English Language Teaching Methods

English Language Teaching MethodsBACKGROUND The Grammar Translation Method is the oldest mode of instruction. The grammar version method is a international diction statement method derived from the classical ( close totimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. This method has been corporeal exercised from the classical times to hand everywhere classical run-ins, Latin and Greek, it has been called Classical method.ADVANTAGES The phraseology of the maneuver expression is quickly explicateed. Translation is the easiest sort of explaining meanings or lecture and phrases from one lecture into a nonher. Communication between the instructor and the larner does non ca theatrical role linguistic problems. Even teachers who argon not fluent in English potful teach English through and through this method.DISADVANTAGES It is an unnatural method. The natural severalize of knowledge a row is audition, speaking, course session and writing. Speech is neg lected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on reading material and writing. Exact description is not practical. Translation is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one nomenclature to another is not always possible. It sooner attempts to teach phraseology through rules and not by use. The persons who have learned a foreign or second style through this method find it difficult to bewilder up the habit of first thinking in their mother glossa and then translating their ideas into the second language. The ability to communicate in the coffin nail language is not a death of foreign language instruction. The primary skills to be developed atomic number 18 reading and writing. Little attention is coursen to speaking and listening, and almost no(prenominal) to pronunciation.teacher ROLE The teacher is the authority in the classroom. There is no interaction from teacher to the students (except in questions). educatee ROLE Students atomic number 18 th e passive receivers of the sunrise(prenominal) knowledge. Students be suppose to memorize the rules and the modern vocabulary with their meanings in their native language. If students tail end translate from one language to another, they are considered successful language learners. It is in truth important that students get the correct attend.METHODOLOGY Teaching and learning process is based on translation, the study of grammar rules through examples (deductive approach) and memorization of vocabulary. Texts from the target language lit are utilize. The techniques used are Translation, Reading comprehension questions, antonyms/synonyms, cognates, deductive application of rule, fill in the blanks, memorization, use of new words in sentences, composition, and so on.L1 practice session Classes are conducted in the native language. Students use their native language to translate. Since oral communication in the target language is not important, classroom book of instructions are flagn in L1.L2 practice session The use of the foreign language is limited teacher and students use it only to translate words or sentences to their mother tongue to the foreign language.LISTENING elflike attention is given to speaking and listening. There is no listening training. Students only listen the foreign language when translate. No listening exercises.SPEAKING Also this is not an important aspect of the method, teacher doesnt work on speaking. No speaking ( more(prenominal)over the translation, because it may be spoken) the ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of foreign language instruction. No pronunciation exercises.READING read literature in the target language is the aim of this method. Grammar rules and vocabulary are stressed. A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature indite in it. create verbally reading and writing are studied at the same time. The importance in this method is to read and write the foreign language translating from their mother tongue.EVALUATION Translation is an important technique to test students progress in the target language. In addition, fill-in-the-blank type test items are also used. Synonyms, antonyms, and cognates git be asked to test vocabulary in formal tests. Reading passages and comprehension questions close the passages can also play place in tests as the reading section.PERSONAL OPINION Nowadays teachers shouldnt base their teaching practice only on this method. Students probably find it boring and discouraging, besides the most important goal when we are learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate in this language, and this method doesnt put any attention to this aspect. just rather than reject totally this method, teachers can use it sometimes when they need, for example, to convey the meaning of a difficult word when other visual aids cant do students.DIRECT METHODBACKGROUND This method was developed initially a s a reaction to the grammar-translation method in an attempt to integrate more use of the target language in instruction. It was develop by Maximilian Berlitz. He started to use it in the schools that bear his name in 1878. It was successful in the beginning entirely its popularity started to decay in the 1920s when schools start to complement the method with more controlled grammar based activity.The direct method of teaching foreign languages, sometimes called the natural method, refrains from apply the learners native language and uses only the target language. The direct method was an answer to the dissatisfaction with the older grammar translation method, which teaches students grammar and vocabulary through direct translations and thus focuses on the compose language.ADVANTAGES Students can learn the target language directly and arrangingatically. Students can pronounce correctly.DISADVANTAGES It overemphasizes and distorts the alikeities between naturalistic first langua ge learning and classroom foreign language learning and it fails to consider the practical realities of the classroom.It requires teachers who are native speakers or who are