-
1
Course Content:
Phase 1 - Introduction to TESOL
Language Acquisition
Second Language Acquisition
Acquisition Vs Learning
EFL teaching
Methodologies and Approaches
Learners
Language Learners and their levels
Phase 2 - The Study of English
Grammar
The structures
Contextualizing Grammar
Phonology
Segmental
Supra-segmental
Teaching Vocabulary
Phase 3 - Teaching Techniques (Language Skills)Part I
Teaching speaking
Teaching Listening
Teaching reading
Teaching writing
Part II
Context and Language Modeling
Communicative ways
-
2
Phase 4 - Classroom Management
The components
Disaster Management
Mixed and large groups
-
3
The Current Phase:
This Phase contains an over view of what is TESOL, Approaches and
Methodologies that have shaped TESOL, something that every English
Language Teacher should be aware of and who are we going to teach or the
learner.
Phase 1 : Introduction to TESOL
Language teaching as a profession involves challenges, growth, joy and
fulfillment to teachers who enjoy their job. The joy of teaching language lies in
the pleasure of seeing students grow in linguistic proficiency, and in
successfully meeting their communication needs and interests.
Some familiar terms that are in play in the world of language teaching
includes “ESL” (English as a Second Language) and “ESOL” (English for
Speakers of Other Languages) - most commonly used in relation to teaching
and learning English. “TESL” (Teaching English as a Second Language),
“TEFL” (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and “TESOL” (Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages) are also used in the same context of
teaching-learning.
TESOL is an acronym that stands for Teaching English to speakers of other
languages.
Within the purview of TESOL comes the teaching of English as a second
language as well as a foreign language.
ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) the integral component of
TESOL, is extensively used worldwide, especially in the United States.
-
4
The terms ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign
language) play significant roles in teaching and learning of English language
worldwide. Despite sharing the same origin, EFL and ESL differ on the basis
of context. This variance in context requires different materials, syllabi and
pedagogy.
The term ESL is used to refer to situations in which English is being taught
and learned in countries, contexts and cultures in which English is the
predominant language of communication. The concept of teaching English to
immigrants in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom and the United States typify ESL. In these countries, individuals
from non-English-speaking backgrounds may speak their LI at home, but will
be required to use English for communicating at work, in school and in the
community in general. The term is also prevalent in countries where English
is widely used as, lingua franca. These include the Special Administrative
Region of Hong Kong (where its usage reflects the Region's recent past as a
colony of the United Kingdom); Singapore (a multilingual society with
English as a lingua franca) and India (where the population speaks a range of
other languages and where English as well as Hindi enables communication
between these diverse linguistic groups).
EFL is used in contexts where English is neither widely used for
communication, nor used as the medium of instruction. Brazil, Japan, Korea,
Thailand and Mexico are countries where English is taught as a foreign
language, either as part of the elementary and high-school curriculum, or in
private schools and other educational settings. In most EFL settings there is
limited exposure to the language outside of the classroom, and often limited
opportunity to use it. The syllabus therefore needs to be carefully structured
with extensive recycling of key target-language items. In addition the burden
for providing the cultural dimension to the curriculum very much rests with
-
5
the teacher. Teaching is also complicated by the fact that teachers are usually
non-native speakers of English who may lack opportunities to use the
language, or lack confidence in using it. In such situations it is important for
the materials to provide the sort of rich and diverse linguistic input that ESL
learners encounter in the world beyond the classroom.
With globalization and the rapid expansion of information technologies, there
has been an explosion in the demand for English worldwide. This has led to
greater diversification in the contexts and situations in which it is learned and
used, as well as in the nature of the language itself. English no longer belongs
to the United Kingdom, or to the United States. It is an increasingly diverse
and diversified resource for global communication.
There are many teaching aspects to look at before the actual teaching that will
make you well prepared, such as, a solid awareness of language. There are
also ideas and methods to learn that will help make you a good teacher. A
comprehensive teacher training course driven with a well defined approach
has the potential to lead a teacher to this joy of teaching. A proper program,
such as TESOL, will equip you with the skills, knowledge and methods to
produce your own successful classes.
In order to develop into a successful TESOL professional you will want to
develop your own teaching style. You may feel that the real training starts
inside the classroom and in front of your students. But this TESOL program
endeavors to help you emerge ready, prepared and confident before making
your way into the classroom. This TESOL program takes a principled
approach towards language teaching. But no amount of theory can prepare
you for what you are going to face when you are standing in front of your
students. Therefore, in a TESOL program, you are asked to do tasks based on
the things that work most of the time (with most classes and most teachers).
-
6
Moves here are based upon principles of language learning and teaching
found in most “communicative language learning” classrooms.
Our endeavor on the TESOL course is to make you go through that
experience before you take up a teaching assignment; to help you to be ready,
prepared and confident before you step into the classroom.
This course involves behaviors and choreographies that can be employed in
classrooms to facilitate learning. Learned behavior for effective teaching when
linked with your planned lesson frameworks, will form the choreographies to
facilitate your students’ learning. To be precise, this TESOL program blends
proven techniques with the ability to provide interplay between the students,
teacher and texts that constitute real teaching and learning situations. The
goal of our program is to get you into the classroom with these “moves”.
Then the rest is up to you to use them at your disposal to build a successful
personal teaching style that will bring you a memorable lifelong learning
experience, and joy in your new chosen profession.
What about methodology, techniques and approaches to language learning?
It is evident that talking about language and grammar rules is not a sufficient
or even necessary condition for learning language. Equally, talking about
language teaching ideas and methods seems an unlikely condition for
learning to teach. Put another way, good teachers know what to do. It is not
necessarily true that they know why they do certain things, or what makes
them effective. TESOL will present “what to do” based upon things that work
most of the time with most classes for most teachers. These “moves” are
based upon principles of language learning and teaching that are found in
“communicative language learning” classrooms.
-
7
The Online TESOL Certificate Program will present the behaviors and
choreographies that can be employed in a classroom to facilitate learning. It
provides the behaviors for effective teaching, and when linked together in
lesson frameworks, forms the choreographies to facilitate learning. The
comparison to dancing is more than an accurate metaphor. Like dancing,
teaching requires that you learn some body movements and choreographies
that are not natural for most. Learning these behaviors and choreographies
requires the same neural-motor skills as dancing. The only thing missing is
the “music” and that is provided by the interplay between students, teacher
and text that constitutes the real teaching learning situation. While anyone
can learn to perform the steps, dancing to the music may take some time and
experience in classrooms with real students. The goal of TESOL is to get you
into the classroom with the “moves” you need to work with. The rest is up to
you and a lifelong learning experience called teaching.
Language Acquisition
Second Language Acquisition
Language acquisition is one of the most impressive and fascinating aspects of
human development. Language learning is an amazing feat that has attracted
attention of linguist and psychologists for generations. Both first and second
language acquisition share important similarities that explain the
development of the target language in a learners psyche. Several theories
have also been used in explaining how language is learned.
The term second language acquisition (SLA) refers to the process through
which someone acquires one or more second or foreign languages.
Acquisition operates informally in natural context as well as within the
confines of the classroom where both product (language produced by the
-
8
learners at different stages) and process (the mental process and
environmental factors that influence the acquisition process) are at play.
