Methods of Language Teaching (Part 1)

1. The Grammar-Translation Method

Theoretical foundations:
- Education = “Discipline”
- Learning a foreign language is the mark of educated persons
Goals:
- Vocabulary memorization
- Grammar rules
- Translation of passages
- Reading proficiency
1. The Grammar-Translation Method
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher as controller
Typical Activities:
- Explaining rules
- Memorizing vocabulary
- Translating reading passages
- Others: antonyms/synonyms, cognates, fill-in-the-blanks, reading
comprehension questions
2. The Direct Method
Theoretical foundations:
- L2 and L1 learning similarities
- Meaning associations
Goals:
- Oral fluency
- Conversation ability
2. The Direct Method
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher-directed (~ a manipulator)
- Learners respond to modeled language
Typical Activities:
- Repeating teacher models
- Practicing dialogues, whole class
1. The Grammar-Translation Method
1. What are the teachers’ role and the students’ role in Grammar-
Translation Method?

2. Is translation a valuable exercise?

3. Should grammar be presented deductively?

4. Which techniques of the Grammar Translation Method would

be useful for your own teaching? Why?
2. The Direct Method
1. Does it make sense to you that the students’ native language
should not be used to give meaning to the target language?

2. Should students be encouraged to self-correct?

3. Which principles of the Direct Method do you believe in? Why?

4. Should grammar be presented inductively?

What is the natural order in which children
follow when learning their native language?
Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing
3. The Audio-Lingual Method
Theoretical foundations:
- Habit formation through repetition
- Primacy of oral communication
Goals:
- Oral communication skills (through “over-learn”)
- Pronunciation
- Fluency (within limited stretches of discourse)
Students
3. The Audio-Lingual Method
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Highly teacher-directed
- Learners respond to modeled language
- Learners practice target language on their own
Typical Activities:
- Repeating teacher-modeled prescribed dialogues
- Oral pattern practice
- Pronunciation drilling
- Practicing memorized dialogues in pairs
 Drill Techniques

•Repetition
•Backward Build-up
•Chain
•Single-slot Substitution
•Multiple-slot Substitution
•Transformation
•Question-and-answer
3. The Audio-Lingual Method
Strengths
- Emphasis on oral language
- Building learner confidence
- Taped dialogues = models => self-practice
Weaknesses:
- Little room for creativity
- Emphasis on error-free production
- Writing/reading not emphasized (so as vocabulary)
 3. The Audio-Lingual Method
1. Does it make sense to you that language acquisition results from habit
formation? If so, will the habits of the native language interfere with the
target language learning?
2. Should errors be prevented as much as possible?
3. Are drills valuable pedagogical activities?
4. Is working on pronunciation through minimal-pair drills a worthwhile
activity?
5. Which ALM techniques could you adapt to your own teaching approach
and situation?
4. The Structural-Situational Method
What does it mean by “situation”? As a
teacher, how can you create the situation?
The following three terms relate to the same
method:
- The Oral Approach (1920s)
- Situational Language Teaching (1960s)
- Structural-Situational Method
Language teaching begins with the spoken language.
Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form.
4. The Structural-Situational Method
Theoretical foundations:
- Structuralism (Language as a system consisting of interrelated structures)
=> Knowledge of structures must be linked to situations in which they
could be used.
Goals:
- Teaching the skills (L-R-S-W) through structure.
- Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar.
- Errors are to be avoided at all costs.
 4. The Structural-Situation Method
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher’s role is threefold: model - conductor of an orchestra - skillful manipulator
- Learners listen to and repeat what the Teacher says, later practice under teacher’s
instructions.
Typical Activities:
- Drills (Ex: There’s a NOUN+of+ (noun) in the box. Then T pulls out stuff from a
box.)
- The PPP lesson format
4. The Structural-Situation Method
Strengths
- Present new language in lively situations
- Enhance automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns
Weaknesses:
- Burden for inexperienced teachers in finding the appropriate “situation”
- Learners having no control over the content of the learning process
1. How do you understand the central principle of
Gattegno’s Silent Way - "teaching should be
subordinated to learning”?
2. Should the teacher remain as silent as possible?
5. The Silent Way
One of the key principles of the Silent Way involves “moving from the known to
the new or unknown.” How did you see this principle put into practice in the
lesson?

“Whereas a typical teacher might walk

into a classroom with a lesson plan in
mind and a textbook in hand, a Silent
Way teacher might enter the room with a
box of colored rods and a very open
mind.”
“The teacher works with the students
while the students work on the
language.”
Caleb Gattegno
5. The Silent Way (devised by Caleb Gattegno)
Theoretical foundations:
- Discovery learning
- Use of meditating physical objects
- Problem-solving approach
Goals:
- Oral communication
- Conversational exchange
- Reading ability/Acquisition of Vocabulary
5. The Silent Way
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Highly teach-directed. Teacher is mostly “silent”.
- Learners are responsible for initiating clarification questions.
Typical Activities:
- Teacher modeling of target language items
- Use of colored objects, charts, diagrams
- Learners collaborating to refine understanding
5. The Silent Way
Ways of correcting students’ errors:
- Finger correction for word order
- Familiar words on board for mispronounced sounds
- Tapping the table for rhythm
5. The Silent Way
Strengths:
- Learning by discovery —> autonomy + collaboration
- Learners are not “spoon fed”
Weaknesses:
- Teacher can become too distant
- Tedious, trial-and-error process
- Wear thin after the first few weeks
6. Suggestopedia (Introduced by George Lozanov in the 1970s)
Theoretical foundations:
- Relaxed states of consciousness create low anxiety
- Power of “suggestion”
Goals:
- Oral communication
- Conversational exchange
- Reading ability/acquisition of vocabulary
6. Suggestopedia
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher-directed. Teacher initiate “concert” sessions and oral models.
- Learners acquire subconsciously.
Typical Activities:
- “Concert” sessions with music in background
- Learners listen quietly in state of relaxation
- Peripheral learning
- Repetition drills, role plays, dialogue practice
6. Suggestopedia
Strengths:
- Relaxation states —> optimal reception
- Appreciation of literary texts
Weaknesses:
- Highly structured curriculum
- Over-reliance on assumptions about relaxation
- Wears thin after the first few weeks
7. Community Language Learning (developed by Charles. A. Curran, ~1955)

