Language Teaching Methodologies

Language teaching methodologies

Some of the more popular second language teaching methods of the last half century:

The Direct Method

·         Sometimes called the natural method

·         In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language.

·         The learner is not allowed to use his or her mother tongue.

·         Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good pronunciation.

·         Contrasts with the grammar–translation method and other traditional approaches

·          It was adopted by key international language schools such as Berlitz and Inlingua in the 1970s and many of the language departments of the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. State Department in 2012

Characteristic features of the direct method are:

·         Teaching concepts and vocabulary through pantomiming, real-life objects and other visual materials

·         Teaching grammar by using an inductive approach (i.e. having learners find out rules through the presentation of adequate linguistic forms in the target language)

·         Centrality of spoken language (including a native-like pronunciation)

·         Focus on question-answer patterns

Direct method is a method of teaching language directly establishing a direct or immediate association between experience and expression, between the English word, phrase or idiom and its meaning through demonstration, dramatization without the use of the mother tongue.

Aims:

1.   Direct method aims to build a direct relation between experience and language, word and idea, thought and expression

2.   This method intends for students to learn how to communicate in the target language

3.   This method is based on the assumption that the learner should experience the new language in the same way as he/she experienced his/her mother tongue

Essentials:

1.   No translation

2.   Concepts are taught by means of objects or by natural contexts

3.   Oral training helps in reading and writing

4.   Grammar is taught indirectly

Techniques:

1.   Question/answer exercise – the teacher asks questions of any type and the student answers.

2.   Dictation – the teacher chooses a grade-appropriate passage and reads it aloud.

3.   Reading aloud – the students take turn reading sections of a passage, play or a dialogue aloud.

4.   Student self-correction – when a student makes a mistake the teacher offers him/her a second chance by giving a choice.

5.   Conversation practice – the students are given an opportunity to ask their own questions to the other students or to the teacher. This enables both a teacher-learner interaction as well as a learner-learner interaction.

6.   Paragraph writing – the students are asked to write a passage in their own words

Principles

1. Classroom instructions are conducted exclusively in the target language.

2.   Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught during the initial phase; grammar, reading and writing are introduced in intermediate phase.

3.   Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.

4.   Grammar is taught inductively.

5.   New teaching points are introduced orally.

6.   Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.

7.   Both speech and listening comprehensions are taught.

8.   Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.

9.   Student should be speaking approximately 80% of the time during the lesson.

10. Students are taught from inception to ask questions as well as answer them.

Grammar-translation

Learning is largely by translation to and from the target language. Grammar rules are to be memorized and long lists of vocabulary learned by heart. There is little or no emphasis placed on developing oral ability.

Grammatical rules and then apply those rules by translating sentences between the target language and the native language. Advanced students may be required to translate whole texts word-for-word. The method has two main goals: to enable students to read and translate literature written in the source language, and to further students’ general intellectual development.

There are two main goals to grammar–translation classes. One is to develop students’ reading ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language. The other is to develop students’ general mental discipline. The users of foreign language wanted simply to note things of their interest in the literature of foreign languages. Therefore, this method focuses on reading and writing and has developed techniques which facilitate more or less the learning of reading and writing only. As a result, speaking and listening are overlooked.

Audio-lingual

The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form.

 Army Method, or New Key is a style of teaching used in teaching foreign languages. It is based on behaviorist theory which postulates that certain traits of living things, and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement. The correct use of a trait would receive positive feedback while incorrect use of that trait would receive negative feedback.

This approach to language learning was similar to another, earlier method called the direct method. Like the direct method, the audio-lingual method advised that students should be taught a language directly, without using the students' native language to explain new words or grammar in the target language. However, unlike the direct method, the audio-lingual method did not focus on teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar.

 The instructor would present the correct model of a sentence and the students would have to repeat it. The teacher would then continue by presenting new words for the students to sample in the same structure. In audio-lingualism, there is no explicit grammar instruction: everything is simply memorized in form. The idea is for the students to practice the particular construct until they can use it spontaneously.

The lessons are built on static drills in which the students have little or no control on their own output; the teacher is expecting a particular response and not providing the desired response will result in a student receiving negative feedback. This type of activity, for the foundation of language learning, is in direct opposition with communicative language teaching.

