the practice of english language teaching

FORTH EDITION

The Practice of English

Language Teaching

Jeremy Harmer

FOURTH EDITION

with DVDThe highly acclaimed The Practice of English Language Teaching is an essential guide for teachers of English. The fourth edition has been completely revised to refl ect new developments in language teaching. It includes:

• a discussion of English as a world language• an evaluation of new technologies in the classroom• a wide range of practical teaching ideas refl ecting current methodological practice• an increased focus on issues such as: teacher development, learner autonomy and

context-sensitive teaching• a DVD showing extracts from real classes and discussions between the author

and the teachers

www.pearsonlongman.com/professionaldevelopment

Jeremy Harmer has taught in Mexico and the UK, and has trained teachers around the world. He is the Series Editor of the successful How to… series of books, and the author of How to Teach English and How to Teach Writing.

www.longman.com

The Practice of English Language Teaching Jerem

y Harm

er FO

UR

TH ED

ITION

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT INTERACTIVETEACHER DEVELOPMENT INTERACTIVE

www.teacherdevelopmentinteractivetdi.com

9781405853118_cover.indd 1 18/11/10 8:13 PM

Introduction 10Acknowledgements 11

PART 1: LANGUAGE

ChApter1:theChAngIngworldofenglIshA Alanguagestory 13 A1 thetriumphofenglish? 14 A2 theeffectofenglish 16 A3 englishasagloballanguage 17 A4 thefutureofenglish 18B efl,esl,esol&elf 19 B1 englishasalinguafranca(elf) 20 B2 teachingenglishintheageofelf 21 B3 nativespeakervarietiesandotherenglishes 21 B4 worldenglisheducation 22

ChApter2:desCrIBIngtheenglIshlAnguAgeA languageinuse 25B whatwewanttosay 26 B1 formandmeaning 26 B2 purpose 27 B3 Appropriacyandregister 27C languageastextanddiscourse 29 C1 discourseorganisation 29 C2 genre 30d grammar 32 d1 Choosingwords 32e lexis 33 e1 languagecorpora 33 e2 wordmeaning 35 e3 extendingworduse 36 e4 wordcombinations 37f thesoundsofthelanguage 38 f1 pitch 38 f2 Intonation 38 f3 Individualsounds 39 f4 soundsandspelling 42 f5 stress 42g paralinguisticfeaturesoflanguage 43 g1 Vocalparalinguisticfeatures 43 g2 physicalparalinguisticfeatures 44h speakingandwriting 45

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Contents

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PART 2: THEORIES, METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

ChApter3:BACkgroundIssuesInlAnguAgeleArnIngA themiracleoflanguage 49 A1 Acquisitionandlearning 50 A2 thecontributionsofbehaviourism 51 A3 ‘languagelearningwilltakecareofitself’ 52 A4 focusonformorfocusonforms? 53 A5 Makingsenseofitall 54B theimportanceofrepetition 56C thinkingaboutlanguage 57d Arousal,affectandhumanisticteaching 58e whenyou’reready! 59f languageplay 60

ChApter4:populArMethodologyA Approaches,methods,proceduresandtechniques 62 A1 grammar-translation,directmethodandAudiolingualism 63 A2 presentation,practiceandproduction 64 A3 pppandalternativestoppp 66 A4 fourmethods 68 A5 Communicativelanguageteaching(Clt) 69 A6 task-basedlearning(tBl) 71 A7 thelexicalapproach 74 A8 teachersandstudentsindialoguetogether 75B whatmethodology? 76 B1 Methodsandculture 76 B2 Bargains,postmethodandcontext-sensitivity 77 B3 Makingchoices 78

PART 3: LEARNERS AND TEACHERS

ChApter5:desCrIBIngleArnersA Age 81 A1 youngchildren 82 A2 Adolescents 83 A3 Adultlearners 84B learnerdifferences 85 B1 Aptitudeandintelligence 85 B2 goodlearnercharacteristics 86 B3 learnerstylesandstrategies 88 B4 Individualvariations 89 B5 whattodoaboutindividualdifferences 92C languagelevels 95 C1 Methodology 96 C2 language,taskandtopic 97d Motivation 98 d1 definingmotivation 98 d2 externalsourcesofinformation 98 d3 themotivationangel 99

