AUTONOMOUS LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN A CULTURALLY INTEGRATED B-LEARNING ECOSYSTEM APRENDIZAJE AUTÓNOMO DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN UN ECOSISTEMA B-LEARNING CULTURALMENTE INTEGRADO

The low level of oral skills in learning English as a foreign language seems to be related to the lack of spaces and opportunities to interact in dynamic learning environments since the 1 lorena.rojas@uptc.edu.co Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia lorena. rojas@uptc.edu.co https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2471-7631 Licenciada en idiomas Modernos español-inglès. 2 Luis Facundo Maldonado G. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia lufamagr@gmail.com Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia Estudiante Maestría en TIC. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5113-6210 texts and study materials are not related to the context in which the student lives. This research answers the question of whether a b-learning ecosystem with devices for monitoring learning and integrated into cultural dimensions of the students’ environment improves the learning of oral skills in learning English. The proposal is based on advances in research on ecosystems of learning and embodied cognition. A system is designed from the specification of learning spaces integrated into a spiral structure. An online learning environment integrates with an A U T O N O M O U S L E A R N I N G O F E N G L I S H A S A F O R E I G N L A N G U A G E I N A C U L T U R A L L Y I N T E G R A T E D B L E A R N I N G E C O S Y S T E M R E V I S T A B O L E T Í N R E D I P E 9 ( 7 ) : 1 8 2 2 0 2 J U L I O 2 0 2 0 I S S N 2 2 5 6 1 5 3 6 · 1 8 3 · ecosystem with elements of Boyacá cuisine to develop communicative interactions and autonomous learning activities. The proposal is validated by taking as population, grade 11 students from the Colombian system and two equivalent samples of selected students, based on previous performance in the English subject in the current school year. Statistical analysis of results supports the positive answer to the research question and supports the importance of the cultural integration of learning blearning ecosystems in foreign language learning.


RESUMEN
El bajo nivel de competencias orales en el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera parece relacionarse con la falta de espacios y las oportunidades de interactuar y de entornos dinámicos de aprendizaje y a que los textos y materiales de estudio no se relacionan con el contexto en el que vive el estudiante. Esta investigación responde a la pregunta de si un ecosistema b-learning con dispositivos para el monitoreo del aprendizaje e integrado a dimensiones culturales del entorno de los estudiantes mejora el aprendizaje de competencias orales en el aprendizaje del Inglés. La propuesta se fundamenta en los avances de investigación sobre ecosistemas de aprendizaje y conocimiento incorporadoembodied cognition -. El diseño parte de la especificación de un sistema de espacios de aprendizaje integrados en una estructura de espiral. Un ambiente de aprendizaje en línea se integra con un ecosistema con elementos de cocina boyacense para desarrollar interacciones comunicativas y actividades autónomas de aprendizaje. La propuesta se valida tomando como población, estudiantes de grado 11 del sistema colombiano y dos muestras equivalentes de estudiantes seleccionadas con base en el rendimiento previo en la asignatura de inglés en el año escolar en curso. Los resultados muestran que el rendimiento promedio del grupo experimental es significativamente superior al del grupo control, al hacer la comparación con la prueba T.

INTRODUCTION
Research trends in the areas that have been grouped under the name of cognitive science are promoting new perspectives for the understanding of the different learning processes, vital for human development. One of these is the learning of a second language, which may well be classified as an enhancer of new learning and that is developed through cultural interaction (Heyes, 2018). The specific case of learning English is on the list of needs for the 21st century in the Colombian educational prospective (Grimaldo et al., 2019) The levels of learning in English development, in the Colombian case, are not desired and the satisfaction of this need requires changes in conventional institutional practices. Indeed, research shows that the development of skills to produce sentences and ideas with fluency and appropriate intonation requires spaces and opportunities for interaction and use of the foreign language, if the study materials are related to the context in which the student lives, the learning of the foreign language can be better anchored (Barrera, 2014;Velásquez, 2015) This research emerges from the interest in developing alternatives for improving the learning of English as a foreign language through the identification of relevant research · 1 8 4 · in cognitive science; in particular, on embedded cognition, learning ecosystems and information technology.
Learning ecosystems have special potential to integrate their own cultural elements with new learning content and promote competencygenerating experiences, cooperative work and learning (Maldonado et al., 2019).