While tracing the stages of first language acquisition we discuss that the
earliest vocalization of a child is involuntary crying that manifest emotions or
biological needs like hunger or discomfort. However, they can clearly
perceive the subtle difference between two dissimilar sounds of human
language. But the vocal expression of such differences comes several months
later. ‘Telegraphic’ sentences begin to form as they combine words into
sentences that are devoid of function words and grammatical morphemes.
Generally by the age of four, language acquires a basic structure which
gradually strengthens with application of formats and rules. Metalinguistic
awareness develops during the pre-school years when language is treated as
an object as the children embarks on learning and reading.
Exposure to more than one language since birth is referred to as
‘simultaneous bilinguals’; slightly different is ‘sequential bilinguals’ where
learning of second language begins at a later stage. Prolonged distance from
family language and intense proximity to a second language on the other
hand lead to ‘subtractive bilingualism’ during early school days.
Discovery of language progresses through predictable patterns that chart the
emergence and development of many features of the language learnt. The
developmental sequences or stages are related to children’s cognitive
development.
However, it is discernible that a child or adult learning a second language is
different from a child acquiring a first language in terms of both personal
characteristics and conditions for learning. Characteristically, all learners of
-
9
second language have had acquired at least one language, irrespective of age.
This prior knowledge can turn out to be a negative or a positive aspect in
second language learning. It is expected to be a combination of contrasting
possibilities. To elucidate further, young language learners begin the task of
language learning without the benefit of some of the skills and knowledge
which adolescent and adult learners have. The first language learner doesn’t
have the same cognitive maturity, Metalinguistic maturity or world
knowledge as older second language learners. Although young second
language learners have begun to develop cognitive maturity and
Metalinguistic awareness, they will still have far to go in these areas, as well
as in the area of world knowledge, before they reach the levels already
attained by adults and adolescents.
Child learners mostly are far less inhibited in using the language – even in
cases of limited proficiency. However, a similar act proves to be very stressful
for adults and adolescents when they are unable to express themselves clearly
and correctly. Nevertheless, even pre-school children can also differ in their
nervousness when faced with speaking a language they do not know well.
Some engage in happy conversation in the new language; others chose to
listen and participate silently in social interaction with their peers.
Fortunately, for these children, the learning environment rarely puts pressure
on them to speak when they are not ready.
Learning conditions too tend to differ with age level. Young learners in an
informal second language learning scenario are usually allowed to be silent
until they are ready to speak. For older learners, the factor of compulsion to
speak works in order to meet the requirements of a classroom or for social
interactions while shopping, medical visits or job interviews. Young children
in informal settings are usually exposed to the second language for many
-
10
hours every day. Older learners, especially students in language classroom
are more likely to receive only limited exposure to the second language.
However, a condition common to learners of all age in varying quantities is
access to modified input. This adjusted speech style which is called child-
direct speech for first language, is sometimes called foreigner talk or teacher
talk for second languages. Many people who interact regularly with language
learners seem to have an intuitive sense of what adjustments are needed to
help learners understand. Of course, some people are better at it than others.
Unlike error correction in first language acquisition which tends to be limited
to corrections of meaning – including errors in vocabulary choice, informal
second language acquisition usually overlook errors which do not interfere
with meaning. Thus, errors of grammar and pronunciation are rarely
remarked on, but wrong word choices are susceptible to comments. The only
place where feedback on error is typically present with high frequency is the
language classroom.
Coming to theories, some have been developed for second language
acquisition (SLA) giving primary importance to learners’ innate
characteristics; some emphasize the essential role of the environment in
shaping language learning, still others seek to integrate learner characteristics
and environmental factors in an explanation for how second language
acquisition take place.
The Theory of Behaviourism identifies language learning as a result of
imitation, practice, feedback on success and habit formation. According to the
behaviourists, all learning, whether verbal or non-verbal, takes place through
the same underlying process. Learners receive linguistic input from speakers
in their environment and they form ‘associations’ between words, and objects
-
11
or events. These associations become stronger as experiences are repeated. By
imitating sounds and patterns around them, children invite positive
reinforcement in form of praise or accomplished communication as well as
corrective feedback on their errors. Behaviourism is also related to
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) that explains the easy adaptation of
second/target language structures if there are similarities with the first;
differences naturally make learning difficult.
The theoretical derivation of Noam Chomsky stresses upon the innate
language programming within the learner that develops like any other
biological functions - Innatism. The environment makes a basic contribution
by making available to the learner, reciprocating speakers. Chomsky has
referred to the special ability within the learner to perceive the ground rules
of any new language system. This inherent language acquisition device (LAD)
or endowment which has later been termed as Universal Grammar (UG)
simply needs language samples to get activated. UG is considered to be a set
of principles that are common to all languages and that permits all learners to
acquire the language of their environment during a ‘critical period’ in their
development. This critical period does not stretch indefinitely and refers to a
concept of right time. A few contrasting arguments that generate from this
theory are –
• The unavailability of UG to guide the acquisition beyond the critical period
• Beyond the critical period of acquisition the learners might not attain
complete mastery of the target language but would eventually have more
knowledge of the language if compared to sole dependence on external
inputs.
-
12
The ‘Monitor Model’ proposed by Stephen Krashen constitute of five
hypotheses’ based on the Innatist theory of second language acquisition.
The acquisition-learning hypothesis concludes at nominating acquired
language as the foremost tool of natural and fluent communication,
compared to the conscious process of learning where attention and
conformation to form and rule prevails. Fluency here isn’t necessarily
controlled and decided by rules.
In the monitor hypothesis, Krashen designates the learned system as
an editor or monitor responsible for fine tuning the language that has
been acquired. This acquisition alone can ensure fluency and intuitive
judgment about correctness. Monitor is used when the focus is on
correctness like in case of written communication. Krashen maintains
that since knowing the rules only helps the speaker supplement what
has been acquired, the focus of language teaching should be on
creating conditions for acquisition rather than learning.
The natural order hypothesis is independent of the order of rules that
are taught in classroom. Acquisition of the second language here
attains a predictable, natural sequence where the easy rules are not
necessarily learnt at the beginning.
Exposure to comprehensible input is a significant factor in acquisition.
Krashen claims that if the input contains forms and structures above
the learner’s existing level of language competence, it is bound to
initiate comprehension and acquisition. Undirected pleasure reading
can be such a source of comprehensible input that underlines the
theory of the input hypothesis.
The affective filter hypothesis has features that are linked to classroom
practice and is able to diagnose the reason behind the discrepancy in
the level of learning among various students under the same learning
-
13
condition. The term ‘affect’ in ‘affective filter’ refers to motivates,
needs, attitudes and emotional states that has potential to filter out
input, creating a virtual barrier that prevents learning and acquisition.
The filter operates at the disposal of the learner’s state of mind, limiting
or encouraging acquisition.
The more recent psychological theories include the model of information
processing where acquisition is viewed as the construction of a knowledge
system that is accessed automatically for speaking and understanding. This
principle of Automaticity involves a timely movement of the control of a few
language forms into automatic processing of a relatively unlimited number of
language forms. Over analyzing language, thinking too much about its forms
and consciously lingering on rules of language all tend to impede this
graduation to automaticity.