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ChApter6:desCrIBIngteAChersA whatis‘teaching’? 107B Intheclassroom 108 B1 therolesofateacher 108 B2 organisingstudentsandactivities 111 B3 theteacherasperformer 112C rapport 113d theteacherasteachingaid 116 d1 Mimeandgesture 116 d2 theteacheraslanguagemodel 117 d3 theteacherasproviderofcomprehensibleinput 117e native-speakerteachersandnon-native-speakerteachers 118

ChApter7:desCrIBIngleArnIngContextsA theplaceandmeansofinstruction 121B Classsize 122 B1 teachingone-to-one 122 B2 largeclasses 125C Managingmixedability 127 C1 workingwithdifferentcontent 128 C2 differentstudentactions 128 C3 whattheteacherdoes 129 C4 realisticmixed-abilityteaching 131d Monolingual,bilingualandmultilingual 132 d1 foreign-languagestudentsandtheirfirstlanguage 132 d2 thebenefitsofusingthel1inthel2classroom 133 d3 thedisadvantagesofusingthel1inthel2classroom 134 d4 takingastand 135

PART 4: MANAGING LEARNING

ChApter8:MIstAkesAndfeedBACkA studentsmakemistakes 137B Assessingstudentperformance 138 B1 teachersassessingstudents 138 B2 studentsassessingthemselves 140C feedbackduringoralwork 142 C1 Accuracyandfluency 142 C2 feedbackduringaccuracywork 144 C3 feedbackduringfluencywork 145d feedbackonwrittenwork 147 d1 responding 147 d2 Correcting 149 d3 trainingstudents 149 d4 Involvingstudents 150 d5 finishingthefeedbackprocess 151 d6 Burningthemidnightoil 151

ChApter9:MAnAgIngforsuCCessA whyproblemsoccur 153

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B Creatingsuccessfulclassrooms 155 B1 Behaviournorms 155 B2 howteacherscanensuresuccessfulbehaviour 156C Modifyingproblembehaviour 158

ChApter10:groupIngstudentsA differentgroups 161 A1 whole-classteaching 161 A2 seatingwhole-groupclasses 162 A3 studentsontheirown 164 A4 pairwork 165 A5 groupwork 165 A6 ringingthechanges 166B organisingpairworkandgroupwork 167 B1 Makingitwork 167 B2 Creatingpairsandgroups 168 B3 proceduresforpairworkandgroupwork 171 B4 troubleshooting 173

PART 5: THE CHANGING WORLD OF THE CLASSROOM

ChApter11:eduCAtIonAlteChnologyAndotherleArnIngresourCesA thetechnologypyramid 175B thestudentsthemselves 176C objects,picturesandthings 177 C1 realia 177 C2 pictures 178 C3 Cards 180 C4 Cuisenairerods 180d thecoursebook 181 d1 Coursebookornocoursebook? 181 d2 usingcoursebooks 182e waysofshowing 183 e1 theboard 183 e2 theoverheadprojector(ohp) 185 e3 theflipchart 186 e4 Computer-basedpresentationtechnology 187f waysoflistening 187g waysoffindingout 188 g1 dictionaries 188 g2 Concordancers 190 g3 searchingtheInternet 190h practisinglanguageontheInternetandonCd-roM 192I waysofcomposing 193 I1 wordprocessing,wordediting 193 I2 Mousepals,chatandblogging 193 I3 Authoring 194 I4 designingwebsites 194J Virtuallearning:fromemailstosimulatedenvironments 194

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k sixquestions 195

PART 6: FOCUSING ON THE LANGUAGE

ChApter12:teAChInglAnguAgeConstruCtIonA studyingstructureanduse 200 A1 languagestudyinlessonsequences 200 A2 Choosingstudyactivities 201 A3 knownorunknownlanguage? 202B explainandpractise 203 B1 explainingthings 204 B2 practice(accuratereproduction) 206C discover(andpractise) 207d research(andpractise) 208

ChApter13:teAChInggrAMMArA Introducinggrammar 210B discoveringgrammar 216C practisinggrammar 219d grammargames 223e grammarbooks 224 e1 usinggrammarbooks 227

ChApter14:teAChIngVoCABulAryA Introducingvocabulary 229B practisingvocabulary 235C Vocabularygames 238d usingdictionaries 239 d1 referenceandproductiondictionaries 239 d2 dictionaryactivities 241 d3 whenstudentsusedictionaries 246

