Methods and Approaches Flashcards
Instructs students in grammar, and provides vocabulary with direct translations to memorize. It was the predominant method in Europe in the 19th century. Most instructors now acknowledge that this method is ineffective by itself. It is now most commonly used in the traditional instruction of the classical languages.
Grammar Translation
This is a method that refrains from using the learners’ native language and just uses the target language. It is best represented by the methods devised by Berlitz and de Sauzé, although neither claim originality and has been re-invented under other names. It operates on the idea that second language learning must be an imitation of first language learning, as this is the natural way humans learn any language - a child never relies on another language to learn its first language, and thus the mother tongue is not necessary to learn a foreign language. This method places great stress on correct pronunciation and the target language from outset. It advocates teaching of oral skills at the expense of every traditional aim of language teaching. Such methods rely on directly representing an experience into a linguistic construct rather than relying on abstractions like mimicry, translation and memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary.
Direct Method
(sometimes called Natural Method)
Developed by British applied linguists such as Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornsby. The principle difference between this approach and the direct method was that methods devised under this approach would have theoretical principles guiding the selection of content, gradation of difficulty of exercises and the presentation of such material and exercises. The main proposed benefit was that such theoretically-based organization of content would result in a less-confusing sequence of learning events with better contextualization of the vocabulary and grammatical patterns presented. Last but not least, all language points were to be presented in “situations”. Emphasis on this point led to the approach’s second name.
The Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching
Developed around WWII, this method truly began to take shape near the end of the 1950s, due government pressure resulting from the space race. Courses and techniques were redesigned to add insights from behaviorist psychology to the structural linguistics and constructive analysis already being used. Under this method, students listen to or view recordings of language models acting in situations. Students practice with a variety of drills, and the instructor emphasizes the use of the target language at all times. The idea is that by reinforcing ‘correct’ behaviors, students will make them into habits
The Audio-Lingual Method
A discovery learning approach, invented by Caleb Gattegno. It is often considered to be one of the humanistic approaches. It gets its name because the teacher is usually silent, leaving room for the students to talk and explore the language. The students are responsible for their own learning and are encouraged to interact with one another. The role of the teacher is to give clues to the students, not to model the language. Materials often used are sound/color charts, cuisenaire rods, pictures, objects and word charts.
The Silent Way
Developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. The method (and the theory that Lozanov developed based on it) has been criticized by many education researchers and some have claimed that it is pseudoscience. Lozanov claimed that by using this method one can teach languages approximately three to five times as quickly as conventional methods. However, it is not limited to the learning of languages, but language learning was found to be a process in which one can easily measure how much and how fast something is learned. The theory applied positive suggestion in teaching when it was developed in the 1970s. However, as improved, it has focused more on “desuggestive learning”.
Suggestopedia or Desuggestopedia
This is a method developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University, to aid learning second languages. The method relies on the assumption that when learning a second or additional language, language is internalized through a process of codebreaking similar to first language development and that the process allows for a long period of listening and developing comprehension prior to production. Students respond to commands that require physical movement.
TPR
(Total Physical Response)
It originated when Richard Bandler, a student at University of California, Santa Cruz, was listening to and selecting portions of taped therapy sessions of the late Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls as a project for Robert Spitzer. Bandler believed he recognized particular word and sentence structures which facilitated the acceptance of Perls’ therapeutic suggestions. Bandler took this idea to one of his university lecturers, John Grinder, a linguist. Together they studied Perls’ via tape and observed a second therapist Virginia Satir to produce what they termed the meta model, a model for gathering information and challenging a client’s language and underlying thinking. The linguistic aspects were based in part on previous work by Grinder using Noam Chomsky’s transformational grammar.Challenging linguistic distortions, specifying generalizations, and recovering of deleted information in the client utterances, the surface structure, was supposed to yield a more complete representation of the underlying deep structure, and to have therapeutic benefit. They drew ideas from Gregory Bateson and Alfred Korzybski, particularly about human modeling and ideas associated with their expression, ‘the map is not the territory’
NLP
(Neuro-linguistic Programming)
Tracy D. Terrell was an education theorist who, along with Stephen Krashen, created this approach. This is a comprehension-based language learning methodology which emphasizes the idea of exposure and the lowering of affective or emotional barriers to learning. Krashen and Terrell see communication as the primary function of language, and since their approach focues on teaching communicative abilities, they refer to their approach as an example of the Communicative Approach. According to Krashen and Terrell, this approach is “for beginners and is designed to help them become intermediates.”
The Natural Approach
It emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It continues to be popular, particularly in Europe, where constructivist views on language learning and education in general dominate academic discourse. Although this is not so much a method on its own as it is an approach. David Nunan (1991) listed five of its features: 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 Management process. 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.
Communicative Approach
aka Communicative Language Teaching
Not a method or approach, but an influential theory from the book “Frames of Mind”, published in 1983.Traditionally, schools have emphasized the development of logical intelligence and linguistic intelligence (mainly reading and writing). In fact, IQ tests focus mostly on logical and linguistic intelligence. While many students function well in this environment, there are those who do not. Gardner’s theory argues that students will be better served by a broader vision of education, wherein teachers use different methodologies, exercises and activities to reach all students, not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence. The intelligences are as follows:
- Bodily-kinesthetic
- Interpersonal
- Verbal-linguistic
- Logical-mathematical
- Intrapersonal
- Visual-spatial
- Musical
- Naturalistic
Multiple Intelligences
Focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome (in other words the appropriate completion of tasks) rather than on accuracy of language forms. This makes it especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence. It was popularized by N. Prabhu while working in Bangalore, India. Prabhu noticed that his students could learn language just as easily with a non-linguistic problem as when they were concentrating on linguistic questions. According to Jane Willis, it consists of the pre-task, the task cycle, and the language focus.
TBL
(Task Based Learning)
Developed by M. Lewis. The basic concept on which this approach rests is the idea that an important part of learning a language consists of being able to understand and produce lexical phrases as chunks. Students are thought to be able to perceive patterns of language (grammar) as well as have meaningful set uses of words at their disposal when they are taught in this way. Instruction focuses on fixed expressions that occur frequently in dialogues, which Lewis claims make up a larger part of discourse than unique phrases and sentences. Vocabulary is prized over grammar per se in this approach.
- The grammar/vocabulary dichotomy is invalid.
- Collocation is used as an organizing principle.
- Successful language is a wider concept than accurate language.
- The Observe-Hypothesize-Experiment cycle replaces the Present-Practice-Produce Paradigm.
- Most importantly, language consists of grammaticalized lexis–not lexicalized grammar”
The Lexical Approach
Considered to be both a methodology and a movement. Dogme is a communicative approach to language teaching and encourages teaching without published textbooks and instead focusing on conversational communication among the learners and the teacher. It has its roots in an article by the language education author, Scott Thornbury.
DOGME
