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Languages and Learning

Code: 102075 ECTS Credits: 5
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Primary Education OB 3

Contact

Name:
Marilisa Birello
Email:
marilisa.birello@uab.cat

Teachers

Carmen Duran Rivas
Maria Teresa Sans Bertran
Artur Vidal Sape

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

A good oral and written command of Catalan and Spanish (C2 level) will be necessary to achieve the aims of the course. An English or French B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages will also be required.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This course provides the basic knowledge necessary for all future primary school teachers. In particular, it provides participants with theoretical and practical tools to teach primary school students written and oral skills in all content areas, to engage their future pupils in activities that promote metalinguistic awareness, and to organize language learning activities in the classroom. 

The learning goals of the course, achieved through promoting student-teacher interaction, are basically two:

 - To learn how to design and manage environments, activities, and classroom materials to foster metalinguistic reflection and to help primary school students learn how to write.

 - To understand the theoretical premises underlying language learning theories, approaches, and methods that account for the phenomena that take place in the classroom and to make proposals for innovation that emerge from such premises. 

 


Competences

  • Develop and evaluate contents of the curriculum by means of appropriate didactic resources and promote the corresponding skills in pupils.
  • Incorporate information and communications technology to learn, communicate and share in educational contexts.
  • Speak, read and write correctly and adequately in the official languages of the corresponding Autonomous Community.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Understand the process of learning written language and its teaching.
  • Work in teams and with teams (in the same field or interdisciplinary).

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  2. Assessing the value of correction, adaptation and acceptability in oral and written productions.
  3. Be aware of the specificity of learning language and literature through ICT and understand their full potential.
  4. Being able to analyse and draw up proposals for class work, taking into account the relevant theoretical frameworks and the goals of the prescriptive curriculum.
  5. Being aware of the possibilities of constructing knowledge in collaborative situations and being able to manage them.
  6. Being familiar with the didactic approaches that promote an integrated working of the different linguistic and literary contents that take into account the perspective of the pupils.
  7. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  8. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  9. Form teams that are capable of carrying out activities effectively both in person and remotely in different ways.
  10. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  11. Know and appreciate appropriate educational software and web sites for the teaching and learning of languages at different educational levels.
  12. Know and use the main resources and tools of inquiry for one's language.
  13. Know the models that explain the reading and writing process and share current views about the nature of written language.
  14. Knowing how to relate didactic models for teaching reading, writing and literature with the different ways of working with them in the classroom.
  15. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.

Content

BLOCK 1 - Written language in grades 1 and 2

  • The competence focus of the primary language curriculum and its relationship with other areas.

  • Uses and functions of written language in today's society.

  • Entry into the written code. Children's concepts of written language.

  • The first learning of writing.

  • The foundation of educational practices and current methodological proposals.

  • Criteria for the analysis, interpretation and evaluation of children's texts in the initial cycle.

BLOCK 2 - Teaching, learning, and assessing writing activities addressed to grade primary school students

  • Writing from a sociocultural perspective and activity theory:

  • School and social genres.

  • The writing process. Models and reflections on teaching how to write.

  • The integration of linguistic skills in the description of learners’ writing competence.

  • Metalinguistic activities as tools to learn the formal uses of languages.

  • The assessment of students’ writing learning process.

BLOCK 3 - Teaching, learning, and assessing grade 3 to grade 6 learners' speaking skills

  • Interaction in the classroom as a developmental and learning tool.

  • Teaching approaches for the development of reception, production, and interaction competencies in the languages in the school curriculum.

  • Criteria for selecting and assessing speaking tasks in the classroom: reception, production, and interaction tasks.

BLOCK 4 - School organization of language education

  • Language learning school environments. The organization of the space in the language classroom.

  • The integration of different contents of the linguistic curriculum in meaningful activities for students: insights into project-based learning and on how to plan teaching sequences.