fluency in the foreign language. It is largely dependent on the teachers skill, rather than on a textbook and not all teachers are proficient enough in the foreign language to adhere to the principles of the method. some(prenominal)times a simple design explanation in the students native tongue would have been a more efficient route to comprehension.TEACHERS ROLE The teacher usually directs the interactions but he/she is not as dominant as in Grammar Translation Method. Sometimes acts like a partner of the students. The teacher asks questions, correct mis payoffs, lets students speak more than him/her. do lesson plan instead of a book, speak naturally, etc.STUDENTS ROLE Students are active participants. Sometimes pair of works take place. Even the teacher takes roles in activities. Students imitate the correc t pronunciation. They try to express in the foreign language and interact with the teacher and classmates in the foreign language. thereof students learn to think and speak in their target language. The drive method is highly motivating to students.METHODOLOGYPictures, realia, examples, sample sentences are used to teach vocabulary. Use of L1 is not allowed. There is a direct relation between form and meaning. Grammar is taught inductively. Examples and drills are given and students are expect to discover and take on the rules.Introduction of new word, sentence or concept SHOWVisual aid or gestures, to ensure student understands new word. SAYTeacher verbally introduces element. TRYStudent makes various attempts to pronounce new element. MOLDTeacher corrects student if necessary, pointing to mouth to betoken proper shaping of lips, tongue and relationship to teeth. REPEATStudent repeats element 5-20 times.Progress, from new word to new word (within same lesson) and progress, from lesson to lesson (LESSON REVIEWfirst few minutes of each lesson are to inspection lesson immediately completed and GLOBAL REVIEWtransition from lesson review to a comprehensive review. Here some examples of activities Reading Aloud, Question and Answer Exercise, Getting Students to Self-Correct, Map Drawing,L1 USAGE The use of the mother tongue is not permitted.L2 USAGE Teacher and students only use the foreign language in class.LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, and WRITING oral communication is seen as basic. Speaking, listening, reading and writing are important skills. Especially speaking and listening are emphasized. Vocabulary is over grammar. Speaking is the most important skill. Reading and writing are not introduced until listening and speaking are fluent skills.EVALUATION The ability to use the language is tested. Not about language, the language itself. In the Direct Method, students are asked to use the language, not to demonstrate their knowledge about the language. They ar e asked to do so using both oral and compose skills. For example, the students might be interviewed orally by the teacher or might be asked to write a paragraph about something they have studied.PERSONAL OPINION Even though the Direct Method is not a functional or notional way of teaching it is quite a good method to teach general English. But if the teacher is not native or proficiency in the foreign language he should certainly go to the class with a lesson plan to hire out the activities and to be successful with the Direct Method.AUDIO-LINGUAL METHODBACKGROUND The Audio-lingual method was widely used in the United States and other countries in the 1950s and 1960s. The Audio-lingual Method was developed in the U.S.A. during the Second World War. At that time, the U.S. government found a great necessity to set up a special language-training program to supply the war with language personnel. The sound-lingual method, Army Method, or New Key is a style of teaching used in teachin g foreign languages. It is based on behaviorist theory, which professes that certain traits of living things, and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement-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 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 didnt focus on teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar.ADVANTAGES The audio-lingual theory is probably the first language teaching theory that openly claims to be derived from linguistics and psychology. Making language teaching possible to large groups of learners. It aims at developing listening and speaking skills which is a step away from the Grammar translation method. The use of visual aids has proven its effectiveness in vocabulary teaching.DISADVANTAGES The method is based on false assumptions about language. The study of language doesnt amount to studying the parole, the observable data. Mastering a language relies on acquiring the rules underlying language performance. That is, the linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse competences.The behaviorist approach to learning is now discredited. Many scholars have proven its weakness. Noam Chomsky (1959) A Review of B. F. Skinners Verbal Behaviorhas written a strong criticism of the principles of the theory.Not developing language competence, lack of effectiveness, and boredom caused by endless pattern drills are great disadvantages too. Learners have little control over their learning. Teacher has the domination of the class.TEACHER ROLE Teacher is like an orchestra leader. She/he directs and controls the lan guage behavior of the students. Teacher is a good mould of the target language, especially for pronunciation and other oral skills. The teacher models the target language, controls the direction and pace of learning, and monitors and corrects the learners performance. The teacher controls the learners and prevents them from doing anything that conflict with the theory. The teacher is expected to specify the language that learners are going to use.STUDENT ROLE Students are imitators of the teacher as perfect model of the target language or the native speakers in the audio recordings. Learners are expected to interact with the language system, embodied in machines or controlled materials.METHODOLOGY Explicit rules are not provided. Students induce the rules through examples and drills. Students acquire grammar by being exposed to patterns through mechanical drills.Drills and pattern practice are typical of the Audio-lingual method. These include-Repetition where the student repeats a n utterance as soon as he hears it.