ChApter15:teAChIngpronunCIAtIonA pronunciationissues 248 A1 perfectionversusintelligibility 248 A2 problems 249 A3 phonemicsymbols:touseornottouse? 250 A4 whentoteachpronunciation 251 A5 helpingindividualstudents 252B examplesofpronunciationteaching 253 B1 workingwithsounds 253 B2 workingwithstress 256 B3 workingwithintonation 259 B4 soundsandspelling 262 B5 Connectedspeechandfluency 263

PART 7: LANGUAGE SKILLS

ChApter16:teAChInglAnguAgeskIllsA skillstogether 265 A1 Inputandoutput 266

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A2 Integratingskills 266 A3 languageskills,languageconstruction 267 A4 Integratingskillandlanguagework 268 A5 top-downandbottom-up 270B receptiveskills 270 B1 Abasicmethodologicalmodelforteachingreceptiveskills 270 B2 thelanguageissue 272 B3 Comprehensiontasks 274C productiveskills 275 C1 Abasicmethodologicalmodelforteachingproductiveskills 275 C2 structuringdiscourse 276 C3 Interactingwithanaudience 277 C4 dealingwithdifficulty 277 C5 thelanguageissue 278d projects 278 d1 Managingprojects 279 d2 Awebquestproject 280

ChApter17:reAdIngA extensiveandintensivereading 283 A1 extensivereading 283 A2 Intensivereading:therolesoftheteacher 286 A3 Intensivereading:thevocabularyquestion 286 A4 Intensivereading:lettingthestudentsin 287B readinglessonsequences 288 B1 examplesofreadingsequences 288

ChApter18:lIstenIngA extensiveandintensivelistening 303 A1 extensivelistening 303 A2 Intensivelistening:usingaudiomaterial 304 A3 whocontrolstherecordedmaterial? 306 A4 Intensivelistening:‘live’listening 306 A5 Intensivelistening:therolesoftheteacher 307B filmandvideo 308 B1 Viewingtechniques 308 B2 listening(andmixed)techniques 309C listening(andfilm)lessonsequences 310 C1 examplesoflisteningsequences 310d thesoundofmusic 319

ChApter19:wrItIngA literacy 323 A1 handwriting 323 A2 spelling 324 A3 layoutandpunctuation 325B Approachestostudentwriting 325 B1 processandproduct 325 B2 genre 327

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B3 Creativewriting 328 B4 writingasacooperativeactivity 328 B5 Buildingthewritinghabit 329 B6 writing-for-learningandwriting-for-writing 330 B7 therolesoftheteacher 330C writinglessonsequences 331d portfolios,journals,letters 340

ChApter20:speAkIngA elementsofspeaking 343 A1 differentspeakingevents 343 A2 Conversationalstrategies 343 A3 functionallanguage,adjacencypairsandfixedphrases 345B studentsandspeaking 345 B1 reluctantstudents 345 B2 therolesoftheteacher 347C Classroomspeakingactivities 348 C1 Actingfromascript 348 C2 Communicationgames 349 C3 discussion 350 C4 preparedtalks 351 C5 Questionnaires 352 C6 simulationandrole-play 352d speakinglessonsequences 353e Makingrecordings 361 e1 gettingeveryoneinvolved 362

PART 8: PLANNING AND SYLLABUSES

ChApter21:plAnnInglessonsA theplanningparadox 364 A1 theplanningcontinuum 365 A2 usingplansinclass 365B pre-planningandplanning 367 B1 studentneeds 367 B2 Makingtheplan 368 B3 Makingtheplanformal:backgroundelements 371 B4 Makingtheplanformal:describingprocedureandmaterials 374C planningasequenceoflessons 375 C1 projectsandthreads 377

PART 9: EVALUATION

ChApter22:testIngAndeVAluAtIonA testingandassessment 379 A1 differenttypesoftesting 379 A2 Characteristicsofagoodtest 381B typesoftestitem 381 B1 directandindirecttestitems 381 B2 Indirecttestitemtypes 382

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B3 directtestitemtypes 384C writingandmarkingtests 386 C1 writingtests 386 C2 Markingtests 387d teachingfortests 389

PART 10: LEARNER AUTONOMY AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

ChApter23:leArnerAutonoMy:leArnIngtoleArnA promotingautonomy 395 A1 studentsandteachers 395B learnertraining,learnerautonomy 396 B1 thinkingaboutlearning 397 B2 takingover 399 B3 learningjournals 400 B4 forcingagency? 403C theself-accesscentre(sAC) 403 C1 Characteristicsofagoodself-accesscentre 404 C2 evaluatingself-accessresources 406d After(andoutside)thecourse 407 d1 trainingstudentstocontinuelearning 407

