new methodological trends in english learning

8/12/2019 New Methodological Trends in English Learning

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NEW METHODOLOGICAL TRENDS IN ENGLISH LEARNING

Introduction to Methodological Trends ofTeaching and Learning

Donald Stewart, M.Sc.

Lecturer


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ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

English is increasingly being used as a tool for interactionamong nonnative speakers. Over one half of the one billionEnglish speakers of the world have learned English as asecond or foreign language (now 3 to 1- David Crystal). By2010, 2 billion people will be studying English, and about

half the world, 3 billion people, will speak it. In comparison,Mandarin has only some 40 million non-native speakerstoday. Most English language teachers across the globe arenonnative English speakers, which means the norm isbilingualism, and not monolingualism.

English has become a tool for international communicationin transportation, commerce, banking, tourism, technology,diplomacy, and scientific research. 80% of electronicallystored information is in English. 66% of worlds scientistsread in English. Lingua franca in world banking= English!


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APPROACH, METHOD AND TECHNIQUE

From the mid-1880s to the mid-1980s, the language teachingprofession was involved in a search for methods or one methodthat could successfully teach students a foreign language in theclassroom.

What is a method? Edward Anthony (1963) said there were threehierarchical elements, approach, method and technique.

Approach: a set of assumptions dealing with the nature oflanguage, learning, and teaching.

Method: an overall plan for systematic presentation of languagebased on a selected approach.

Techniques: specific activities shown in the classroom consistentwith a method and in harmony with an approach.


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For example: At the approachlevel, a teacher couldemphasize the importance of learning in a relaxed state ofmind just above the threshold of consciousness. Themethod could resemble Suggestopedia. Techniques couldinclude playing baroque music while reading a passage in

the foreign language.

However, now, thanks to Richards and Rodgers(1982,1986), Anthonys proposal has been renamed toapproach, design, and procedure. They have called thisthree-step process a method, an umbrella term for thespecification and interrelation of theory and practice(1982).


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An approach defines assumptions, beliefs, and theoriesabout the nature of language and language learning.

Designs specify the relationship of those theories toclassroom materials and activities.

Procedures are the techniques and practices derived fromones approach and design.

Today, the concept of separate methods is no longer amain issue in language-teaching practice. Instead, we refer

to methodology as the umbrella term, reserving theterm method for more specific clusters of compatibleclassroom techniques.


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CURRENT DEFINITIONS

Methodology: Pedagogical practices in general. Whateverconsiderations are involved in how to teach aremethodological.

Approach: Theoretically well-informed positions and beliefs

about the nature of language, the nature of languagelearning, and the applicability of both to pedagogicalsettings.

Method: A generalized set of classroom specifications for

accomplishing linguistic objectives. Methods tend to beconcerned mainly with teacher and student roles andbehaviors and secondarily with such features as linguisticand subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials.


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Curriculum/syllabus: Designs for carrying out aparticular language program. Features include a primaryconcern with the specification of linguistic and subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials to meet theneeds of a designated group of learners in a definedcontext. (Syllabus = UK; Curriculum = USA)

Technique: Any of a wide variety of exercises, activities,or tasks used in the language classroom for realizing lessonobjectives.


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CHANGING WINDS AND SIFTING SANDS

Albert Marckwardt (1972) sawchanging winds andsifting sands in the cyclical pattern in which a newmethod emerged about every quarter of a century. Each

new method broke from the old but took with it some ofthe positive aspects of previous practices.

A good example of this cyclical nature of methods isfound in therevolutionary Audiolingual Method (ALM) ofthe mid-twentieth century. The ALM borrowed aspectsfrom its predecessor, the Direct Method, by almost half acentury while breaking away entirely from the GrammarTranslation method. However, soon ALM critics weresupporting more attention to thinking, cognition, andrule-learning, which some people thought was a return toGrammar Translation!


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THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

For centuries, there were few theoretical foundations oflanguage learning on which to base teaching methodology.In the Western world, foreign language learning inschools was synonymous with the learning of Latin andGreek. Latin was thought to promote intellectuality throughmental gymnastics, and was held to be indispensable toan adequate higher education.

Latin was taught by what was called the Classical Method,with a focus on grammatical rules, memorization ofvocabulary and conjugations, text translations, and doingwritten exercises.


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With the teaching of other languages in educationalinstitutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, theClassical Method was adopted as the chief means forteaching foreign languages. Little thought was given toteaching someone how to speakthe language. Languageswere not being taught primarily to learn oral/auralcommunication, but to learn for the sake of beingscholarly or for gaining a reading proficiency in a foreignlanguage.

As there was little theoretical research on second languageadquisition, or on the acquisition of reading proficiency,foreign languages were taught as any other skill.


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In the nineteenth century, the Classical Method became theGrammar Translation Method. Its main characteristicswere:

1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active

use of the target language.2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolatedwords.

3. Long, elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammarare given.

4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together,and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection ofwords.

5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.


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6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which aretreated as exercises in grammatical analysis.

7. Often the only drills are exercises in translatingdisconnected sentences from the target language into themother tongue.

8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.

Unfortunately, it is remembered with distaste bythousands of school learners, for whom foreign language

learning meant a tedious experience of memorizing endlesslists of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary andattempting to produce perfect translations of stilted orliterary prose (Richards & Rodgers, 1986).


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The reason why this method remains so popular is becauseit requires few specialized skills of teachers. Grammar ruletests and translations are easy to make and objectivelyscored. It is sometimes successful in leading a studentto a reading knowledgeof a second language.

But, as Richards and Rodgers (1986) pointed out, it has noadvocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. Hereis no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it orthat attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics,psychology, or educational theory.


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QUESTIONS ON THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

1. Classes are taught in the, with littleactive use of the .

2. .vocabulary is taught in the form ofofwords.

3. ,explanations of the of.

are given.

4. Grammar provides the for puttingtogether,and instruction often focuses on theandofwords.

5. Reading of difficult texts is begun.


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6. Little attention is paid to the of texts, which aretreated as .in..

7. Often the only..are exercises in

sentences from the ..into the.

8. Little or no attention is given to.

DO THE QUIZ IN PAIRS, PLEASE!


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However, Gouin was undaunted. He returned to his isolatedroom, this time to memorize German roots and torememorize the grammar book and irregular verbs. Butalas, the result was the same. During that year inGermany, he memorized books, translated Goethe andSchiller, and even memorized 30,000 words in a

German dictionary, but failed to even understand Germanafterwards. He was a failure!

After returning home, Gouin discovered that his three-year-old nephew had, during that year, gone through childlanguage acquisition where he went from saying nothing at

all to becoming a real chatterbox in French. So, Gouinstarted to observe his nephew and came to certainconclusions: language learning is mainly a matter oftransforming perceptions into conceptions!


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Children use language to represent their conceptions.Language is a means of thinking, of representing theworld to oneself. These insights were then formed by alanguage teacher more than a century ago!

So, Gouin began to devise a teaching method to followthese insights. The Series Method was created, a methodthat taught learners directly (without translation) andconceptually(without grammatical rules andexplanations) a series of connected sentences that areeasy to perceive. The first lesson of a foreign languagewould thus teach the following series of fifteen sentences:


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I walk towards the door. I draw near to the door.

I draw nearer to the door. I get to the door. I stop

at the door.

