L3 S5 DIDACTICS / Pr OUAHMICHE 2023 2024
Aperçu des sections
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Lecturer Professor: OUAHMICHE Ghania
Course: Teaching Approaches and Methods Discipline: didactics
Level: UndergraduateYear: L3
Target groups: A-B-H
Teaching Units: 02
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1. Basic definitions
'Technique', 'method' and 'approach' are terms that recur so often in the field of language teaching that the need to be defined in order to draw a distinction between them.
1.1. Technique
This is what actually goes on in the classroom as an implementation of a method, which in turn is an application of an approach. A technique refers to all the activities used by the teacher and performed by the pupils in the classroom. For example, audio-visual aids such as language labs, tape recorders, television set, slides, video recorders are techniques which are used to achieve an immediate objective. Some techniques are used with a variety of methods such as imitation and repetition. Others, however, are specific to a given method.
1.2. Method
A method is the practical realisation of an approach' Harmer (2001: 78)
• All methods include prescriptions for the teacher and the learners.
• All methods are a pre-packaged set of specifications of how the teacher should teach and how the learner should learn derived from a particular theory of language and a theory of language learning.
• A method includes the lesson plan, the syllabus, the textbook, other teaching materials and the number of teaching periods.
• A method consists of the use of a certain number of techniques in a systematic way in order to achieve the aim of language teaching.
• For the teacher, methods prescribe what materials and activities should be used, how they should be used and what the role of the teacher should be.
• For learners, methods prescribe what approach to learning the learner should take and what roles the learner should adopt in the classroom.
• All these components must be in harmony with the basic principles of the selected approach.
• A method is procedural in the sense that it shows accurately how a language should be taught as it deals with the practical side of foreign language instruction. A method is more general than a technique and more specific than an approach.
1.3. Approach
An Approach describes how people acquire their knowledge of the language and makes statements about the conditions which will promote successful language learning.' Harmer, (2001: 78)
• An approach refers to the principles or assumptions underlying the process of language teaching and learning. It is also a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic.
• Underlying each method is a theory on the nature of language and theory on the nature of language learning both of which comprise the approach.
• These theories are derived from the areas of linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and are the source of principles and practices of language teaching.
• It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught. It is also considered a theory of applied linguistics, which seeks to explain the phenomenon of language learning in terms that assist the learner to achieve his goal.
Technique, method and approach are interdependent. They are arranged in the form of a hierarchy in which 'approach' is placed at the top followed by 'method' and then 'technique'.
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2.The Grammar-Translation Method / Approach (1840s - 1940s)
The grammar-translation method was the most popular and widely used method for language teaching between the ages of 1840 to 1940. It was originally used to teach classical languages, such as Latin and Greek, which were not taught for everyday communication. Latin was considered as a classic language. The learners were made able to study the literature of Latin language through learning the grammatical rules of language and learning the vocabulary so that learners may translate the language in their first language and in the second language. But gradually, it was generalised to teach modern languages such as French and English.
In The western world, prior to the twentieth century, foreign language learning in schools was synonymous with the learning of Latin or Greek. Little thought was given at the time to teaching oral use of languages. Languages were not being taught to learn oral communication but to learn for the sake of being ‘scholarly’ or, in some instances, for gaining a reading proficiency in a foreign language. The Classical Method, now known as the Grammar Translation Method, focuses on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and conjugations, translation of texts, and doing written exercises.
Grammar Translation Method dominated the English language teaching field in Algeria in the 1960s at all educational levels. This method is a way of studying a language through a detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by an application of this knowledge to the task of translating sentences into and out of the target language.
The method was based on a prescription of the whole grammar of the language according to the criterion of what is right and what is wrong in order to enable the learners to master the general rules governing the written form of the language and to translate from and into the foreign language.
2.1 Typical grammar-translation lesson
A typical grammar-translation lesson begins with a short reading, often about some places or hero from a country where the target language is spoken. This reading is followed by a list of vocabulary words taken from the reading. Students spend a great deal of time memorizing the vocabulary. There are often questions about the reading to be answered, usually in written form. The next part of the lesson is a grammar point to be learned. Following the grammar explanation, there are exercises for students to practice the grammar points translating from the native language to the target language and vice versa. The goal of the lesson is to develop the ability to translate between the target language and the students’ primary language. During the lesson, the teacher and students all speak in their primary language. The focus of grammar-translation lessons is almost entirely on the written language. They are evaluated with tests of grammar and vocabulary as well as with passages that they are required to translate.