In addition to the development of automaticity through practice, skill and
knowledge also undergo change due to ‘restructuring’. Away form the
concept of gradual build-up, skills and knowledge seems to be based on the
interaction of existing knowledge or the acquired new knowledge that fits
into an existing system and causes it to be transformed or restructured. This
set of action can have both positive and negative impact on the learner.
Connectionism is a cognitive approach that attributes greater importance to
the role of the environment as compared to the existence of innate knowledge
in the learner. The knowledge bank here is developed with the help of
exposure to linguistic features through innumerable instances. The
Connectionists consider external inputs as the principal source of linguistic
knowledge.
-
14
Theories have also been based on acquisition that takes place through
conversational interaction. Interactions between learners and native speakers
produce acquirable inputs that are comprehensive in nature. The
interactionist position as discussed by Evelyn Hatch, Teresa Pica, and Michael
Long states that the learners need opportunity to interact with other speakers
in a way that is conducive to adaptation until the learner shows signs of
understanding. Yet another perspective on this role of interaction is the socio-
cultural theory of human mental processing. Social interactions between
individuals are at the centre stage here. Further collaboration and interaction
with more knowledgeable speakers elevates the learners to an advanced level
of knowledge.
Acquisition Vs Learning
The distinction between “language learning” and “language acquisition” has
been brought to us by researchers in linguistics, psycholinguistics and
cognitive psychology – notably by Steve Krashen, Noam Chomsky, Steven
Pinker and others – and through studies of both first and second language
learning. More significantly, the majority of people who learn another
language do so without teachers, books or classroom study. They do it by
being exposed to comprehensible input that is for some reason important to
their lives – trading, traveling, studying or working. They do it not by
thinking about learning language, but by using new sounds and systems to
communicate something of importance to them. We might do well to look at
this phenomenon since these “non-students” are relatively more successful in
their task than the majority of formal language students. The critical
difference is the focus on the “message” rather than the form of the language
used to transmit the message. To summarize: as illustrated by Dave Hopkins
in his book ‘Smooth Moves’:
-
15
Acquisition Learning
1. Similar to the process of learning L1
(first or native language)
2. An intuitive process
3. Implicit knowledge
4. Speaking without thinking about it
5. Formal teaching does not help
much
6. Strongly influenced by affective
factors
7. Peers have a more important
influence than teachers or parental
figures
8. Language is acquired in a “context”
that is understandable to the learner
9. There is a discernable, but as yet
incomplete ordering of the sequence
of acquisition of linguistic features
1. Learning process is not like learning
L1
2. Conscious process
3. Explicit knowledge
4. Thinking before speaking
5. Formal teaching helps
6. Not as dependant upon affective
factors
7. Teachers or parental figures are
more important than peers
8. Language is often de-contextualized
for drills and exercises
9. There is no attention to what is
known about the sequence of learning
different linguistic features
Another way of looking at this distinction may be the following. Native
speakers have a built in “feel” for what is right or wrong in language.
I love to swim.
I enjoy to swim. *
While the second sentence is a logical extension of the first, native English
speakers know it isn’t right.
-
16
In order to bring language teaching closer to the ‘natural acquisition’ of
language characterized by first language learning (L1) certain areas and
consideration need to be strongly emphasized. This also helps in reducing the
type of ‘learning’ practiced in many second-language classrooms. The areas
are –
1. Language context and modeling of language
2. Natural language as it occurs in real life
3. Encouraging learners to participate, initiate and make choices about their
learning
4. Learning grammar and vocabulary in context
5. Repeated and varied language models for accuracy, rather than correction
6. Maximizing peer interaction to allow students to observe, hypothesize,
experiment with language – i.e. scaffolding as output processing for language
development
7. Focus on the “message” rather than the “language”
8. Emphasizing the emotional engagement of the learner.
9. Giving the student time to digest input before requiring production.
EFL Teaching – Methodologies and Approaches
Learners of English who have the opportunity to live in an English speaking
environment while studying have a huge advantage. They are surrounded by
the language continuously and are able to put acquired language into practice
in everyday, realistic situations. However, the majority of English learners are
living in their native countries, where English is not the first language and as
a result do not have these benefits. Many of these students may have the
opportunity to use English at work, with their friends or in some other
practical way where they are able to use their English on a fairly regular basis.
-
17
Many other learners of English are not so fortunate and their only contact
with the language may be twice a week at a language institute. Even if they
have daily exposure to English they get to use it only in English classes at
school or at a private language institute. As a result these students do not get
sufficient exposure to the language or the opportunity to put into practice
what they have acquired in class.
As children we all learnt our native language without the aid of language
teachers and course books. We simply absorbed the language around us,
processed it and through trial and error formulated internal ideas and rules to
allow us to be able to use the language fluently and accurately. This ‘natural
language acquisition’ is impossible to replicate in the classroom but many of
the most popular methodologies in EFL teaching today try to imitate it as far
as practical.
The concept of methodology evolved with the search for an ideal single
method that would successfully teach a foreign language in the classroom.
This search found new ideologies in a row that replaced the previous one and
eventually gave way to the next. In the process, language teaching was
deduced to be composed of three hierarchical components – Approach,
Method and Technique.
Approach deals with assumptions, beliefs and theories that underline the
nature of language, learning and teaching. It is fed by theories about the
applicability of language and its nature of learning in pedagogical settings.
Method or design systematically presents the language, following a selected
approach. We can also designate it as an umbrella term that marks the
specification and interrelation of theory and practice. A strict definition goes
-
18
as pedagogical practices that include theory and research as the basis, trying
to formulate ‘how to teach’.
Techniques are classroom activities and practices specific to any method and
also in accordance with the basic approach. Techniques generally involve a
wide variety of exercises, activities, tasks; everything that turn theory into
practice.
To describe it in a single line we can state that ‘teaching methods are
approaches in action’ or ‘practical application of theoretical findings and
positions’. History of language teaching has seen new methods emerging
every quarter of a century.
The individual methods are based on a set of beliefs about the nature of
language and learning. For as long as people have been learning and teaching
language, there has been continual, and often heated, debate as to which
method and technique produce the best results. The shifting focus over the
years have been distinguished under the major methodological findings –
Grammar – translation
This was probably the main stay of language teaching and learning for
hundred of years, and indeed is still practiced in many situations. Many of us
will have been exposed to this system of learning in the state school sector.
The basic principle of this system is, as its name suggests, learning about a
language through finding equivalent in the students’ own language and the
foreign language being learned. In is in effect, a system of translation.
-
19
The major characteristics of Grammar Translation method can be charted as:
Classes are taught in mother tongue, with little active use of the target
language
Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words
Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given
Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and
instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words
Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early
Little attention is paid to context of texts, which are treated as exercises
in grammatical analysis.
Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences
from the target language into the mother tongue
Little or no attention is given to pronunciation
The major drawback with grammar – translation is that it seems to prevent
the students from getting the kind of natural language input that will really
help them acquire the language. The danger therefore, is that students will
learn about the language rather than learning the language itself. This
methodology also requires the teachers to be proficient in the students’ native
language.
Audio – lingualism
This is the name given to a language teaching/learning methodology based
upon behaviorist theories of learning. This theory basically suggests that
much learning is as a result of habit formation through conditioning. Audio-
lingualism concentrates therefore, to a large degree, on long repetition-drills,
in which the students would be conditioned into using the language correctly.