Charles C. Fries, the director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States, believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. In other words, it was the students' job to recite the basic sentence patterns and grammatical structures. The students were given only “enough vocabulary to make such drills possible.” (Richards, J.C. et-al. 1986). Fries later included principles for behavioural psychology, as developed by B.F. Skinner, into this method.

Examples

Inflection: Teacher: I ate the sandwich. Student: I ate the sandwiches.
Replacement: Teacher: He bought the car for half-price. Student: He bought it for half-price.
Restatement: Teacher: Tell me not to smoke so often. Student: Don't smoke so often!
The following example illustrates how more than one sort of drill can be incorporated into one practice session:
“Teacher: There's a cup on the table ... repeat
Students: There's a cup on the table
Teacher: Spoon
Students: There's a spoon on the table
Teacher: Book
Students: There's a book on the table
Teacher: On the chair
Students: There's a book on the chair
etc.”

Techniques

Skills are taught in the following order: listening, speaking, reading, writing. Language is taught through dialogues with useful vocabulary and common structures of communication. Students are made to memorize the dialogue line by line. Learner mimic the teacher or a tape listening carefully to all features of the spoken target language. Pronunciation like that of native speaker is important in presenting the model. Through repetition of phrases and sentences, a dialogue is learned by the first whole class, then smaller groups and finally individual learners.

Reading and writing are introduced in the next stage. The oral lesson learned in previous class is the reading material to establish a relationship between speech and writing. All reading material is introduced as orally first. Writing, in the early stages, is confined to transcriptions of the structures and dialogues learned earlier. Once learners mastered the basic structure, they were asked to write composition reports based on the oral lesson.

Aims

·         Oral skills are used systematically to emphasize communication.The foreign language is taught for communication, with a view to achieve development of communication skills.

·         Practice is how the learning of the language takes place. Every language skill is the total of the sets of habits that the learner is expected to acquire. Practice is central to all the contemporary foreign language teaching methods. With audio-lingual method, it is emphasized even more.

·         Oral learning is emphasized. Stress is put on oral skills at the early year of the foreign language course and is continued during the later years. Oral skills remain central even when, later, reading and writing are introduced. Learners are asked to speak only what they have had a chance to listen to sufficiently. They read only the material used as part of their practice. They have to write only that which they have read. Strict order of material, in terms of the four skills, is followed.

Advantages:

·         Listening and speaking skills are emphasized and, especially the former, rigorously developed.

·         The use of visual aids is effective in vocabulary teaching.

·         The method is just as functional and easy to execute for larger groups.

·         Correct pronunciation and structure are emphasized and acquired.

·         It is a teacher-dominated method.

·         It is a mechanical method since it demands pattern practice, drilling, and memorization.

·         The learner is in a directed role; the learner has little control over the material studied or the method of study.

·         It is grounded on a solid theory of language learning.

Disadvantages:

·         The behaviorist approach to learning is now discredited. Many scholars have proved its weakness.

·         It does not pay sufficient attention to communicative competence.

·         Only language form is considered while meaning is neglected.

·         Equal importance is not given to all four skills.

·         It is a teacher-dominated method.

·         It is a mechanical method since it demands pattern practice, drilling, and memorization over functional learning and organic usage.

·         The learner is in a passive role; the learner has little control over their learning.

The structural approach

This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb "to be" is introduced and practiced before the present continuous tense which uses "to be" as an auxiliary.

The Structural Approach is a technique wherein the learner masters the pattern of sentence. Structures are the different arrangements of words in one accepted style or the other. It includes various modes in which clauses, phrases or word might be used. It is based on the assumptions that language can be best learnt through a scientific selection and grading of the structures or patterns of sentences and vocabulary.

This approach as Kripa k. Gautam states "is based on the belief that language consists of 'structures' and that the mastery of these structures is more important than the acquisition of vocabulary. Since structure is what is important and unique about a language, early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary." Kulkarni "emphasizes the teaching and learning of the basic items or materials that constitute the framework of language." Whereas according to Yardi 'structures' as an "internal ordering of linguistic item", and further adds that structures may be defined as "device that we use to make signal, to convey meanings, and indicate relationship.

Objectives

According to Menon and Patel the objectives of the new structural approach are as follows:-

·         To lay the foundation of English by establishing through drill and repetition about 275 graded structures.

