Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching

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Approaches and methods in

language teaching
Methods in teaching English as a
foreign language
The know-how of language teaching
• The existence of foreign language teaching as a profession is linked
to the idea of having its own know-how, a methodology which
provides a systematic set of teaching practices, the application of
which will lead to the successful learning of any foreign language.
• Methodology links the theories of what language is and how it is
learned with design features of language instruction, such as
objectives, syllabus design, types of activities, teachers’ and
learners’ roles, materials, etc. These design features are linked to
the actual teaching and learning practices in various contexts of
language learning.
• The history of language teaching is often presented as a succession
of methods that rose and declined in popularity in search of “the
ultimate method, one that would be generalisable across widely
varying audiences, contexts and languages” (Douglas Brown 2007).
Early ideas
• The notion of method is closely linked with other
terms, such as approach, design, techniques,
procedure, etc. Their interrelations have been seen in
different ways by different scholars.
• In 1960s Edward Anthony (1963) differentiated
between three major terms – approach (a set of
assumptions dealing with the nature of language,
learning and teaching), method (an overall plan for
systematic presentation of language based on a
selected approach), and techniques (specific activities
used in class, consistent with the respective method
and approach).
Method as the umbrella term
• Jack Richards and Theodore Rogers (1982) reformulated
Antony’s terms into approach, design and procedure
respectively, and defined method as “an umbrella term for
the specification and interrelation of theory and practice”.
• Approach was concerned with the nature of language and
language learning.
• Designs specified the objectives of the method, the
syllabus model, the types of learning and teaching
activities, the roles of teachers and learners, and the role of
instructional materials.
• The procedure described classroom techniques, practices
and behaviours observed when the method was used.
The Grammar-Translation Method
• Classes are taught in the MT, with little active use of the TL;
• Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated
words;
• Long, elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar;
• Instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words;
• Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early with little
attention paid to the content of texts, which are used for
grammatical analysis;
• Often the only exercises are in translating disconnected
sentences from the target language into the mother tongue;
• Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
• There is no theory that offers a rationale for the method.
The Direct Method
• Popular at about the same time as the Grammar-translation
Method (1920s), the Direct (or Berlitz) method challenged the
importance of grammar and emphasised the naturalistic principles
of language learning.
• It prioritised oral skills at the expense of written practice, and
rejected explicit grammar teaching, although it still followed a
grammatical syllabus.
• The target language was taught without translation or the use of
MT, and the meaning was conveyed through demonstration and
action.
• One of the disadvantages of the Direct Method is that it is not
suited for public education and big mixed proficiency classes.
• The method has weak theoretical foundations.
The Oral Approach and the Situational
Language Teaching
• These approaches emerged from the work of British applied
linguists in 1920s and 1930s;
• They focused on the problems of the grammar content of a
language course and the classroom procedures for teaching
grammatical patterns through an oral approach.
• Unlike the abstract model of grammar in the Grammar-translation
Method, the Oral Approach viewed grammar as the underlying
sentence patterns of the spoken language.
• The new grammatical points were introduced and practised
situationally and were graded, following the principle that simple
forms should be taught before complex ones.
• The strong emphasis on oral practice, grammar, and sentence
patterns corresponded to the intuitions of many teachers,
especially in the 1980s.
Audiolingualism
• Audiolingualism, or the American Army method of the 1950s, had
its theoretical base in the behaviourism, and language was viewed
as a system of structurally related elements.
• Learning a language was seen as mastering its building blocks and
the rules by which they are combined.
• Its syllabus consisted of a graded list of sentence patterns, which
were grammatical in origin. They formed the basis of pattern-
practice drills, such as repetition, inflection, replacement,
restatement, completion, transposition, expansion, contraction,
transformation, integration, etc.
• There was much use of tapes, language labs, and great importance
was attached to acquiring native-like pronunciation.
• The decline of audiolingualism and its view of language as learnt
behaviour were caused by Noam Chomsky’s nativism/ cognitivism.
‘Designer’ methods of 1970s and
1980s
• The following methods are associated with the
names of their designers – the scholars who
sought change and innovation in an attempt
to prescribe concrete, research proven
teaching procedures which guarantee success
in language learning. Some of the most
popular methods which gained popularity
during the period are described below:
Community Language learning
• Associated with Charles Curran’ s (1972) counselling-learning, this
method fully recognises the importance of the affective domain in
language learning and the need to create a stress-free environment
to lower the affective filter.
• Learners build a supportive community where the teacher acts as a
counsellor and facilitator.
• In a typical class, a group of learners/clients are seated in a circle
with the teacher outside it translating phrases said by individual
learners into the TL. The learners repeat the phrases, and thus a
conversation is built, which can be recorded and analysed.