I stretch out my arm. I take hold of the handle. I turn

the handle. I open the door. I pull the door.

The door moves. The door turns on its hinges. The

door turns and turns. I open the door wide. I let go

of the handle.Here there were a large number of grammatical points,

vocabulary items, word orders, and complexity.

WHAT MORE MODERN METHOD DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF?


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The basic premise of the Direct Methodwas similar toGouins Series Method. Second language learning shouldbe more like first language learning lots of oralinteraction, spontaneous use of the language, notranslation between first and second languages, and little

or no analysis of grammatical rules. The basic principleswere:

1. Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in thetarget language.

2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught.

3. Oral communication skills were built up in a carefullytraded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students insmall, intensive classes.


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4. Grammar was taught inductively.

5. New teaching points were taught through modeling andpractice.

6. Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration,objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught byassociation of ideas.

7. Both speech and listening comprehension were taught.

8. Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.


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QUESTIONS ON THE DIRECT METHOD

1. How many of the EIGHT main elements of the Direct

Method can you remember? Classroom instruction?

Vocabulary? Oral skills? Grammar? Pronunciation?

Listening?

NOW HOW WOULD YOU TEACH THIS METHOD FORSOME EIGHT MINUTES?


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The Direct Method was quite popular at the beginning ofthe twentieth century. It was widely accepted in privatelanguage schools with highly motivated students andnative-speaking teachers. The best known populizer wasCharles Berlitz, who never called it the Direct Method, and

chose to call it the Berlitz Method.

However, the Direct Method was not successful in publiceducation, where there were budget constraints, largeclassrooms, and different teacher backgrounds. It was alsocriticized for its weak theoretical foundations.


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By the end of the 1920s, use of the Direct Method haddeclined in Europe and the USA. Most language curriculareturned to the Grammar Translation Method or to areading approach emphasizing reading skills in foreignlanguages. However, by the 1950s, the Direct Method was

revived and redirected into what was the most visible of alllanguage teaching revolutions in the modern era, theAudiolingual Method.

THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

In the first half of the twentieth century, the Direct Methodtook hold more in Europe than in the USA. It was not soeasy to find native-speaking teachers of modern foreignlanguages in the USA, as opposed to Europe.


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USA educational institutions became convinced that areading approachto foreign languages was more usefulthan an oral approach, because of the perceived linguisticisolation of the USA at that time. The highly influentialColeman Report (Coleman, 1929) had persuaded foreignlanguage teachers that it was impractical to teach oral

skillsand that readingwas to be the focus. So, schoolsreturned to Grammar Translation in the 1930s and 1940s.

When World War II began, the USA was suddenly thrustinto a worldwide conflict, increasing the need for Americansto become orally proficient in languages of both allies and

enemies. The time had come for a language-teachingrevolution. The US military provided the impetus infunding intensive language courses focusing on aural/oralskills.


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These courses became known as the Army SpecializedTraining Program (ASTP) or the Army Method. Herethere was a great deal of oral activity- pronunciationand pattern drills and conversation classes- withalmost no grammar and translation found in traditionalclasses. Soon, the success of the Army Methodand

revived national interest in foreign languages stimulatededucational institutions to adopt the new methodology. Itcame to be known in the 1950s as the AudiolingualMethod.

It was firmly grounded in linguistic and psychological

theory. Structural linguists of the 1940s and 1950s gotinvolved in what they claimed was a scientific descriptiveanalysis of various languages. Teaching methodologistssaw a direct application of analysis to teaching linguisticpatterns. (Fries, 1945)


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As well, behavioristic psychologists advocatedconditioning and habit-formation models of learning thatwere perfectly connected to mimicry drills and patternpractices of audiolingual methodology. Characteristics ofthe ALM included the following:

1. New material is presented in dialogue form.2. There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set

phrases, and overlearning.3. Structures are sequenced by means of contrastive

analysis and taught one at a time.4. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills.5.

There is little or no grammatical explanation. Grammar istaught by inductive analogy rather than by deductiveexplanation.


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6. Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context.

7. There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids.

8. Great importance is attached to pronunciation.

9. Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is

permitted.10. Successful responses are immediately reinforced.

11. There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances.

12. There is a tendency to manipulate language and disregard

content.


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QUESTIONS ON THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

HOW MANY OF THE TWELVE CHARACTERISTICS CAN

YOU REMEMBER?


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ALM enjoyed many years of popularity, and even today,ALM adaptations are found in contemporary methodologies.Materials were carefully prepared, tested, and disseminatedto educational institutions. Success could be overtlyexperienced by students as they practiced their dialogues in

off-hours. However, challenged by Wilga Rivers (1964)eloquent criticism of ALM misconceptions and its ultimatefailure to teach long-term communicative proficiency,ALMs popularity waned.

We had discovered that language was not really acquired

through a process of habit formation and overlearning, thaterrors were not necessarily to be avoided at all costs, andthat structural linguists did not tell us everything aboutlanguage that we needed to know.


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COGNITIVE CODE LEARNING

Audiolingualism with its emphasis on surface forms androte practice of scientifically produced patterns, began todecrease when the Chomskyan revolution in linguisticsturned linguists and language teachers toward the deepstructure of language and the innateness of the

fundamentals of grammar (LADs).

Increasing interest in generative transformational grammarand focused attention on the rule-governed nature oflanguage and language acquisition led some language-teaching programs to promote a deductive approach ratherthan ALM inductivity.


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Arguing that children subconsciously acquire a system ofrules, proponents of cognitive code learningmethodology (Carroll, 1966) began to inject moredeductive rule learninginto language classes. In an

amalgamation of Audiolingual and GrammarTranslation techniques, classes retained the drillingtypical of ALM, but added doses of rule explanations andreliance on grammatical sequencing of material.

Cognitive code learningwas not so much a method as itwas an approachthat emphasized a conscious awarenessof rules and their applications to second language learning.


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It was a reaction to the strictly behavioristic practices of theALM, and ironically, a return to some of the practices ofGrammar Translation. As teachers and materialsdevelopers saw that incessant parroting of potentially rotematerial was not creating communicatively proficient

learners, something new was needed, and cognitive codelearning appeared to do the trick.

Unfortunately, this innovation was short-lived, for just asrote drilling bored students, overt cognitive attention tothe rules, paradigms, intricacies, and exceptions of alanguage overtaxedthe mental reserves of languagestudents.


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DESIGNER METHODS OF THE SPIRITED 1980s

The decade of the 1980s was historically significant for tworeasons: (1) research on second language learning andteaching grew from an offshoot of linguistics to a disciplinein its own right. (2) a number of innovative if notrevolutionary methods were conceived.

The scrutiny that the designer methods underwent hasenabled us today to incorporate certain elements in ourcurrent communicative approaches to language teaching.There have been five productsfrom the 1970s.


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1. COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING:

An affectivelybased method. In Charles Currans(1972) Counseling-Learning education model, inspiredby psychologist Carl Rogers, learnerswere regarded notas a class but as a group, a group in need of certaintherapy and counseling.

For learning to occur, group members first had to interactin an interpersonal relationship where students andteacher joined together to facilitate learning in a contextof valuing each individual in the group.

This Counseling-Learning model extended to contexts inthe Community Language Learning (CLL).


