Transcript English Language Teaching Methods What’s New Under the Sun?

English Language Teaching Methods:
What’s New Under the Sun?
Plenary Address - TESL Ontario 2011
English Language Teaching Methods:
What’s New Under the Sun?
Donna M. Brinton
Senior Lecturer, Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
What method do you use?
Communicative,
I guess…
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Method: A personal timeline…
1965
“LBT”
1970
The “early” years
• Studied French using
grammar translation
method
• Studied German using
audiolingual method
1985
1975
1980
Phase II
• Trained as an audiolingual German
teacher
• Began teaching
general grammarbased EFL and
English for Specific
Purposes (ESP)
in Germany
Phase III
• First exposure to CLT
• Early work in contentbased instruction
(CBI)
Personal timeline, continued
1995
1990
Phase IV
• Early work with
CALL
• First exposure to
course management
systems (WebCT,
Blackboard, Angel)
beyond
2005
2000
Phase V
• Conducted first webinars
2010
Today
• Began designing
and teaching online
courses
But just what is method?
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Method defined
Approach
Design
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Richards & Rodgers (2001)
Procedure
Approach, design, procedure
Method – an “umbrella” term
comprising the following elements:
Approach – the theory of language
and language learning
Design – the content of instruction, the learner and
teacher roles, and the instructional materials types and
functions
Procedure – the actual moment-to-moment
techniques, practices and activities used in the
classroom
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Richards & Rodgers (2001)
Approach, design, or procedure?
Statement
A D P
1. The teacher divides students into groups.

2. Language learning involves habit formation. 
3. The teacher has students use the dictionary.

4. Students provide peer support to others.


5.The teacher is a facilitator in group work.
6. Adult L2 acquisition resembles child L1
acquisition.
7. The teacher plays a YouTube video.
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

So just what is CLT?
An umbrella term comprising
different current approaches
to language teaching, all of
which share certain features.
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What are these common features?
1. an emphasis on teaching language for
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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communication
a focus on students' needs and interests
the integration of the four skills (L, R, W, & S)
the use of tasks to negotiate meaning
the use of authentic materials and realia
the primary use of the L2 to conduct class
a view of error as “risk taking”
Taking a step back in time…
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A methodological timeline
Grammar
translation
timeless
Direct
Method
1880-1940
Audiolingualism
1940-1960
CLT
mid 1970s-present
…and
beyond!
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Major differences in approach
1) role of the
teacher
2) role of the
learner
4) view of
error
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3) use of the
L2
5) use of pair
and group
work
Grammar Translation
 all instruction in the NL
 little use of the TL
 focus on grammatical parsing
 early reading of difficult classical texts
 translation from TL to NL and vice versa
 students unable to use the TL for communication
 teacher does not have to be able to speak the TL
Celce-Murcia(2001)
Direct Method
 no use of the L1 permitted
 lessons begin with dialogs
 actions and pictures used
 literary texts read for pleasure, not for grammatical
analysis
 grammar learned inductively
 the target culture also taught inductively
 teacher should be a native or near-native speaker
Celce-Murcia(2001)
Audiolingualism
 lessons begin with dialogs
 mimicry and memorization are used
 syllabus structured around grammatical items
 grammar taught inductively
 skills sequenced in following order: listening, speaking,
reading, writing
 pronunciation stressed from the beginning
 efforts made by teacher to prevent errors
 materials carefully controlled for grammar and
vocabulary
Celce-Murcia(2001)
Communicative Approach
 focus on students' needs
 use of authentic materials and realia
 all skills integrated
 typically, the class is taught in the L2
 the L1 can be used for explanation (in homogeneous
classes)
 all activities communicative in nature
 grammar and vocabulary serve communicative needs
Celce-Murcia(2001)
Stepping into the present/future…
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The “post method” condition
Claims made…
1. We are in a “post method“ condition. (Pennycook)
• The concept of method has diminished rather than
enhanced our understanding of language teaching.
• It has led to unequal power relationships in education.
2.
There is no best method. (Prabhu, 1980)
• What matters is that teachers operate with a personal
conceptualization of how their teaching leads to desired
learning.
• Teachers should develop a sense of teacher “plausability.”
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So what is new under the sun?
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An impetus for change
NEW
RESEARCH
FOCI
CHANGES IN
OUR TEACHING
CONTEXT
NEW
METHODOLOGICAL
PARADIGMS
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Research trends informing practice
A reorientation to new methodological paradigms
that are informed by ongoing research into:
1. motivation
2. learner variability
3. discourse analysis
4. corpus-based research
5. cognition, and
6. social participation
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Canagarajah (2006)
Changes in our teaching context
1. the growing need for workplace English
2. the spread of English as a lingua franca
3. the proliferation of World Englishes
4. advances in digital technology
5. shifts in language policy re the introduction of
English as a school subject at earlier ages
6. the resulting growing population of young
learners
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Ten principles that can guide us
Hmmmm….
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Principle #1
maximize
learning
opportunities
• Teaching is a process of creating and utilizing learning
opportunities.
• “Teachers need to constantly monitor how the lesson is
unfolding and make suitable changes as necessary.” (p. 45)
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #2
facilitate
negotiated
interaction
• Create meaningful student to teacher and student to
student interaction such that students become valued
participants in the conversation of the classroom.
• This allows students to move beyond “react and respond.”
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #3
minimize
perceptual
mismatches
• Minimize mismatches between what the learner and
teacher believe is being or should be learned.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #4
activate
intuitive
heuristics
• Provide rich input to promote discovery learning so that
learners can infer rules of grammatical usage etc.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #5
foster
language
awareness
• Raise consciousness by drawing the learners’ attention to
the formal properties of the L2.
• Where relevant, point out comparisons/contrasts to the
students’ L1.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #6
contextualize
linguistic
input
• To contextualize, use situations or themes that reflect the
natural or authentic use of language.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #7
integrate
language
skills
• Holistically integrate reading, writing, listening, and
speaking, which have been traditionally separated.
• This is necessary for learners to develop functional
language skills since the four skills reinforce each other.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #8
promote
learner
autonomy
• Help students learn how to learn and take responsibility
for their own learning.
• Equip them with strategies to self-monitor their own
learning.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #9
ensure
social
relevance
• The teacher must be sensitive to the societal, political,
economic, and educational environment in which L2
learning and teaching take place.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
Principle #10
raise
cultural
consciousness
• Treat learners as “cultural informants.”
• Encourage them to engage in a process of classroom
participation that acknowledges their knowledge and
power.
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Kumaravadivelu (2003)
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References
Canagarajah, A. S. (2006). TESOL at 40: What are the issues?
TESOL Quarterly, 40, 9-34.
Celce-Murcia, M. (2001). Language teaching approaches: An
overview. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a
second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 3-11). Boston: Heinle.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Beyond methods: Macrostrategies for
language teaching. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL methods: Changing tracks,
challenging trends. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 59-81.
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References, continued
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in
language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
Pennycook, A. (1989). The concept of method, interested
knowledge, and the politics of language. TESOL Quarterly,
23, 589–618.
Prabhu, N. S. (1990). There is no best method—why? TESOL
Quarterly, 24, 161–176.
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