·         To enable the children to attain mastery over an essential vocabulary of about 3000 root words for active use.

·         To correlate the teaching of grammar and composition with the reading lesson.

·         To teach the four fundamental skills, namely understanding, speaking, reading and writing in the order names.

·         To lay proper emphasis on the aural- oral approach, activity methods and the condemnation of formal grammar for its own sake.[2]

Main features of structural approach

The structural approach makes use of the following features for teaching the language:

·         Word order - Word order or the pattern of form is very important in Language for e.g:

a) Jo broke his toy

b) The toy broke Jo

sentence a) Jo broke his toy - makes proper sense. it shows the arrangement or pattern of words.

·         The presence of function words:

Function words help in modifying meaning considered the following sentence -

for e.g:

a) I ate an ice cream.

b) I'm eating an ice cream.

c) I will eat an ice cream.

In the above given example, we can see the modified meaning.

·         the use of few Inflections:

By adding an affix, the base form of the word can be altered.e.g:

a) In verbs: I play; he plays; I am playing ; I played

b) In nouns; One boy; two boys; one man

c) In adjective and adverb: Great - Greater - Greatest

Principles of the structural approach

Prof. F.G.French has entitled the following principles underlying the structural approach:

1.   Importance of Framing Language Habits.

2.   Importance of Speech - The structural approach is based on the principle of effective used of speech.

3.   Importance pupil's activity.

4.   The Principles of Oral work - Oral work is the basis and all the rest are built up from it.

5.   Each language as its own Grammer - Instead of teaching Grammer of the target language and its structures are to be taught.

6.   Creation of different types of meaningful situations by dramatization, facial expression, actions etc. Is stressed upon.

7.   One item of language is taught at one time.

8.   Mastery of structures is emphasized.

Selection of structure 

How should a teacher select the structure to teach the learner? This involves the selection of structures. In the structural approach mainly the focus will be on structures. The following principles should be kept in mind while selecting structures:

·         Usefulness - the structures, which are more frequent in use should be introduced first

·         Productivity - some if the structures are productive, other structures can be built upon. for e.g: we have two sentence pattern- a) Mr. Roy is here b) Here is Mr. Roy

The former pattern is productive because we can frame many sentences on the same pattern like - He is there etc.

·         Simplicity - The simplicity of the structure depends upon the form and the meaning.

·         Teach-ability - Items easy from teaching point of view.

·         Frequency - The structures must be selected with a high frequency of occurrence.

·         Range - to know, in how many contexts it is applicable

·         Coverage - A word covering a number of meanings For e.g: Meals

·         Learnability - teacher should focus on the items that are easy for students to learn should be taken first.

Gradation of structure

Structural approach upholds the teaching of English as a foreign language through the teaching of the structures of the language. The questions which structural approach attempts to answer primarily are: (1) should the structural items and sentence patterns to be graded? (2) how shall they be graded? and (3) what should be the fundamental principles of grading the structural items? Through gradation of structure, we can get answers for the following Questions.

Gradation means grouping synonyms. In structural approach, gradation of structure can be taught by using the following patterns that should be taught at early stages:

1.   Grouping :-

a) Phonetic grouping - group according to sound. for example: cat, rat, mat etc.

b) Lexical grouping - grouping according to words used in same situation.

c) Grammatical grouping - pattern of sentences similar should be taught together.

d) Semantic grouping - Words having similar meaning grouped together.

e) Structure Grouping - selecting items that are fit for each other.

2. Sequencing:

a) Grammatical sequencing - it will tell that it follows which structure. e.g.: I was watching a movie. I was watching a movie with my friend.

b) Semantic sequencing - A word having different meanings e.g.: The ball is there, under the bed. There are many balls in the bag.

c) Lexical sequencing - It Tells which word follows which e.g.: sit-stand, come-go, high-low

3. Types of patterns of sentences:

There are different patterns of sentence. as follows below:

a) Two- part patterns like She goes (she / goes)

b) Three-part patterns e.g: He is reading (He / is / reading )

c) Four-part patterns e.g: Geetha went to school ( Geetha/went/to/school)

d) Patterns beginning with 'there', 'wh' type question e.g: There are five baskets in the rack. What is your name?

e) Patterns of Command and Request e.g: come here, sit down , stand up etc.

f) Formal pattern - like Good Morning, Thank You etc.

