Efecto de actividades comunicativas en la motivación de aprendices del inglés: un caso de estudiantes en la región amazónica del Ecuador AbstractThis study sought to shed light on the relationship between communicative activities and their impact on students' motivation to learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A total of 180 senior high school learners (86 male and 94 female) and 8 EFL teachers in a town of the Amazon region of Ecuador completed a questionnaire. A sample of these students and all of the teachers participated in a face-to-face interview. Both instruments were applied to obtain data concerned with use of communicative activities in the classroom and their relation with motivation. The data gathered was analyzed using a mixed-method approach, comprising quantitative and qualitative methods. Results showed that students and teachers believe that communicative activities are motivating. Furthermore, students feel highly motivated when participating in communicative activities because these enhance their fluency, pronunciation, and performance in the use of English in a realistic and enjoyable way since students are confident when they help each other during interaction in activities.

Research on teaching listening and speaking skills has been conducted at many levels. The purpose of this study was to analyze the current implementation of classroom and extracurricular activities, as well as the use of educational resources for teaching both skills in public senior high schools in the Amazon region of Ecuador, particularly in the towns of Zamora and Yantzaza. The participants included 188 students between the ages of 15 and 18 years, and 10 English teachers in the area. This study was conducted using a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) approach. The instruments to collect information were students' and teachers' questionnaires, teacher's interviews, and observation sheets. In addition, the Cambridge English Unlimited Placement Test was applied in order to determine the students' English proficiency level of listening and speaking skills. The findings revealed that the completion of exercises based on a listening passage and dialogues were the most frequent activities used by students to practice listening in the classroom; meanwhile, dialogues and repetition drills were the most frequent activities applied to develop speaking. With respect to extracurricular activities, listening to English music with lyrics, watching videos, discussions, and conversations with native speakers were most frequently suggested for enhancing listening and speaking. Among the resources, audio CDs and textbooks were the most frequent aids to prompt listening and speaking activities.