ChApter24:whAtteAChersdonextA reflectionpaths 410 A1 keepingjournals 411 A2 negativeandpositive 411 A3 recordingourselves 412 A4 professionalliterature 413B Actionresearch 414 B1 Actionresearchcycles 414 B2 gatheringdata 415C developingwithothers 418 C1 Cooperative/collaborativedevelopment 418 C2 peerteaching,peerobservation 419 C3 teachers’groups 421 C4 teachers’associations 421 C5 thevirtualcommunity 422d Movingoutwardsandsideways 422 d1 learningbylearning 423 d2 supplementingteaching 423 d3 Moretraining? 425e Beingwell 425

Bibliography 429

dVdContentsandtasks 438

Indexes(subjectandAuthor) 442

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more ‘general’ view of things – whose analytical abilities are not so highly developed, and who receive and use language in a more message-oriented way – appeared to be at a disadvantage. In fact, analytic aptitude is probably not the critical factor in success. Peter Skehan, for example, believes that what distinguishes exceptional students from the rest is that they have unusual memories, particularly for the retention of things that they hear (1998: 234).

Another damning criticism of traditional aptitude tests is that while they may discriminate between the most and the least ‘intelligent’ students, they are less effective at distinguishing between the majority of students who fall between these two extremes. What they do accomplish is to influence the way in which both teachers and students behave. It has been suggested that students who score badly on aptitude tests will become demotivated and that this will then contribute to precisely the failure that the test predicted. Moreover, teachers who know that particular students have achieved high scores will be tempted to treat those students differently from students whose score was low. Aptitude tests end up being self-fulfilling prophecies whereas it would be much better for both teacher and students to be optimistic about all of the people in the class.

It is possible that people have different aptitudes for different kinds of study. However, if we consider aptitude and intelligence for learning language in general, our own experience of people we know who speak two or more languages can only support the view that ‘learners with a wide variety of intellectual abilities can be successful language learners. This is especially true if the emphasis is on oral communication skills rather than metalinguistic knowledge’ (Lightbown and Spada 2006: 185).

Good learner characteristicsAnother line of enquiry has been to try to tease out what a ‘good learner’ is. If we can narrow down a number of characteristics that all good learners share, then we can, perhaps, cultivate these characteristics in all our students.

Neil Naiman and his colleagues included a tolerance of ambiguity as a feature of good learning, together with factors such as positive task orientation (being prepared to approach tasks in a positive fashion), ego involvement (where success is important for a student’s self-image), high aspirations, goal orientation and perseverance (Naiman et al 1978).

Joan Rubin and Irene Thompson listed no fewer than 14 good learner characteristics, among which learning to live with uncertainty (much like the tolerance of ambiguity mentioned above) is a notable factor (Rubin and Thompson 1982). But the Rubin and Thompson version of a good learner also mentions students who can find their own way (without always having to be guided by the teacher through learning tasks), who are creative, who make intelligent guesses, who make their own opportunities for practice, who make errors work for them not against them, and who use contextual clues.

Patsy Lightbown and Nina Spada summarise the main consensus about good learner characteristics (see Figure 1). As they point out, the characteristics can be classified in several categories (motivation, intellectual abilities, learning preferences), and some, such as ‘willing to make mistakes’, can be ‘considered a personality characteristic’ (Lightbown and Spada 2006: 54). In other words, this wish list cuts across a number of learner variables.

Much of what various people have said about good learners is based on cultural assumptions which underpin much current teaching practice in western-influenced methodologies.

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chapter 5


In these cultures we appreciate self-reliant students and promote learner autonomy as a main goal (see Chapter 23). We tend to see the tolerance of ambiguity as a goal of student development, wishing to wean our students away from a need for things to be always cut and dried. We encourage students to read texts for general understanding without stopping to look up all the words they do not understand; we ask students to speak communicatively even when they have difficulty because of words they don’t know or can’t pronounce, and we involve students in creative writing (see Chapter 19, B3). In all these endeavours we expect our students to aspire beyond their current language level.

Rate each of the following characteristics on a scale of 1–5. Use I to indicate a characteristic that you think is ‘very important’ and 5 to indicate a characteristic that you consider ‘not at all important’ in predicting success in second language learning.

