METHODS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Nadja Mifka Profozic, PhD Second Semester 2013 Wednesday 4pm 5pm (March 20th)

GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

Principles
A fundamental purpose of learning a language is to be

able to read literature written in this language. Literary language is superior to spoken language.
An important goal is to be able to translate each

language into the other. The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of language instruction.
Reading and writing are the primary skills to be

developed. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation.

Principles, cont.
The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very

important that students get the correct answer.

Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between

the target language and the native language.

It is important for students to learn about the grammar or form

of the target language.

Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful

pedagogical technique.
Language learning provides a good mental exercise.

Principles, cont.
Students should be conscious of the grammatical rulews

of the target language.

Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other

grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory.

There is little student-student interaction, and little

initiation by students. The language used in the classroom is mostly the students native language.
Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Culture is

viewed as consisting of literature and fine arts.

THE DIRECT METHOD

Principles
Language is primarily speech. Reading in the target

language should be taught from the beginning of language instruction. Reading skill will be developed through practice with speaking. Culture is viewed as larger than literature and fine arts. Objects in the immediate environment are used to help students understand the meaning. The native language should not be used in the classroom.
The teacher should demonstrate, not explain or translate.

It is desirable that students make a direct association between the target language form and meaning.

Principles, cont.
Students should learn to think in the target language as soon

as possible.
Vocabulary is acquired more naturally if students use it in full

sentences, rather than memorizing word lists.

The purpose of language learning is communication (therefore

students need to learn how to ask questions as well as answer them).

Pronunciation should be worked on right from the beginning of

language instruction.
Self-correction facilitates language learning.

Principles, cont.
Lessons should contain some conversational activity

some opportunity for students to use language in real contexts. Students should be encouraged to speak a much as possible.
Grammar should be taught inductively. There is never an

explicit grammar rule given. Writing is an important skill, to be developed from the beginning of language instruction. The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not usually on linguistic structures.

Principles, cont.
The teacher and the students are more like partners in the

teaching-learning process although the teacher directs the class activities. Students converse with one another as well.
Students practice vocabulary by using new words in

complete sentences. Vocabulary is emphasized over grammar. Oral communication is seen as basics. Students study common everyday speech in the target language.

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

Principles
The Audio-Lingual method is also an oral-based

approach. The purpose of language learning is to learn how to use the language to communicate. Particular parts of speech occupy particular slots in sentences. Students must learn which part of speech occupies which slot. Positive reinforcement helps the students to develop correct habits. Students should learn to respond to both verbal and nonverbal stimuli.

Principles, cont.
Pattern practice helps students to form habits which

enable the students to use the patterns. Students should overlearn, i.e. learn to answer automatically without sopping to think. The teacher should be like an orchestra leader conducting, guiding, and controlling the students behaviour in the target language. The major objective of language teaching should be for students to acquire the structural patterns; students will learn the vocabulary afterwards.

Principles, cont.
The learning of an L2 should be the same as the

acquisition of the native language.

The rules necessary to use the target language will be

figured out or induced from examples.

The major challenge of language teaching is getting

students to overcome the habits of their native language.

A comparison between the native and the target language

will tell the teacher in which areas the students will probably experience difficulty.

Principles, cont.
Speech is more basic to language than the written form.

The natural order (the order children follow when

learning their native language) of skill acquisition is: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
New vocabulary and structural patterns are presented

through dialogues. The dialogues are learnt through imitation and repetition. Drills (such as repetition, chain, substitution) are conducted based upon the patterns present in the dialogue. Students successful responses are positively reinforced.

Principles, cont.
There is student-to-student interaction in chain drills or

when students take different roles in dialogues, but this interaction is teacher-directed. Student errors are to be avoided if at all possible. Students native language is avoided in the classroom. Language cannot be separated from culture. Culture is not only literature and fine arts, but also the everyday behaviour of the people who use the target language. Teachers responsibility is to present information about that culture Cultural information is contextualised in the dialogues or presented by the teacher.

THE SILENT WAY

Origins
Chomsky argued that language acquisition could not take

place through habit formation since people create and understand utterances they have never heard before.
Language must not be considered a product of habit but

rather a rule formation: Chomsky proposed that speakers have a knowledge of underlying abstract rules which allow them to understand and create novel utterances.
Accordingly, language acquisition must be a procedure

whereby people use their own thinking processes, or cognition, to discover the rules of the language they are acquiring.