Theoretical foundations:
- Whole-person, counseling-learning model of education
- Inductive learning
- Classroom = a community
Goals:
- Oral communicative proficiency
7. Community Language Learning
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher as a counselor/a source of information
- Learner is a client, progressing from dependence to independence
Typical Activities:
- Learners initiate desired language in their L1.
- Teacher provides translation into the L2
- Learners request linguistic rules/information
7. Community Language Learning
Strengths:
- Learners to initiate language and decide the topics
- Class to build community collaboratively
Weaknesses:
- No set curriculum. Progress is dependent on student initiative.
- Tedious, trial-and-error process
- Overly nondirective
 Reflection Questions
CLL
- Do you believe that a teacher should adopt the role of a counselor as
Curran uses the term? Why?
- Which of the principles of Community Language Learning is
compatible with your personal approach to teaching?
- Do you think, in the EFL context here in Vietnam, you could use the
technique of recording your students’ conversation? Why?
8. Total Physical Responses (developed by James Asher)
Theoretical foundations:
- L1 and L2 are similar. Language connects with physical action.
- Comprehension-based
Goals:
- Listening comprehension
- Oral communicative skills
8. Total Physical Responses
Learner-Teacher roles:
- Teacher-directed
- Learners respond to modeled language
- Learners collaborate to perform simple routines
Typical Activities:
- Imperative commands given to learners
- Learners responds with actions
- Role plays
8. Total Physical Responses
Strengths:
- Low-anxiety situations
- Learners not forced to speak too early
Weaknesses:
- Overemphasis on physical actions and imperatives
- Wear thin after the first few weeks
 Reflection Questions
TPR
- Which of the principle s of Total Physical Response do you agree
with?
- What are the drawbacks of using the imperative to teach grammar
and vocabulary?
- Can we apply TPR in teaching reading and writing?
- Can you think of any other techniques/activities that are consistent
with the principles of TPR? Describe and explain.
9. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Key characteristics:
- Focus on meaning and functional aspects of language
- Emphasis on interaction
- Emphasis on authenticity of input
- Learning by doing through direct practice
- Learner-centered
9. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Influence on current language teaching:
- Current language practice: authentic communication,
pair/group work
- Changes in the balance of fluency and accuracy
- Changes in defining learner autonomy, diversity
- Teachers = co-learners
9. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Teacher role
- Communication facilitator
- Encourages fluency
Learner role
- Active communicative participant
- Collaborator
9. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Classroom Activities
- Collaborative learning through pair and group work; negotiation of
meaning
- Activities focusing on communication: e.g. jigsaw, task-
completion, information gathering/sharing
- Activities focusing on fluency, with a high degree of tolerance for
errors
- Information gap, opinion/reasoning activities, role plays
 Reflection Questions
CLT
- How do you understand “linguistic competence” and “communicative
competence”?
- Name some functions of language.
- Name some examples of authentic materials that are usually employed in a
classroom context.
- What are the three features of a truly communicative activity? Explain in
details.
(Features: information gap, choice and feedback)
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Key characteristics:
- Use tasks as core units of planning and instruction
- Use of real-world outcomes
- Focus on lexis and speaking, and integration of skills
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Influence on current language teaching:
- The use of activities with real-world outcomes
- A focus on authenticity
- A focus on form combined with meaning-oriented
activities
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Teacher role: Learner role:

- Create authentic, meaning-focused tasks - Collaborator

- Provides interactional support - Risk-taker

- Encourage focus on form - Language use

10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Common classroom activities:
- Information gap, jigsaw, problem-solving and other collaborative tasks
- Communicative activities

Prahbu identified three types of tasks:

(1) Information-gap Task
(2) Opinion-gap Task
(3) Reasoning-gap Task
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Ellis (2009) on unfocused and focused tasks:
- Unfocused tasks: Learners draw on their language
resources to communicate and fulfill the tasks
- Focused tasks: Learners communicate using some
specific linguistic items, typically a grammar structure.
—> All tasks should be meaningful.
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
•A task in TBLT has the following defining characteristics:
➡ It has to engage learner’s interest.
➡ It is primarily focused on meaning.
➡ It measures success in terms of non-linguistic
outcome.
➡ It relates to real-world activities (job interviews,
instructions).
A Task-Based Lesson Framework
A Task-Based Lesson Framework
10. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
TBLT
- How do you understand “input enhancement” and “input flooding”?
Give an example.
- Distinguish “focus on form” and “focus on forms”
- What does it mean by saying “reformulating or recasting a student’s
error”? Give one example.
References
• Harmer, J. (2017). How to teach English. Essex, England: Pearson Education
Limited.
• Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques and principles in
language teaching (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Morska, L. (2003). Theory and practice of English teaching methodology.
Ternopil: Aston.
• Richard, J. C. and Rodgers, T.S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press