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Seminar sessions: students work in small groups under the supervision of the teacher, who monitors group work and give learners feedback. 25 1 13
Sessions with the whole group: the teacher will introduce the topics to be dealt with the course, discuss the class readings, set the tasks, tutor students individually or in small groups, monitor group work and give feedback. 13 0.52 13
Type: Supervised      
Autonomous self-study time: individual and group work tasks to be carried out outside the classroom 20 0.8 13
Type: Autonomous      
Readings, individual preparation of course contents 63.75 2.55 13

Sessions with the whole group: The teacher will introduce the topics to be dealt with in the course, discuss the class readings, set the tasks, tutor students individually or in small groups, monitor group work and give feedback. Students will cooperate with their peers to construct shared knowledge through oral presentations and to elaborate the course assignments.

Seminar sessions:  students work in small groups under the supervision of the teacher, who monitors group work and give learners feedback.

Autonomous self-study time:  individual and group work tasks to be carried out outside the classroom

The teaching methodology favours students’ active participation in their learning as it creates spaces for cooperative work. Knowledge is built as a process of contrasting and critically examining information and by establishing a relationship among the new knowledge gained, the experience one possesses and one’s analysis of the immediate reality.

 

TransNatura Project:

TransNatura is the title of the multidisciplinary project designed between the teaching teams of five of the 3rd year subjects of the Degree in Primary Education (Learning and Development II, Didactics of Experimental Sciences, Visual Music Education and Learning, Physical Education and its Didactics I, Languages and Learning). It consists of two days and one night in nature (Núria Valley) in which the aim is to provide an intense and formative experience in the natural environment which, in addition to working on specific objectives of the disciplines, also facilitates the approach of transversal aspects such as sustainability, healthy living, coexistence and the relationship between school and nature, among others.

It will take place on October 13th and 14th for groups 21 and 71, and on October 16th and 17th for groups 31 and 41, including overnight stays.

Attendance is compulsory. In the event that someone is unable to attendfor a justified reason, he/she will have to prove it and carry out compensatory work previously agreed with the teacher. The activities carried out during the outing will form part of the continuous assessment of the different subjects. Details regarding timetable, price, itinerary and luggage will be provided at the beginning of the course.

The estimated price is around 60 euros (including bus, rack railway, dinner, accomodation, breakfast, and lunch on the second day). The UAB opens in October a call for grants to finance field trips.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
N2 Exam (individual). Mandatory requirement 0 0 2
1. Written group work, supervision during the task of writing and the quality of the written text and tasks to be carried out in the classroom. 40% 2 0.08 3, 1, 7, 13, 12, 11, 9, 5, 10, 15, 14, 4, 6, 8, 2
2. Individual written task. 10% 0.25 0.01 1, 7, 13, 12, 10, 15, 14, 4, 8
3. Individual written exam. 50% 1 0.04 1, 7, 13, 12, 10, 15, 14, 4, 6, 8, 2

This subject does not provide for a single assessment system.

During small group work and seminar sessions, students will prepare a document to establish self-regulation mechanisms of their own learning process. In addition, teachers will provide a mechanism to track this process. Referring to the final assessment of the subject, evaluation activities will be carried out.

Formative assessment tools will be used to evaluate students’ individual or group assignments in all types of assessment activities (directed, supervised, and autonomous).

All assessment tasks need to be passed (minimum grade of 5 out of 10) in order to pass the subject. Language will be part of the assessment in written works and oral presentations. No oral presentation or written assignment will obtain a passing mark if students do not demonstrate a good command of Catalan.

The teacher will, in due time, establish a mechanism to help students improve their scores in one particular assignment. Only in the case of the examen and the written task will be given the opportunity to elaborate on an extra assignment to try to get a pass mark on each task (maximum mark 6, see date in the figure), for the written group works there is not this opportunity.

In accordance with UAB policy, plagiarism or copying of any task or part of a task will be penalized with a fail (0). Students do not be given the possibility of doing that assignment again. The rule applies to all individual and group tasks (in the latter case, all members of the group who commits plagiarism will score 0 in that assignment). If during the realisation of an individual assessment task in the classroom, the teacher sees a student trying to copy or find any document or device not approved by the faculty, the mark for the task will also be 0, and that student will not be allowed to redo the task.

This subject will propose to carry out one of the assessment items using the challenge-based learning (CBL) methodology.The aim is to tackle real and complex problems identified by professionals in order to find a suitable definition and point out possible solutions. Challenge-based learning is nowadays a widely recognised methodology that allows not only to deal with real case studies but also to insert students in environments in which they can develop their professional careers in the future. 

