The grammar-translation method
Reviewing principles:
What are the goals of teachers who use the GTM?
Fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature in the target language
Students need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language
It is believed that studying a foreign language provides students with good mental exercise which helps develop their minds.
What is the role of teacher? What is the role of the students?
Roles are very traditional
The teacher is the authority
The students do as he says so they can learn what he knows
What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?
Students taught to translate from one language to another (readings in the target lang. about some aspect of the culture of the foreign lang. community0
Students study grammar deductively (they are given grammar rules and examples, told to memorize them, asked to apply the rules to other examples)
They memorize native language equivalents for foreign language vocabulary words
What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?
Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students
There is little student initiation and little student-student interaction
How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
No principles of the method which relate to this area.
How is the lang. viewed? How is culture viewed?
Literary lang. is considered superior to spoken lang.
Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts
What areas of lang. are emphasized? What lang. skills are emphasized?
Vocabulary and grammar
Reading and writing are the primary skills that students work on. There is much less attention given to speaking and listening.
what is the role of the students' native lang.?
the meaning of the target lang. is made clear by translating it into students' native lang. The lang. used in class is mostly the students' native language.
How is evaluation accomplished?
Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their native language to the target lang. or vice versa are often used.
How does the teacher respond to student errors?
Having the students get the correct answer is considered very important. If students make errors or don't know the answers, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer
Techniques:
Translation of a Literary Passage; Reading Comprehension Questions; Antonyms/ Synonyms; Cognates; Deductive Application of Rule; Fill-in-the-blanks; memorization; Use Words in Sentences; Composition
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
What are the goals of teachers who use the Audio- Lingual Method?
Teachers want their students to be able to use the target language communicatively. In order to this, they believe students need to over learn the target language, to learn to use it automatically without stopping to think.
What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The teacher is like an orchestra leader, directing and controlling the language behavior of her students. She also is responsible for providing her students with a good model for imitation.
Students are imitators of the teacher's model or the tapes she supplies of model speakers. They follow the teacher's directions and respond as accurately and as rapidly as possible.
What are some characteristic of the teaching/learning process?
New vocabulary and structures are presented through dialogs. The dialogs are learned through imitation and repetition.
Grammar is induced from the examples given; explicit grammar rules are not provided.
What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?
There is student-to-student interaction in chain drills or when students take different roles in dialogs, but this interaction is teacher-directed.
Most of the interaction is between teacher and students and is initiated by the teacher.
How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
Everyday speech is emphasized in the Audio-Lingual Method. The level of complexity of the speech is graded, however, so that beginning students are presented with only simple forms.
Culture consists of the everyday behavior and lifestyle of the target language speakers.
What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
The structures of the language are emphasized over all the other areas. The syllabus is typically a structural one, with the structures for any particular unit included in the new dialog. Vocabulary is also contextualized within the dialog.
The natural order of skills presentation is adhered to: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The oral skills receive most of the attention.
How does the teacher respond to student errors.
Student errors are to be avoided if at all possible through the teacher's awareness of where the students will have difficulty and restriction of what they are taught to say.
Techniques: Dialog Memorization; Backward Build-up Drill; Repetition Drill; Chain Drill; Single-slot Substitution Drill; Multiple-slot Substitution Drill; Transformation Drill; Question-and-answer Drill; Use of Minimal Pairs; Complete the Dialog; Grammar Game
THE DIRECT METHOD
Reviewing the principles:
1.What are the goals of teacher who use the Direct Method?
- Teacher intends that students learn how to communicate in the target lang. In order to do this, students should learn to think in the target lang.
2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
-Teacher direct the class activities, student role is less passive than in the Grammar-Translation Method. The teacher and students are more like parents
3. What are some characteristics?
- teacher needs to associate meaning and the target lang. directly
- when teacher introduces a new word or phrase, he demonstrates its meaning through the use of realia, pictures
- he never translates
- students speak in the target lang.
- syllabus is based upon situations
- grammar is taught inductively (students are presented with examples and they figure out the rule or generalization from the examples
-students practice vocabulary by using new words in complete sentences
4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?
- the initiation goes from both ways. Students converse with another as well
5. How are feelings of the students dealt with?
- no principles on the method
6. How is language and culture viewed?
- lang. is primarily spoken, not written; students study common speech in target lang.
They also study culture consisting of the history of people who speak the target lang. is spoken, information about daily life
7. What areas of language and lang. skills are emphasized?
- vocabulary is emphasized over grammar.
8. What is the role of the students' native lang.?
- Should not be used in the classroom
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
- Don't see any formal evaluation
- students are asked to use the lang., not to demonstrate their knowledge about the language
- are asked to do so in both oral and written skills
10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?
- tries to get students to self-correct whenever possible.
Techniques: reading aloud; question and answer exercise; getting students to self-correct; conversation practice; fill-in-the-blank exercise; dictation; map drawing; paragraph writing
THE SILENT WAY
1.What are the goals of teacher?