2.2 Typical Techniques
Translation of a Literary Passage: translating target language to native language Reading Comprehension Questions: finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to personal experience
Antonyms/Synonyms: finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words
Deductive Application of Rule
Fill-in-the-blanks: filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type
Memorization: memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms
Use words in sentences: students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words.
Composition: Students write about a topic using the target language.
2.3 Advantages of GTM
The Grammar Translation Method was the principal method in Europe in the 19th century. The goal was to learn a language in order to read its literature or benefit from the intellectual development that resulted from foreign language study. Advantages of GTM:
Ø read literature written in the target language
Ø translate from one language to another
Ø develop reading and writing skill
Ø effective way for the application of grammar and sentence structure
Ø Few demands on teachers
Ø Least stressful for students
Ø Communication between the teacher and the learners does not cause linguistic problems. Even teachers who are not fluent in English can teach English through this method.
Ø Translation is the easiest way of explaining meanings or words and phrases from one language into another. Any other method of explaining vocabulary items in the second language is found time-consuming. A lot of time is wasted if the meanings of lexical items are explained through definitions and illustrations in the second language.
2.4 Shortcomings
This approach has been criticized on many grounds:
Ø Wrong idea of what language is. Practical mastery of the language being learned or actual use of it was totally ignored
Ø This approach was not based on any explicit psycholinguistic or sociolinguistic theory. Therefore, it did not concern itself with how learners learn the language or how they actually use it. Its main concern was purely linguistic.
Ø Less learners’ motivation. The learners in that approach were completely passive.
Ø Create frustration for learners: the students left with a sense of frustration when they travel to countries where the studied language is used (they can’t understand what people say and have to struggle mightily to express themselves at the most basic level)
Ø It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning a language is listening, speaking, reading and writing. That is the way how the child learns his mother tongue in natural surroundings. But in the Grammar Translation Method the teaching of the second language starts with the teaching of reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed. This poses problems.
Ø Speech is neglected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on reading and writing. It neglects speech. Thus, the students who are taught English through this method fail to express themselves adequately in spoken English.
Ø Exact translation is not possible. Translation is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one language to another is not always possible. A language is the result of various customs, traditions, and modes of behaviour of a speech community and these traditions differ from community to community.
Ø The method is a continuous process of memorisation of lists of unusable grammar rules, vocabulary and of attempts to produce perfect translations of literary extracts. Therefore, the focus is on form rather than meaning. Very often students cannot concentrate on the message as they are obliged to read word by word.
Ø There are several lexical items in one language, which have no synonyms/equivalents in another language. For instance, the meaning of the English word ‘table’ does not fit in such expression as the ‘table of contents’, ‘table of figures’, ‘multiplication table’, ‘time table’ and ‘table the resolution’, etc. English prepositions are also difficult to translate.
Ø It does not give pattern practice. A person can learn a language only when he internalizes its patterns to the extent that they form his habit. But the Grammar Translation Method does not provide any such practice to the learner of a language. It rather attempts to teach language through rules and not by use. Researchers in linguistics have proved that to speak any language, whether native or foreign entirely by rule is quite impossible.
Ø Language learning means acquiring certain skills, which can be learned through practice and not by just memorizing rules. The persons who have learned a foreign or second language through this method find it difficult to give up the habit of first thinking in their mother tongue and then translating their ideas into the second language. They, therefore, fail to get proficiency in the second language approximating that in the first language. The method, therefore, suffers from certain weaknesses for which there is no remedy. As the classroom technique consisted of giving definitions, rules, explanations, and exceptions in the mother tongue, the time necessary for practicing the foreign language is greatly reduced.
Ø The technique of giving definitions and rules is very boring and of little benefit to the learners.
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3. The Direct Method
The direct method was the outcome of the reaction against the grammar-translation method. It was based on the assumption that the learners of a foreign and second language should directly think in English. This method is against the translation of written and oral text and focuses on telling the meanings of the words through action, demonstration or real objects. This method focuses on directly thinking, doing discussion and conversation in the second language (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not allowed to use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is an emphasis on good pronunciation. Purwarno (2006) described the aims of the direct method. He described that the direct method is an attempt and effort to form a link between thought and expression and between experience and language.