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively in the bibliographic or information search, image generation and other specific situations that are expressly specified. It is not allowed in generating content beyond images, i.e. generating text or speech in any of the tasks. The student must clearly identify which parts have been generated with AI, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI will be considered as academic dishonesty and may lead to a partial or total penalty in the marking of the assessment evidence, or higher penalties in more serious cases. Misuse will be penalised with a 0.

This subject includes activities for the development of Digital Teaching Competence (A2), such as the use of digital tools for the search and analysis of scientific literature, tools for linguistic consultations such as dictionaries and grammars, tools for the elaboration of a poster or digital presentation.

Dates and deadline:

1) Written group work: Deadline groups 21 and 31 : 19th December 2025; groups 41 and 71: 17th December 2025.

2) Individual written task: groups 41 and 71 - 29.10.2025; groups 21 and 31 - 31.10.2025. Resitting: groups 41 and 71 - 28.01.2026; groups 21 and 31 - 30.01.2025. 

3) Individual written exam: groups 41 and 71: 19.11.2025; group 21: 14.11.2025; group 31: 21.11.2025. Resitting: groups 41 and 71: 28.01.2026 - 18h; groups 21 and 31: 30.01.2026 - 18h.

 

The group work consists of the design of a didactic unit. The groups will have to choose a discursive genre, decide on the linguistic content to be learned, plan and sequence the activities and design the corresponding activities.

 

Marking of assessment activities will bedone within 15 to 20 working days. 

 

N2 Exam:

In order to pass this course, students must prove they have a very good command of Catalan (C2 level, as described here: http://www.uab.cat/web/els-estudis/-competencia-linguistica-1345698914384.html). To do so, at the end of the semester they should sit a C2 language test (tests can also be taken in June).

If students possess a C2 Catalan certificate issued by either Direcció General de Política Lingüística or the language service of this university, they should not take the test.

If the student has not obtained the Catalan level 2 for preschool and Primary Education teachers, the mark will be a 3.

If the student passes the rest of the subject and has failed the Catalan level 2, the next course will have to demonstrate that he/she has obtained it; the whole of the subject will continue the evaluation of synthesis that each teacher will decide.

Synthesis exam: The synthesis test consists of writing a commentary of about 400 words in which the most relevant aspects of two compulsory readings of the subject are analysed and contrasted.

N2 Exam (individual): Groups 21 and 31- Friday 12th December 2025 from 10:30 to 13h; groups 41 and 71 -12th December from 15:30 to 18.00h.

 


Bibliography

Written language in grades 1 and 2

Alonso-Cortés Fradejas, M. D., Sánchez Rodrígues, S. (2024). De la ciencia educativa a las aulas y viceversa: documentar prácticas referentes para el aprendizaje de la escritura en educación primaria. Didacticae (16), 1-19.

Amat Castells, V. (2020). Sis qüestions sobre la lectura i l'escriptura al cicle inicial.Guiz, 470, 51-55.

Ferreiro, E.,  Teberosky, A. (1979). Los sistemas de escritura en el desarrollo del niño. Siglo XXI.

Fons, M. (2006). La complexitat de l'ensenyametn incial de l'escriptura. Articles de Didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, 40, 11-19.

Fons, M. (2011). Ensenyar a escriure al cicle inicial de primària. Guix, 371, 17-21

Fons-Esteve, M. (2016). L'ensenyament i l'aprenentatge de la lectura i l'aprenentatge de la lectura i escriptura inicials. Llengua, Societat i Comunicació, 14, 1-5.

Gil, R., Reyes, L. (2016).La revisió de l'escriptura al cicle inicial. Articles de Didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, 68, 26-33.

Gil Juan, M.R. (2016). Interpretar i millorar les escriptures infantils: dificultats i reptes. Llengua. Societat i Comunicació, 14, 30-37.

González, Riaño, X.-A., Buisán, C., Sánchez, S. (2009). Las prácticas docentes para enseñar a leer y escribir. Infancia y aprendizaje, 32 (2), 153-169.

Pontecorvo, C., Zucchermaglio, C. (1988). Modes of differentiation in children’s writing construction». European Journal of Psychology of Education, 3, 371-384.

