Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aims:
to clarify concepts related to the methodology of language teaching
to make students aware of the historical development of the
language
teaching methods/approaches
to help students assess the various teaching methods and adapt them to their
own teaching
1. What is methodology?
The methodology of language teaching draws on theories of language (linguistics)
and theories of language learning (applied linguistics) leading to different approaches
to/methods of language teaching. If we are to define methodology , the Longman
Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (1985) gives the following definition:
a) the study of the practices and procedures used in teaching and the principles
and beliefs that underlie them;
b) such practices, principles and beliefs themselves.
Methodology includes:
a) the study of the nature of language skills (e.g.: listening, speaking, reading,
writing) and procedures for teaching them;
b) the preparation of lesson plans, materials and textbooks for teaching
language skills;
c) the evaluation and comparison of language teaching methods .
For reasons of course organisation we shall start by defining methods first, and
language skills, lesson plans, materials and textbooks will be approached in later
units.
Therefore, we shall now define three useful concepts in language teaching: methods,
principles and techniques (Larsen-Freeman,D, 1986).
Methods, according to Anthony Norris (1969:2) involve the selection of materials to
be taught, the gradation of those materials, their presentation and pedagogical
implementation to induce learning. As the definition shows, methods imply that the
teacher chooses either the textbooks or the materials to supplement a textbook, plans
how to use these materials, and finally teaches them in order to help students learn.
Principles involve the various theoretical backgrounds concerning the teachers and
the learners roles, the teaching and the learning processes as well as knowledge of the
target language ( language to be learned)/culture.
Classroom techniques involve the classroom activities and procedures derived from
the application of the principles. We can remark that a given technique may be
associated with more than one method i.e., two methods sharing certain principles or a
particular technique may be compatible with more than one method, depending on the
way the technique is used.
After having defined methodology, we shall ask the following questions, related to
teaching (including teaching methods that we will be dealing with in the next section)
and learning a foreign language:
1. What do we learn when we learn a foreign language? and
2. Why do learners learn a foreign language?
1. The process of learning a foreign language involves learning grammar, vocabulary,
and developing such skills as listening, speaking, reading and writing.
2. The second question involves several answers. First, foreign languages are part of
school curriculum. Second, knowing a foreign language may help the learner to
advance in his/her professional life. Third, learners of a foreign language may find
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items by which the students are given a number of examples and asked to work out
the rule.
2. The teacher should demonstrate actions that take place here and now, at least
during the initial stages of language learning.
3. The teacher should provide input to the students by getting them to carry out
commands. (e.g. Sit down! and the students do it).
The main classroom technique consists of giving commands which the students act
out. The method focuses on activities that are designed to be fun and to allow students
to assume active learning roles and that include language games and skits.
The method did not live long since language acquisition theories demonstrated that
comprehension does not always precede production neither in L1 nor in L2.
2.6. The community language learning method
This method aims at creating a warm and supportive community among the students
in the classroom and gradually moving them from complete dependence on the
teacher to complete autonomy. The teachers role is to act as counsellor and to set a
problem to be solved by the students. The syllabus used is learner-generated, i.e.
students choose what they want to say in the target language. The focus is on fluency
rather than on accuracy. What makes this method special is that the students are seated
in a closed circle with the teacher outside.
The classroom techniques involve recording the conversations in which students
whisper to the teacher in L1 and he/she whispers back the L2 version which the
students repeat to the group. These recordings are transcribed and then the students
and their teacher discuss on them and correct the errors.
2.7.Suggestopaedia
Suggestopaedia is a method by which the students` mental powers are tapped in order
to accelerate the process of learning. An important characteristic of the method is
the endeavour to overcome the psychological barriers which students bring with them
to the learning situation.The teachers role is to get the students to learn in a state of
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Teaching is
subordinate to learning and so, teachers give students only what they absolutely need
to promote learning. The teacher is silent much of the time but very active setting up
situations, listening to students, speaking only to give clues not to model speech.