-
20
Audio – lingualism largely went out of fashion because most linguists believe
that language learning consisted of more than merely forming habits and that
speakers of a language are able to process language more effectively from the
knowledge they have acquired . However, it is useful to the extent that the
language drills are still popular (though in a much more limited way)
especially for the low level students.
The characteristics of ALM may be summed up in the following list:
• New material is presented in a dialogue form
• There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and
over learning
• Structures are sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught
one at a time
• Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills
• There is little or no grammatical explanations Grammar is taught by
inductive analogy rather than by deductive explanation
• Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context
• There is much use of tapes, language labs and visual aids
• Great importance is attached to pronunciation
• Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted
• Successful responses are immediately reinforced
• There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances
• There is tendency to manipulate language and disregard content
-
21
Presentation, Practice and Production
In this method teacher first presents the context and situation for the
language, as well as explaining and demonstrating the meaning and form of
the new language. The students then practice making sentences with the
language in a controlled way (including drilling) before going on to the
production stage where they are able to be more creative with the language.
PPP has proved to be extremely effective in teaching simple language at lower
levels. It is less effective with higher level students who already know a lot of
language, and therefore do not need such a marked production stage.
Many teacher training centers (and teachers) still use PPP today. The system
does, however, lack in flexibility and it is easy for the lessons to become too
‘teacher-cantered’.
Task – Based Learning
In this method the focus is more on a task than the language. Students are
given a task to complete (while using the English language). When they have
completed the task, the teacher can, if necessary – and only if necessary-
provides some language study to help clear up some of the problems they
had while doing the task.
The language lessons are based on learning experiences that have
nonlinguistic outcomes, and in which there is a clear connection between the
things learners do in class and the things they will ultimately need to do
outside of the classroom.
Communicative Language Teaching
-
22
The communicative approach stresses the importance of language functions
(such as agreeing, inviting, suggesting, etc.) as opposed to reliance only on
grammar and vocabulary. This approach also suggests that if students have
enough exposure to the language and the opportunity to use it then language
learning would in effect, take care of itself. Activities in CLT typically require
students to use the language in real life situations, so role-play and simulation
have become popular with this method. CLT places far more emphasis on
completion of the task than the accuracy of the language.
Community Language Learning
In CLL students will typically sit in a circle and it is up to them to decide what
they want to talk about. The teacher (standing outside the circle) will help, as
and when necessary, with language problems that arise during the course of
the discussion. This methodology has helped teachers focus on the need to
make the lessons as ‘student- centered’ as possible by allowing the students to
choose the topic and language.
The important characteristics are:
• Learners are not regarded as a class but as a group that is in need of
certain therapy and counseling
• Interaction in interpersonal relationship forms the basis of learning for
the group
• Students and teachers join together to facilitate learning in a context of
valuing each individual in the group
• Personal defenses are replaced by supportive community feeling
• The teacher is treated as a true counselor
• The counselor teacher could become too non directive.
• It is based on an inductive strategy of learning
-
23
The Silent Way
The most notable feature of the silent way is the behavior of the teacher- who
says as little as possible. This is because it is believe that if the students had to
‘discover’ the language for themselves ,learning will be better facilitated
rather than just remembering and repeating what had been taught . Many
teachers have found this method to be a little unnatural in application. The
theory of silent way can be summarized as:
• Discovery and creation of language induces learning more than memorizing
and repetition of the subject
• Mediating physical objects facilitate learning
• Solving problems that belong to the context of the subject facilitates learning
Suggestopaedia
This method was developed largely on the need for the students to be
comfortable, confident and relaxed in order for learning to be more effective.
Another feature is that the teacher and students exist in a parent-children
relationship; students are given new names and traumatic themes are
avoided. A suggestopaedia lesson has three main parts firstly there is an oral
review of the previous lesson. This is followed by the presentation and
discussion of the new language. Finally, students listen to relaxing music
while the teacher reads the new dialogue.
• Music is central to the method
• Practicality of using the method is an issue in absence of music and
comfortable chairs
The Lexical Approach
-
24
This approach argues that words and phrases are far better building blocks
for language acquisition than grammatical structure.
The Natural Approach
Stephen Krashen’s theories of second language acquisition have been widely
discussed and debated. Both Krashen and his colleague Tracy Terrell felt that
learners would benefit from delaying out put of language until the learner
starts to speak. “Learners should be relaxed in the classroom and that a great
deal of communication and acquisition should take place, as opposed to
analysis”, H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles. In fact this approach
recommends the TPR activities at the starter level when “comprehensible
input” is a key element in the process of acquisition.
The Natural Approach was aimed at basic personal communication in
everyday life situation. The teacher needed to provide oral inputs that the
learner is able to understand while the learner was expected to remain silent
and take everything in and respond only when he or she was ready. So the
teacher through different interesting activities would be the source for all
language input.
Krashen and Terrell defined three main stages in this process: (i) Pre-
production stage wherein listening comprehension skills are developed. (ii)
Early production stage where the learner struggles with the language and
naturally makes errors. (iii) The last stage demands production of more
complex and longer “discourses” through role-plays, games, open-ended
dialogues in groups. The aim is developing fluency rather than accuracy, so
error correction should be minimal.
-
25
This approach was criticized due to the delay in oral production (silent
periods) and its dependence on the teacher to give “comprehensible input”.
How does the teacher decide which structures are to be provided to the
learner? Some teachers may not be able to do so, on their own. The positive of
this approach was to allow students to remain silent till the time they are
comfortable to speak. Therefore they do not feel threatened or embarrassed to
experiment with the new language. The resulting self-confidence helps in
language learning.
The teacher needs to choose the best of what others have experimented with
and adapt those insights to the situation he or she is in.
Which methodology is best?
With so many different approaches and methods it can be rather difficult to
decide which is the best to use. Unfortunately there is no clear answer as
much will depend upon your individual circumstances. Your personality, the
culture for students, and their needs will all play a part in your decision. In
reality each method has its pluses and minuses but certain conclusion can be
drawn:
• Students need as much exposure to language as possible.
• Students need a certain amount of input from the teacher
• Communicative tasks offer real learning possibilities but are not
enough on their own.
• Anxiety and stress needs to be low for effective language learning.
• Where possible students should be encouraged to discover language
for themselves.
• Vocabulary is as important as grammar. Both need each other.
-
26
The methodology that the teacher prefers may not be the preferred or correct
option for students from different cultures. Compromise may be necessary.
Over the years, a blind search for the perfect method gave way to integration
of approach to language teaching practices. The demand was for unifying
approach to language teaching and designing effective tasks and techniques,
informed by that approach. The eclectic blend of tasks and activities now are
beyond any methodology; they only focus at the dynamics of the classroom.
The enlightened, eclectic approach incorporates a number of basic principles
of learning and teaching, inspired by interconnection of reading and
observation, discussion and teaching. It is a dynamic composition of
perception and experience, where approach and classroom practice is at
constant interaction. Feedback on innovations yields new insight and more
creative possibilities which run in a cycle. When the eclectic approach is at
work, designing of a lesson depends upon the selection of focus. The
approach chosen is also guided by factors like the teacher’s experience as a
learner, a teacher, observer, reader, and specialized orientation in the same
field, if any. Approaches are necessarily controlled by varying contexts and
are subject to interpretation.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a more generally accepted
approach today owing to a wide variety of interpretations and classroom
applications. The approach highlights distinct communicative traits and
incorporates authentic, real-world simulations and meaningful tasks. CLT can
be defined as a unified yet broadly based, theoretically well informed set of
doctrines about nature of language and of language learning and teaching.