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The group of clients (eg. English beginning learners),having first established in their native language (eg.Spanish) an interpersonal relationship and trust, wereseated in a circle with the counselor (teacher) on theoutside of the circle. When one of the clients wished to say

something to the group or an individual, he said it back inthe native language (Spanish) and the counselor translatedthe utterance back to the learner in the second language(English). The learner then repeated that English sentenceas accurately as possible. Another client responded, inSpanish; the utterance was translated by the counselor into

English; the client repeated it; and the conversationcontinued. If possible, the conversation was taped for laterlistening, and the learners inductively tried to obtaininformation about the new language.


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Gradually, the learner was able to speak a word or phrasedirectly in the foreign language without translation. Thiswas the first sign of the learners moving away fromcomplete dependence on the counselor. As the learnersgained more and more familiarity with the foreign

language, more and more direct communication could takeplace, with the counselor providing less and less directtranslation and information. After many sessions, perhapsmany months or years later, the learner achievedfluencyin the spoken language. The learner had become

independent at that moment.

All threats were supposedly removed in this method. Butthe counselor-teacher could become too nondirective.


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It relied too much on the inductive learning strategy.Also, the successof CLL depended mainly on thetranslation expertiseof the counselor.

Today, CLL is not used exclusively in a curriculum. It wastoo restrictive for institutional language programs.However, the principles of discovery learning, student-centered participation, and student autonomy development(independence) are all viable in application to language

classrooms.

PRACTICE THIS METHOD- MAKE AN EIGHT MINUTE

PRESENTATION.

2 SUGGESTOPEDIA:


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2. SUGGESTOPEDIA:

This method derived from Bulgarian Psychologist Georgi

Lozanovs (1979) contention that the human brain could

process large amounts of material if given the right conditionsfor learning, including a state of relaxation and giving over ofcontrol to the teacher.

Lozanov said that people could learn much more than they gave

themselves credit for. He drew on insights from Sovietpsychological research on extrasensory perception and yoga,and created a method for learning that emphasized relaxed

states of mindfor maximum retention of material. Baroquemusicwas central to his method with its specific rhythm,

creating a relaxed concentration that led tosuperlearning. There was an increase in alpha brain waves

and a decrease in blood pressure and pulse rate.


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In Suggestopediaapplications to foreign language learning,Lozanov experimented with the presentation of vocabulary,readings, dialogs, role-plays, drama, and many other typical

classroom activities. Much activity was carried out in soft,comfortable seats in relaxed states of consciousness. Studentswere encouraged to be as childlike as possible, giving allauthority to the teacher and sometimes assuming the namesand roles of native speakers of the foreign language. In thisway, students became suggestible.

Suggestopediawas criticized for many reasons. Scovel (1979)showed that Lozanovs experimental data where he reportedtremendous results were highly questionable. Also, there was

the question of practicality (comfortable chairs, appropriatemusic).


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More serious is the place of memorization in language learning,excluding understanding and/or creative problem solutions.Suggestopedia became a business enterprise of its own and

promised things in the advertising world that were not completelysupported by research. However, we did learn to believe more inthe power of the human mind.

PRACTICE IT!

3. THE SILENT WAY: Like Suggestopedia, the Silent Way hadmore cognitive than affective arguments in its theory. It wascharacterized by a problem-solving approach to learning.

1. Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather

than remembers and repeats what is to be learned.


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2. Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects.3. Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving thematerial to be learned.

Discovery learning, a popular educational trend of the 1960s,advocated less learningby being told and more learning bydiscovering for oneself various facts and principles. Cognitivecategories were created meaningfully with less chance of rote

learning taking place. Inductive processes were also encouragedmore in discovery-learning methods.

Caleb Gattegno, founder of the Silent Way, believed thatlearners should develop independence, autonomy, and

responsibility.


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Learners had to cooperate with each other in the process ofsolving language problems. The teacher- a stimulator but nota hand-holder- was silent much of the time. Teachers had toresist the temptation to spell out everything in black and white,to come to the aid of students at the slightest downfall; they hadto get out of the way while students worked out solutions.

In a classroom, materials such as Cuisenaire rods- small colored

rods of different lengths- and a series of colorful wall charts wereused. The rods were used to introduce vocabulary (colors,numbers, adjectives, verbs, and syntax). The teacher providedsingle-word stimuli, or short phrases and sentences, once ortwice, and then the students refined this among themselves withminimal correction from the teacher.


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Like Suggestopedia, the Silent Wayhad criticism. In onesense, the Silent Way was too harsh a method, the teacher toodistant, to encourage a communicative atmosphere. Students

often need more guidance and overt correction than the SilentWay permitted. Some language aspects can betold tostudents to their benefit so they do not waste time strugglingfor hours. The rods and charts wear thin after a few lessons,and other materials should be introduced.

However, we could all benefit from injecting some discoverylearninginto classroom activities and from providing lessteacher talkso students can work things out on their own.

CHARACTERISTICS? PRACTICE THIS!


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Their listening was accompanied by physical responses(reaching, grabbing, moving, looking, etc.) He also gaveattention to right-brain learning. Asher thought that motor

activity is a right-brain function that should precede left-brainlanguage processing. He was also convinced that languageclasses often produced too much anxiety. The TPR classroomwas where students did a lot of listening and acting. He statedthat the instructor is the director of a stage play in which

the students are the actors.

Typically, TPRheavily used the imperative mood, as in Openthe window, Stand up, Sit down, Pick up the book, Give itto John, etc.No verbal response was needed.


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More complex syntax could be incorporated into the imperative:Draw a rectangle on the board, Walk quickly to the doorand hit it. Humor is easy to introduce: Walk slowly to thewindow and jump, Put your toothbrush in your book.

Interrogatives were also easy: Where is the book? Who isJohn?Eventually, students would feel comfortable enough to tryverbal responses to questions, then to ask questions themselves,and to continue the process.

However, TPR had its limitations. It was especially effective onlyin beginning levels. But it appealed to the dramatic or theatricalnature of language learning. At any rate, learnersneeds forspontaneity and unrehearsed language must be met.

PRACTICE?

5. THE NATURAL APPROACH:


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Stephen Krashens (1982, 1997) theories ofsecond language acquisition have been widely

discussed and hotly debated over the years.Acting on many claims Asher made for acomprehensive-based approach such as TPR,he and Terrell felt that learners would benefitfrom delaying production until speechemerges,that learners should be as relaxed as possible inthe classroom, and that much communication andacquisition should occur, as opposed to analysis.

In fact, the Natural Approachadvocated TPRactivities at the beginning level of languagelearning whencomprehensible input is essential

for triggering language acquisition.

Second languages are learned for oral


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Second languages are learned for oralcommunication in some cases; in other cases, forwritten communication; and in still others, for an

academic emphasis on perhaps listening tolectures, or speaking in a classroom context, orwriting a research paper. The Natural Approachwas aimed at the goal of basic personal

communication skills, that is, everyday languagesituations- conversations, shopping, listening tothe radio, etc.

The initial task of the teacher was to provide

comprehensible input or spoken languageunderstandable to the learner or just above thelearners level. The teacher was the source oflearner input and creator of an interesting,

stimulating variety of classroom activities.


