Transcript METHODS AND APPROACHES IN TEACHING A FOREIGN

METHODS AND APPROACHES
IN
TEACHING ENGLISH
AS A
SECOND LANGUAGE
BEFORE CLT…
Approaches, methods, procedures, and
techniques
 Approach : this refers to “theories about
the nature of language and language learning
that serve as the source of practices and
principles in language teaching”.
 It offers a model of language competence.
 An approach describes how people acquire their
knowledge of the language and makes statements
about conditions which will promote successful
language learning.
Approaches, methods, procedures, and
techniques
 Method : a method is the practical
realization of an approach. Methods include
various procedures and techniques as part of
their standard fare.
 Procedure : a procedure is an ordered
sequence of techniques. A procedure is a
sequence which can be described in terms
such as first you do this, then you do that…
Smaller than a method and bigger than
technique.
 Technique :
 Is a classroom device or activity and thus
represents the narrowest of the four concepts
 Some examples: dictation, imitation , and
repetition
 a common technique when using video
material is called “silent viewing”. This is where
the teacher plays the video with no sound.
Silent viewing is a single activity rather than a
sequence, and as such is a technique rather than a
whole procedure.
 A term that is also used in discussions
about teaching is “model” – used to
describe typical procedures, usually for
teachers in training. Such models offer
abstractions of these procedures,
designed to guide teaching practice.
The Grammar – Translation
Approach/Method
 This is a method that has been used by
language teachers for many years.
 At one time it was called Classical
Method,since it was first used in the teaching
of the classical languages,Latin and Greek.
 Earlier in this century,it was used for the
purpose of helping students read and
appreciate foreign language literature.
The Grammar – Translation Method
 Classes are taught in the students mother
tongue,with little active use of the target language;
 Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word
lists;
 Elaborate explanations of grammar are always
provided;
 Reading of difficult text is begun early in the course
of study;
 Little attention is paid to the content of text,which
are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.
Direct Approach
 A reaction to the Grammar Translation Approach
and its failure to produce learners who could
communicate in the foreign language they had




been studying;
No use of the mother tongue is permitted;
Lessons begin with dialogues and anecdotes in
modern conversational style;
Actions and pictures are used to make meanings
clear;
Grammar is learned inductively.
Direct Approach
 Literary texts are read for pleasure and are not
analyzed grammatically;
 The target culture is also taught inductively;
 The teacher must be a native speaker or have
nativelike proficiency in the target language;
Reading Approach
 A reaction to the problems experienced in
implementing the Direct Approach;
 Reading was viewed as the most usable skill to
have in foreign language since not many people
traveled abroad at that time;
 Also few teachers could use their foreign language
well enough to use direct approach effectively in
class.
Reading Approach
 Only the grammar useful for reading
comprehension is taught;
 Vocabulary is controlled at first and then
expanded;
 Translation is once more a respectable classroom
procedure.
 Reading comprehension is the only language skill
emphasized;
 The teacher does not need to have good oral
proficiency in the target language.
Audiolingualism or the Audio-lingual
Approach
 Audio-lingual methodology owes its existence to the
Behaviourist models of learning using the
Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement model, it
attempted, through a continuous process of such
positive reinforcement, to engender good habits in
language learners.
 Audio-lingualism relied heavily on drills like substitution
to form these habits.
 Habit-forming drills have remained popular among
teachers and students, and teachers who feel confident
with the linguistic restriction of such procedures
Presentation, Practice, and
Production
 A variation on Audio-lingualism in British-based
teaching and elsewhere is the procedure most
often referred to as PPP, which stands for
Presentation, Practice, and
Production.
In this procedure the teacher introduces a situation
which contextualizes the language to be taught.
The students now practice the language using
accurate reproduction techniques such as choral
repetition, individual repetition, and cue-response
drills.
PPP and alternatives to PPP
 The PPP procedure came under a sustained attack in the
1990s.
 Michael Lewis suggested that PPP was inadequate because it
reflected neither the nature of language nor the nature of
learning.
 Jim Scrivener advanced what is perhaps the most worrying
aspect of PPP,the fact that it only describes one kind of
lesson;it is inadequate as a general proposal concerning
approaches to language in the classroom.
 In response to these criticism many people have offered
variations on PPP and alternative to it: ARC, OHE/III, ESA.
ARC
 put forward by Jim Scrivener
 stands for Authentic use, Restricted use and
Clarification and focus
 Communicative activity will demonstrate authentic
use; elicted dialogue or guided writing will provoke
restricted use of language by students; finally
clarification language is that which the teacher and
students use to explain grammar,give
examples,analyse errors,elict or repeat things.
OHE/III
 Michael Lewis claims that students should
be allowed to Observe (read or listen to
language) which will then provoke them to
Hypothesize about how the language works
before going on to the Experiment on the
basis of that hypothesis.