- Students should be able to use the language for self-expression
- they need to develop independence from teacher, to develop their own criteria for correctness
- they become independent by relying on themselves
- teacher should give them only what they absolutely need to promote their learning
2. What is the role of teacher and students?
- Teacher is a technician or engineer
- the role of the students is to make use of what they know, to free themselves of any obstacles that would interfere with giving their attention to the learning task
3. What are some characteristics of teaching/learning process?
- Students begin their study through its basic building blocks, its sounds, introduced through a language-specific sound-color chart.
- relying on what sounds students already know from their knowledge of their native language, teacher leads to associate the sounds of the target lang. with particular color
- the same colors are used to help students learn the spellings that correspond to the sounds and how to read and pronounce words properly
- teacher sets up situations that focus student attention on the structures
- with minimal spoken cues, students are guided to produce the structure
- teacher uses students' errors as evidence of where the lang. is unclear and where to work
- students receive a great deal of practice with given target lang. structure without repetition
- they gain autonomy by exploring and making choices
4. what is the nature of student-teacher and student-student interaction?
- teacher is silent, but very active (listening attentively to students' speech, and silently working with them on their production
- When teacher does speak, it is to give clues, not to model the lang.
- student-student verbal interaction is desirable and is encouraged. Teacher's silence is one way to do this
5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
- teacher constantly observes the students
- students have an opportunity to express how they feel
- teacher takes what they say into consideration and works with students to help them overcome negative feelings which might interfere with their learning
- it is hoped that a relaxed, enjoyable learning environment will be created
6. How is lang. and culture viewed?
- lang. of the world share a number of features
- each lang. has its own unique reality
- their culture is inseparable from their lang.
7. What areas of lang. and lang. skills are emphasized?
- pronunciation is worked on from the beginning
- it is important that students acquire the melody of the lang.
- focus on the structures, grammar rules may never be given
- vocabulary is restricted at first
- No fixed, linear, structural syllabus. Syllabus develops according to learning needs
- all 4 skills are worked on from the beginning of the course, there is a sequence in that students learn to read and write what they have already produced orally
8. What is the role of the students' native lang.?
- meaning is made clear by focusing the students' perceptions, not translation
- students' native lang. can be used to give instructions when necessary, to help students to improve his or her pronunciation
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
- teacher may never give a formal test, he assesses student learning all the time
- teacher must be responsive to immediate learning needs
- teacher does not praise or criticize students behavior
- teacher looks for progress, not for perfection
10. How does teacher respond to student errors?
- errors are seen as a natural, indispensable part of the learning process
- teacher uses student errors as a basis for deciding where further work is necessary
- teacher works with students in getting them to self-correct.
- if students are unable to self-correct and peers cannot help, teacher would supply the correct lang., but only as a last resort
Techniques: sound- color chart; teacher's silence; peer correction; rods; self-correction gestures; word charts; fidel charts; structured feedback
SUGGESTOPEDIA
1.Goals of teacher:
- Hope to accelerate the process by which students learn to use foreign lang. for everyday communication
2. Role of teacher and students
- teacher is the authority in the classroom, students must trust and respect her
- if they feel secure, they can be more spontaneous and less inhibited
3. Characteristics of the process:
- course is inducted in a classroom in which students are as comfortable as possible
- easy chairs, soft lighting, music are all available to contribute to a relaxing environment, also posters
- texts students work from are handouts containing lengthy dialogs in the target lang. Next to the dialog is a translation in the students' native lang.
4. Nature of teacher-student and student-student interaction
- teacher initiates interactions with the whole group of students and with individuals right from the beginning of a lang. course.
- initially, the students can only respond nonverbally or with a few target lang. words they have practiced
- later they have more control of the target lang. and can respond more appropriately an even initiate interaction themselves
- students interact with each other from the beginning
5. Feelings of the students:
- great deal of attention is given to students' feelings
-Students relaxed and confident-one of the fundamental principles (learning comes naturally and easily)
Psychological barriers can be dessugested
6. Lang. and culture viewed:
- Lang. is the first of two planes in the two-plane process of communication. In the second plane are factors which influence the linguistic message (way one dresses)
- culture concerns everyday life of people
7. Areas of lang. and lang. skills emphasized:
- vocabulary, focus on large number of words
- grammar is dealt with explicitly but minimally
- students will learn best if their conscious attention is focused not on the lang. forms, but on using the lang.