This method was developed in order to overcome the shortcomings of the Grammar-Translation Method which was unhelpful to those who wanted to learn a foreign language for communication. This method became popular during the early years of the Twentieth Century. It is called 'Direct' because the teaching of the foreign language was done without any resort to the mother tongue. It is based on the assumption that one should learn a foreign language as one would learn one's mother tongue. This method was used in Algeria in the 1970's through many textbooks Andy In Algeria, Learn English With Us. 3éme AM (1977) and Madjid In England, Learn English With Us. 4éme AM (1977).
3.1 Principles of the Direct Method
• Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.
• Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught.
• Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.
• Grammar was taught inductively. Grammatical rules are not taught explicitly but are rather acquired unconsciously through intensive listening and imitation. So memorisation of conjugations and rules of grammar is rejected as priority is given to speech and oral skills.
• New teaching points were introduced orally.
- Translation is considered a useless activity in foreign language learning. Thus dramatisation, demonstration and pointing at objects are used for teaching the meaning of difficult words
• Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.
• As the focus is put on speech and oral skills, reading and writing are postponed for months until firm grounds in listening and speaknig are secured. However, advanced learners can read literary texts for pleasure and comprehension and not for grammatical analysis.
• Pupils are also introduced to the foreign culture inductively.
• Both speech and listening comprehension were taught.
• Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.
3.2 Typical Techniques
The basic premise of the DM is that second language learning should be more like first language learning: lots of active oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules. Many techniques and procedures are used for the sake of making this method more effective such as:
Ø question and answer
Ø exchanges between teacher and learners
Ø vocabulary teaching through demonstration
Ø objects and pictures
Ø the 'mim-mem' technique which consisted of the students imitating selected foreign language sentences
Ø short dialogues
Ø expressions and songs
Ø memorising.
The success of the direct method depends on the teacher’s skills and personality more than on the methodology (Richards and Rodgers, 1986).
3.3 Shortcomings
The direct method was criticized due to the following reasons:
Ø In this method all the language activities are related to the classroom context, and not to real-life situations. Therefore, learners are not prepared to use the foreign language for communication as the teachers do not think of them using it outside the confines of the classroom
Ø Direct method is successful in private language schools because this method can be applied only in small classes where all the learners can get individual attention.
Ø In the Direct method, the teachers extravagantly excel in keeping the mother tongue of the learners away from them.
Ø b) It is time-consuming because it is not easy to explain the meanings of the difficult words through pointing at objects and dramatisation, especially in the case of abstract words.
Ø c) It requires a highly competent teacher who is very fluent in the foreign language and a great number of class hours as most of the work is done in the classroom.
Ø Direct method demands the learners to do oral communication in the second language and it also demands the pronunciation and accent to be just like the native speakers so there is need for the language school to hire the native speakers which actually can be very expensive.
Ø This Method does not Consider all Aspects of Language Teaching. It puts much emphasis on speech and ignores other skills like reading, writing, hearing, etc.
Ø Most times Students make spelling errors.
Ø There is not enough writing, there is not enough reading.”
Ø Emphasis on Aural-Oral Appeal is Defective. This method is based on the principle of aural-oral appeal. There are children who learn more with the help of their eyes than with that, of ears and tongue. Such children are affected.
Ø Lack of Suitable Teachers. Most of our teachers in English have an inaccurate pronunciation of English. Their knowledge of English is also limited and imperfect. They face difficulties to handle the classes. This paucity of good English teachers is responsible for the failure of this method.
Ø Direct Method is Expensive. Our schools cannot provide sufficient equipment and other facilities that are essential to follow this method.
Ø Lack of Standard Textbooks. We don’t have standard textbooks properly graded in respect of grammar and composition.
Ø There is Difficulty in Explanation. We usually follow four ways to explain the words. The direct Method completely ignores translation. As a result, it becomes difficult to explain ideas.
Ø Direct Method Ignores Human Nature and Pupil’s Nature.
Ø A student of our country cannot learn English ignoring the mother-tongue altogether. We have tried this method but we failed to achieve the desired goal.
