GOING BEYOND METHODSCurrent perspectives to language teaching

December 2013

Workshop facilitator: Mauricio Miraglia twitter @mauromiraglia

QUICK CHECK ON OUR PRACTICES AND PRINCIPLES

Discuss with your neighbor to later share with whole group

AN OVERVIEW IN TIME

situational methodology (Ur, 2013)

•Whole language

•The Silent W

ay

•Suggestopedia

•The Natural Approach

•Direct M

ethod

•Etc.

FEATURES OF CLT

• meaning is at the heart of teaching / learning• conversations are presented in terms of functions• a key goal is communication• trial and error is part of the learning process• reading and writing can be included from early in any

course• drilling is done as a resource • mastery of forms is achieved while negotiating meaning• accuracy is evaluated in context• group work is a common type of dynamics in the

classroom• motivation comes from what we are communicating

SELF-ASSESSING YOUR CLT

01. What are the characteristics of the teaching / learning process?02. What’s the nature of teacher-student and student-student interaction? 03. How are students’ feelings and emotions are handled? 04. What’s the role of native language?05. Which language skills are emphasized? 06. How does the teacher respond to student errors?

TASKS IN THE EFL TEACHING / LEARNING

A task is a work-plan that requires learners to process language pragmatically in order to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in terms of whether the correct or appropriate propositional content has been conveyed. To this end, it requires them to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own linguistic resources, although the design of the task may predispose them to choose particular forms. A task is intended to result in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language is used in the real world. Like other language activities, a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills, and also various cognitive processes.

(Ellis, 2003)

In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it.

TASK STEPS IN TBLT

HIDE AND SEEK

• Discuss with your neighbor the best place in the room in the picture to hide something small (e.g. a set of keys). Decide together exactly where you would put it/them.     1 minute

• Change partners. See how quickly you can guess what place they have decided on. Ask them questions – but they can only answer yes or no.  (Count the questions.)

Example by Wills, Jane 2007 www.willis-elt.co.uk

HOW “CLOSED” WAS THIS TASK?

• Precise goals, predetermined outcome?

• Strategies set?

• Vocabulary items predictable?

• Whole phrases predictable?

• Grammar predictable?

• Interpersonal talk & task-oriented language?     (What would you predict?)

FROM CLOSED TO OPEN TASKS

• closed: a very specific outcome,  one pre-determined solution; clearly defined parameters; predictable language

• open:  learners are free to decide on their own solution(s) and ways of achieving them.  Less predictable / unpredictable language

Wills 2007

TASKS PRIORITIZING VERB TENSES

• Present Simple - plan and carry out a survey to find out what people generally do after class / in the evenings / Sunday mornings…     Collate and report results.

- List 5 things your family does before leaving home to go on holiday.  Compare lists. How many things in common?

• Past simple -  A busy day: find who had the busiest day.  

- Tell an anecdote e.g. my most embarrassing experience. • Second conditionals - learners do a personality quiz, then

write their own in pairs: e.g. How courageous are you? What would you do if …  an alien space ship landed in your garden? A. I would hide under my bed. B. …. (Hint: start by brain-storming scary scenarios) . Exchange quizzes.

Source: Lamprini Loumpourdi (2005) pp33-39) from www.willis-elt.co.uk

SELF-ASSESSING YOUR TBLT

• Would the activity engage learners’ interest?• Is there a primary focus on meaning? (Are learners

free to use whatever language forms they choose to?)• Does it have a clear outcome for learners to achieve? (Is

completion a priority?) • Is success judged in terms of outcome rather than

accuracy of language? • Does it relate to real world activities?  

The more confidently you can answer YES to these questions, the more task-like the activity.

(Wills, 2007)

OTHER POSIBLE MODELS

Webquests

• Introduction

• Task

• Process

• Resources

• Evaluation

• Conclusion

The flipped classroom

• Let’s begin

• Think

• Dig Deeper

• Discuss

• Finally

Key Concepts: Teamwork | Inductive teaching |Exploration| Emphasis on real world tasks | language is taught “just-in-time” | Autonomous learners | Teachers as facilitators

http://tinyurl.com/lc5sjm9

http://ed.ted.com

FINALLY: SITUATED METHODOLOGIES

“situated methodology (is) largely grounded in general pedagogical principles and practice, shared by teachers of a variety of different subjects, in contrast with ELT methods, which tend to focus predominantly on issues related specifically to language teaching”

(Ur, 2013)

Key question: How are my/our students likely to learn best?

SUGGESTED TASKS

• Discuss and agree (70%) on what students need to lean;• Agree on a peer observation plan (Yürekli, 2013); • Collect videos of your lessons or written peer observation; • Watch / read and analyze your practices 1:1 and later in a larger group; • Do not jugde them from your own common sense, instead, try to categorize

them according to methods (beliefs, theory, principles behind the actions performed by the teacher);

• Assess which practices evidence better learning for your students;• Bring to the surface the principles behind better practices;• Reflect on best teaching practice and learning experience;• Write an agreed document with your new predicaments and practices;• Start again until you can come up with your own methodologies for teaching &

learning.• Share & discuss your document with stakeholders, students and incoming

teachers. • Be ready to start again as context changes.

SOURCES

• Brown, D. (2007) Teaching by Principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, Third Edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

• Frost, R. (2004). A task-based approach. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/a-task-based-approach

• Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006) Tesol Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends. Tesol Quarterly, vol. 40 (1), 59-77.

• Ur, P. (2013). Language-teaching method revisited. ELT Journal, 67(4), 468-474. Retrieved from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org

• Yürekli, A. (2013). The six-category intervention analysis: a classroom observation reference. ELT Journal,67(3), 302-312. Retrieved from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org