CLT highlights the social, cultural and pragmatic features of languages. CLT
uses authentic language to a great extent in an attempt to build fluency. The
-
27
basic characteristics of the communicative mode of teaching feature distinct
digression from the previous approaches.
In Communicative Language Teaching the grammatical, functional, socio-
linguistic, and strategic discourse components are at their best possible
interplay. The techniques are utilitarian and driven towards fulfillment of
individual purposes. Fluency and accuracy are complementary principles that
alternatively acquire high degree of importance. Productive and
contextualized communication is necessarily the goal and the students need
to work towards this goal through the development of appropriate strategies
for autonomous learning. The teacher here is the facilitator who is supposed
to facilitate authentic linguistic interaction and encourage meaningful
construction of language. The functional aspects like fluency and spontaneity
displace overt presentation and discussion of grammatical rules and
concentrate on the learner’s initiative, in CLT.
The concepts that are derivatives from the Communicative Approach of
language teaching are –
>> Learner-Centered Instruction involves techniques that are based on the
learner’s needs, styles and goals. The teaching is an interactive session here
with students’ inputs, space for creativity, enhancing individual competence.
>> Cooperative and Collaborative Learning emphasizes on students’ team
spirit, promoting intrinsic motivation; enhancing self-esteem; bonding of
relationship amidst cultural variation and individualities. It is a collaborative
pursuance of goals and objectives.
>> Interactive Learning promotes interactive communications and creates
more opportunities for genuine interaction through pair and group activities;
-
28
spontaneous reception and production of authentic language; catering to real
audience and not forced situation.
>> Whole Language Education initially referred to the ‘wholeness’ of
language, encompassing the various significant components and the blending
of oral with written form of communication. Currently it is analogous to
cooperative, participatory and student-centered learning; it focuses on the
community of learners, the social nature of language; exploits meaningful and
authentic language with integration of the four-skills.
>> Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is viewed as the integration of content
learning with language teaching aims. Content here dictates the form and
sequence of language presentation.
>> Task-Based Instruction puts task at the centre of one’s methodological
focus and views learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are
directly linked to the curricular goals they serve, the purpose of which
extends beyond the practice of language for its own sake.
Theory
of
languag
e
Theory
of
learnin
g
Objecti
ves
Syllabu
s
Activity
types
Learner
roles
Teacher
roles
Roles of
materia
ls
Audioling
ual
Langua
ge is a
system
of rule-
governe
d
structur
es
Habit
formati
on;
skills
are
learned
more
effectiv
Control
of
structur
es of
sound,
form
and
order,
Graded
syllabu
s of
phonol
ogy,
morpho
logy
and
Dialogu
es and
drills,
repetiti
on and
memori
zation,
pattern
Organis
ms that
can be
directe
d by
skilled
training
techniq
Central
and
active
teacher-
domina
ted
method
.
Primari
ly
teacher-
oriente
d.
Tapes
&
visuals,
-
29
hierarc
hically
arrange
d
ely if
oral
precede
s
written;
analogy
, not
analysis
.
mastery
over
symbol
s of the
languag
e; goal;
native-
speaker
mastery
.
syntax.
Contras
tive
analysis
.
practice
.
ues to
produc
e
correct
respons
es
Provide
s
model,
controls
directio
n and
pace.
languag
e lab
often
used.
Total
Physical
Response
Basicall
y a
structur
alist,
gramm
ar-
based
view of
languag
e.
L2
learnin
g is the
same as
L1
learnin
g;
compre
hension
before
product
ion, is
‘imprin
ted’
through
carryin
g out
comma
Teach
oral
proficie
ncy to
produc
e
learners
who
can
commu
nicate
uninhib
itedly
and
intelligi
bly
with
native
Sentenc
e-based
syllabu
s with
gramm
atical
and
lexical
criteria
being
primary
, but
focus
on
meanin
g, not
forms.
Imperat
ive
drills to
elicit
physica
l
actions.
Listener
and
perfor
mer,
little
influenc
e over
the
content
of
learnin
g.
Active
and
direct
role;
“the
director
of a
stage
play”
with
student
s as
actors.
No
basic
text;
materia
ls and
media
have an
importa
nt role
later.
Initially
voice,
action
and
gesture
s are
sufficie
nt.
-
30
nds
(right-
brain
functio
ning);
reducti
on of
stress.
speaker
s.
The Silent
Way
Each
languag
e is
compos
ed of
element
s that
give it a
unique
rhythm
and
spirit.
Functio
nal
vocabul
ary and
core
structur
e are
Process
es of
learnin
g a
second
languag
e are
fundam
entally
differen
t from
L1
learnin
g. L2
learnin
g is an
intellect
ual,
cognitiv
Near-
native
fluency,
correct
pronun
ciation,
basic
practica
l
knowle
dge of
the
gramm
ar of
the L2.
Learner
s learn
how to
learn a
Basicall
y
structur
al
lessons
planne
d
around
gramm
atical
items
and
related
vocabul
ary.
Items
are
introdu
ced
Learner
respons
es to
comma
nds,
questio
ns and
visual
cues.
Activiti
es
encoura
ge and
shape
oral
respons
es
without
gramm
Learnin
g is a
process
of
persona
l
growth.
Learner
s are
respons
ible for
their
own
learnin
g and
must
develop
indepen
dence,
Teacher
s must
(a)
teach
(b) test
(c) get
out of
the
way.
Remain
impassi
ve.
Resist
temptat
ion to
model,
remode
l, assist,
direct,
Unique
materia
ls:
colored
rods,
color-
coded
pronun
ciation
and
vocabul
ary
charts.
-
31
key to
the
spirit of
the
languag
e.
e
process.
Surrend
er to
the
music
of the
languag
e, silent
awaren
ess then
active
trial.
languag
e.
accordi
ng to
their
gramm
atical
comple
xity.
atical
explana
tion or
modeli
ng by
teacher.
autono
my and
respons
ibility.
exhort.
Communi
ty
language
learning
Langua
ge is
more
than a
system
for
commu
nication
. It
involve
s whole
person,
culture,
educati
Learnin
g
involve
s the
whole
person.
It is a
social
process
of
growth
from
childlik
e
No
specific
objectiv
es. Near
native
mastery
is the
goal.
No set
syllabu
s.
Course
progres
sion is
topic
based;
learners
provide
the
topics.
Syllabu
s
Combin
ation of
innovat
ive and
convent
ional.
Transla
tion,
group
work,
recordi
ng,
transcri
ption,
Learner
s are
membe
rs of a
commu
nity.
Learnin
g is not
viewed
as an
individ
ual
accomp
lishmen
Counse
ling
/parent
al
analogy
.
Teacher
provide
s a safe
environ
ment in
which
student
s can
No
textboo
k,
which
would
inhibit
growth.
Materia
ls are
develop
ed as
course
progres
ses.