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4. The Aural- Oral Approach (The Audio Lingual Method)
The oral approach was developed from 1930s to the 1960s by British applied linguistics such as Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornsby. The main difference between the oral approach and the direct method was that the methods which were developed under this approach had theoretical principles about the selection, grading, and presentation of the content and material. This sequencing of the content would lead to better learning with a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical patterns. In this approach, all the points of language were to be presented in “situations” which led to the second name of the approach i.e. situational language teaching. Although, the teachers are not aware of this approach today, but it had long-lasting impact on language learning. However, its focus on oral practice, grammar and sentence patterns is still supported by the teachers (ibid).
After the Second World War, there emerged a wide-world interest in foreign languages and an urgent need for international communication. As there was a general feeling of discontent with the traditional methods, namely the Grammar-Translation Method and the Direct Method whose validity and adequacy, especially for teaching the spoken form of language, were questioned, the necessity of developing a new teaching method which would cater for these shortcomings was felt.
The oral approach is a method in which children to use whatever hearing they get from their surroundings. They also take help from the context to understand and use language. The target is to develop the skills in the individual so that he can communicate and function independently. This approach helps in the development of reading and writing skills (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
Developments in the fields of linguistics as well as experimentation in Educational Technology and Psychology gave rise to the Aural-Oral Approach which was a reaction to the Grammar Translation Method and a modification of the Direct Method. The Aural-Oral Approach was used in Algeria through Succes With English Coursebouk I 1970 and Succes With English Coursebouk II 1971.
The theory on which the approach is based implies the acquisition of oral language skills through oral practice based on repetition and learning by analogy. The Aural-Oral Approach is based on the belief that language is essentially acquired through habits and that responses must be drilled until they become natural and automatic. This reflects a behaviorist view of language learning influenced by the psychologist Skinner.
4.1 Principles of the Audio Lingual Method
The method aims at developing listening and speaking first as the foundation on which to build the skills of reading and writing. This means that before the learners are taught how to read and write the language structures, they should first be brought to proficiency in oral and aural use of these structures. The following are the assumptions on which this method is based:
Ø There is much practice of dialogues of every situation.
Ø New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form.
Ø Langauge is speech not writing
Ø Language is a set of habits. This principle means that language is acquired by imitation and practice. Habits are established by stimulus, response and reinforcement.
Ø Teach the language, not about the language. This means that we must teach the pupils a set of habits, not a set of rules to enable them to talk in the language not to talk about the language.
Ø A language is what its native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say, we should deal with language as it is and not prescribe what other people say.
4.2 Shortcomings
Ø This method encouraged successful responses and manipulation of language and disregarded meaning. So, pupils especially at the early stages of language instruction have to repeat incomprehensible material to make the production of speech automatic and habitual. In this way the method fails to prepare the learner to use the foreign language for meaningful communication.
Ø Mechanical drills and repetition can be effective in the early stages of language instruction or for the teaching of certain aspects of language, but they are not necessarily conducive to real communication.
Ø The focus on mechanical repetition through the use of oral drills leads also to a complete negligence of creative use of language and cognition.
Ø Too much emphasis is put on speech at the expense of other language skills. However, there is no reason why all language skills should not be taught simultaneously instead of being introduced in a certain order, i.e., listening, speaking, reading and writing.
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5.The Communicative Approach
Communicative language teaching was developed in the era of revolutions in British language teaching traditions from the late 1960s. Before communicative language teaching, situational language teaching was in practice in Britain for language teaching. Communicative language teaching was actually developed in the opposition of the audio-lingual method which focuses on drilling and memorization. Communicative language teaching focuses on developing the ability of communication in learners in real-life situations. It focuses on meaning rather than accuracy (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
It is generally referred to as the Functional-Notional Approach. It emerged in the early 1970s as a result of the work of the Council of Europe experts. The approach was primarily designed to meet the needs of adult learners, tourists or people engaged in academic, cultural, technical or economic activities. However, it can be traced back to the work of Chomsky in the 1960s when he advanced the two notions of 'competence' and 'performance' as a reaction to the prevalent audio-lingual method and its view on language learning. These two concepts were later developed by Hymes into a 'communicative competence' which refers to the psychological, cultural and social rules which discipline the use of speech.