• Although the humanistic principles underlying the method are
clearly important, it is difficult to use in schools as it is too time-
consuming and restrictive in its reliance on the translation expertise
of the teacher.
Suggestopedia
• It was derived from the work of the Bulgarian psychologist
Georgi Lozanov (1979), who thought that the human brain can
process great quantities of information when it is relaxed and
the control is given over to the teacher.
• It is important to de-suggest (discourage) limitations in
learning, to show learners that it is not so difficult.
• In a typical session, called ‘concert’, students, follow the text
and its translation as they listen to baroque music and the
teacher reading in harmony with the music. Then students
listen to the same text without reading, and quietly leave.
• The criticism is related to memorisation without
understanding the meaning, and to its inapplicability to public
schools.
The Silent Way
• Caleb Gattegno claimed that learning is facilitated when the learner
discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats.
• Learning should be facilitated by active problem solving and
mediating physical objects, such as Cuisenaire rods . The rods are
used in language teaching to denote different types of words in
sentences, to show word and sentence stress, or to symbolise
elements of a story.
• The teacher remains largely silent, even slightly formal in manner
when eliciting language from the students, and the students are
encouraged to correct one another.
• One of the criticisms of the method is that the teacher is too distant
to create a communicative atmosphere, although in this method
one can find the essentials of the Communicative Approach more
than in any other methodology so far.
Total Physical Response (TPR)
• James Asher claimed that motor activity, which is a right-
brain function, precedes left-brain language processing.
• The nature of the Total Physical Response as a method is
clear from its name. It is based primarily on listening and
acting in response to teacher directions (and later
directions from the students themselves), usually phrased
as commands for the students. It is kinetic, fun and lends
itself best to younger students and lower levels.
• The most frequently used structure in TPR is the
imperative, followed by the interrogative and responses.
• The limitations of the method are obvious in that it is
mainly applicable to teaching young learners and low
levels.
The Natural Approach
• According to S. Krashen and T. Terrell (1983), the Natural
Approach is defined as based on the use of language in
communicative situations without recourse to the native
language and without reference to grammatical analysis,
grammatical drilling ,and to a particular theory of grammar.
• Unlike the Direct Method and Audiolingualism, it places
less emphasis on direct repetition and accurate production
of the target language sentences, and gives more attention
to exposure to language, or language input, at the expense
of practice and output.
• The Natural approach aims to replicate the conditions of
mother tongue acquisition and sees grammar and
grammatical instruction as irrelevant and unnecessary.
Communicative competence
• Dell Hymes (1967) defined communicative competence as the
ability to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate
meanings interpersonally within specific contexts.
• In 1980s Canale and Swain outlined its four different components:
• grammatical competence (knowledge of lexical items and the rules
of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar semantics, and
phonology);
• discourse competence (the ability to connect sentences in
stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out of a
series of utterances);
• sociolinguistic competence (the knowledge of the sociocultural
rules of language);
• strategic competence (strategies which help us compensate for
incomplete or imperfect knowledge).
The principles of Communicative
Language Teaching
• Learners learn a language through using it to
communicate;
• Authentic and meaningful communication should
be the goal of classroom activities;
• Fluency is an important dimension of
communication;
• Communication involves the integration of
different language skills;
• Learning is a process of creative construction and
involves trial and error (Richards 2006)
The Communicative approach
• There isn’t a strict set of practices, but special attention is
paid to language functions in context rather than just
grammar and vocabulary.
• Exposure to the language and its use for meaningful
communication is considered vital in language learning.
• Interactive activities, such as role plays and simulations are
typical of communicative classrooms.
• Students focus on the content rather than on precise
language forms. As activities replicate real communication,
the teacher works for developing students’ fluency and does
not intervene to correct language mistakes. That is why the
approach is known as non-interventionist and holistic.
Recommended reading
• Anthony 1963. Anthony, E. Approach, Method and Technique. English
Language Teaching. 17. 63-67.
• Curran 1972. Curran, C. Counseling-learning: a Whole Person Model for
Education. New York: Grune and Stratton.
• Douglas Brown 2007. Douglas Brown, H. Teaching by Principles. An
Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. San Francisco: Pearson
Longman.
• Hymes 1967. Hymes, D.H. „The anthropology of communication‟. In F. E.
Dance (ed.). Human communication theory: Original essays. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
• Krashen, Terrell 1983. Krashen, S., Terrell, T. The Natural Approach:
Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
• Lozanov 1979. Lozanov, G. Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy.
New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.
• Richards, Rogers 2001. Richards, J., Rogers, T. Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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