-Inflection Where one word in a sentence appears in another form when repeated.-Replacement Where one word is replaced by another.-Restatement The student re-phrases an utterance.Meaning is taught directly. L1 is proscribed because it may cause bad habit formations. Vocabulary is introduced through dialogues.The techniques used are dialogue memorization, minimal pairs (for teaching pronunciation), complete the dialogue, grammar games, and mechanical drills.L1 USAGE L1 is not allowed in the classroom. It may cause interference and bad habit formation in L2.L2 USAGE The teacher and the students only use the foreign language.LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING Students can learn target language in natural order listening-speaking-reading-writing.It lays emphasis on listening and speaking. The teacher is a model of L2 and students mimic him/her, so the listening skill is very important for this method. L2 is learned through repetition.EVALUATION Students are evaluated at contrary stages and on different points of the language. Each question is supposed to focus on only one point on the language at time. Discrete-point tests are used.PERSONAL OPINION there are many helpful things we can learn from the Audio-lingual Method. If language learning were organized according to its structure, language learning would be easier, especially to adult learners. The Audio-lingual Method considers language ability make up of four skills and these skills can be taught separately. Since the natural order of skill encyclopedism is listening, speaking, reading, and writing, the Method gives the primary stress to the first dickens of the four skills. Speech is more basic to language than the written form, and listening and speaking are the basic form of verbal communication. In the classroom, the language skills are taught in the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Using pattern drills is the center of practice in Audiolingu al Method. It can help students not only gain control over grammatical structures, but also develop their oral ability. The Audio-lingual method also provides language teachers with many useful techniques. The simple drilling techniques provide varied, rate and intensive practice of specific features of the language. The simple and direct approach is especially appropriate for young students and less gifted ones. Moreover, teaching technique with tape recordings and language lab drills offer practice in speaking and listening, which are considered of primary importance in language learning.In sum, we could adapt some kinds of techniques used by the Audio-lingual Method, such as dialogues and pattern drills to our students and their needs, and taking into account important factors such as sociolinguistic and discourse competences, the scene of the students dialogue, and other communicative facts which are essentials when learners are studying a foreign language.SILENT WAYBACKGROUND Cognitive Psychology is the theme. The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno in the early 1970,s. Not only in the past but also today, people have learned languages by content of habit formation, memorization and translation. However, cognitive psychologists and transformational generative linguists claimed that languages cannot be learned through mimicry since people can create utterances they have neer heard before. therefore people can learn languages by using their profess thinking processes to discover the rules of the language they are learning.Gattegno stated his reasons for the emergence of his method as followsAs I developed my techniques while subordinating my teaching to the learning, I found that I could very early transfer the responsibility for the use of the language to my students, so that I become able to teach using fewer and fewer words. It is this aspect of my techniques of teaching that prompted me to call the ap proach The Silent Way of Teaching conflicting Languages (Oller and Amato 198373).He gives too much value to the word silent since he thinks that there are means of letting the learners learn while the teacher stops interfering.ADVANTAGES This method fosters cooperative learning between individuals.It embodies a new approach to education in general, a respect for the individual and an awareness of the individuals extraordinary cognitive powers.If it is succeeded to teach the language the by using the rods without repeating too much, it will really save time and energy for both teachers students. The self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning. By this way students will say I learned instead of I was taught well. (Demircan1990).DISADVANTAGES It would seem necessary for a teacher to gain a good deal of training and skill in order to apply the Silent Way to the teaching of a total grammar in all its complexity.This method can be benefited by the teache r only in small groups of students. The teacher can gain ability in this method by trying. The teacher is expected to enrich the materials on his/her own.For some teachers the rigidity of the system (no repetitions by the teacher, no answers by the teacher etc.) may be meaningless.For some learners, one limitation is the approach to language basics which begins with seemingly irrelevant discussions about rods and which involves silence and concentration and games with the teacher about meaning. Students expectations and need for immediately relevant language learning may force teachers to abandon the approach (Celce-Murcia 1979).How such a method would in the average classroom situation or how successfully it might be used at more advanced levels is a question mark left in our minds.Language is separated from its social