Approaches to Language Teaching

By: Gabriela Flores C.

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION APPROACH

• Grammar rules and vocabulary is explicit.

• Emphazise the structures and the grammar rules within readingsand practical exercises.

• The input must be:

- comprehensible

-relevant

- take into consideration the affective filter.

AUDIO-LINGUALISM

• USE OF PATTERN DRILLS: repetition,substitution, transformationand translation.

• Practice of dialogues in role plays and small groups.

• Mimic and memorize dialogues.

COGNITIVE CODE

• Conscious Learning.

• Competence precedes performance.

• Develop the four skills: Listening, speaking, Reading and writing.

• Use of language in meaningful situations.(learning becomes acquistion)

• Explanation of rules.

*Practical exercises.

*Dialogues

*Games

*Role-plays activities.

DIRECT METHOD

• Classroom language is the target language.

• Teacher talk for class management.

• Inductive teaching of grammar.

• Students guess or work out the gramar rules.

• Conscious knowledge of grammar at all times.

• Over -use of the monitor.

• Control of structures and Oral production.

THE NATURAL APPROACH

• Provide input for Acquisition.

• Teacher speaks only the target language.

• Errors are not corrected unless there exist mis-communication.

• Homework for formal grammar work.(correct homework)

• Use of certain structures.

• Students talk about ideas, solve problems and perform tasks.

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

• Students obey and perform commands given by the teacher.

• Grammar learned inductively.

• Inductive learning of gramar or acquired grammar rules.

• Miss-use of conscious learning.

• Emphasis on listening comprehension , not in the output.

• Use of imperatives.

SUGGESTOPEDIA

• Intensive clases. (four hours per day- for one month)

• Reviews by traditional conversation, games and plays.

• Error correction.

• Materials presented in the traditional way.

• Meditation in read Dialogues.

• Attractive classrooms.

• Dynamic teacher

• Relax in Students.

• Grammar does not interfere with communication.

APPLIED LINGUISTIC RESEARCH –METHODS TO COMPARE SUCCESS IN THE APPROACHES

• METHOD COMPARISON-AMERICAN STUDY- GUME PROJECT• When older methods are compared with each other, we see

small differences, or no differences in terms of efficacy.

• Few differences between audio-lingual (AL) and grammar-translation.

• Audio-lingual and cognitive - code teaching: skills emphasized in the method used, but no differences after year two years.

GUME Project study

• No overall differences between "implicit" methods and "explicit" methods.

• For adult subjects, explicit methods were somewhat better.

• Some sub-groups did better using explicit methods: female group.

• When adding some grammatical explanation to a method based totally on pattern drills was helpful.

• The cognitive methods will allow somewhat more learning.

ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER METHODS

CONVERSATION:

• with native speakers

• have maximun impact in subconscious acquistion.

PLEASURE READING:

-Voluntary

-Depends on the students

-Comprehensible and Interesting for the student.

ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER METHODS

• Using subject matter for language teaching:

-Successful Immersion Programs

-Use in second language situations.

-No pressure for speaking succesfully .

COMMENTS ON ACHIEVEMENT TESTING

Consider:

• Instructional Value

• Language Requirements

• Testing limits the Language Acquistion Theory.

GAP IN MATERIALS

• Possibility to have native speakers outside the classroom.

• Easy understanding of radio or tv comments in the econdlanguage.

• Big amounts of comprehensible and easy books to read.

• Enough input material.

SOME PROBLEMS

• There’s not acceptance by teachers and students.

• Comprehensible input.

• Acquisition is slow and takes time( years)

• Language Curriculum Design(not appropiate for everybody, just forwho likes learning)

• Not all the students show interest.

• SOLUTION:

• Short courses of Language Acquistion.