-
32
onal
develop
ment ,
commu
nicative
process
es.
depend
ence to
self-
directio
n and
indepen
dence.
emerge
s from
learners
’
intentio
n and
the
teacher’
s
reform
ulations
.
reflectio
n and
observa
tion,
listenin
g, free
convers
ation.
t, but
somethi
ng that
is
achieve
d
collabor
atively.
learn
and
grow.
The
Natural
Approach
The
essence
of
languag
e is
meanin
g.
Vocabu
lary,
not
gramm
ar, is
the
heart of
languag
There
are two
ways of
L2
languag
e
develop
ment:
“acquisi
tion” –
a
natural
subcons
cious
process.
Designe
d to
give
beginne
rs and
interme
diate
learners
basic
commu
nicative
skills.
Four
broad
areas;
Based
on
selectio
n of
commu
nicative
activitie
s and
topics
derived
from
learner
needs.
Activiti
es
allowin
g
compre
hensibl
e input
about
things
in the
here-
and-
now.
Focus
on
Should
not try
to learn
languag
e in the
usual
sense,
but
should
try to
loose
themsel
ves in
activitie
s
The
teacher
is the
primary
source
of
compre
hensibl
e input.
Must
create
positive
, low-
anxiety
climate.
Materia
ls
comes
from
realia
rather
than
text
books.
Primar
y aim is
to
promot
e
compre
-
33
e. Learnin
g
cannot
lead to
acquisit
ion.
basic
persona
l
commu
nicative
skills(or
al/writt
en);
academ
ic
learnin
g skills
(oral/wr
itten)
meanin
g, not
form.
involvi
ng
meanin
gful
commu
nication
.
Must
chose
and
orchestr
ate a
rich
mixture
of
classroo
m
activitie
s.
hension
and
commu
nication
.
Suggestop
edia
Rather
convent
ional,
althoug
h
memori
zation
of
whole
meanin
gful
texts is
recom
mende
Learnin
g
occurs
through
suggest
ion,
where
learners
are in a
deeply
relaxed
state.
Baroqu
e music
To
deliver
advanc
e
convers
ational
compet
ence
quickly.
Learner
s are
require
d to
master
Ten
unit
courses
consisti
ng of
1.200-
word
dialogu
es
graded
by
vocabul
ary and
gramm
Initiativ
es,
questio
n and
answer,
role-
play,
listenin
g
exercise
s under
deep
relaxati
on.
Must
maintai
n a
passive
state
and
allow
the
materia
ls to
work
on
them
(rather
To
create
situatio
ns in
which
the
learner
is most
suggest
ible and
present
materia
l in a
way
Consist
s of
texts,
tapes,
classroo
m
fixtures
, and
music.
Texts
should
have
force,
literary
-
34
d. is used
to
induce
this
state.
prodigi
ous lists
of
vocabul
ary
pairs,
althoug
h the
goal is
underst
anding,
not
memori
zation.
ar. than
vice
versa)
most
likely to
encoura
ge
positive
receptio
n and
retentio
n. Must
exude
authorit
y and
confide
nce.
quality
and
interesti
ng
charact
ers.
Communi
cative
Language
Teaching
Langua
ge is a
system
for the
expressi
on of
meanin
g;
primary
functio
n –
interact
ion and
Activiti
es
involvi
ng real
commu
nication
;
carryin
g out
meanin
gful
tasks;
and
Objecti
ves will
reflect
the
needs
of the
learner;
they
will
include
functio
nal
skills as
Will
include
some/al
l of the
followi
ng
structur
es,
functio
ns,
notions,
themes,
tasks.
Engage
learners
in
commu
nication
,
involve
process
es such
as
informa
tion
sharing,
Learner
as
negotiat
or,
interact
or,
giving
as well
as
taking
Facilitat
or of
the
commu
nication
process,
particip
ants’
task
and
texts;
needs
analyst,
Primar
y role
in
promoti
ng
commu
nicative
languag
e use;
task-
based
materia
ls;
-
35
commu
nication
.
using
languag
e which
is
meanin
gful to
the
learner
promot
e
learnin
g.
well as
linguist
ic
objectiv
es.
Orderin
g will
be
guided
by
learner
needs.
negotiat
ion of
meanin
g, and
interact
ion.
counsel
or,
process
manage
r.
authent
ic.
Language Learners and their Levels
ESL learners are socio-cultural products, necessarily conditioned by their
surrounding, family orientation, exposure to the greater society and several
such factors. Therefore, while assessing the learner/s the factors like age
culture, language level and motivation for learning are always taken into
consideration. Any of these factors could have a bearing on what we perceive
to be a ‘good learner’. However, there are number of general characteristics
that successful students appear to possess. These can include:
• A willingness to listen to the language
• A desire to experiment with the language
• A willingness to ask questions
• An ability to think about their own learning process and methods
• An acceptance of error correction.
• A desire to learn.
-
36
These are all qualities that successful learners usually have and it is the
teacher’s responsibility to encourage and foster these attributes in the
classroom.
Age
The broad categorization would be under the subheads - young learners and
adults. Generally, adults are taken to mean those who are 18 years of age or
more, and the term is self-explanatory.
However, there are at least three categories of young learners.
• First is the post puberty or early teen age learner i.e. 13-plus.
• Second is the pre-puberty learner, corresponding to primary school or 8 to
12 years old.
• Finally, the very young learners, who are often pre-schoolers, aged 7 years
and less. These are becoming an increasingly bigger market the world over.
They have shorter attention spans, and in the case of very young ones they
have not even completely mastered the grammar of their mother tongue, but
all are generally amenable to fun games, singing, drawing etc.
Culture and First Language
Approaches to learning vary with the change in cultural backgrounds of the
students.
Students from some Asian Countries, for example are noted as being very
serious about their learning and respectful to their teachers but sometimes
lacking in willingness to communicate. The problem possibly stems from the
fact in these areas, the teacher is often still expected to do all the talking and
-
37
the students are encouraged not to speak in class unless addressed directly by
the teacher. In some schools TEFL teachers are sometimes frowned upon and
some classes considered unruly because of the noise (Inevitable and necessary
when there is choral work or pair and group work!). A good teacher should
be aware of their student’s customs and differences that could affect the
success of the classes.
Language Level
Distinctions between the different levels of ability in English language
learning have to be clearly demarcated. The most common breakdown is as
follows:
Beginners - From zero knowledge of English to very basic knowledge of
English, which cannot be quickly or easily activated.
Elementary – Students at this level are likely to be able to form basic sentence
structures and communicate on simple topics.
Low or pre-intermediate- Students are able to communicate and understand
a greater variety of topics but lacking general fluency and depth of language
awareness but are still likely to make many errors even with basic structures.
Intermediate – Able to understand and communicate on a wide range of
issues using limited vocabulary store but still lacking in accuracy and fluency.
Upper Intermediate – Should be able to actively communicate on almost all
topics using a greater range of language but still lacking in accuracy.
Advanced – Students should have a very good knowledge of English
-
38
language and now will be studying more subtle language items.
It should be noted that while the above terms are the most commonly used
their actual meaning can differ considerably depending on where you work
and which text book you may be using, an elementary student in one country
could be viewed as intermediate in a different country!