The new concept of 'communicative competence' has been expanded by many writers. They have proposed seven categories of communicative functions that are requesting and giving information, expressing thought processes, expressing opinions, moral discipline and evaluation, modifying people's bahaviour, expressing personal feelings and interacting socially. Under each of these categories, there are many notions. Other categories have also been identified to facilitate interaction between speakers from the first lesson of learning the foreign language.
The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in the various situations she would be likely to find herself in. The content of CLT courses are functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression of time, quantity, location.
5.1 Principles and characteristics
The basic premise of the CA is teaching a foreign language in the classroom in such a way that students can communicate in a conscious way, taking into account their real experiences. Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more--becoming active facilitators of their students' learning. The basic principles underlying the communicative approach are as follows:
- The Communicative Approach focuses on language as a medium of communication. Recognizes that all communication has a social purpose - the learner wants to be understood and to understand.
- New syllabuses based on the communicative method offered some communicative ability from an early stage. Graded Objectives in Modern Languages - a movement which flourished in 1970s and 80's - raised pupils' motivation through short-term objectives and through teaching language appropriate to a range of relevant topics and situations (e.g. shopping/ hobbies/ exchanges).
- Real-life authentic language should be exploited in the classroom. In the past, languages were taught in a vacuum - language for the sake of language/passing exams - rather than language for true communication.
- ‘They’ were teaching pupils 'about' the language, about its patterns and rules, rather than using it actively for real purposes! Language is not only a medium of communication, (i.e., practicing how to say it in the language but with no added purpose.) but also a message (i.e., language for true purposes of sending and receiving 'messages').
- The communicative approach is much more pupil-orientated because learning is dictated by pupils' needs and interests.
- The communicative approach seeks to personalize and localize language and adapt it to the interests of pupils. Meaningful language is always more easily retained by learners.
- Communication embraces a whole spectrum of functions (e.g. seeking information/ apologizing/ expressing likes and dislikes, etc) and notions (e.g. apologizing for being late / asking where the nearest post office is).
- Use of idiomatic/ everyday language. This is a kind of language used in communication between people - not a 'medium'/ grammatical/ exam-orientated/ formal language!
- Makes use of topical items with which pupils are already familiar in their own language - motivates pupils, arouses their interest, and leads to more active participation.
- The accent is on functional/ usable language. Learners should be able to go to a foreign country, prepared for the reality they encounter there. Need to be able to cope/survive in a variety of everyday situations.
- The communicative approach seeks to use authentic resources. In Foreign language classrooms, authentic texts serve as partial substitutes for the community of native speakers. Newspaper and magazine articles, poems, manuals, recipes, telephone directories, videos, news bulletins, discussion programs - all can be exploited in a variety of ways.
- Use of visual stimuli - OHP/ flashcards, etc - important to provoke practical communicative language. (3 stages: presentation/assimilation/ reproducing language in creative and spontaneous ways). Visual resources can be exploited at whatever level one wishes - help to motivate and focus pupils' attention.
- Classroom activities maximize opportunities for learners to use the target language in a communicative way for meaningful activities. Emphasis on meaning (messages they are creating or task they are completing) rather than form (correctness of language and language structure) - as in first language acquisition. How do children learn their first languages?
- The classroom should provide opportunities for the rehearsal of real-life situations and provide the opportunity for real communication. Emphasis on creative role-plays/ simulations/ surveys/ projects/ - all produce spontaneity and improvisation - not just repetition and drills.
- More emphasis on active modes of learning, including pair-work and group-work - often not exploited enough by teachers fearful of noisy class.
- Importance of oral work. Emphasis on oral and listening skills in the classroom. Contact time with language is all-important - paves way for more fluid command of the language/facility and ease of expression. Not just hearing teachers, but having personal contact themselves with language, practicing sounds themselves, developing the use of various sentence patterns and getting chances to make mistakes and learn from doing so.
- The use of target language as a normal medium for classroom management and instruction - reflects naturalistic language acquisition.
- Language need not be laboriously monotonous and 'medium' orientated. It can be structured but also spontaneous and incidental. Language is never static. Life isn't like that - we are caught unawares, unprepared, 'pounced upon!' Pupils need to practice improvising/ ad-libbing/ talking off the cuff, in an unrehearsed but natural manner.
- Spontaneous and improvised practice helps to make minds more flexible and inspire confidence in coping with unforeseen, unanticipated situations. Need to 'go off at tangents' / use different registers / develop alternative ways of saying things.