2.
BACKGROUNDS AND FRAMEWORK

Embodied cognition and language
The learning of a second language can be approached, from theories and studies that converge in the explanation of cognitive development from the sensorimotor experience. (Wellsby & Pexman, 2014)

Learning ecosystems
Another theory that supports and provides solid foundations to approach language learning from an environmental perspective is ecology.
According to (Maldonado et al., 2019, p.03) "Ecology shows learning as a property of every living being with autonomous movement, which emerges from its interaction with its environment and is sustained by networks of information exchange". Interaction with the environment is the basis of experience and its elements promote the development of people's capacities to adapt and act on the environment in which they live.
An ecological approach to language learning is related to the dynamics of the environment as Van Lier (2004, pp. 11) Maldonado et al. 2019, p. 26).
In the case of the English language as a foreign language, the learning niche is the environment in which its elements are linked to the physical From the ecological perspective, the student is immersed in an environment full of potential meanings that are activated as the student acts and interacts within and with it; there the apprentice finds the necessary information and sufficient stimulation to act and react in the face of various situations (Van Lier, Leo, 2000).

Communicative Affordance
The development of oral ability in the English language finds its full progress with the communicative approach. In this regard, (Wade, 2009) (Hymes, 1974).
In the scenario we propose, the student activates communicative affordances at each level for each cycle, allowing him to have direct contact with his environment and peers, which facilitates the acquisition of knowledge and information available. According to (Gibson, 1979)

B-learning Systems
The b B-learning is a didactic strategy that makes it easier for the student to acquire their learning in an interactive way; due to the extensive tools available in platforms such as Moodle or Google classroom, it allows the evaluation of learning and planning of activities, and the student is aware of the evolution of his own learning, his acquired skills to work independently, and is able to control and monitor his progress.

Autonomous Learning
An agent is autonomous in relation to an environment as each change has possibilities of alternative action to adapt. Perceiving the change in the environment, being aware of the possibilities of action, deciding on an option and controlling its execution are basic components of autonomy (Maldonado, 2012).
According to (Morales, 2008;McGroarty, 1993;Olsen and Kagan, 1992), as the student takes responsibility for his own learning, he also motivates and encourages peers to learn through the interaction and socialization of knowledge acquired in a setting where they are distributed in pairs or in small groups.
Every student may learn to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning, which requires an active and direct participation (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).

Hubbard (2004) "indicates that autonomy is
related to the ability of students to acquire the language deliberately and systematically outside the classroom with or without the guidance of the teacher, tutor or classmate" (cited in García et al, 2012 p. 12). Therefore, according to (Healey, 1999) "the main objective of the training is that the student can learn to manage time, place, the way forward to achieve the goal and to realize the success of their performance" (quoted in García et al, 2012 p. 12).

METHODOLOGY
The development of oral competence in learning English as a foreign language is a necessity, given the problems identified in the evaluations of Colombian schools that run in parallel with the lack of learning ecosystems that stimulate the exercise of active oral communication.
The research referred to in the previous sections suggests possibilities for structuring an ecosystem with a b-learning approach from the computer perspective and anchoring the knowledge incorporated in cultural dimensions of the environment in which students live to promote autonomous learning.

Issue
This study searches about the structural The project is developed in two stages: in the first, the b-learning eco-system is designed and implemented, and in the second, its pedagogical value in the development of oral competence in learning English is tested.

Design of the b-learning Ecosystem for autonomous learning
This stage included three processes: a.

Design of learning spaces
A learning space is made up of a set of concepts that relate to actions. The set of concepts is the base or foundation from which the student consolidates and projects their own development and from which a process of collaboration of actors in the learning scenario is interwoven (Maldonado, 2012).
This learning space is framed in a regular basic training study program in the Colombian educational system. It is formally identified as an English subject of 11th grade. In the context of this subject, the topic is chosen: typical culinary recipes from Boyacá, which determine the specific components of learning. b.

Design of affordance levels
Five levels related to each other are delimited, forming a system for verbal production in such a way that each level generates an advance in differentiation that facilitates the next level (Illustration 01). The levels are the following:

1.
Vocabulary: grammatical categories are identified and objects are associated with names.

2.
Propositional: the associationaffordance -is integrated between word-object in propositions: perception is of a dynamic structure as an acting subject -propositional affordance -.