A good language learner:

a is a willing and accurate guesser 1 2 3 4 5

b tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking 1 2 3 4 5

c is willing to make mistakes 1 2 3 4 5

d constantly looks for patterns in the language 1 2 3 4 5

e practises as often as possible 1 2 3 4 5

f analyses his or her own speech and the speech of others 1 2 3 4 5

g attends to whether his or her performance meets the standards he or she has learned 1 2 3 4 5

h enjoys grammar exercises 1 2 3 4 5

i begins learning in childhood 1 2 3 4 5

j has an above-average IQ 1 2 3 4 5

k has good academic skills 1 2 3 4 5

I has a good self-image and lots of confidence 1 2 3 4 5

figure 1: Good learner characteristics (Lightbown and Spada 2006: 55)

Different cultures value different learning behaviours, however. Our insistence upon one kind of ‘good learner’ profile may encourage us to demand that students should act in class in certain ways, whatever their learning background. When we espouse some of the techniques mentioned above, we risk imposing a methodology on our students that is inimical to their culture. Yet it is precisely because this is not perhaps in the best interests of the students that we discussed context-sensitive methodology in Chapter 4B. Furthermore, some students may not enjoy grammar exercises, but this does not mean they are doomed to learning failure.

There is nothing wrong with trying to describe good language learning behaviour. Nevertheless, we need to recognise that some of our assumptions are heavily culture-bound and that students can be successful even if they do not follow these characteristics to the letter.

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describing learners


Input and outputReceptive skills and productive skills feed off each other in a number of ways. What we say or write is heavily influenced by what we hear and see. Our most important information about language comes from this input. Thus the more we see and listen to comprehensible input, the more English we acquire, notice or learn. This input takes many forms: teachers provide massive language input, as does audio material in the classroom and the variety of reading texts that students are exposed to. Students may read extensively (see below) or listen to podcasts (see page 188). They may interact with other English speakers both inside and outside the classroom.

But students get other input, too, especially in relation to their own output. When a student produces a piece of language and sees how it turns out, that information is fed back into the acquisition process. Output – and the students’ response to their own output – becomes input.

Such input or feedback can take various forms. Some of it comes from ourselves, whether or not we are language learners. We modify what we write or say as we go along, based on how effectively we think we are communicating. Feedback also comes from the people we are communicating with. In face-to-face spoken interaction, our listeners tell us in a number of ways whether we are managing to get our message across. On the telephone, listeners can question us and/or show through their intonation, tone of voice or lack of response that they have not understood us.

Teachers can, of course, provide feedback, too, not just when a student finishes a piece of work, but also during the writing process, for example, or when, acting as prompters or as a resource, they offer ongoing support (see Chapter 6B).

Figure 1 shows the dynamic relationship between input and output:

Audio/video tapesNative speakers in personNative speaker mediaReading and pedagogic textsThe teacher

LANGUAGESTUDENT

OUTPUT

SpeechWriting

INPUT

Otherstudents

participate

Otherstudents’feedbackTeacher’s

feedback

Studentmodifieshis/her

understanding

Student seeshow it

turns out

figure 1: The circle of input and output

Integrating skillsIn order to replicate the natural processes of skill-mixing which we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, and also because we want to provide maximum learning opportunities for the different students in our classes, it makes sense to integrate different skills. That is why so many learning sequences are more like the Patchwork model we discussed on page 67, rather than following the Straight arrows or Boomerang lesson types.

A1A1

A2A2

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chapter 16


FORTH EDITION

The Practice of English

Language Teaching

Jeremy Harmer

FOURTH EDITION

with DVDThe highly acclaimed The Practice of English Language Teaching is an essential guide for teachers of English. The fourth edition has been completely revised to refl ect new developments in language teaching. It includes:

• a discussion of English as a world language• an evaluation of new technologies in the classroom• a wide range of practical teaching ideas refl ecting current methodological practice• an increased focus on issues such as: teacher development, learner autonomy and

context-sensitive teaching• a DVD showing extracts from real classes and discussions between the author

and the teachers

www.pearsonlongman.com/professionaldevelopment

Jeremy Harmer has taught in Mexico and the UK, and has trained teachers around the world. He is the Series Editor of the successful How to… series of books, and the author of How to Teach English and How to Teach Writing.

www.longman.com

The Practice of English Language Teaching Jerem

y Harm

er FO

UR

TH ED

ITION

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT INTERACTIVETEACHER DEVELOPMENT INTERACTIVE

www.teacherdevelopmentinteractivetdi.com

9781405853118_cover.indd 1 18/11/10 8:13 PM

the practice of english language teaching

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