4. Sentence Patterns

The structures may have the following pattern like:

a) Statement of Fact - mention simple facts e.g: Pinky gets up at 6 a.m. She takes bath. she eats her breakfast. she goes to school. ( subject-verb-object pattern )

b) Imperative sentence - Question form verb-subject-object pattern e.g: Did Pinky come to school today? has she taken her breakfast ?

c) Imperative sentence (imply compliance) subject remains hidden. e.g.: (Pinky) Come here , Close the door , Bring your book etc.

5. Phrase Patterns

Sentence using phases are called Phrase pattern. e.g: That book is 'on the table'

Suggestopedia

The theory is that a language can be acquired only when the learner is receptive and has no mental blocks. By various methods it is suggested to the student that the language is easy - and in this way the mental blocks to learning are removed.

It is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. It is used mostly to learn foreign languages.

The theory applied positive suggestion in teaching when it was developed in the 1970s. However, as the method improved, it has focused more on "desuggestive learning" and now is often called "desuggestopedia". Suggestopedia is a portmanteau of the words "suggestion" and "pedagogy". A common misconception is to link "suggestion" to "hypnosis". However, Lozanov intended it in the sense of offering or proposing, emphasising student choice.

Physical surroundings and atmosphere in classroom are the vital factors to make sure that "the students feel comfortable and confident", and various techniques, including art and music, are used by the trained teachers. The lesson of Suggestopedia consisted of three phases at first: deciphering, concert session (memorization séance), and elaboration.

Deciphering: The teacher introduces the grammar and lexis of the content. In most materials the foreign language text is on the left half of the page with a translation on the right half, i.e. meanings are conveyed via the mother tongue not unlike the bilingual method.

Concert session (active and passive): In the active session, the teacher reads the text at a normal speed, sometimes intoning some words, and the students follow. In the passive session, the students relax and listen to the teacher reading the text calmly. Music (" baroque") is played in the background.

Elaboration: The students finish off what they have learned with dramas, songs, and games.

Then it has developed into four phases as lots of experiments were done: introduction, concert session, elaboration, and production.

Introduction: The teacher teaches the material in "a playful manner" instead of analyzing lexis and grammar of the text in a directive manner.

Concert session (active and passive): In the active session, the teacher reads with intoning as selected music is played. Occasionally, the students read the text together with the teacher, and listen only to the music as the teacher pauses in particular moments. The passive session is done more calmly.

Elaboration: The students sing classical songs and play games while "the teacher acts more like a consultant"

Production: The students spontaneously speak and interact in the target language without interruption or correction.

Teachers should not act in a directive way, although this method is teacher-controlled and not student-controlled. For example, they should act as a real partner to the students, participating in the activities such as games and songs "naturally" and "genuinely."  In the concert session, they should fully include classical art in their behaviors. Although there are many techniques that the teachers use, factors such as "communication in the spirit of love, respect for man as a human being, the specific humanitarian way of applying their 'techniques'" etc. are crucial. The teachers not only need to know the techniques and to acquire the practical methodology completely, but also to fully understand the theory, because, if they implement those techniques without complete understanding, they will not be able lead their learners to successful results, or they could even cause a negative impact on their learning. Therefore, the teacher has to be trained in a course taught by certified trainers.

Here are the most important factors for teachers to acquire, described by Lozanov.

1.   Covering a huge bulk of learning material.

2.   Structuring the material in the suggestopaedic way: global-partial – partial-global, and global in the part – part in the global, related to the golden proportion.

3.   As a professional, on one hand, and a personality, on the other hand, the teacher should be a highly-regarded professional, reliable and credible.

4.   The teacher should have, not play, a hundred percent expectation of positive results (because the teacher is already experienced even from the time of the teacher training course).

5.   The teacher should love his/her students (of course, not sentimentally but as human beings) and teach them with personal participation through games, songs, classical arts, and pleasure.

Side effects

Lozanov claims that the effect of the method is not only in language learning, but also in producing favorable side effects on health, the social and psychological relations, and the subsequent success in other subjects.