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The most controversial aspects of the Natural


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The most controversial aspects of the NaturalApproach were its advocacy of a silent period(delay of oral production) and its heavy emphasis

on comprehensible input. Oral production delayuntil speech emerges has shortcomings. What ifstudent speech does not emerge? Also, regardingcomprehensible input, Langi (1984) stated:

How does one know which structures the learnersare to be provided with? communicationinteractions seem to be guided by the topic of

conversation rather than by the structures of thelanguage. The decision of which structures to useappears to be left to some mysterious sort ofintuition, which many teachers may not possess.

H th h TPR d th f f i t


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However, through TPR and other forms of input,students language egos are not so easilythreatened, and they are not forced into

immediate risk-taking that could embarrassthem. The resulting self-confidence eventuallycan spur a student to try to speak out.

Innovative methods such as these five methodsof the 1970s show us principles and practiceswe can think about and adapt to multiple

contexts. As teachers, we can use an eclecticapproachto choose the best to use in ourclassrooms. Such insights and intuitions canform our own principled approach to language

teaching.

BEYOND METHOD: NOTIONAL-FUNCTIONAL SYLLABUSES


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NFS began to be used in the UnitedKingdom in the 1970s. Its characteristics

were: its attention to functions as theorganizing elements of English languagecurriculum, and its contrast with astructural syllabus in which sequenced

grammatical structures served asorganizers.

As a reaction to grammatical form, the NFSfocused strongly on the pragmatic purposesto which we put language. But it was morespecifically focused on curricular structure

than a true approach would be.

Notions are both general and specific. General notions


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are abstract concepts such as existence, space, time,quantity, and quality. Here, we use language toexpress thought and feeling. Specific notions are what

we call contexts or situations. Some include travel,personal identification, health, education, shopping andfree time.

The functional part of the NFS corresponds tolanguage functions. Curricula are organized aroundsuch functions as identifying, reporting, denying,accepting, apologizing, etc.

The NFS quickly provided the basis for developingcommunicativetextbooks and materials in Englishlanguage courses. The functional basis of language

programs has continued to today.

Fo e a le i B o (1999) the


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For example, in Brown (1999), thefollowing functions are covered in thefirst lessons of an advanced

beginners textbook:1. Introducing self and other people

2. Exchanging personal information

3. Asking how to spell ones name4. Giving commands

5. Apologizing and thanking

6. Identifying and describing people7. Asking for information

A typical unit in this textbook includes an eclectic


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A typical unit in this textbook includes an eclecticblend of conversation practice with a classmate,interactive group work, role-plays, grammar and

pronunciation focus exercises, information-gaptechniques, Internet activities, and extra classinteractive practice.

It should be emphasized that the NFSdid notnecessarily develop communicative competence inlearners. It was not a method, to specify how youwould teach something. It was a syllabus. While it

was clearly a precursor to CommunicativeLanguage Teaching, as a syllabus, it stillpresented language as an inventory of units-functional rather than grammatical units- but units

at any rate.

Communicative competence implies a set of


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Communicative competence implies a set ofstrategies for getting messages sent and receivedand for negotiating meaning as an interactive

participant in discourse, whether spoken orwritten. But the NFS set the stage for bigger andbetter things. By attending to the functionalpurposes of language, and by providing

contextual (notional) settings for the realization ofthose purposes, it provided a link betweenmultiple methods that were dying out and a newera of language teaching.

The cycles mentioned lasted about a quarter of acentury or roughly a generation in length. Wecertainly learned something in each generation.


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The identifiable and enterprising methods of the


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The identifiable and enterprising methods of thepast are an interesting and insightful contributionto our professional repertoire, but few teachers

would look to any of them as a final answer onhow to teach a foreign language. Method, as aunified, cohesive, finite set of design features, isnow given only minor attention.

The profession has reached maturity in that werecognize that the diversity of language learners

in multiple worldwide contexts demands anecelectic blend of tasks, each organized for aparticular group of learners in a particular place,studying for particular purposes in a given

amount of time.

D id N (1991) d l d h


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David Nunan (1991) declared thefollowing:

It has been realized that there neverwas and probably never will be amethod for all, and the focus in recentyears has been on the development ofclassroom tasks and activities whichare consonant with what we knowabout second language acquisition,and which are also in keeping with

the dynamics of the classroom itself.

As teachers we all have an approach or


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As teachers, we all have an approach orrationale for organizing classes in particularcontexts. Our approach includes a number of

basic principles of learning and teaching onwhich we can rely for designing and evaluatingclassroom lessons. Our approach to language-teaching methodology is a theoreticallyinformed global understanding of the process oflearning and teaching. It is inspired by theinterconnection of all our reading and observingand discussing and teaching, and thatinterconnection forms the basis of all that we do

in the classroom.

It is a dynamic composite of energies within usthat also changewith our own experiences in

our learning and teaching.

ENGLISH TEACHER QUESTIONS


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1. Language classes should focus on: a.meaning b.grammar

2. Students learn best by using plenty of: a.analysisb.intuition

3. It is better for a student to a.think directly in theL2 b.use translation from L1

4. Language learners need a.immediate rewards b.long-term rewards

5. With new language learners, teachers need to be a.tough and demanding b. gentle and empathetic

6. A teachers feedback to the student should begiven a. frequently b. infrequently, so ss willdevelop autonomy

7. A communicative class should give special attention

to a. accuracy b. fluency

ld d h f h


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Could you respond to these items? If you chose(a) or (b), it indicates that you do have someintuitions about teaching, and perhaps the

beginning of an approach.

Your approach is guided by a number of factors:

your own experience as a learner in classrooms,the teaching experience you may already have,classroom observations you have made, booksyou have read, and previous courses in the field.

If you found that in almost every choice youwanted to add something like but it dependson, then you are on the way toward developingan enlightened approach to language learning and

teaching.


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COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

1940s & 1950s: The English professionbehavioristically programmed a scientifically orderedset of linguistic structures into the minds of learnersthrough conditioning.

1960s: There was worry about how Chomskysgenerative grammar would fit into languageclassrooms and how to inject the cognitive code of alanguage into the process of absorption.

1970s: Innovativeness brought affective factors tothe forefront of experimental language-teachingmethods.


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CLT CHARACTERISTICS

1. Classroom goals are focused on all components(grammatical, discourse, functional, and strategic) ofcommunicative competence.Goals must intertwineorganizational aspects of language with the pragmatic.

2. Language techniques are designed to engage learners in

the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of languagefor meaningful purposes. Organizational language formsare not the central focus, but rather aspects of languagethat enable the learner to accomplish these purposes.

3. Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary

principles underlying communicative techniques. Attimes, fluency may have to take on more importance thanaccuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged inlanguage use.


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4. Students in a communicative class ultimately have to usethe language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsedcontexts outside the classroom. Classroom tasks musttherefore equip students with the skills necessary forcommunication in those contexts.

5. Students are given opportunities to focus on their ownlearning process through an understanding of their ownstyles of learning and through the development ofappropriate strategies for autonomous learning.

6. The role of the teacher is that of facilitator and guide,

not an all-knowing bestower of knowledge. Students aretherefore encouraged to construct meaning throughgenuine linguistic interaction with others.


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CLT suggests that grammatical structure should exist undervarious functional categories. In CLT, we pay considerablyless attention to the overt presentation and discussion ofgrammatical rules than we traditionally did. Much use ofauthentic language is implied in CLT, as we try to build

fluency. However, fluency should never be encouraged atthe expense of clear, unambiguous, direct communication.Much more spontaneity is present in communicativeclassrooms: students are encouraged to deal withunrehearsed situations under the guidance, but not control,

of the teacher.The importance of learners developing a strategic approachto acquisition is a complete reversal of earlier methods thatnever touched the topic of stratgies-based instruction.