context and taught through artificial situations usually by rods.TEACHER ROLE The teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom to encourage the lear ner to produce as much language as possible.The teacher is expected to create an environment that encourages students risk taking that facilitates learning.The teacher should give only what help is necessary. In other words, the teacher makes use of what students already know. The more the teacher does for the students what they can do for themselves, the less they will do for themselves (Larsen-Freeman 1986).STUDENT ROLE The learner is expected to become independent, autonomous, and responsible in language. Learners are expected to interact with each other and suggest alternatives to each other. They must learn to work cooperatively rather than competitively. The teachers silence encourages group cooperation.In order not to miss what the teacher says, learners must give the teacher their attention. Learner-attention is a get a line to learning.Learners will provide each other with correct models and encourage each others initiative. Thus, this method fosters interdependence and co operation among learners at the same time it promotes independence from the teacher.METHODOLOGY A cardinal principle of the Silent Way is respect for the students capacity to work out language problems and recall information on their own with no verbalization and minimal help from the teacher. Vocabulary is taught by means of visual aids and word-charts. Vocabulary is always recycled by means of word-charts. There is a focus on the structures of the language although explicit grammar rules are never given. Some techniques used areTeaching pronunciation with sound colour chartsCognitive coding with colour rods. couple correction to improve co-operative manner.Self correction gesturesTeachers SilenceStructured feedback students are invited to talk about the days instruction (what they have learnt that day during classes). Students learn to take responsibility for their own learning by becoming aware of themselves, and by controlling and applying their own learning strategies.Fidel Ch arts Used to teach sound spelling association. intelligence activity Charts Used to teach and recycle vocabulary. The words are written in different colours so that students can learn basic pronunciation patterns.L1 USAGE native language can be used to give instructions when necessary. Also native language can be used during the feedback sessions (at least for father levels). If the native language is not very essential then it is avoided. During feedback sessions L1 be used at beginning levels. L1 can be exploited. For example, similar sounds in L1 and L2 can be used to make students aware of phonological similarities.L2 USAGE The use of the target language is essential for this method. L1 can be used to give instructions when necessary. Meaning is made clear by focusing the students perceptions, not by translation.LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING Pronunciation is emphasized at the very beginning. It is important that students acquire the melody of the language. All four s kills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) are worked on from the beginning.EVALUATION although the teacher does not have to give a formal test, she/he assesses student learning all the time. One criterion of whether or not students have learned is their ability to transfer what they have been studying to new contexts. The teacher may never give a formal test. He/she assesses students learning all the time. Continuous monitoring by the teacher is essential.PERSONAL OPINION Depending on my own teaching and learning experience, too much repetition does not help students. If the students are familiar with their teachers technique, they know that the teacher will repeat the subject-matter once again. Thus, they do not pay enough attention to their teachers talk. On the other hand, if the students know that their teacher will not repeat anymore, they will listen to him/her carefully.Another principle that I agree with is less teacher interference. If the teacher helps only when it is asked, then, that help will be more valuable. Sometimes teachers like me tend to give extra information when students ask something and of course this tires us too much.Therefore students do not make any effort to take the responsibility of their learning.Advocates of the Silent Way go through that more important than the techniques and more important even than the language learning results, is the process, the change that occurs in individuals. This includes understanding and tolerance of another and acceptance of others as contributors to ones own life.TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSEBACKGROUND Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a professor old of psychology at San Jos State University, to aid learning second languages. The method became popular in the 1970s and attracted the attention or allegiance of some teachers, but it has not received generalized support from mainstream educators.Language is primarily oral. It is just like the acquisition of native language. Learners first listen (silent period), then oral output starts. Oral communication is crucial. Skillful use of imperatives by the instructor can be helpful for the acquisition of many vocabulary items and grammatical structures. Asher views the verb and particularly the verb in the imperative as the central linguistic motif around which language use and learning are organized.ADVANTAGES It is fun and easy so students will enchant the lessons. It does not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher. It is a good tool for learning vocabulary. Class size does not need to be a problem. There is no age barrier.DISADVANTAGES TPR is reduced to the imperative form. TPR is more useful at beginners. It is not a very original method. Students are not given the opportunity to express their own views and thoughts in a creative way. It is limited, since everything cannot be explained with