Criticism

Suggestopedia has been called a "pseudo-science". It depends, in a sense, on the trust that students develop towards the method. Lozanov never admitted that Suggestopedia can be compared to a placebo. He argues, however, that placebos are indeed effective. Another point of criticism is brought forward by Baur who claims that the students only receive input by listening, reading and musical-emotional backing, while other important factors of language acquisition are being neglected. Furthermore, several other features of the method, like the 'nonconscious' acquisition of language, or bringing the learner into a childlike state are questioned by critics.

Lukesch claims that Suggestopedia lacks scientific backing and is criticized by psychologists as being based on pseudoscience.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close your book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural comprehension.

Teaching technique that enables students to acquire new English vocabulary by listening to and carrying out spoken commands. 

TPR is a language teaching method developed by James Asher, a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University. It is based on the coordination of language and physical movement. In TPR, instructors give commands to students in the target language, and students respond with whole-body actions.

The listening and responding (with actions) serves two purposes: It is a means of quickly recognizing meaning in the language being learned, and a means of passively learning the structure of the language itself. Grammar is not taught explicitly, but can be learned from the language input. TPR is a valuable way to learn vocabulary, especially idiomatic terms, e.g., phrasal verbs.

In total physical response, students are not forced to speak. Instead, teachers wait until students acquire enough language through listening that they start to speak spontaneously.

At the beginning stages of instruction students can respond to the instructor in their native language.

While the majority of class time in total physical response is spent on listening comprehension, the ultimate goal of the method is to develop oral fluency. Asher sees developing listening comprehension skills as the most efficient way of developing spoken language skills.

Lessons in TPR are organized around grammar, and in particular around the verb. Instructors issue commands based on the verbs and vocabulary to be learned in that lesson. However, the primary focus in lessons is on meaning, which distinguishes TPR from other grammar-based methods such as grammar-translation.

Grammar is not explicitly taught, but is learned by induction. Students are expected to subconsciously acquire the grammatical structure of the language through exposure to spoken language input, in addition to decoding the messages in the input to find their meaning. This approach to listening is called codebreaking.

Total physical response is both a teaching technique and a philosophy of language teaching. Teachers do not have to limit themselves to TPR techniques to teach according to the principles of the total physical response method.

Because the students are only expected to listen and not to speak, the teacher has the sole responsibility for deciding what input students hear.

Total physical response lessons typically use a wide variety of realia, posters, and props. Teaching materials are not compulsory, and for the very first lessons they may not be used. As students progress in ability the teacher may begin to use objects found in the classroom such as furniture or books, and later may use word charts, pictures, and realia.

There are a number of specialized TPR teaching products available, including student kits developed by Asher and an interactive CD-ROM for students to practice with privately.

Communicative language teaching (CLT)

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in the various situations he/she would be likely to find himself/herself in. The content of CLT courses are functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression of time, quantity, location.

Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach, is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.

Classroom activities used in communicative language teaching include the following:

·         Role-play

·         Interviews

·         information gap

·         Games

·         Language exchanges

·         Surveys

·         Pair-work

·         Learning by teaching

Outline:

1.   An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.

2.   The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.

3.   The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself.

4.   An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.

5.   An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.

The Silent Way

This is so called because the aim of the teacher is to say as little as possible in order that the learner can be in control of what he wants to say. No use is made of the mother tongue.

Community Language Learning

In this method attempts are made to build strong personal links between the teacher and student so that there are no blocks to learning. There is much talk in the mother tongue which is translated by the teacher for repetition by the student.

Task-based language learning

The focus of the teaching is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little correction of errors.

(This is the predominant method in middle school ESL teaching at Frankfurt International School. The tasks are subsumed in a major topic that is studied for a number of weeks. In the topic of ecology, for example, students are engaged in a number of tasks culminating in a poster presentation to the rest of the class. The tasks include reading, searching the internet, listening to taped material, selecting important vocabulary to teach other students etc.)

The Natural Approach

This approach, propounded by Professor S. Krashen, stresses the similarities between learning the first and second languages. There is no correction of mistakes. Learning takes place by the students being exposed to language that is comprehensible or made comprehensible to them.

The Lexical Syllabus

This approach is based on a computer analysis of language which identifies the most common (and hence most useful) words in the language and their various uses. The syllabus teaches these words in broadly the order of their frequency, and great emphasis is placed on the use of authentic materials.

The lexical syllabus is a form of the propositional paradigm that takes 'word' as the unit of analysis and content for syllabus design.