ESA
 In the ESA model three components will usually be present
in any teaching sequence,whether of five,fifty or a hundred
minutes
 E stands for Engage - students have to be engaged
emotionally
 S stands for Study
 A stands for Activate - any stage at which students are
encouraged to use all and/or any of the language they
know
Oral – situational Approach
 A reaction to the Reading Approach and its
lack of emphasis on oral-aural skills;
 Was dominant in Britain during the 1940’s,
1950’s and 1960’s;
 It draws from the Reform Movement and the
Direct Approach but adds features from
Firthian linguistics and the emerging
professional field of language pedagogy.
Oral – situational Approach
 The spoken language is primary;
 All language material is practiced orally
before being presented in written form;
 Only the target language should be used in
the classroom.
 Efforts are made to ensure that the most
general and useful lexical items are
presented;
Oral – situational Approach
 Grammatical structures are graded from
simple to complex;
 New items are introduced and practiced
situationally (e.g., at the post office, at the
bank, at the dinner table)
Cognitive Approach
 A reaction to the behaviorist features of the
Audiolingual Approach;
 Influenced by cognitive psychology (Neisser
1967) and Chomskyan linguistics (Chomsky
1959, 1965);
 Language learning is viewed as rule
acquisition, not habit formation;
 Instruction is often individualized; learners
are responsible for their own learning;
Cognitive Approach
 Grammar must be taught but it can be taught
deductively (rules first; practice later) and/or
inductively (rules can either be stated after
practice or left as implicit information for the
learners to process on their own);
 Pronunciation is de-emphasized; perfection is
viewed as unrealistic and unattainable;
 Reading and writing are once again important
as listening and speaking;
Cognitive Approach
 Vocabulary instruction is once again
important, especially at intermediate and
advanced levels;
 Errors are viewed as inevitable, to be used
constructively in the learning process;
 The teacher is expected to have good general
proficiency in the target language as well as
an ability to analyze the target language;
Affective-Humanistic Approach
 A reaction to the general lack of affective
considerations in both Audiolingualism and
the Cognitive Approach; e.g., Moskowitz 1978
and Curran 1976;
 Respect is emphasized for the individual (
each student, the teacher) and for his or her
feelings;
 Communication that is meaningful to the
learner is emphasized
Affective-Humanistic Approach
 Instruction involves much work in pairs and
small groups;
 Class atmosphere is viewed as more
important than materials or methods;
 Peer support and interaction are viewed as a
self-realization experience;
 The teacher is a counselor or facilitator;
Affective-Humanistic Approach
 The teacher should be proficient in the target
language and the student’s native language
since translation may be used heavily in the
initial stages to help students feel at ease;
later it is gradually phased out.
Comprehension-Based Approach
 An outgrowth of research in first language
acquisition that led some language
methodologists to assume that second or
foreign language learning is very similar to
first language acquisition; e.g., Potovsky
1974; Winitz 1981; Krashen and Terrell 1983)
Comprehension-Based Approach
 Listening comprehension is very important
and is viewed as the basic skill that will allow
speaking, reading, and writing to develop
spontaneously over time, given the right
conditions.
 Learners should begin by listening to
meaningful speech and by responding
nonverbally in meaningful ways before they
produce any language themselves.
Comprehension-Based Approach
 Learners should not speak until they feel
ready to do so; this results in better
pronunciation than if the learner is forced to
speak immediately.
 Learners progress by being exposed to
meaningful input that is just one step beyond
their level of competence.
 Rule learning may help learners monitor what
they do, but it will not aid their acquisition or
spontaneous use of the target language.
Comprehension-Based Approach
 Error correction is seen as unnecessary and
perhaps even counterproductive; the
important thing is that the learners can
understand and can make themselves
understood.
 If the teacher is not a native (or near-native)
speaker, appropriate materials such as audiotapes and videotapes must be available to
provide the appropriate input for the
learners.
THEN…
The Communicative Approach
 The communicative approach or
Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) is the name which was given to a set
of beliefs which included not only a reexamination of what aspects of language to
teach but also a shift in emphasis on how to
teach!
The Communicative Approach
 The communicative approach or
Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) was developed in the 1970s, and in
critical reaction to the formal and boring
types of exercises used under the
audiolingual approach (‘drill-and-kill’
exercises).
The Communicative Approach
 The communicative approach or
Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) puts the focus on communicative
interaction in class, not on a correct but
mind- and meaningless reproduction of the
linguistic forms prescribed for a specific
lesson.
The Communicative Approach
 The communicative approach or
Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) is an outgrowth of the work of
anthropological linguists (e.g. Hymes 1972)
and Firthian linguists (e.g. Halliday 1973) who
view language first and foremost as a system
for communication.
Non-communicative activities
Communicative
activities
No communicative desire
A desire to communicate
No communicative purpose
A communicative purpose
Form not content
Content not form
One language item only
Variety of language
Teacher intervention
No teacher intervention
Materials control
No materials control
The communication continuum