject are framed in
the SDGs and the GCS contributes to making social challenges visible at a
global level.
Like Gkonou et al. (2020), we believe that framing
the teaching-learning process in the SDGs and the GCE fosters critical thinking
and openness to social realities other than one's own. Thus, education is
enhanced as an instrument for social justice and peace, ideas clearly linked to
the GCED and the SDGs, aspects that have an impact on the empowerment of students as global citizens (Contreras
León and Chapetón Castro, 2017; Martínez Lirola, 2022). In this way, higher education adapts to the demands of globalization.
We agree with authors such as Escalona Pardo et al.
(2020) and Villa Sánchez (2020) that the social competencies that are enhanced
with oral presentations contribute to the advancement of students as active and
critical citizens, capable of responding to social demands. In addition, the
social content of the SDGs favors the introduction of social justice in the
subject, as the social challenges posed by the SDGs occupy a central place in
the presentations.
Like the research by Liesa Orús (2021), Merma (2020)
and Miñano and García (2020), we consider that it is very convenient to work on
the SDGs by means of active methodologies, hence in this study we have opted
for a cooperative methodology that implies that students learn by doing
(Barba-Martín et al., 2021). Following Ramos (2021), our study indicates that
the cooperative presentations prepared by the students contribute to the
acquisition of social competencies that help students to develop their social responsibility
and, therefore, to advance as global citizens by relating the SDGs worked on in
the classroom with the social challenges linked to them. Thus, along the same
lines as authors such as Sánchez (2022), Rodríguez Peñarroja (2022) or Oliete
Cruz (2022), the use of the SDGs is appropriate to work with real fragments in
the classroom and to enhance communicative tasks as occurs in the
presentations.
Our didactic proposal goes beyond the contents and
takes into account the global challenges that need to be overcome, hence, at
like authors such as Murga-Menoyo (2020), we consider it relevant to include
the principles of GCED in the classroom because of their relevance to enhance
knowledge, values and competencies that contribute to the social transformation
needed in the 21st century (UNESCO, 2014a). Thanks to this approach linked to
the SDGs, students can establish relationships between local and global
realities, while at the same time fostering an approach to other cultures and
overcoming the ethnocentric point of view by broadening the view and
considering global issues (Martínez
Lirola, 2022; UNESCO, 2014b, 2015, 2016).
Consequently, employing the principles of GCED in
this study has allowed us to use a cooperative methodology and different
materials, including the SDGs, because they allow us to delve deeper into
global challenges and link what is taught in university classrooms with society
(Barba-Martín, et al., 2021). Thus, like González-Monfort et al. (2023), our
study has promoted GCE in university education in the 21st century to help
students develop their social responsibility while becoming active agents in building
a better world.
The preparation of cooperative oral presentations
encourages interaction and the development of different social competences
among which communication and cooperation stand out due to the practical nature
of the subject in general and of oral presentations in particular (Martínez
Lirola, 2021). In this sense, we agree with authors such as Escalona Pardo et
al. (2020) or Larraz et al. (2017) that the need to negotiate or make decisions
while making the presentation has a direct impact on the development of social
competences that students need for life in general and for the labor market in
particular. Consequently, students can apply theory to practice, manage their
own learning and see relationships between what they learn and social demands,
aspects that allow them to develop as active citizens with capacities to
influence society (Johnson and Johnson, 2004; Martínez Lirola, 2021).
Like Prieto Navarro (2007) and Saavedra Serrano,
(2018) we consider that thanks to cooperation in groups, not only is learning
done individually, but each person who makes up the cooperative group
contributes to the learning of their peers. This is an essential aspect in
cooperative learning, since the final oral presentation is the result of the
sum of the work of all members.
The selection of
cooperative oral presentations linked to the SDGs and the GCED to work on oral
skills in an advanced English subject in higher education in this research is
determined by the convenience of this type of presentations to enhance
essential social skills in the subject such as cooperation or communication
while deepening the global theme associated with the selected SDG. In addition, both the preparation and the
implementation of these presentations allow students to use the vocabulary and
grammar worked on in the subject in a dynamic way, since advanced vocabulary
and grammar are used in all the presentations. Consequently, the proposal goes
beyond the contents of the subject by promoting reflection and discussion on
the SDGs in order for students to advance as global citizens through the
development of competencies and critical thinking.
Opting for a cooperative methodology allows students
to establish relationships between theory and practice, an essential aspect to
establish relationships between what is learned in the classroom and social
demands. During the process of preparing the presentations, students interact
with their peers in order to make decisions that result in the improvement of
the final presentation. In addition, during the presentation of the
presentations in the classroom, interaction is encouraged to confirm that the
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Universidad de
Alicante, Alicante, España y University of South Africa (UNISA), maria.lirola@ua.es
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6427-425X