Students begin with sounds introduced through association of sounds in L1 to a
sound-colour chart and are encouraged by the teacher to produce the words in L2 by
pointing coloured rods to the sounds on the chart. Consequently, the classroom
techniques the method involves include the use of sound-colour charts, coloured rods
and self-correction gestures.
All four skill areas are worked on from the beginning, pronunciation especially,
because sounds are basic and carry the melody of the language.
2.9. The communicative method
Most of the previously presented methods emphasised the acquisition of structures
and vocabulary. The adherents of the communicative method acknowledge that
structure and vocabulary are important. However, they feel that the preparation for
communication will be inadequate if only these are taught. Students may know the
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rules of language usage but they will be unable to use the language.When we
communicate we use the language to accomplish some functions, such as: arguing,
persuading, promising, etc. Moreover, we carry out these functions within a social
context. In terms of skill development, all the four skills are emphasised and even
more, the teacher aims at integrating them.
Communication is a process which implies that it is insufficient for students to simply
have knowledge of language forms, meanings and functions. They must therefore be
able to apply this knowledge in order to negotiate meaning through interaction
between speaker and listener / writer and reader, especially in real life situations. The
teacher encourages the students to use the L2 fluently but also appropriately (i.e.
depending on the social situation).
Features of the communicative method:
it is a learner-centred method helping the students to survive in the real world
the teacher is a facilitator, a task-setter who monitors activities, helps students and
gets involved in the learning process
the focus is on meaning and rather than on form, on functions rather than on
structures
emphasis on classroom interaction
the teaching-learning process centres on real-life situations and uses authentic
materials and tasks.
Among the classroom techniques used in the communicative method we could
mention pair-work, group-work, role-play, simulations, etc.
_____________________________________________________________________
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TASK
Think back at your experience as learners. Which of the techniques mentioned above
were you exposed to in the classroom? Do you think any of them helped you learn
better?
_____________________________________________________________________
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NOTE that all these methods have been described here in their pure form. In actual
classroom application, there is no clear-cut distinction among various methods.
Moreover, it is the teachers role to decide which techniques to use , depending on the
context in which his/her lesson takes place.
TASK
I. Read the following descriptions of lessons and decide on the method used by the
teacher:
A.
teacher points to five blocks of colour without saying anything; the colours
represent the sounds of 5 English vowels close to 5 simple vowels in Romanian
teacher points to the first block of colour and says /a/. Several students say /e/ /I/
/o/ /u/, as the teacher points to the other 4 blocks
teacher does not model the new sounds but uses gestures to show students how to
modify the Romanian sounds
teacher works with gestures and instructions in Romanian to help students produce
the sounds
teacher points to a rod and then to 3 blocks of colour on the sound-colour chart
students respond ROD
.........
B.
the class is reading an excerpt from Mark Twains Life on the Mississippi
students translate the passage from English into Romanian
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the teacher asks students in Romanian if they have any questions and answers in
L1
students write out the answers to the reading comprehension questions
students are given a grammar rule for the use of a direct object with two-word
verbs
........
C.
teacher introduces new dialogue
actions, pictures or realia are used to give meaning (only in English)
teacher introduces the dialogue by modelling it twice
students repeat each line of the new dialogue several times (drills)
new vocabulary is introduced through lines of the dialogue
........
D.
students read aloud a passage about US geography
teacher points to a part of the map after each sentence is read
teacher uses English to ask students if they have any questions; students ask
questions in English
teacher works with students on the pronunciation of geographical names
students fill in the blanks with prepositions practised in the lesson
.......
E.
teacher distributes handouts which have a copy of a sports column from a
newspaper
teacher tells students to underline the reporters predictions and say which ones
they think the reporter feels most certain of and least certain of
students unscramble the sentences of the article (on back of handout)
students work in groups and teacher gives each group a strip story
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in their groups, the students predict what the next picture in the strip story will
look like
.......
(adapted from D.Larsen-Freeman,1986, Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching,OUP)
II. Match the characteristics in column A with the corresponding method in column
B
Some characteristics may belong to more than one method:
A
a. Grammar translation
b. Direct method
c. Audio-lingual
d. Suggestopaedia
e. Silent way
h. Communicative method
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