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Some CLT characteristics can make it difficult for anonnative speaking teacher not very proficient in thesecond language to teach effectively. Dialogues, drills,rehearsed exercises, and discussions (in the first language)of grammatical rules are much simpler for some nonnative

speaking teachers to contend with. However, this shouldnot stop one from pursuing communicative goals in theclassroom. Technology, such as video, television,audiotapes, the Internet, the web, and computersoftware can aid teachers.

(Table: A comparison of the Audiolingual Method andCommunicative Language Teaching)


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A WORD OF CAUTION ABOUT CLT

1. Beware of agreeing with CLT principles (and relatedprinciples like cooperative learning, interactive teaching,learner-centered classes, content-centered education,whole language, etc.) but without grounding your teachingtechniques in such principles. If you believe the termcharacterizes your teaching, make sure you do indeed

understand and practice your convictions.

2. Avoid overdoing certain CLT features: engaging in real-life, authentic language in the classroom, totally excludingany potentially helpful controlled exercises, grammaticalpointers, and other analytical devices; or simulating thereal world but refraining from interfering in the ongoingflow of language. A more effective application of CLTprinciples is through a direct approach to carefulsequence and structure tasks.


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Also, optimal intervention to aid learners in developingstrategies for acquisition should be available.

3. Remember that there are numerous interpretations ofCLT. As long as you are aware of many possible versions ofCLT, it remains a term that can continue to capture currentlanguage-teaching approaches.

Closely allied to CLT are some concepts that have becomecurrent concerns within a CLT framework. There are sixmain ones.


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1. LEARNER-CENTERED INSTRUCTION:

This applies to both curricula and specific techniques. It iscontrasted with teacher-centered. It includes:

. Techniques that focus on or account for learnersneeds,styles, and goals.

. Techniques that give some control to the student (groupwork, strategy training, etc.)

. Curricula that include the consultation and input ofstudents and that do not presuppose objectives in advance.

. Techniques that allow for student creativity andinnovation.

. Techniques that enhance a students sense of

competence and self-worth.


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2. COOPERATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING:

This is a curriculum that is cooperative and notcompetitive. Students work together in pairs and groups,sharing information and coming to each others aid. Theyare a team whose players work together to achieve goalssuccessfully.

Cooperative learning is not just collaboration. Cooperativelearning is more structured, more prescriptive to teachersabout classroom techniques, more directive to studentsabout how to work together in groups (than collaborative

learning (Oxford, 1997).


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3. INTERACTIVE LEARNING

The interactive nature of communication is at the heart ofcurrent theories on communicative competence. Interactiveclasses will likely be found

. Doing a significant amount of pair work and group work.

. Receiving authentic language input in real-world contexts.

. Producing language for genuine, meaningful communication.

. Performing classroom tasks that prepare them for actuallanguage use out there.

. Practicing oral communication through the give and takeand spontaneity of actual conversations.

. Writing to and for real audiences, not invented ones.

Communicative abilities are enhanced through interaction.


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4. WHOLE LANGUAGE EDUCATION

The term originally comes from emphasizing thewholeness of language as opposed to languagefragments. It now describes:

. Cooperative learning

. Participatory learning

. Student-centered learning

. Focus on community of learners

. Focus on the social nature of language

. Use of authentic, natural language

. Meaning-centered language

. Holistic assessment techniques in testing

. Integration of the four skills


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Edelsky (1993) noted that whole language is aneducational way of life. (It helps people to) buildmeaningful connections between everyday learning andschool learning. It is anchored in a vision of an equitable,democratic, diverse society. This is a top-down concept

of life.


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5. CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION

According to Brinton et al (1989), content-basedinstruction is the integration of content learning withlanguage teaching aims. More specifically, it refers to theconcurrent study of language and subject matter, with theform and sequence of language presentation dictated by

content material.

Content-based classrooms may produce an increase inintrinsic motivation and empowerment, since students arefocused on subject matter that is important to their lives.Challenges range from a demand for new books to traininglanguage teachers to teach the concepts and skills ofvarious disciplines, professions, occupations, and/or toteach in teams across disciplines.


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6. TASK-BASED INSTRUCTION

Peter Skehan (1998) defines task as an activity in which:. Meaning is primary

. There is some communication problem to solve

. There is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities

. Task completion has some priority, and

. The assessment of the task is in terms of outcome.

A task is really a special form of technique- much larger. It

views the learning process as a set of communicative tasksdirectly linked to curricular goals.


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Task-based instruction within a CLT framework forces us toconsider all classroom techniques in terms of a number ofimportant pedagogical purposes:

. Do they ultimately point learners beyond the forms oflanguage alone to real-world contexts?

. Do they specifically contribute to communicative goals?

. Are their elements carefully designed and not throwntogether haphazardly?

. Are their objectives well specified so that you can lateraccurately determine the success of one technique overanother?

. Do they engage learners in some form of genuineproblem-solving activity?


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TEACHING BY PRINCIPLES

There are 12 main principles of second language learningon which you can base your own teaching. These principleshave to do with an approach to language teaching.

1. AUTOMATICITY: Efficient second language learning

involves a timely movement of the control of a fewlanguage forms into the automatic processing of a relativelyunlimited number of language forms. Overanalyzinglanguage, thinking too much about its forms, andconsciously paying attention to language rules all tend toimpede this graduation to automaticity.

We should be more inductive like children in being exposedand experimenting with language.


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2. MEANINGFUL LEARNING: Meaningful learning will leadto better long-term retention than rote learning. Appeal tostudents interests, academic goals, and career goals.

Associate new knowledge with something students alreadyknow. Avoid too much grammar explanation, abstractness,and drilling/memorization.


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3. ANTICIPATION OF REWARD: Human beings areuniversally driven to act or behave, by the anticipation ofsome sort of reward- tangible or intangible, short term orlong term- that will be a result of the behavior.

Provide immediate verbal praise and encouragement as ashort-term reward. Show enthusiasm and excitementyourself in the class. Encorage students to be supportive.Tell students about long-term rewards in learning English.


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4. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION: The most powerful rewardsare those that are intrinsically motivated within the learner.Since behavior comes from needs, wants, or desires withinoneself, the behavior itself is self-rewarding. So, noexternally administered reward is necessary.

Learners should learn English because it is fun, interesting,useful, or challenging, and not because of anticipating somecognitive or affective rewards from the teacher.


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5. STRATEGIC INVESTMENT: Successful mastery of thesecond language is due mainly to a learners own personalinvestment of time, effort, and attention to the secondlanguage in the form of an individualized battery ofstrategies for comprehending and producing the language.

Visual vs. Auditory preference, Individual vs. Grouppreference, Easy vs. Difficult exercises.


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6. LANGUAGE EGO: As human beings learn to use asecond language, they also develop a new mode ofthinking, feeling, and acting- a second identity. The newlanguage ego, intertwined with the second language, caneasily create within the learner a sense of fragility, a

defensiveness, and a raising of inhibitions.

This is the warm and fuzzy principle: all second languagelearners need to be treated with affective tender loving care(TLC ?). The confusion of developing a second self in the

second culture is a normal and natural process. Besupportive!


