- THE DIRECT METHOD
1. GOALS: to
communicate in target language (TL); to think in TL.
2. ROLES:
Teacher (T) directs class activities; T & Ss are partners.
3. TEACHING
/ LEARNING PROCESS: Ss associate meaning & the TL through realia,
pictures, pantomime. Ss speak as if in real situations. Grammar is
taught inductively.
4.
INTERACTION: Teacher-directed & Student-directed
5. DEALING
WITH FEELINGS: no principles that relate to the area.
6. VIEW OF
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: Language is primarily spoken. Ss study everyday
speech in the TL. Aspects of foreign culture are taught.
7. LANGUAGE
AREAS & SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Vocabulary over Grammar.
Oral Communication over Reading and Writing. Pronunciation is
primordial.
8. ROLE OF
Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: Not used.
9. MEANS OF
EVALUATION: Through actual use as in oral interviews. They may also
be assigned written paragraphs.
10. RESPONSE
TO Ss’ ERRORS: Self-correction encouraged.
LET
GO IDEAS
1. Choose
a particular situation (such as at the bank, at the railway station,
or at the doctor’s) or a particular topic and write a short passage
or a dialogue on the theme you have chosen. Now think about how you
will convey its meaning to a class.
2. Select
a grammar point from the passage. Plan how you will get students to
practice the grammar point. What examples can you provide them with
so that they can induce the rule themselves?
PONDER
AND HYPOTHESISE
3.
REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this
method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.
4. Are
there techniques of the Direct Method which you would consider
adopting? Which ones?
5. What
do you think Stevick (1982) might have meant when he said “Making
informed choices is, after all, what teaching is all about.”
- THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
1. GOALS:
to use TL communicatively; to overlearn TL by forming new habits in
TL. and overcoming old habits of native language (NL).
2. ROLES: T
is a good model for imitation like an orchestra leader, directing and
controlling; Ss are imitators of T’s model or tapes she supplies of
model speakers.
3
TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS: Vocabulary and structures are presented
through dialogues learned through imitation and practice (excessive
drilling). Grammar is taught inductively. Cultural information is
contextualized. Oral work precedes reading and writing.
4.
INTERACTION: T -Ss; T-initiatedS-S
interaction (drilling; role-playing)
5. DEALING
WITH FEELINGS: no principles that relate to the area.
6. VIEW OF
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: generated by descriptive linguistics (Language
seen as a system). Gradation of level of complexity. Culture is seen
as everyday behaviour of TL speakers.
7. LANGUAGE
AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Acquisition of the patterns
of the language through structure practice. The oral skills are
overemphasized (order: listening, speaking, reading, writing).
Pronunciation is taught from the beginning.
8. ROLE OF
Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: TL used exclusively. NL is considered a source
of interference (T expected to undertake Contrastive Analysis (CA)
studies so as to prevent negative transfer)
9. MEANS OF
EVALUATION: through discrete-point tests (one point of the language
at a time).
10. RESPONSE
TO Ss’ ERRORS: through anticipation and restriction of taught
areas.
LET GO
IDEAS:
1.
Consider the following dialogue. What structure is it trying to
teach?
PAUL: Lou’s
going to go to college next summer.
BETTY: What
is he going to study?
PAUL: He’s
going to study architecture. He’s going to be an architect.
BETTY:
Where is he going to study?
PAUL: He’s
going to study at Edinburgh University.
Prepare a
series of drills (backward build-up, repetition, chain, single-slot
substitution, multiple-slot substitution, transformation, and Q-A)
designed to give beginning level EFL students some practice with this
structure.
2. Prepare
your own dialogue to introduce your Ss to the “be going to”
structure.
PONDER
AND HYPOTHESISE
3.
REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this
method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.
4. Are
there techniques of the AUDIO-LINGUAL Method which you would consider
adopting? Which ones?
- SUGGESTOPEDIA
ORIGINATOR:
Georgi Lozanov
PURPOSE: to
help Ss eliminate the feeling that they cannot be successful and,
thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning.
1. GOALS:
to accelerate learning for everyday communication by desuggesting
the psychological barriers learners bring along to the language
situation.
2. ROLES: T
is the authority Ss must wholly trust and respect. Infantilization is
the consequence of this unconditional relationship.
3.
TEACHING/ LEARNING PROCESS: It takes place in a relaxing atmosphere
(music, comfortable chairs, pleasant lighting). Peripheral learning
ensured (posters display). Ss adopt new identities. Lengthy dialogues
in TL are practiced at varying speed rhythms so as not to stress Ss
(translation provided). Learning activities: dramatizations, games,
songs, and Q & A.
4.
INTERACTION: T is the initiator of all relationships (T - class, T -
S, S-S).
5. DEALING
WITH FEELINGS: Building up student-confidence. New identities are
considered carriers of self-confidence and security.
6. VIEW OF
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: The two-plane process of communication is
considered (linguistic and non-linguistic). Culture is seen as
everyday life of native speakers. Fine arts become instrumental.
7. LANGUAGE
AREAS AND SKILLS THE APPROACH EMPHASIZES: Vocabulary is very
important. Grammar is explicitly but minimally taught. Speaking
communicatively becomes the main concern. Reading and writing are
subsequent.
8. ROLE OF
Ss’ NATIVE LANGUAGE: for clarifying meaning whenever necessary.
9. MEANS OF
EVALUATION: conducted on Ss’ in-class performance and not through
formal tests.
10. RESPONSE
TO Ss’ ERRORS: Correction is postponed until it is harmless.
LET GO
IDEAS
1. Think
of ways of ensuring an environment designed to reduce psychological
barriers in a school classroom you are familiar with.
2. Choose
a thematic dialogue, select some music, and plan a visualization
exercise.
3. Make a
list of five grammatical points about the TL that you would want to
display on posters to encourage beginning Ss’ peripheral learning.
PONDER
AND HYPOTHESISE
3.
REMINISCE about your past learning experiences and say how often this
method was used by your teacher and how successful it proved.
4. Are
there techniques of SUGGESTOPEDIA which you would consider adopting?
Which ones?