THE NATURE OF APPROACHES AND METHODS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Tradition was the guiding principle for many years “The grammar – Translation Method” was used for many years in relation to the scholary view of language and language study Language teaching began to change when other theories appear which derived from linguistics, psychology or a mixture of both. On later on they began to study more systematically the relationship between theory and practice with in method.

APPROACH AND METHOD

The language specialists or linguists tried to improve the quality of language according to principles and theories. They referred to how languages are learned, how knowledge of language is represented and organized in memory and how language itself is structured. As there is a difference between the level of theory and principles and the corresponding procedures for teaching a language, The American linguist Edward Antony identified three levels of conceptualization and organization, which he called: approach, method and technique.

THEORY OF LANGUAGE

There are different theories on relation to language study :

-      The structural view, that defines language as a system of related elements: Phonological units, grammatical units, grammatical operations and lexical items.

-      The functional view, that defines language as a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning.

-      The interactional view, that defines language as a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and the performance of social transactions between individuals.

THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING

Process oriented theories build on learning processes, such as habit formation, induction, inference, hypothesis testing and generalization. Condition oriented to the nature of the human and physical context in which language learning takes place.

§  Krashen (1981) At the level of process, he distinguishes between acquisition and learning. Acquisition: Refers to the natural assimilation of language rules through using language for communication.  Learning: refers to the formal study of language rules and is a conscious process.  The monitor is the repository of conscious grammatical knowledge about a language also addresses the conditions necessary for the process of acquisition to take place. He describes this as the type of “INPUT” the learner receives (effective filter)

§  Terrell (1977): Natural approach is based on a learning theory that specifies both processes and conditions. (immersion program) L1 = L2

§  Curran (1972): His method seek ameliorate the feelings of intimidation and insecurity that many learners experience. He believes the atmosphere of the classroom is a crucial factor, it focuses primarily on the condition necessary for successful learning.

§  Asher ( 1977): It is based on the belief that child language learning is based on physical motor activity for success in language learning.

§  Gattegno ( 1972-1973): Silent way. It’s address learners’ needs to feel secure about learning and to assume conscious control of learning.

These principles may or may not lead to a Method. Teachers may develop their own teaching procedures, informed by a particular view of language and a particular theory of learning.  They may constantly revise, vary and modify teaching/learning procedures according the basis of the performance of the learners and their reactions to instructional practice. A group of teachers holding similar beliefs about language and language learning, may each implement these principles in different ways . Approach does not specify procedure. Theory does not dictate a particular set of teaching techniques and activities. What links theory with practice is what we have called DESIGN.

DESIGN:  is the level of method analysis in which we consider: objectives of a method, content is selected and organizes within the method, that is the syllabus model (according to need the students), the method incorporates, types of learning tasks and teaching activities the method advocates (types of level), the roles of learners, the roles of teachers and the role of instructional materials.

·         Objectives : Determine what a method sets out to achieve.

·         Syllabus model: Has been used to refer to the form in which linguistic and content is specified in a course or method.

·         Type of learning and teaching activities: Kind of tasks and practice activities to be employed in the classroom and in materials.

·         Learner roles : - Processor – performer – initiator – problem solver-self monitor.

·         Teacher roles : Catalyst – consultant – guide and model for learning.

·         Role of instructional materials:  Primary function of materials – the form materials take (e.g. textbook, audiovisual) – relation of materials to other input – assumptions made about teachers and learners.

PROCEDURE

Procedure encompasses the actual moment techniques, practices and behaviors that operate in teaching a language according to a particular method. In this level we are concerned with how these tasks and activities are integrated into lessons uses as the basis for teaching and learning.

There are three dimensions to a method at the level of procedure:

a)    The use of teaching activities (drills, dialogues etc.)

b)   The way in which particular teaching activities are used for practicing language.

c)    The procedures and techniques used in giving feedback to learners concerning the form or content of their utterances or sentences.

 

INTRODUCTION TO METHODOLOGY

What is methodology?

Methodology is the study of the system or range of methods that are used in teaching. It also implies procedures and practices. In the practices there are strategies, activities and a design. There must be a great coherence among strategies, activities and the design we develop. All this has to do with the Curriculum and plans.

There are different types of methods such as grammar translation,          the audio-lingual, the silent way, communicative language teaching, task bases and genre pedagogy.

How are we teaching English in Chile?

It’s important to emphasize that teaching English in Chile depends on many factors, such as the type of school (private, public and particular subensionados) and their objectives or goals.  For example, in public schools, the schedule does not have enough hours for the teaching- learning process in English.  Therefore, students can’t achieve the development of the four linguistics skills, and, on the other hand, there is  a  lack of material resources.  One of the interesting videos we saw showed results two students from different schools: one of them had studied in a private school since she was a child and she achieved better results than the other student that had studied in a public school.

It’s important to notice that the lack of committed teachers is reflected in the low students’ motivation. The activities in class are not fun and there isn’t any interactive teaching to develop the linguistic skills necessary for communication, essential for students if they want to be  inserted in today  globalized world.

What is the role of textbooks?

I think that textbooks help teachers to provide his/her students a good graded material, from the simplest grammatical structures to the most complex. Besides this, students will be better motivated with such a nice material with beautiful pictures and interesting activities prepared by specialists. Textbooks also provide additional material to develop students’ linguistics skills, in class and at home (Audio-CDS, CD-Roms, videos, games, songs, etc.).

However, in my opinion, teachers should add other contents and activities if their students need it, or skip any of them if they don’t fit their students’ necessities. Therefore, teachers shouldn’t depend so much on textbooks, because they could lose creativity.