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7. SELF-CONFIDENCE: Learnersbelief that they arereally capable of accomplishing a task is at least partially afactor in their eventual success in attaining the task.

This is the I can do it! principle. At the heart of alllearning is a persons belief in his or her ability toaccomplish the task. This principle emphasizes thelearners self-assessment.

Teachers should give a lot of verbal and nonverbalassurances to students. Sequence techniques from easier tomore difficult.


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8. RISK-TAKING: Successful language learners, in theirrealistic appraisal of themselves as vulnerable beings yetcapable of accomplishing tasks, must be willing to becomegamblers in the game of language, to attempt to produceand interpret language that is a bit beyond their absolutecertainty.

Create an atmosphere in the classroom that encouragesstudents to try out language, to attempt a response, and

not to wait for someone else to volunteer language.


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9. THE LANGUAGE-CULTURE CONNECTION: Wheneveryou teach a language, you also teach a complex system ofcultural customs, values, and ways of thinking, feeling, andacting.

Help students to be aware of acculturation and its stages.Stress the importance of the second language as a powerfultool for adjustment in the new culture. Emphasize that noculture is better than another, and that cross-cultural

understanding is an important part of learning a language.


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10. THE NATIVE LANGUAGE EFFECT: The nativelanguage of learners exeerts a strong influence on theacquisition of the target language system. While that nativesystem will exercise both facilitating and interfering effectson the production and comprehension of the new language,the interfering effects are likely to be the most obvious.

Thinking directly in the target language usually helps tominimize interference errors. Occasional translation of a

word or phrase can be helpful, but direct use of the secondlanguage will help to avoid the first language crutchsyndrome.


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11. INTERLANGUAGE: Second language learners tend togo through a systematic or almost systematicdevelopmental process as they progress to full competencein the target language. Successful interlanguagedevelopment is partially a result of using feedback fromothers.

Teachers must develop tolerance when students say I goto the doctor yesterday, not making the student feel silly,

but rather pointing out the logic of the error. Mistakes arenot bad, but are good indicators that some aspects of thenew language are still developing. Encourage them to keepspeaking and developing.


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12. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: As communicativecompetence is the goal of a language classroom, instructionneeds to point toward all its components: organizational,pragmatic, strategic, and psychomotor.

Communicative goals are best achieved by giving dueattention to language use and not just usage, to fluencyand not just accuracy, to authentic language and contexts,and to studentseventual need to apply classroom learningto previously unrehearsed contexts in the real world.


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Make sure to keep every technique that you use asauthentic as possible: use language that students willactually encounter in the real world, and provide genuine,not rote, techniques for the actual conveyance ofinformation of interest.

Some say, your students will no longer be in yourclassroom. Be sure that you are preparing them to beindependent learners and manipulators of language outthere.

HOWARD GARDNERS MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES


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HOWARD GARDNERS MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

It is important to consider the fact that traditionalconceptualizations of intelligence (linguistic and logical-mathematical problem solving) have been extended inrecent times to five and six frames of mind for analyzingand applying models of intelligence:

1. linguistic intelligence2. logical-mathematical intelligence

3. spatial intelligence

4. musical intelligence

5. bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

6. interpersonal intelligence7. intrapersonal intelligence

8. nature intelligence

THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES


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THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

The thory was proposed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardneras a model of intelligence to differentiate intelligence into

various specific modalities, rather than as a single

general ability. They are:

1. Logical-mathematical : logic, abstractions,

reasoning, numbers, investigation. Scientists,

mathematicians, researchers.

2. Spatial : spatial judgment and v isualizat ion. Ar t ists ,designers and archi tects.


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3. Verbal- l inguist ic: words and languages. Good atreading, telling stories, writing, memorizing words

with dates. Teachers, actors, writers, translators.

4. Bodi ly-k inesthet ic: bodily motion, handling

objects, sense of timing. Athletes, pilots, dancers,musicians, actors, builders, police officers, soldiers.

5. Musical : sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones,

and music. Singers, instrumentalists, conductors,

disk jockeys, orators, writers, composers.


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9. Existent ial : Gardner uncommitted, butspirtual/religious intelligence was proposed. The

infinite. Shamans, priests, mathematicians,

physicists, scientists, cosmologists, philosophers.


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These new conceptualizations of intelligence infused thedecade of the 1990s with a sense of both freedom andresponsibility in using whole language skills, learningprocesses, and the ability to negotiate meaning. This pointshould be taken into consideration as well when designingtests for the English class.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR MOTIVATING LEARNERS


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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR MOTIVATING LEARNERS

1. Set a personal example with your own behavior.

2. Create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere in the

classroom.

3. Present the tasks properly.

4. Develop a good relationship with the learners.5. Increase the learnerslinguistic self-confidence.

6. Make the language classes interesting.

7. Promote learner autonomy.

8. Personalize the learning process.

9. Increase the learnersgoal-orientedness.10. Familiarize learners with the target language

culture.

CLT Some Applications


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CLT Some Applications

LITERATURE IN THE CLASSROOM-

. Literature offers important written material about basichuman issues which last forever. It is authentic andgenuine material. Writers like Shakespeare transcend bothtime and culture to speak directly to a reader in another

country or period of history.

. Literature is a valuable complement to EFL texts after thesurvival level has been passed. Here, readers have tohandle language intended for native speakers and gainmore familiarity with many different linguistic uses, forms

and conventions of writing: irony, exposition, argument,narration, etc.

. If students cannot travel or live in an English-speakingcountry, they can at least have a virtual life experienceusing their imagination for cultural enrichment.


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LITERATURE SUITABLE FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS?

. This depends on the learnersinterests, needs, culturalbackground and language level. It should arouse interestand provoke strong, positive reactions from them. It must

be meaningful, enjoyable and relevant to their lifeexperiences, emotions, or dreams.

. Some incentives include: enjoyment; suspense; a freshinsight into emotional issues; encountering ones own

thoughts or situations expressed vividly in a work of art;encountering those same thoughts or situations illuminatedby a completely new, unexpected light or perspective.


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. For students about to explore the unknown territory of a newliterary work, their first encounter may be crucial. Theteacher must play up the sense of adventure with asuppotive, reassuring atmosphere. This is why we shouldspend extra time on orientation and warm-up sessions.

. A warm-up can provide setting the mood, creating interest,or sparking curiosity. Sometimes the presentation of aparticularly significant passage stimulated thelearnersappetites. As well, the teacher can concentrate on

presenting the title and cover design, imagining with themthey are in a specific scene, visual prompts, discussing thetheme, analyzing key words or sentences, discussing theauthors biography and character.


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. Animal Farm:I

Listen to John interviewing Mary about the animal charactersin this short novel. Try to fill in as many details as possible.

Kind of Animal Name What do we know about it?

IIAfter the interview, try to complete the following sentences so

that they tell the story of what happens in Animal Farm.

Once upon a time there were some animals that decided torevolt against their human masters. They were led by the

cleverest animals.. They succeeded in taking overthe farm and running it. Their first leader was. Hewanted. But then a more powerful animalcalledtook his place as leader. His motto was


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Other Techniques-

Choose predictions; seal time capsules; writebeginnings; write alternative endings; write Chapter0; write questions after each chapter for reading

comprehension;make editorial suggestions; makehome reading worksheets; make value judgmentworksheets; choose a moral; make vocabularydictionaries; make graphic representations of thestory; retell the story; radio dramas; newspaper

articles; book reports; mini-readings; fly on thewall; etc.