- speaking communicatively is emphasized, students also read the target lang. and write
8. Role of native language?
- used to make the meaning of the dialog clear, used when necessary
9. Evaluation:
- conducted on students' normal in-class performance and not through formal tests, which could threaten the relaxed atmosphere
10. Respond to student errors:
- at beginning levels errors not corrected immediately
Techniques: classroom set-up; positive suggestion; visualization; choose a new identity; role-play; first concert; second concert; primary activation; secondary activation
THE COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING
1. Goals of teachers:
- teacher wants his students to learn how to use the target lang. communicatively
- he wants students to learn about their own learning to take responsibility for it
2. Role of teacher and students:
- teacher's initial role is counselor (not a therapist), recognizes how threatening a new learning situation can be for adult learners
- initially the learner is very dependent upon the teacher. Continues to study and becomes increasingly independent
3. Characteristic of the process:
- Stage I- students typically have a conversation in their native lang., teacher helps to express by giving the target translation in chuks
- 6 elements: security, aggression, attention, reflection, retention, discrimination
4. Nature of student-teacher and student-student interaction:
- student-teacher interaction changes within the lesson and over the time
- building a relationship with and among students is very important
- in trusting relationship thread is reduced
-students can learn from their interaction with each other
5. feelings of student:
- responding to students' feelings is considered very important
- provided security by using native lang., telling precisely what to do, respecting time limits, giving only as much lang. at a time as students can handle,
6. Lang. and culture view;
- lang. is for communication, developing creative thinking
- culture is integrated with lang.
7. areas of language and lang. skills:
- students design syllabus
- particular grammar points, pronunciation patterns and vocabulary are worked with
- understanding and speaking - the most important skills
8. Role of native lang.:
- Security initially enhanced by using native lang.
- literal native lang. equivalents are given, this makes their meaning clear and allows students to combine the target lang. words in different ways to create new sentences
9. Evaluation:
- test would likely be more an integrative test, students asked to write a paragraph or oral interview
- teacher encourages to self-evaluate
10. Respond to errors:
- teacher should work with what learner has produced in nonthreatening way
- to repeat correctly what student has said incorrectly
Techniques: tape-recording student conversation; transcription; reflection on experience; reflective listening; human computer; Small group tasks;
THE TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD
1. Goals of teacher:
- students enjoy their experience in learning to communicate
- develop to reduce the stress people feel when studying foreign lang. and encourage to persist
2. Role of teacher and students:
- initially teacher is the director of all student behavior
- students are imitators of nonverbal model
3. Characteristics:
- commands to few students, then performs with them
- students demonstrate that they can understand the commands by performing them alone
- teacher recombines elements of commands to develop flexibility
- after learning to respond some oral commands, students learn to read and write them
4. Nature of student-teacher and student-student interaction:
- teacher interacts with the whole group of students and with individual students
- students perform the actions together. They can learn by watching each other
5. Feelings of students:
- one of the main reasons was to reduce stress
- use of humour
Not to be too much modeling
6. Lang. and culture viewed:
- oral modality is primary
- culture is the lifestyle of the native people
7. Areas of lang. and lang. skills:
- grammatical structures and vocabulary over other lang. areas
- spoken lang. over written lang.
- students often do not learn to read the commands they have already learned to perform
8. Role of native lang.:
- method usually introduced in native lang.
- after introduction , rarely would the mother tongue be used
- meaning made clear by body movements
9. Evaluation:
- teacher immediately knows whether or not students understand by observing students' action
- formal evaluation by commanding individual students to perform a series of action
10. Respond to errors:
- it is expected that students will make errors when they first begin speaking
- teacher should be tolerant, correct major errors
Techniques: using commands to direct behavior; role reversal; action sequence;
THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH:
1. Goals of teacher:
- to have one's students become communicatively competent
- competence involves being able to use the language appropriate to social context. To do this, students need knowledge of linguistic forms, meanings and constructions.
2. Role of teacher and students:
- teacher is facilitator of students' learning
- manager of classroom activities - establish situations likely to promote communication
- during activities he acts as an advisor
- co-communicator- engaging in the communicative activity along with other students
- teacher's role less dominant than in teacher-centered method
- students are seen as more responsible managers of their own learning
3. Characteristics of process:
- almost everything is done is done with a communicative intent
- information gap - when one person knows something that the other doesn't
- speaker has choice of what she will say and how
- use of authentic materials
- carried out in small groups
4. The nature of student-teacher and student-student interaction:
- teacher is initiator of activities, but he does not always interact with students
- students interact a great deal with one another, they do this in various configurations
5. Feelings of students:
- students more motivated (they are learning something useful )
- teachers give students the opportunity to express their individuality by having them share their ideas and opinions
6. Lang. and culture view:
- lang. is for communication (just one part of communicative competence)
- another aspect is knowledge of functions lang. is used for
- culture is everyday lifestyle ( use of nonverbal behavior)
7. Areas of lang. and lang. skills:
- lang. functions over forms, used functional syllabus
- variety of forms introduced for each function
- they learn about cohesion and coherence
- students work on all four skills from the beginning
8.Role of native lang.:
- has no particular role
- target lang. should be used not only during communicative activities or in assigning homework
9. Evaluation:
- not only students' accuracy evaluated but also fluency
- use a communicative test
- a letter to a friend
10. Respond to errors:
- errors of form are tolerated, seen as natural outcome of the development of communication skills
Techniques: authentic materials; problem-solving tasks; scrambled sentences; language games; picture strip story; role-play