Principles
Teaching should be subordinated to learning to teach

means to serve the learning process rather than to dominate it (this principle is in keeping with the active search for rules ascribed to the learner in the Cognitive Code approach). The Silent Way (Caleb Gattegno) proposes that learning is a process which we initiate by mobilizing our inner resources our perception, awareness, cognition, imagination, intuition, creativity, to meet the challenge at hand. Language learners are intelligent and bring with them the experience of already learning a language. The teacher should give only what help is necessary.

Principles, cont.
The teacher should start with something the students already

know and build from that to the unknown. Languages share a number of features, sounds being the most basic.
Language is not learned by repeating after a model. Students

need to develop their own inner criteria for correctness to trust and to be responsible for their own production in the target language.

Students actions can tell the teacher whether or not they have

learned.
Students should learn to rely on each other and on themselves.

Principles, cont.
The teacher makes use of what students already know.

The more the teacher does for the students what they can do for themselves, the less they will do for themselves. Learning involves transferring what one knows to new contexts.
Silence is a tool. It helps to foster autonomy, or the

exercise of initiative. It also removes the teacher from the centre of attention so he/she can listen to and work with the students. The teacher speaks but only when necessary. Otherwise, the teacher gets out of the way so it is the students who receive the practice in using the language.

Principles, cont.
Reading is worked on from the beginning but follows from

what students have learned to say. Meaning is made clear by focusing students perceptions, not through translation. Students can learn from one another. The teachers silence encourages group cooperation. If the teacher praises (or criticizes) students, they will be less self-reliant. Errors are important and necessary to learning. They show the teacher where things are unclear. If students are simply given answers, rather than being allowed to self-correct, they will not retain them.

Principles, cont.
At the beginning, the teacher needs to look for progress,

not perfection. Learning takes place in time. Students learn at different rates. A teachers silence frees the teacher to closely observe the students behaviour. Student attention is a key to learning. They need to give the teacher their attention in order not to miss what he says. Students should engage in a great deal of meaningful practice without repetition. They need to explore the language and make choices.

Principles, cont.
The elements of the language are introduced logically,

expanding upon what students already know. The teacher can gain valuable information from student feedback; for example he/she can learn what to work on next. Students learn how to accept responsibility for their own learning. Some learning takes place naturally as we sleep. The syllabus is composed of linguistic structures. The structures of the syllabus are not arranged in a linear fashion, but rather are constantly being recycled

SUGGESTOPEDIA

Principles, cont.
Learning is facilitated in a cheerful environment. A student can learn from what is in the environment. If the students trust and respect the teachers authority, they

will accept and retain information better.

The teacher should recognize that learners bring certain

psychological barriers with them to the learning situation. The teacher should attempt to desuggest these.
Assuming a new identity enhances students feeling of security

and allows them to be more open. They feel less inhibited since their performance is really that of a different person.

Principles, cont.
The dialogue that the students learn contains language

that they can use immediately Songs are useful for freeing the speech muscles and evoking positive emotions. The teacher should integrate indirect positive suggestions into the learning situation. The teacher should present and explain the grammar and vocabulary, but not dwell on them. The bold print allows the students focus to shift from the whole text to the details before they return to the whole text again. This dynamic interplay between the whole and the parts is important.

Principles, cont.
One way that meaning is made clear is through native

language translation. Communication takes place on two planes: 1. on one the linguistic message is encoded, and 2. on the other are factors which influence the linguistic message. On the conscious plane, the learner attends to the language; on the subconscious plane, the music suggests that learning is easy and pleasant. When the is a unity between conscious and subconscious, learning is enhanced.

Principles, cont.
A calm state, such as the state one experiences when

listening to a concert, is ideal for overcoming psychological barriers and for taking advantage of learning potential. At these times, the distinction between the conscious and the subconscious is most blurred and therefore, learning can occur. Dramatization is a particularly valuable way of playfully activating the material. Fantasy reduces barriers to learning. The fine arts (music, art, drama) enable suggestions to reach the subconscious. They should be integrated as much as possible into the teaching process.

Principles, cont.
The teacher should help the students activate the

material to which they have been exposed. The means of doing this should be varied so as to avoid repetition as much as possible. Novelty aids acquisition. Childrens songs are used they help reinforce the linguistic material. Infantilization is believed to have the potential to make the students more open to learning. Games are believed to help learning as they contribute to the fun side of learning. Language learning can be fun.
Errors are corrected in a gentle manner.