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LORD OF THE FLIES:Worksheets- I. Read pages 7-18 of Lord of the Flies. Write

brief notes in each box as appropriate.

Piggy Ralph

Personality

Appearance

Attitude towards island

Attitude to other boy

Information about parents


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. Memory Exercise-Which boy said the following?:

Piggy Ralph

1.And this is what the tube done.

2.Sucks to your auntie.

3.You cant half swim well.

4. So long as you dont tell the others.

5.Hes a commander in the Navy.

6.We may stay here till we die.

7.Get my clothes.8.Gosh.


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What could I kill?Look at the creatures listed below. If you think you could kill any of

them, put a tick in the first column. In the second column, explaincircumstances in which you would do so, for example if starving,

in self-defence, etc.

Creature Yes? Circumstances?

AntFrog

Hen

Cat

Snake

PigHorse

Human


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Simple Language WorkIt is possible to use the text of a novel to practise specific

areas of language, but briefly, in order to maintain themagic of the narrative and readers immersion in thefantasy.

Preposition Work: Fill in the blanks with one appropriate word.1. Were ..an unihabited island.

2. He slammed the knife ..a trunk.

3. He gaped..them for a moment.

4. Jack snatched the glasses .his face.5. There hasnt been the trace.a ship.


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Phrasal Verbs: Fill in the blanks with one appropriate word.1. The shouting died

2. He sighed, bent and laced..his shoes.

3. We shall have to lookourselves.

4. He cleared his throat and went

5. Ill split.the choir- my hunters, that is-into groups.

Letter in a bottle:

The teacher writes the names of the characters on pieces

of paper for each student to select. Then each writes aletter home.


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Some Recommended Books for the EFL Classroom(seeLiterature in the Classroom. Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1950) The Great Gatsby, Penguin Books.

Fowles, J. (1976) The Collector, Panther Books.

Golding, W. (1958, reprinted 1983) Lord of the Flies, Faber & Faber.Highsmith, P. (1976) TheTalented Mr. Ripley, Penguin Books.

Huxley, A. (1955) Brave New World, Penguin Books.

Orwell, G. (1969)Animal Farm, Penguin Books.

Orwell, G. (1970) Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin Books.

Shaw, G.B. (1969) Pygmalion, Penguin Books.Stevenson, R.L. Treasure Island, Penguin Books.

Williams, T. (1968) The Glass Menagerie, Penguin Plays.


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ASSIGNMENT: Find an appropriate text to share with theclass at a specific learning level and explain how you

would interest students to read and apply the content for

classroom activity. Show us a mini class of some 10

minutes.


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create cohesion and cooperation in a group. Students areinvolved and motivated because they are learning by

participating. In addition, by dealing with real issues in their

lives, plays encourage students to become emotionally and

intellectually engaged on a deeper level. Ideally, students will share

their own experiences and learn to empathize with others.

Please remember: Drama is not a language learning theory. It

is a technique for developing and deepening in language

skills. Unfortunately, many teachers are afraid of using it, as it

seems to confront them with the danger of losing control ofthe class, showing their lack of expertise in directing it, and in

forcing them to be more extroverted.


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MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCESLinguistic- Logical/Mathematical- Spatial- Musical-

Bodily/Kinesthetic- Interpersonal- Intrapersonal- Nature-

Emotional- (Spiritual?):Almost all intelligences are addressed

through Drama!!!All the world is a stage and all women and

men players in it.

Note: The drama referred to here for classroom use should beeither excerpts from works or one-act plays. This is duenot only to the short amount of time available in class, butalso because EFL students need time to read, comprehend,interpret, and relay the content to others. Also, we mustremember that classroom drama exists for learners,more than just for an audience.


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Drama is related to Communicative Language Teaching.CLT emphasizes that students are active participants

and not passive receivers in communication activities.

A few years ago at the University of California, a study

was conducted in which students were taken from

classes where their teachers had used drama

techniques to teach them English. Conclusion:

The study returned the positive conclusion that drama

encourages the operation of certain psychological factors inthe participant which improve communication: heightened

self-esteem, motivation and spontaneity, increased capacity

for empathy and lowered sensitivity to rejection.


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As a result, Professor Maley stated the following conclusionsabout the benefits of using drama in teaching language:

the acquisition of meaningful, fluent interaction in the target

language; the assimilation of a whole range of pronunciation

and prosodic features in a fully contextualized and

interactional manner; the fully contextualized acquisition of

new vocabulary and structure; an improved sense of

confidence in the student in his or her ability to learn the

target language.


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Professor Dorothy Heathcote has pointed out the following:We need to train our teachers to structure for a learning

situation to happen rather than a sharing of information in a

final way to take place. We have to train them to withhold

their expertise, to give their students opportunities for

struggling with problems

Drama teacher Keith Johnstone once said:

As I grew up, everything started getting grey and dull. I

could still remember the amazing intensity of the world Id

lived in as a child, but I thought the dulling of perception wasan inevitable consequence of age - just as the lens of the eye

is bound gradually to dim. I didnt understand that clarity


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is in the mind. Ive since found tricks that can make theworld blaze up again in about fifteen seconds, and the effect

last for hours.

As teachers, we have to find those tricks to make our

students and us blaze up creatively and enthusiastically to

be and do all we want to be and do.

TEACHING SUGGESTIONS:

The talk and listen approach:


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In talk and listen, actors concentrate on one another, usingmovement, props, and costumes. A second approach involves

noncostumed readers standing up, holding their scripts, and

focusing on an audience. A combination of the two approaches

could be another idea.

The student does not actually read his line to another, as all of

us read quite differently from how we speak. The student is

free to refer to his script as often as needed, and can break it

up into chunks, if so desired. The second time he should dobetter and will start uniting words together. Eventually, he will

not even need to look at the script.


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It is not necessary for students to memorize lines, asmemorization does not sound like real communication. With

time, one can look at the beginning of a line and know what it

is about. The play, then, is learned as conversation. If a

student memorizes his part, it will probably not have any

meaning for anyone.

The second approach, or Readers Theatre, is also a valuable

experience for students to handle.

READERS THEATRE: An Introduction

Leslie Irene Coger and Melvin R. White


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Echo for Three Voices: Readers TheatreReadersTheatreReaders Theatre

Voice One: What is it?

Voices One and Two: It is theatre:

Voice Three: Theatre with a script.

Voice One: Theatre of the Mind,Voice Two: Creating with words

Voice Three: People who are alive,

Voice One: Who think and feel,

Voice Two: Who know the enjoyment of life.

Voice Three: Fun!Voice One: Excitement!

Voice Two: Entertainment!


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Voice Three: Magic!All Voices (after a pause): Presenting with our voices

Voice One: A realistic impression,

Voice Two: A mental picture,

All Voices: To occur in your minds.

Echo for Three Voices: Readers TheatreReadersTheatreReaders Theatre

Voice One: A vocal message,

Voice Two: A mental vision,

Voice Three: People living events of sadness,

Voice One: Happiness,Voice Two: And love,

Voice Three: Writers


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Voice One: Telling the human story,Voice Two: Satirizing peoples weaknesses

Voice One: Relating their biases,

Voice Three: Creating worlds of fantasy,

Voice Two: And telling the humor of being human.