- The communicative approach is not just limited to oral skills. Reading and writing skills need to be developed to promote pupils' confidence in all four skill areas. By using elements encountered in a variety of ways (reading/ summarizing/ translating/ discussion/ debates) - makes language more fluid and pupils' manipulation of language more fluent.
- Grammar can still be taught, but less systematically, in traditional ways alongside more innovative approaches recognizing that communication depends on grammar. Disregard of grammatical form will virtually guarantee a breakdown in communication.
- Language analysis and grammar explanation may help some learners, but the extensive experience of the target language helps everyone. Pupils need to hear plenty said about the topic in the foreign language at regular and recurrent intervals, so they are exposed to the topic and can assimilate it. (i.e., not mere passive acquisition of certain lexical items, but the use of context.)
- Errors are a natural part of learning the language. Learners trying their best to use the language creatively and spontaneously are bound to make errors. Constant correction is unnecessary and even counter-productive.
- Correction should be discreet / noted by teachers - let them talk and express themselves - a form of language becomes secondary. Basically, error correction should reflect the activity or stage of the lesson at hand.
- Important note to be restricted to the textbook. Never feel that a text-book must be used from cover to cover. It’s only a tool / starting-point. With a little inspiration and imagination, text-books can be manipulated and rendered more communicative. The teacher must free himself from it, rely more on his own command of language and his professional expertise as to what linguistic items, idioms, phrases, words, need to be drilled/exploited/ extended.
- Avoid age-old texts - materials must relate to pupils' own lives / must be fresh and real. Changing texts and materials regularly keeps teachers on toes and pupils interested.
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Total Physical Response is a Language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action. It focuses on language through physical –motor activity. Total Physical Response (TPR) is an approach to teaching a second language, based on listening linked to physical activities which are designed to reinforce comprehension. TPR is a method developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a professor of psychology at San José State University, to aid learning second languages. TPR is a language teaching method in which learners listen to instructions in the target language, and carry out a sequence of physical actions. This is based on the belief that a second language is learned most effectively in the early stages if the pressure for production is taken off the learners. TPR is mainly based on using physical movement to react to verbal input in order to reduce student inhibitions and lower their affective filter (stress).
Krashen regards the provision of comprehensible input and reduction of stress as keys to successful language acquisition, and he sees performing physical actions in the target language as a means of making input comprehensible and minimizing stress. Asher claimed that the fastest and least stressful way to achieve an understanding of any target language is to follow directions uttered by the instructor (without native language translation).
7.1 Principles and characteristics of Total Physical Response
- Students can learn through observing actions as well as by performing the actions themselves. Action verbs are the core of TPR.
- Listening ability and vocabulary must be developed first.
- Understanding the spoken language before developing the skills of speaking.
- Students respond to commands that require physical movement.
- Students can initially learn one part of the language rapidly by moving their bodies.
- Imperatives are a powerful linguistic device through which the teacher can direct student behavior.
- The student is not forced to speak but is allowed an individual readiness period and allowed to spontaneously begin to speak
- Students must develop flexibility in understanding novel combinations of target language chunks.
- Learners are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak.
- Students should not be made to memorize fixed routines.
- Learning a second or additional language, that language is internalized through a process of code-breaking similar to first language development.
- Combines information and skills through the use of the kinesthetic sensory system.
- Appropriate activities can produce stress-free learning. There must not be any stress in the class.
- Language learning is more effective when it is fun.
- Corrections should be carried out in an unobtrusive manner.
- Spoken language should be emphasized over written language.
- Students will begin to speak when they are ready.
- Students are expected to make errors when they first begin speaking. Teachers should be tolerant of them. Work on the fine details of the language should be postponed until students have become somewhat proficient.
- Exploit the student’s errors for exposing other structure points.
7.2 Teacher’s Role
- Active and direct role:
- Select supporting materials, and model the lesson
- It provides opportunities for learning.
- Allow speaking abilities to develop in a natural pace
- Parent-like feedback and “fine-tune”
7.3 Learners’ role
- Listener & performer
- Listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher
- Recognize and respond to novel combinations of previously taught items
- Produce novel combinations
- Encouraged to speak not until they feel ready
- Monitors and evaluates his own progress.