Ríos, I., Fernández, P., Gallardo, I. M. (2012). Prácticas docentes, condiciones de enseñanza y posibilidades de aprendizaje inicial de la lengua escrita. Cultura & Educación, 24 (4), 435-448.

Santangelo, T., Graham, S. (2016). A comprehensive meta-analysis of Handwriting Instruction. Educational Psychology Review. 28, 225-265

Tolchinsky, L. (1993). Aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito: procesos evolutivos eimplicaciones didácticas. Anthropos.

 

Teaching, learning and assessing writing activities addressed to grade 3-grade 6 learners

Bazerman, C. (2018). Lifespan Longitudinal Studies of Writing Development: A Heuristic for an Impossible Dream. Dins C. Bazerman, A.N. Applebee, V. W. Beringer, D. Brandt, S., Graham, J. V. Jeffrey, P. K. Matsuda, S. Murphy, D. Wells, Rowe, M. Schleppergrell, i K. Campbell Wilcox. The Lifespan Development of Writing (pp.326-365). NCTE

Birello, M., Comajoan-Colomé. L., Salguero, T. (2024). Corregim a mida. Sense por però amb senderi. Articles de Didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, 101, 32-39.

Birello, M. Giralt Ruiz, M. (2018). Escriure per escriure: reflexionar i construir coneixement a la classe de llengua. Perspectiva Escolar, 398, 16-20. Recuperat de: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/189597?ln=ca

Camps, A. (coord.) (2003). Seqüències didàctiques per aprendre a escriure. Graó

Camps, A. (2011). Ensenyar i aprendre a escriure a primària. Guix, 371, 12-16

Canals, M. (2013). "Estimada besàvia". Una carta gairebé impossible. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, 61, 54-63

Casas-Deseures, M., Comajoan-Colomé, L. (2017). Noves perspectives per a l'ensenyament-aprenentatge de la gramàtica: cap a una gramàtica pedagògica. Caplletra. Revista internacional de Filologia, número monogràfic 

Castelló, M. (2008). Escribir para aprender:estrategias para transformar el conocimiento. Aula de innovación docente, num. 175, 15-21

Castelló, M. (2002). De la investigación sobre el proceso de composición a la enseñanza de la escritura. Revista Signos, 35(51-52), 149-162

Dolz, J., Gagnon, R., Ribera, P. (2013). Producció escrita i dificultats d’aprenentatge. Graó.

Fontich, X. (2011). El diàleg a l'aula des de la perspectiva sociocultural. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura,54, 68-75

Ferrer, M. (2011). Escriure i aprendre coneixements. Guix, 371, 27-30

Fidalgo, R., García, J.N. (2008). El desarrollo de la competencia escrita a través de una enseñanza metacognitiva de la escritura. Cultura y Educación, 20:3, 325-346

Gil, M.R. (2011). Reflexionar sobre la llengua per aprendre a escriure. Un repte difícil però necessari. Guix, 371, 22-26

Graham, S., Harris, K. (2016). A path to better writing. Evidence-based Practices in the Classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69, 359-365. Recuperat de: https://www.creatingrounds.com/uploads/9/6/2/4/96240662/a_path_to_better_writing.pdf

Graham, S. (2019). Changing How Writing Is Taught. Review of Research in Education, 43, 277-303. http://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18821125

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L. H., Friedlander, B. (2023). Powerful Writing Strategies for all Students. Brookes Publishing.

Milian, M. (2009). Parlem d'ortografia: què és, com s'aprèn i com s'ensenya. Articles de Didáctica de lallengua i la literatura, 48, 10-23

Milian, M. (2011). La composició escrita. Com ensenyem a escriure, com n'aprenen els alumnes? Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, 54, 104-113

Ribas, T. (2009). L'avaluació i l'ensenyament de llengües: dos àmbits que s'aproximen. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura,47, 10-25

Ribas Seix, T. (2011). Avaluar a l'àrea de llengua i literatura, dins Anna Camps (coord) Didàctica de la llengua catalana i la literatura. Graó

Rodríguez Gonzalo, C. (2015). Reflexión metalingüística y enseñanza de la gramàtica en Educación Primària. Dins J. Mata Anaya, M. P. Núñez Delgado, J. Rienda Polo (Coords. i Eds.) Didáctica de la lengua y la literatura  (pp. 173-209). Pirámide.