this method. It must be combined with other approaches.TEACHER ROL E the teacher has an active role in this method. He decides what to teach, which materials to use and how they are to be presented. It is important to underline that the teachers role is not simply to teach. His task is offering opportunities for learning. The cognitive map of the target language that each student creates in their mind is going to depend on the way the teacher presents the materials. Teachers should take parents as their model. At the beginning, there will be wide tolerance towards the mistakes students make. If the teacher is constantly interrupting and correcting, students will not be back up to talk. They will be inhibited. At first, teachers do not correct children when they begin to speak.STUDENT ROLE learners have the roles of listeners and performers. First, they must listen to what the teacher says. Then, they are expected to respond physically to those commands given by the teacher.METHODOLOGY The key for successful language learning is the reduction of st ress, such as the first language acquisition (stress-free environment). Listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. They are encouraged to speak when they facial expression ready to speak. Performing physical actions in the target language as a mean of making input comprehensive and minimizing stress grammar is studied in an inductive way. Vocabulary and grammar are introduced through imperatives.Some of the techniques used are Commands ( sit down, skip, close your eyes), Role reversal Students command their teacher and classmates to perform actions, Action sequence The teacher may give three connected commands (e.g. Point to the door, walk to the door, and touch the door).L1 USAGE The method is introduced in the students L1. After the introduction, rarely would the mother tongue be used. Meaning is made through body movements.L2 USAGE Teacher speaks only in the foreign language, while the students use it only when they are ready.LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING Natural order of skills1. Listening (Very important during the silent period).2. Speaking (teacher should not force students to produce the language especially during the silent period they are expected to produce the target language voluntarily)3. Reading4. WritingEVALUATION Teachers will know immediately whether or not students understand by observing heir students actions. Formal evaluations can be conducted simply by commanding individual students to perform a series of actions. As students become more advanced, their performance can become the basis for evaluation.PERSONAL OPINION This is a very useful method to use with all students (children, young and adult students), but only in the first stages of the foreign language learning. I completely agree with learn the foreign language in a non- stress environment, because this is a key factor of the learning. Students learn divulge in a relaxing atmosphere, like children learn their mother tongue. The kind o f activities that the teacher can use is wide and dont require any language answer of the students until they are ready to do that. But teacher has to bear in mind that this method is not enough when students are in a high level. In that case, students need more communicative activities.SUGGESTOPEDIABACKGROUND Suggestopedia is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. It is used in different fields, but mostly in the field of foreign language learning. Lozanov has claimed that by using this method a teachers students can learn a language more or less three to five times as quickly as through conventional teaching methods.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 mixing of the words suggestion and pedagogy.ADVANTAGES improver oral proficiency and lower classroom anxi ety. The use of music, relaxing, pleasing and stimulating environmental set-up, motivated and powerful service people (teachers) giving positive messages with their sweet appearance and never-ending energy so it has the potential to increase motivation, among the learners, to try and use the product, which is English hereDISADVANTAGES The first weakness of this method is that the techniques may not work well in all the learners and cultures. It is not a practical method as teachers face the problem of the availability of music and comfortable chairsLozanov refers in a number of occasions to the importance of memorization, excluding any reference to comprehension and creative problem solving. In fact language is not only about the power of the mind to memorize. Its about understanding, interacting and producing novel utterances in different unpredictable situations.TEACHER ROLE Teacher is the authority. Learners learn better if they get the information from a reliable authority. Stu dents must trust and respect that authority.STUDENT ROLE Students play a childs role (infantilization). They adopt a new identity (new name, job, family, etc.). As they feel more secure, they can be less inhibited.METHODOLOGY Vocabulary is emphasised. Claims about the success of the method often focus on the large number of words that can be acquired. Grammar is taught explicitly but minimally. Explicit grammar rules are provided in L1. Dialogues are used with their translations in L1 on the opposite side. Texts with literary value are used. The textbook posters are used for peripheral learning. Some of the techniques used areClassroom set up dim lights, soft music, cushioned armchairs, and posters on the walls. positivistic SuggestionDirect Suggestion The teacher tells students they are going to be successful to create self-confidence.Indirect Suggestion This is provided by music and comfortable physical conditions of the classroom.Peripheral Learning Posters, lists, charts, texts, paintings, and graphs are hung on the walls of the classroom. Students learn from these although their attentions are not directly on these materials.Visualization Students are asked to close their eyes and concentrate on their breathing. Then the tea