7.4 Teaching/learning process
1- New commands: Teacher gives new commands, repeat and vary them.
2- Role reversal: Student command their teacher and classmates.
3- Reading and writing: The teacher writes new items on the blackboard.
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7.5 Advantages- It is a lot of fun. Learners enjoy it, and this method can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the mood of the class.
- It is very memorable. It does assist students to recognize phrases or words.
- It is good for kinaesthetic learners who are required to be active in the class. It also taps the visual and auditory skills of the learners.
- It can be used both in large or small classes. In this case, the class size does not matter that much. As long as you are prepared to take the lead, the learners will follow.
- It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the learners are able to comprehend and apply the target language.
- There is no need to exert a lot of time for the preparation of materials using the TPR.
- It involves the use of both the left and right brain in learning.
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7.6 Disadvantages - Students who are not used to such things might find it embarrassing.
- It is only suitable for beginner levels. This method holds stronger in teaching non-abstract vocabulary
- items and is unsuccessful in teaching abstracts that are acquired at advanced levels.
- It gives priority to receptive skills, mainly listening, at the expense of productive skills.
- Very less effort is expected from the learner.
- It assumes that stress hinders the process of language acquisition denying the fact that positive stress, as explained in some literature, is considered sometimes crucial in learning processes.
- Grammatical features and vocabulary items are selected not according to their frequency of need or use in the target language situations, but according to the situations in which they can be used in the classroom and the ease with which they can be learned.
- The method is time-consuming. Learning a single vocabulary item, for example, would require the demand or imperative of the teacher, the students' demonstration, and the teacher's feedback. It usually involves the whole class participating in learning one single item. Yet, the results would be expected to be more fruitful and lasting than it is with other methods.
- Challenging for shy students.
- Best suitable for beginners.
References
- Asher, J. (1977). Learning another language through actions: the complete teacher’s guidebook. Los Gatos, Calif: Sky Oaks Publications.
- Neupane, G. (2008). Act, Don’t Explain: Total Physical Response at Work. Journal of NELTA, 13 (1-2), 80-86.
- Adelman, B., Price, E., and Silver, M. (2003). Total Physical Response: A Curriculum for Adults. St. Louis, MO: English Language and Literacy Center.
- Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T.S.(2006). Approaches, methods and techniques in language teaching. New York: CUP.
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8. Suggestopedia
Suggestopedia is the study of these suggestive factors in a learning situation. It is a portmanteau of the words “suggestion” and “pedagogy”. Suggestopedia seeks to help learners remove psychological barriers to learning. It aims at creating a relaxed learning climate with low lighting and soft music in the background. Suggestopedia is an educational method based on a modern understanding of how the human brain works and how we learn most effectively. It is often claimed that it can teach languages approximately three times as quickly as conventional methods.
Lozanov suggests that the human brain could process great quantities of material if simply given the right conditions for learning, among which are a state of relaxation and giving over the control of the teacher. “Learning is a matter of attitude, not aptitude.” Lozanov has demonstrated that through a carefull learning environment including most importantly a specially-trained teacher, the learning process can be accelerated.
Students are asked to choose a name and character in the target language and culture, and imagine that person. Choosing a new identity will enhance students’ feelings of security and allows them to be more open. Students just relax and listen to them being read and later playfully practice the language during an "activation" phase. Lozanov (1982) indicates that this method transcends the language classroom and can be applied in other school subjects. He claims that about 200 to 240 new words may be introduced to each lesson.
8.1 Principles and characteristics of suggestopedia
- Ø Classroom atmosphere
- Classroom set-up
- Armchair
- Light is comfortable
- Everything is bright and colourful
- Posters and Music
- Ø A new name and occupation—to dispel fear or anxiety
- Ø Hand-out—for advanced students
- Ø No test, no assignment
- Ø Conversation with translation in music—to activate the ’whole brain’ of the students
- Ø Games, songs, role-play—to strengthen the material
- Ø Vocabulary is emphasized.
- Ø Grammar is dealt with explicitly but minimally.
- Ø Speaking communicatively is emphasized.
- Ø Native language is used to make the meaning of the dialog clear.
- Ø As the course proceeds, the teacher uses the native language less and less.
8.2 Teacher’s Role
- Ø The goal of the teachers using the teaching method is to help students eliminate and overcome the barriers to learning and increase their communicative ability.