Sánchez-Rivero, R., Alves, R. A., Limpo,T., i Fidalgo, R. (2021). Análisis de una encuesta sobre la enseñanza de la escritura en la educación obligatoria: prácticas y variables delprofesorado. Revista Española dePedagogía, 79(279), 321-340. https://doi.org/10.22550/REP79-2-2021-01

  

Teaching, learning, and assessing young learners' (grade 3 to 6) speaking skills

Bosch, C., Palou, J. (2016). Normas que rigen el uso de la llengua oral. Dins J. Palou Sangrà i M. Fons Esteve (Coords.). Didáctica de la lengua i la literatura en educación primaria (pp.183-196). Editorial Síntesis.

Lavernia, J. (2012). Una radionovel·la a l'aula d'acollida. Proposta d'ensenyament-aprenentatge d'una L2. Articles de Didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, 57, 49-60

Palou, J., i Bosch, C. (coords) (2005). La llengua oral a l'escola. Graó

Salaberri, S. (2009). Un centro y un plan que van de la mano. Cuadernos de pedagogía, 395, 62-65.

Sans Bertran, T., i Birello, M. (2021). La retroacció correctiva oral amb estudiants adults poc escolaritzats. CLIL Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education, 4(2)

Vilà Santasusana, M., i Castellà Lidon, J. M. (2015). La lengua oral formal: características lingüísticodiscursivas y reflexiones sobre su enseñanza. Dins J. Mata Anaya, M. P. Núñez Delgado, J. Rienda Polo (Coords. y Eds.) Didáctica de la lengua y la literatura  (pp. 15-46). Pirámide

 

School organization of language education

Camps, A. (2003). Projectes de llengua entre la teoria i la pràctica. Dins A. Camps, (comp.). Seqüències didàctiques per aprendre a escriure (pp. 33-46). Graó

Cassany, D. (2011). Después de Internet... Textos de Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, 57, 12-22

Durán Rivas, C., Manresa Potrony, M., Rodríguez-Gonzalo, C. (2024). Seqüències didàctiques per ensenyar llengües: fonaments, disseny i implementació a l'aula. Col·lecció de didàctica del Català. Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat

García-Azkoaga, I. M. & Monterola, I. (2016). Las secuencias didácticas de lengua: una encrucijada entre teoría y metodología. Calidoscópio, 14(1), 46-58. - doi: 10.4013/cld.2016.141.04

Milian, M. (2011). Les seqüències didàctiques per aprendre llengua i ensenyar-ne. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, 54, 77-85

Milian, M. (2012). El model de seqüència didàctica vint anys després. Un model vàlid per ensenyar a aprendre i per aprendre a ensenyar. Articles de Didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, 57, 8-21.

Zayas, F., Pérez Esteve, P. (2012). Los géneros discursivos como eje de los Proyectos Lingüísticos de centro. Recuperat de://web.educastur.princast.es/proyectos/abareque/web/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=620:los-g%C3%A9neros-discursivos-como-eje-de-los-proyectos-ling%C3%BC%C3%ADsticos-de-centro&Itemid=64

Zayas, F. (2012) Los géneros discursivos y la enseñanza de la composicion escrita. Revista Iberoamericana de educación, 59

 

Grammars

Bernardó Fernández,C., Bastons Vilallonga, N., Comajoan Colomé, Ll.,  (2011). Gramàtica pràctica del català. Teide.

Institut d’Estudis Catalans. (2021). Gramàtica essencial de la llengua catalana. (3a edició). IEC

Mas Prats, M., Vilagrasa Grandia, A. (2012). Gramàtica catalana de la A a la Z. Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat

Matte Bon, F. (1992). Gramática comunicativa del español. Tomo I -II. Edelsa


Software

We will use Moodle. Students may be asked to make use of various software such as:

  1. Text editing (e.g., Microsoft Word).
  2. Creation of multimedia content (e.g., Canva or Genially)

Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 211 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 212 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 311 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 312 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 411 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 412 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 711 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 712 Catalan first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 21 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 31 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 41 Catalan first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 71 Catalan first semester afternoon