All Voices: Birth..LifeDeathReaders Theatre!

Voice Two: An intimate sharing of literature

Voice Three: Between an audience and the readers.

All Voices: Readers Theatre!

Readers Theatre is defined as a happening or experience.


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Drama Games:

Drama games have action, exercise the imagination, involve

both acquisition and learning, and allow for linguistic and

paralinguistic expression of emotion. They are short,from ten

to fifteen minutes, and can be used as icebreakers, as parts

of lessons, or for ending lessons. They are enjoyable, creating

warm-up learning readiness, lesson reinforcement, and wrap-

ups.

Example 1: Every Picture Tells a Story- Make a collection ofpictures with people doing different activities. Divide thestudents into groups and give each group a picture. Theyhave to devise a one-minute drama which will end with thegroup in the positions suggested by their picture.


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Each group presents its drama to the class and when theteacher has shown the relevant picture to the class, they

decide whether the group has successfully copied it.

Example 2: Who am I?You will need slips of paper, one foreach member of the class, each one bearing the name of afamous person. Pin the name of a famous person on theback of each student. They then pair off and help eachother to identify their characters. Student A asks questionssuch asAm I alive or dead? Male or female? Young or old?

Am i from Africa, Asia, Europe or America? Am I apolitician? A film star? A singer? If I am dead, how did Idie? How old was I? What am I most famous for? etc.


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Student B responds to the questions, but should try not to betoo explicit. If students find that they cannot help each other,

They should move on to the next one, or to someone who can

help them.

Conclusion: Drama and drama techniques represent apowerful tool in the EFL classroom for students to practiceeffective and emphatic oral skills, especially pronunciation,understand the meaning behind important literature, andact out short plays or scenes for their own, as well as an

audiences, enjoyment. Drama is highly recommended forstudents and teachers to put into practice for the mutualbenefit of all involved in the EFL learning experience!


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ASSIGNMENT: Put together a 10 to 15 dramapresentation for a specific learning level.

INTERNET IN THE CLASSROOM


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The Internet provides a wealth of resources and informationthat make teaching exciting and new. Some of the gold you

can find on the Internet include:

lesson plans virtual field trips simulations facts, figures,

and formulas exhibits experiments maps seminars for

professional development songs and stories tutorials

puzzles - book reviews historical archives authors

science fair projects collaborative projects

The Internet is also an ideal mechanism for encouragingstudents to assume responsibility for their own learning.


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As students find different learning resources on the Internet,they become active participants in their quest for knowledge.

Incorporating the Internet into your classroom provides

students with more opportunities to structure their own

learning. Students are able to define their learning needs,

find information, assess its value, build their own knowledge

base, and communicate their discoveries.

However, before beginning to use the Internet in your

classroom, students need to have the foundation of two mainsets of skills to help them navigate the Internet and then

manage the large amounts of information they find.


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Internet Navigation Skills

It helps in introducing the Internet to your students to

familiarize them with common terms. You may want to use

the Internet Glossary to help define terms.

Explain to students that the Internet is an amazing system of

computers that provides people with incredible amounts of

information. In order to make sense of all this information,

search engines were created to help people find what theywere looking for in a more efficient way. However, the very

act of searching the Internet can be overwhelming.


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Tips:1. Use the wordANDwhen you want information

about two or more key words together.eg. dolphinsand whales

2. Use the word NOT when you want information

about one key word but no information about theother. Eg. art NOT painting; entertainment parks NOTDisney

3. Use quotation marks ariund the names of of people,places, or a phrase. This makes sure that the words

appear right next to each other in the WEB site. eg.multiple intelligence theory President Lincoln

4. To find a picture of something, type in image:


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1. Know when there is a need for information2. Find and identify information needed

3. Analyze the information found

4. Organize the information

5. Use information effectively to address the task or

problem6. Communicate information and evaluate results

Develop Internet-Safe Lessons

1. Never start lessons by having students only usesearch engines.

2. Require students to find very specific information,


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not just surf.3. Always require students to write down the addresses

of the sites they use for reports in a bibliographyformat to avoid plagiarism.

4. Dont send the entire class to the same site at the

same time.5. When possible, try to preview sites before students

visit them. This is not crucial when usingScholastic.com since sites have been previewed byteachers already, but it does become more important

if students are using other search engines on theInternet.


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What can the Internet do for my classroom?The Internet is not an approach to education, but rather a tool

that can be used with almost any educational theory. It makes

additional information resources available, it enhances

dynamic communication, and it makes collaboration easier by

reducing the need for collaborators to be in the same place at

the same time.

An example of the dynamic nature of the Net can be seen at:The Global School House http://www.gsh.org/

The Global School House provides research, lessons, andprojects for teachers, as well as a way to discuss them

http://www.gsh.org/lists/index/.html Students canparticipate in a number of projects where they can interactwith experts and students from around the world
http://www.gsh.org/http://www.gsh.org/lists/index/.htmlhttp://www.gsh.org/lists/index/.htmlhttp://www.gsh.org/


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http://www.gsh.org/pr/These resources are effective because they are dynamic. It is

teacher and student questioning and interaction that guides

the project.

How can I best use the Internet in my classroom?

To help simplify how you can use the Net in your classroom,

this section will focus on three processes that commonly take

place in classrooms: communication and collaboration,

research, and publication.
http://www.gsh.org/pr/http://www.gsh.org/pr/


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Communication and CollaborationThere are some sites on the Web that are specifically created

to help expand communication among teachers and students.

For example:

Teachers Net: http://teachers.net/

This provides a forum for teachers to discuss a broad range of

topics that relate to classroom teaching. There are resources

available to support teachers.

The Net also provides a great opportunity for students tointeract with each other, and to collaborate on projects.

Some examples of student collaboration can be seen at:
http://teachers.net/http://teachers.net/


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The Journey North Project: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/This project coordinates over 4000 schools that share

information and research on global wildlife migration.

The GLOBE: http://www.globe.gov

The GLOBE is an online environment where over 7000 schools

worldwide work with researchers, teachers, and otherstudents to develop an understanding of the global

environment.

Research

Here the Net offers students a teachers a new way toapproach information and materials. The Metropolitan Museum of

Art: http:// www.metmuseum.org/education/er_online_resourc.asp
http://www.globe.gov/http://www.globe.gov/


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When students are excited about learning and expressing theirideas, their performance almost always improves. Since

publication of student material online provides a much larger

audience, students take care to do their very best.

Conclusion: It is important to remember the educationalobjective you want to achieve with your students. The Net can

broaden studentsaccess to information, increase their

communication with others, and provide a powerful medium

for publishing work. The objective of, say, an English lesson

is not how to use the Net, it is to understand English, but theNet is a powerful tool that students and teachers can use to

help that understanding.


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Some Internet sites for English:

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_gen. htm

http://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/txrp.htm

http://www.cln.org/integrating.html

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4409

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/classroomint

ernet/index_sub3.html
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_genhttp://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/txrp.htmhttp://www.cln.org/integrating.htmlhttp://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4409http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/classroominthttp://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/classroominthttp://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4409http://www.cln.org/integrating.htmlhttp://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/txrp.htmhttp://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_gen


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ASSIGNMENT: In 10 to 15 minutes each, teach us aclass using Internet resources at a specific English

level.

new methodological trends in english learning

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