- Ø To create situations in which learners are most suggestible.
- Ø To accelerate the process of learning a foreign language for everyday communication and show absolute confidence in the method.
- Ø To desuggest learners’ psychological barriers
- Ø To activate learners’ ‘paraconscious’ part of the mind
- Ø Gives the students the impression that learning is easy and enjoyable.
- Leads the class in various activities involving the dialog, for example, question-and-answer, repetition, and translation;
- Integrate indirect positive suggestions (there is no limit to what you can do) into the learning situation.
- Ø Authority—being confident and trustable
- Ø security—affording a cheerful classroom atmosphere
- Ø The teacher speaks confidently. Encourage face to face communication.
- The teacher is the source of all information. Organizer and observer.
- Respect and encourage face to face exchange and activity participation
- Ø The teacher leads the class in various activities involving the dialog, for example, question-and-answer, repetition, and translation;
- Ø The teacher should integrate indirect positive suggestions (there is no limit to what you can do) into the learning situation.
- Maintain a solemn attitude towards the session
8.3 Learners’ role
- Respect and trust towards the teacher: relaxed—following the teacher’s instruction easily
- Ø Commitment to the class and its activities. Do their assignments.
- Roleplay—enjoying the new identity freely
- Secure--assumption of a new identity
- Ø Feel comfortable. Relaxed--psychological barriers are desuggested.
- Ø Confident--the target language comes naturally.--Success is obtainable.
- Consequence student feel more comfortable
- Relax and believe in the method
- Groups of learner are ideally, socially homogeous12 in number and divided equally between men and women
8.4 Teaching/learning process
Three Phases
1. Deciphering: The teacher introduces the grammar and lexis of the content.
• In most materials the foreign language text is on the left half of the page with a translation on the right half of the page with a translation on the right half, i.e. meanings are conveyed via the mother tongue, not unlike the bilingual method.
2. Concert session (active and passive):
• In the active session, the teacher reads the text at a normal speed, sometimes intoning some words, and the students follow.
• In the passive session, the students relax and listen to the teacher reading the text calmly.
• Baroque music is played in the background.
8.5. Elaboration:
• The students finish off what they have learned with dramas, songs, and games.
• Then it has developed into four phases as lots of experience were done: introduction, concert session, elaboration, and production.
The teacher will introduce a story as related in the dialog and call the students’ attention to some particular grammatical points that arise in it, he/she reads the dialog in the target language. Music is played. The teacher begins a slow, dramatic reading, synchronized in intonation with the music. The music is classical and the teacher’s voice rises and falls with the music. The students playfully reread the target language dialog out loud, as individuals or in groups. Students are asked to read the dialog in a particular manner: sadly, angrily, and cheerfully. The students engage in various activities designed to help them learn the new material and use it spontaneously. Activities particularly recommended for this phase include singing, dancing, dramatizations, and games.
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8.6 Advantages- Ø Learning Environment. Students’ mental reserves are stimulated through the integration of fine arts music,
- drama, or paintings.
- Ø Arouse students’ interests and potential to memorize. It’s desired that the students achieve a state of ‘infantilization
- so they will be more open to learning.
- Ø Thinking highly of students’ feeling
- The emphasis of interaction
- The treatments to students’ mistakes
- It becomes an easy way to learn for students.
- Different techniques used that’s why for students to remembering things become easy.
- This method also includes students that’s why student’s creativity also developed through these techniques.
- Ø activates mental potential.
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8.6 Disadvantages- This method includes a lot of hard work of teachers.
- This method becomes easy for students but it becomes difficult for teachers because for them to find different techniques,
- and to prepare different task, it needs lots of time.
- Lack of flexibility
- Lack of trust in teachers
- Over-emphasized of language use
- Absence of tests
- Differences characteristics between students
- It depends on the student that’s why some students may take interest and some may not take interest.
- In less student’s class, this technique becomes useful but in a large class, it becomes more difficult because it becomes difficult to gives attention to everyone.
- Some will find classical music boring, irritating, and stimulating
- Exaggeration of rhythm may be passive and illogical
- There will be financial and environmental limitations. The provision of materials isn't always possible.
- Only a certain kind of teachers is reliable to teach using the suggestopedia method