The common European framework recently established by the council of
Europe state the following six levels:
• Breakthrough Basic User A1
• Way stage, Basic User, A2
• Threshold , Independent User, B1
• Vantage, Independent User, B2
• Effective Operational Policy, Proficient User, C1
• Mastery, Proficient User , C2
The complex variables introduced by sociopolitical contexts of teaching
(country, societal expectations, cultural factors, political constraints, the status
of English), the ethics and views of the institution one is teaching in (school,
university, language school, adult education, vocational/workplace courses),
and the implied purposes for learning English (academic, technical, social,
immersion, enrichment, survival) heavily conditions the teacher-student
relationship and the final output in the classroom . Each of these
considerations is essential to incorporate into your choices of techniques,
lesson organization, and supporting materials.
Teaching Children
Children exercise a good deal of both cognitive and affective effort in order to
internalize both native and second languages. The difference between
-
39
children and adults (that is, persons beyond the age of puberty) lies primarily
in the contrast between the child's spontaneous, peripheral attention to
language forms and the adult's overt, focal awareness of and attention to
those forms.
Children are blessed with fluency and naturalness that help them to score
over the superior intellect of the adults. The context of classroom instruction
may introduce some difficulties to children learning a second language.
Many fail to differentiate between very young children (4-6 years old) and
pre-pubescent children (12-13 years) and the whole range of ages in between.
There are actually many instances of six- to twelve-year-old children
manifesting significant difficulty in acquiring a second language for a
multitude. Ranking high on that list of reasons are a number of complex
personal, cultural, and political factors at play in elementary school education.
Teaching ESL to school-age children, therefore, is not merely a matter of
setting them loose on a plethora of authentic language tasks in the classroom.
To successfully teach children a second language requires specific skills and
intuitions that differ from those appropriate for adult teaching. Five
categories may help give some practical approaches to teaching children.
Teaching Teens
The Job of teaching ‘Young Adults’, ‘Teens’ and ‘high school-age children’
should preferably be a mix of variables that can appropriately cater to an age
of physical, psychological transition between twelve and eighteen. Students at
this stage of evolution from childhood to adulthood need to be handled with
special consideration. Some thoughts worth verbalizing are –
• Intellectual capacity adds abstract operational thought around the age of
-
40
twelve. Therefore, some sophisticated intellectual processing is increasingly
possible. Complex problems can be solved with logical thinking. This means
that linguistic metalanguage can now, theoretically, have some impact. But
for any intellectual endeavor to be successful the learner must pay full
attention to the task at hand. If a learner is simultaneously trying to attend to
other things like her/his appearance, or to sexual thoughts, or to planning a
weekend party, or whatever, the intellectual task at hand may suffer.
• Attention span extends with intellectual maturity. However, with potential
diversions present all around, the same attention span tend to get shortened.
• Varieties of sensory input are still important, but, again, increasing
capacities for abstraction lessen the essential nature of appealing to all five
senses.
• Teaching process dedicated to teenagers should have elements to bolster
their ultra-sensitive sense of self-image, ego and self-esteem. The secondary
school teacher should aim at that by
o avoiding embarrassment of students
o affirming their personal talents and strength
o making room for acceptance of mistakes and errors
o de-emphasizing competition between peers
o encouraging group work and activities
Teaching Adults
Compared to children, adults have superior, cognitive abilities that spell
success for them in varied classroom endeavors. Their need for sensory input
can largely be generated from their imagination (“imagine touching a leaf” VS
actually touching it). Adults also score an advantage over children for having
acquired self-confidence that help them to handle shyness to certain extent.
The cognitive faculty also enables them to deal with languages that are not
currently contextualized. Therefore, besides considering the thumb-rules
-
41
specified for teaching children, special suggestions can be –
• Adults are better at handling abstract rules and concepts. But beware! As an
adult you may get carried away by too much abstract generalization about
usage and never get around to practicing the language in real life situations.
In other words too much focus on language learning concepts and rules may
hinder the actual language learning process.
• Adults have longer attention spans and can concentrate on material that
may not be intrinsically interesting to them. But again, the rule of keeping
your activities short and interesting applies also to adult teaching.
• Sensory input need not always be quite as varied with adults, but one of the
secrets of lively adult classes is to make the activities multiple sense based.
• Adults often bring a modicum of general self-confidence (global self-
esteem) into a classroom. The fragility of egos may therefore not be quite as
critical as of children. Yet we should never underestimate the emotional
factors that may be attendant to adult second language learning.
• Adults with their more developed abstract thinking ability, arc better able to
understand a context-reduced segment of language. Authenticity and
meaningfulness are of course still highly important, but in adult language
teaching, a teacher can take temporary digressions to dissect and examine
isolated linguistic properties, as long as students are returned to the original
context.
The Current Phase:
-
42
This phase deals with Language Awareness. In order to teach English, a
teacher needs to be aware of the structure and form of the language not only
to enrich one’s own knowledge of the language but to be aware of what
he/she is presenting to the learners. Phonology helps the teacher become
aware of the differences in languages and the difficulties that the learners
might face.
Phase 2 : What is Grammar?
Grammar is generally thought to be a set of rules specifying the correct
ordering of words at the sentence level. The Longman Dictionary of Applied
Linguistics defines it as, “a description of the structure of a language and the
way in which units such as phrases and words are combined to produce
sentences in the language.”
Sentences are acceptable if they follow the rules set out by the grammar of the
language. For example, in English, one rule states that “a subject followed by
a verb followed by an object” is grammatical. The sentence “The letter the
man wrote” is ungrammatical because it violates this rule where as “The man
wrote the letter” is acceptable because it obeys this rule. Therefore how can
we define grammar?
According to McArthur, “grammar is not a precise term like phonology or
anatomy. It behaves pretty much like the majority of the words in a language;
it has a core of generally agreed meaning, but is fuzzy around the edges”.
This means that the term can have several interpretations. It is used to refer
both to language users’ subconscious internal system and to linguists’
attempts explicitly to codify or describe that system. With the latter, its scope
can be broad enough to refer to the system underlying a particular language.
-
43
It can also refer to a particular school of linguistic thought or to a specific
compendium of facts for a general audience.
It is said that there are three kinds of Grammar namely, G1, G2 and G3.
G1 is the total mechanism which a language possesses and through which its
users are able to communicate with each other. Every native speaker whether
literate or illiterate, knows and controls his or her G1. Each language
possesses a distinctive G1, peculiar to itself.
G2 refers to all formal analysis and description of the rules of the language.
The illiterate native speaker of a language may know its G1 but not G2.
However when he or she begins to think of language consciously, to wonder
what should be said in a situation to get the message across, he or she is
involved in the G2 of the language.
G3 grammar refers to the rules of correct use of a language which may be
prescribed for its users.
The importance of teaching Grammar
A glance through the last century of language teaching practices reveals
mixed opinions about the place of grammar, depending on the method or era.
In the Grammar translation method formal aspects of language received
prime importance. In the Natural Approach overt focus on form was
forbidden. Some manifestations of CLT advocated only a passing mention to
form, while other proponents of CLT used form focused techniques into a
communicative curriculum. Today, only a handful of language teaching
experts advocate Stephan Krashen’s zero option of no from-focused
instruction at all. Current views are universally agreed on the importance of
-
44
some form-focused instruction within the communicative framework, ranging
from explicit rules to noticing and consciousness- raising techniques.