3.
Dialogal: integrates the previous ones in the dialogue as a new interactive affordance.

4.
Narrative: integrates complex units to represent processes as systemic units.

5.
History: integrates the previous levels in the action of making accounts of lived or imagined processes. c.
Finally, in the writing category, it is proposed to structure the instructional text of a typical recipe from the department of Boyacá, following the structure of the recipe text for chicken Sancocho worked in the previous category. As a final product of the level, a podcast is uploaded where the brief description of the chosen recipe is made.

Level III: dialogal affordance
For level three, a description process was followed through a sequence of questions and answers. An announcer and an interlocutor,

Level V: story level
For the fifth level, the proposed concepts are related to the structure of a story; the student creates and narrates the entire process of selection, preparation and presentation of his : 1 8 2 -2 0 2 -J U L I O 2 0 2 0 -I S S N 2 2 5 6 -1 5 3 6 · 1 9 3 · typical dish, through a descriptive text both orally and in writing; and to create this story, he followed a sequence of steps or actions that allowed him to build the text with meaning and coherence. Table 5. Combine paragraphs to get a story with a start, middle, and end.  The absolute value of the mean of the control group is 0.289 higher than the experimental group, but the comparison using Student's t-test finds that the relationship between systematic variance and error is -1.8617 with a probability of associated error of 0.0732, greater than the minimum acceptable value of 0.05.

Concepts
Consequently, the two groups are assumed to be equivalent. The two groups are accepted as equivalent samples from the same population.

Instruments
To collect the information and analysis data from this research, the following instruments were used:

1.
Written test on knowledge of Boyacense culinary and gastronomy, consisting of 15 multiple-choice questions with a single answer and applied in two ways, in the control group on paper and in person, in the experimental group virtually and through the Quizizz platform.

2.
Rubric for the evaluation of · 1 9 5 · expose the process of making a typical recipe in front of their peers and invited public.

Experimentation
The two selected groups followed the same

RESULTS
The oral competence of the students in learning the English language is considered as a dependent variable, since the two groups, both control and experimental, focused on the development of these competences in the English language but with different methodologies. The validated b-learning ecosystem in the experimental group is considered as an independent variable.

Application of Student's t-test to
find mean difference.

Control Group Experimental Group
Group mean 17,2069 25,7419 Standard Deviation 14,9126 18,1787 Sample size 29 31 Table 7. Descriptive parameters for the two groups. Table 7 shows the descriptive analysis of the results in oral competence for the two groups.

Experimentation
The Conventional Group shows a lower mean than the B-Learning Group, but the standard deviation is also lower, which indicates lower performance, but also less dispersion than the data of the experimental group.  Group is greater than that of the conventional group and that the difference is statistically significant.

Analysis of results in written test
As a complement to the research hypothesis test, the Student's t-test was applied to the results of a written test. The number of correct responses is taken as the dependent variable.     However, there is no statistical support to affirm significant differences related to gender.

DISCUSSION
The results obtained demonstrate that the proposal implemented as a b-learning ecosystem that integrates elements of the students' culture for learning the English language as a second language is a better pedagogical solution than the conventional system followed in the institution. Pedagogy is a discipline that integrates knowledge derived from other disciplines in the search for better solutions to the training problems of the students and, in this way, contributes to the improvement of educational quality.
The design and implementation of the validated proposal configures learning spaces that relate language concepts with actions forming pairs, each of which is considered a projected learning state and, therefore, a goal to achieve (Heller et al. 2006 Likewise, autonomous language learning is encouraged, allowing the student to direct and monitor their progress in the learning process.
The implemented ecosystem favors the development of meaningful learning experiences in students, since by interacting and creating student-student, student-environment, studentteacher relationships, cognitive processes of language learning are enriched and complemented.
Since students learned the second language in a real context, they faced situations where they were exposed and forced to use the foreign language, and to achieve assertive communication, they had to put their knowledge into practice.
The scenarios and virtual learning environments This work has limitations typical of an investigation carried out with groups given in an institution during the normal development of its mission.
The expansion of the sample, the development of more learning units and for longer with students from other levels could contribute positively to testing the external validity of the results. This entire development process is aimed at meeting the educational needs of the 21st century, and anchoring the training of students in their real and daily lives, providing instruments and strategies that allow them to seek solutions to the problems they face every day.

7.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT I want to thank to the Master in ICT applied to the Educational Sciences at the Pedagogical and