Universidad Surcolombiana

Argumentative Essay

Daniel José Cortés Arroyo

Programa de Licenciatura en Inglés

02 de diciembre de 2022
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Teaching skills in teaching English as a second language

Throughout the years, work has been done to establish the most appropriate method

for teaching and learning a second language; the case of English has historically concerned

not only teachers but also psychologists and linguists, among others. Thanks to the

discoveries that have been made throughout history, the teaching of English has several

methods which date back to the sixteenth century where there are records of beginnings

with the method of "grammar translation" until reaching the communicative approach that

many teachers share today in language teaching centers worldwide (Bueno & Martinez,

2002). Language teaching was once a matter of memorizing and repeating, a boring and

uninspiring process for students. Likewise, according to (Sanders, 2010) the 20th century,

witnessed an explosion of new methodologies that focused on more creative and engaging

approaches. By learning about these techniques, ESL teachers can select the most effective

method for their students. Among the most common teaching methods are the audiolingual

method, direct method, and communicative approach method as mentioned above; all of

these methods have been proven by experts to teach English, each with different

performance but created to improve the mastery of one, two, three, or all four language

skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading). However, there are some methods that have

been ineffective in teaching English to their students because many teachers do not have the

experience and/or knowledge to teach according to the particularities of each student.

First, for Luque, (2018) teaching a second language implies knowledge, attitudes

and skills that lead the learner to establish a relationship between the language and its

meanings, so that in a communicative situation he-she not only selects from the language
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what is functional, but also what is appropriate to the context. In order to do this, he-she

must have a comprehensive diagnosis that guarantees full knowledge of the state of the

communicative competencies of his/her student or group of students. This with the

objective of identifying the appropriate method or methods that effectively respond to the

learner's needs. But in addition, it is not enough to identify the right method, what really

matters is how the teacher implements the method in the teaching process to ensure

effective progress in the learning of English as a second language.

In Colombia, teachers in the vast majority of schools and colleges, mainly in small

towns and marginalized rural areas, do not have the academic and pedagogical preparation

to teach the second language. From that moment on, the student may come into collision

with the learning process, not because of low intellectual performance, but because the

teacher does not have the skills to impart the knowledge (method) of teaching to the

student. These undesired results generate frustration and disinterest in the student at an

early age without exploiting all the learning potential he/she may have.

In this sense, no method is unique and perfect, but it is convenient to know them so

that each teacher can decide on the methodology in their classes, taking advantage of the

benefits of each one and thinking about the best way to promote the learning of a language

other than the mother tongue. Regarding the audiolingual method (Unir, 2022) indicates

that it is mainly based on the acquisition of a language through repetition, emphasizing oral

expression and pronunciation. The teacher focuses on speaking in English while the

students acquire speech patterns through repetition and analysis of oral language. This

method, like others that we are going to see, has a series of important characteristics which
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focus on giving importance to the development of oral expression and comprehension

before writing, it does not use the mother tongue, it always speaks in the language it is

intended to teach, and grammar is taught indirectly, being the students the ones who learn it

through listening. This is a method that in my opinion I consider of great importance for the

teaching of English but in adults with some basic knowledge of the language, for that

reason the need and importance of the initial diagnosis to the student body.

On the other hand, the direct method is also a methodology for teaching languages

that according to (Unir, 2022) basically consists of establishing a visual association. This

approach argues that the process of learning a second language should be similar to the

process of acquiring a mother tongue: direct contact with the language to be learned

through concrete situations, as close to reality as possible in the classroom. In other words,

the direct method is a methodology for teaching languages that consists of establishing an

immediate and visual association between experience and expression, between words,

phrases, idioms and their physical or bodily expression, without relying on the students'

mother tongue. The application of the direct method for teaching English implies, therefore,

this language will be the only one to be used in the classroom in order to try that immersion

in the language facilitates their learning in the most organic way possible, just as they

learned their mother tongue. Like the audiolingual method, the direct method uses only the

target language, "forgetting" that the mother tongue exists, but I believe that it promotes the

development of oral communication skills even more than the audiolingual method.

Last but not least, the communicative approach method has a particularity with

respect to the two previous methods. This approach does not consist of working on
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vocabulary to answer small questions, but tries to create moments as close to reality as

possible in which students will use communication to solve them. It is based on carrying

out activities in which different materials are used to bring students closer to the reality of a

language. With this idea on mind, situations that may occur in real life are created to which

they must respond. For example, in order to choose a travel route for the vacations, they

must use communication and different materials. Based on situations such as the one

mentioned above, students will have to investigate, communicate and manage to resolve the

situation (Unir, 2022).

Consequently, the goal of the language teacher is to help students and individuals

become efficient, creative and critical users. In other words, language teachers must see to

it that people succeed in using languages to develop themselves and the world they inhabit.

As a result, these teachers must study both linguistic uses and policies in educational

contexts and the pedagogical processes involved in language teaching and learning (Van

Lier, 1995: 23-24). But on the other hand, there are authors who defend and argue the

opposite. In this regard, Villegas-Reimers (2002) defines teacher training as a long-term

process that includes eventualities and experiences programmed to foster growth and

development in the profession. For Loughran (2006: 5-8), teacher education has two

fundamental approaches: learning about teaching and teaching about teaching. These

focuses involve the acquisition and development of a broad set of skills, knowledge, and

competencies. Moreover, these focuses are complexified by cognitive and affective

tensions present in practice that influence learning and professional growth.

Finally, according to what has been developed, it is correct that more work should

be done in teacher training to ensure productive teaching and learning processes. Not only

in the academic approach, which is important to know how to identify and teach English

with the most appropriate methodology to the students, but also in the abilities, skills and

personal attitudes to provide that motivation to the learner. The audiolingual method, the

direct method and the communicative approach discussed in the development of this paper

are not the only or the best, none of them are. Each has its benefits, advantages and

disadvantages in contrast to the others. What is really important is that the teacher has the

ability to get the best out of the teaching process by using one, two, three or more teaching

methods according to the specific characteristics of each student or group of students.

References

Bueno Velazco, Concepción, & Martínez Herrera, Juana María. (2002). Aprender y

enseñar inglés: cinco siglos de historia. Humanidades Médicas, 2(1) Recuperado el 02 de

diciembre de 2022, de http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1727-

81202002000100005&lng=es&tlng=es.

Luque, Beatriz . (2008). Enfoques actuales usados en la enseñanza de segundas

lenguas. Letras, 50(76), 336-392. Recuperado el 02 de diciembre de 2022, de:

http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0459-

12832008000100007&lng=es&tlng=es.
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Unir. (2022)Audio lingual method. Recuperado el 02 de diciembre de 2022, de:

https://www.unir.net/educacion/revistaa/meto-do-audiolingua-l/

Van Lier, L. (1995), "Lingüística educativa: una introducción para enseñanza de

lenguas", en Signos. Teoría y práctica de la educación, núm. 14, pp. 20-

29, http://www.quadernsdigitals.net/datos/hemeroteca/r_3/nr_42/a_637/637.html [Consulta

: diciembre de 2022].

Villegas-Reimers, Eleonora (2003), Teacher professional development: an

international review of the literature, París, IIEP-UNESCO

Loughran, John (2006), Developing a pedagogy of teacher education.

Understanding teaching and learning about teaching, Nueva York, Routledge Taylor &

Francis group.