Technically, grammar refers to sentence level rules only. But it is widely
accepted that communicative competence refers to both grammatical
competence and organizational competence of how we string sentences
together. As Diane Larsen- freeman pointed out, grammar is one of the three
dimensions of language that are interconnected. Grammar gives us the form
or structures but those forms are meaningless without semantics (meaning of
words and string of words) and pragmatics(which meaning to assign
according to context). It is therefore important to grasp the significance of the
interconnectedness of all three dimensions as no one dimension is sufficient.
So no one can say grammar is irrelevant. Experiences in language teaching
suggest that judicious attention to grammatical form is not only helpful but
can lead to a speedy learning process.
Appropriate grammar-focusing techniques are meaningful, communicative
contexts. They contribute positively to communicative goals and promote
accuracy within fluency. The learner should not be overwhelmed with
linguistic terminology.
Principles of teaching grammar
Integrate both inductive and deductive method -
In the deductive classroom, the teacher gives a grammatical explanation or
rule followed by a set of exercises designed to clarify the grammatical point.
In deductive grammar one moves from rules to examples. Inductive
procedures reverse this process. Examples are presented to the learners and
through a process of guided discovery they work out the principles
-
45
themselves. This leads us to the question, which is better? It depends on the
grammar point being learnt. A combination of both is needed, however
inductive techniques appear to result in better retention in the long term.
Connect grammatical form and communicative function -
Many grammar based courses are relatively ineffective because they teach
grammar a an abstract system and fail to give learners a proper context for the
grammar point. Teaching was limited to the form of the new grammatical
item. For example when the passive voice was introduced students were
given a list of sentences in the active voice along with a model of how to form
the passive. Such a procedure did not give students any insights into the
communicative contexts in which they should use the passive. Therefore
when teaching the passive voice, show why the passive voice is used- to place
emphasis on the action rather than the doer, to hide the identity of the doer.
Focus on development of procedural rather than declarative knowledge-
Declarative knowledge is about knowing the rules whereas procedural
knowledge is being able to use the knowledge for communication. Most
second language users of English know that they must place an –s on the end
verb when making third person singular declarative sentences but when
speaking most often than not they leave off the –s. this shows they have
declarative knowledge but not procedural. On the other hand a vast majority
of native speakers have procedural knowledge but lack the declarative
reasoning which does not impede their communicative skills. Declarative
knowledge can facilitate the development of procedural knowledge but is not
a necessity. Students need to develop the mastery of target language items not
by memorizing rules but by using them in communicative contexts.
-
46
Contextualization involves meaningful language use for real communicative
purposes and helps students to understand how meaning is constructed by
language users (be it writing, speaking, reading, or listening) depending upon
the context.
Context refers to the topic and situation of a communicative act that are
necessary for understanding (Walz, 1989). Walz (1989) points out that a
number of language textbooks provide contextualized grammar exercises.
These exercises provide thematically related sentences requiring mechanical
manipulation of a grammatical form, but often do not force students to
understand. Therefore, contextualization of mechanical drills in this sense is
certainly not the same thing as creating a context (Walz, 1989, p. 162).
According to Shrum and Glisan (1994): language that is introduced and
taught in context presents real situations that encompass the physical setting,
the purpose of the exchange, the roles of the participants, and the socially
acceptable norms of interaction, in addition to the medium, topic, tone, and
register of the exchange. Grammatical structures that might otherwise be
devoid of context become an integral part of the communicative acts that
occur in contexts.
Research has shown consistently that grammatical structures will become
internalized only if the learners use the structures for meaningful,
communicative purposes .“ ...[I]f words take on their meanings when used in
connection to each other, learners will need to experience “whole”
contextualized language (stories, legends, poems, listening selections,
cartoons, songs, recipes, etc.) with an emphasis on meaning-making and
sense-making before a focus on form can be a productive instructional activity
(Long, 1991)”.
-
47
Classes that focus on language form for the purpose of increasing
comprehension and meaning have been shown to result in greater language
gains than classes in which no focus on form is available or in which forms
are learned as meaningless structures, not connected to any meaningful
communicative act or applied in any way. That is, focus on form is only
useful if this knowledge can be used by the learners in a new way at a later
time.
Steps in Presenting Points of Grammar Using Direct Instruction in ESL and
Foreign Language Instruction
Motivate the teaching of structures by showing how they are needed in
real-life communication.
State the objective of the lesson.
Review the familiar items, e.g. calendar, time, name of objects,
auxiliary verbs in the target language that will be needed to introduce,
explain, or practice the new item.
Use the new structure (adjective of color, for example) in a brief
utterance in which all the other words are known to the students.
Model the utterance several times.
Engage in full class, half-class, group and individual repetition of the
utterance.
Give several additional sentences in which the structure is used. Class
and groups will repeat with you.
Write two of the sentences on the board. Underline the new structure
and (where relevant) use curved arrows or diagrams to illustrate the
relationship of the structure to other words and/or parts of the
sentence.
Point to the underlined structure as you ask questions that will guide
students to discover the sounds, the written form, the position in the
-
48
sentence and the grammatical function of the new structure. ("What
does it tell us?")
Help students to verbalize the important features of the structure. Use
charts and other aids to relate to other familiar structures such as verb
tenses.
Engage the students in varied guided oral practice.
Require students to consciously select the new grammatical item from
contrasting one learned in the past.
Have the students use the structure with communicative expressions
and familiar or new notion.
Some helpful techniques:
Motivation: Fun should be an element in any class , specially one that deals
with grammar. Usually as soon as the word G-R-A-M-M-A-R is announced
there is a sense of doom that looms over the students. The immediate reaction
is , a groan inward or auditory , “tuning off” where the students remain
bodily in the room but their mind wanders off and a lot of apprehension as to
how they will be judged on their “technicality” . It is also the same for any
teacher especially a one who is new and less experienced , therefore the one
and only weapon that can diffuse the situation is FUN.
Games
Songs
Mime
Poems
Audio visual aids are all potential ways to have fun and introduce
almost any topic on grammar.
-
49
Objective: Once the ice breaker is introduced; set the objective, make it simple
and clear. Ask students questions that will help them identify the grammar
concept to be discussed. Follow with another exercise that more specifically
focuses on the grammar concept, but takes an inductive approach. This could
be a reading exercise with questions and responses in the structure that is
being taught.
Inductive is known as a 'bottom up' approach. In other words, this approach
helps a student to discover grammar rules while working through exercises.
For example: A reading comprehension which includes a number of sentences
describing what a person has done up to that period in time. After doing the
reading comprehension, the teacher could begin to ask questions such as:
How long has he done this or that?
Has he ever been to Paris?
When did he go to Paris?
Practice : A soon as the topic is introduced lets say adjective or adverb, ask
the students what words they already know on this topic . You will be
surprised so will the students be when both the parties realize that they
posses a lot of vocabulary on the above. Only lack of practice and application
has not been enough leading to lack of confidence .As they develop strength
gradually introduce them to the new structure . In this stage the following
aids come in handy :
Blackboard
Flash cards
Pointers
Coloured markers
-
50
Applied grammar: Please keep in mind that grammar taught isolated is
grammar not learnt. Just stating the definition and giving single examples
will not help the students . The teacher has to help the students to apply the
rules in day to day situations.
For example: The present perfect is made up of the auxiliary verb 'have' plus
the past participle. It is used to express an action which has begun in the past
and continues into the present moment... etc.
What good does this definition do for