Language Teaching Approach Matrices

EDL 201 METHODS AND APPROACHES Changes in language teaching methods throughout history have reflected recognition of changes in the kind of proficiency learners need. MATRIX A: COMPARISON BETWEEN METHOD, APPROACH and TECHNIQUE METHOD o Overall [lan for the prderly presentation CHARACTERIST of language material ICS (all of which is based upon the selected approach) o Procedural o Within one approach there can be several methods (Anthony, 1963)

APPROACH o Set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning o Axiomatic o Describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught (Anthony, 1963)

TECHNIQUE o Implementational (actually takes place in the classroom) o Stratagem used to accomplish an immediate objective o Must be consistent with method and therefore in harmony with an approach as well (Anthony, 1963) o Level at which classroom procedure is described (Anthony, 1963)

Level at which theory o Level at which is put into practice assumption and LEVELS and at which choices beliefs about are made about the language and particular skills and language learning are content to be taught, specified (Anthony, order in which content 1963) will be presented (Anthony, 1963) MATRIX B: LINGUISTIC AND PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF APPROACH o

APPROACH THEORY OF LANGUAGE

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THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING

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Structural view (language is a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning) • Audiolingual Method • TPR • Silent Way Functional view (language is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning; emphasizes the semantic and communicative dimension rather than the merely grammatical characteristics of language) Interactional view(language as a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals) • “Students achieve facility in using a language when their attention is focused on conveying and receiving authentic messages” (Rivers, 1987) • Task-Based Language Teaching • Content-Based Instruction • Cooperative Language Learning Responds to 2 questions: o What are the psychologlinguistic & cognitive processes involved in language learning? o What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning process to be activated? Process Oriented Theories (built on learning processes such as habit formation, induction, inference, hypothesis testing & generalization) Condition Oriented Theories (emphasize the nature of human & physical context in which language learning takes place) Monitor Model (Dr. Krashen) o Addresses both the process and the condition dimension of learning o “Monitor is the repository of conscious grammatical knowledge about a language that is learned through formal instruction & that is called upon in the editing of utterances produced through the acquired system” o Acquisition- natural assimilation of language rules through using language for communication o Learning- formal study of language rules and is a conscious process

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• DESIGN

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OBJECTIVES CONTENT CHOICE & ORGANIZATI ON

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TYPES OF LEARNING & TEACHING ACTIVITIES LEARNER ROLES TEACHER ROLES ROLE OF INST. MATERIALS

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Natural Approach (Tracy D. Terrell) o method derived primarily from a learning theory rather than a particular view of language Counseling Learning ( Charles A. Curran) o Focuses primarily on the conditions necessary for successful learning o believes the atmosphere of the classroom is crucial factor o seeks to ameliorate the feelings of intimidation and in securing the many learners experience Total Physical Response (James Asher) o derives primarily form a learning theory rather than from a theory of the nature of language o addresses both the process and condition aspects of learning o based on the belief that child language learning is based on motor activity, on coordinating language with action, and that this should form the basis of adult foreign language teaching Silent Way (Caleb Gattegno) o built around a theory of the conditions necessary for successful learning to be realized Level of method analysis in which we consider: o Objectives of the method o Selection and organization of language content o Types of learning tasks and teaching activities advocated o Roles of learners o Roles of teachers o Role of instructional materials Product of design, not of approach Involves the use of the target language Involves overt or covert decisions concerning the selection of language items that are to be used within a course or method Decisions about the choice of language content relate to both subject matter and linguistic matter Differences among methods at the level of approach manifest themselves on the choice of different kinds of learning and teaching activities in the classroom Instructional system will be considerably influenced by how learners are regarded Similarly related ultimately both to assumptions about language and language learning at the level of approach Specified with respect to objectives, content, learning activities, and learner and teacher roles for materials within the system Reflect decisions concerning the primary goal of materials, the form of materials, the relation of materials to other sources of input, and the abilities of teachers

MATRIX C: METHODS AND APPROACHES

METHOD BACKGROUN D

ORAL APPROACH & SITUATIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHING o Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornbyleaders in this movement o Systematic study of the principles & procedures that could be applied to the selection & organization of the content of a language course (Palmer, 1917) o ASPECTS: • Vocabulary control  Vocabulary was seen as an essential component of reading proficiency  Frequency counts showed that a core of 2000 or so words occurred frequently in written text and that a knowledge of these words would greatly assist in reading a foreign language • Grammar Control  Palmer had emphasized the problems of grammar for the foreign learner  Palmer viewed grammar as the underlying sentence patterns of the spoken language

AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD o o o

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Leonard Bloomfield “Informant Method” or “Army Method” Innovative mainly in terms of the procedures used & the intensity of teaching rather than in terms of its underlying theory Language was taught by the systematic attention to pronunciation and by intensive oral drilling of its basic sentence patterns A lesson began with work on pronunciation, morphology, grammar; followed by drills and exercise Pattern Practice- basic classroom technique Commonsense application of the idea: Practice makes perfect Combination of structural linguistic theory, contrastive analysis, auraloral procedures and behaviorist psychology Provided methodological foundation for materials for the teaching of foreign languages at the college and university level in the US and Canada DISTINCT FEATURES: (Finnochiaro, 1983) • Attends to structure & form more than meaning • Demand memorization of structure-based dialogue • Language items are not necessarily contextualized • Language learning is learning structures, sounds or words • Mastery is sought • Drilling is central technique • Native-like pronunciation is sought • Grammatical explanation is avoided • Communicative activities only come after a long process of rigid drills and exercises • Translation & use of student’s native language is forbidden • Reading & writing are deferred till speech is mastered • Target linguistic system will be learned through the overt teaching of the patterns of the system • Linguistic competence is the desired goal • Varieties of language are recognized but not emphasized • Sequence of units is solely by principles of linguistic complexity • Teacher controls the learners & prevent them from doing anything that conflicts with the theory • “Language is habit” , errors must be prevented

METHOD BACKGROU ND

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE o James Asher- sees successful adult second language learning as a parallel process to child first language acquisition • Claims that speech directed to young children consists primarily of command, w/c children respond to physically before they begin to produce verbal responses o Built around the coordination of speech & action o Attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity o Method that is undemanding in terms of linguistic production & involves gamelike movements reduces learner stress & creates a positive mood in the learner w/c facilitates learning APPROACH o Grammar-based view of language o Asher views the verb, particularly imperative verb, as the central linguistic motif around w/c language use & learning are organized o Stimulus Response View- provides the learning theory o “Trace Theory”-linked to TPR, of memory in psychology; the more often or intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be & the more likely will be recalled o (INFLUENTIAL) LEARNING HYPOTHESES• There exist a specific bio-program for language learning  3 Bio-Program Process:  Children develop listening competence before they develop the ability to speak  Because children are required to respond physically, their listening comprehension ability is acquired  Speech evolves naturally & effortlessly once listening comprehension foundation is established • Brain lateralization defines different learning functions in the left & right brain hemisphere  Directed to right brain learning; language through motor movement  Similarly, adult should proceed to language mastery through right-hemisphere motor activities, while the lefthemisphere watches & learns • Stress intervenes between the act of learning & what is to be learned  Stress Reduction- absence of stress  Language acquisition takes place in a stress-free environment THEORY OF • Requires initial attention to meaning LANGUAGE rather than to the form of items

THE SILENT WAY o Caleb Gattegno o Base on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as possible & the classroom but the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible

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LEARNING HYPOTHESES o Learning is facilitated of the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers & repeats what is to be learned  Benefits derived from “Discovery Learning” (Bruner, 1966)  Increase intellectual potency  Shift from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards  Learning of heuristic discovering  Aid to conserving memory o Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects  Rods & Fidel Charts- provide physical foci for learners o Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned  Related to a set of premise that we have called “problemsolving approaches to learning”

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Successful learning involves commitment of the self to language acquisition through the use of silent awareness & then active trial Focus on the self of the learner,

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METHOD BACKGROU ND

APPROACH

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING o Charles A. Curan • His application of psychological counseling techniques to learning is known as Counseling-Learning o Derives its primary insights, & indeed its organizing rationale from Rogerian Counseling (Rogers 1951) o Draws on the counseling metaphor to redefinine the roles of the teacher & learners in language classroom o Humanistic technique o “Blend what the students feels, thinks & knows w/ what he is learning in the target language.” (Moskowitz, 1978) o engage the whole person including the emotions & feelings as well as linguistic knowledge & behavior skills o La Forge goes beyond the structuralist view of language and elaborates an alternative theory of language which is referred to as “Language as Social Process” o “Language is people; language is persons in contact; language is persons in response” (La Forge, 1983) o 2 FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS: • Interaction between Learnersunpredictable in content but typically are said to involve exchange of affect; the desire to be part of the growing intimacy pushes learners to keep pace with the learning of their peers • Interaction between Learns and Knowers- initially are dependent

THEORY OF • LANGUAGE

THEORY OF • LEARNING •

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SUGGESTOPEDIA o Georgi Lasonovo Specific set of learning recommendations derived from Suggestology o “science…concerned with as systematic study of the motivational and/or nonconscious influence” (Stevick, 1976) o most conspicuous characteristics: decoration, furniture, and arrangement of classroom o uses Music Therapy o 3 Functions of Music Therapy: • facilitate the establishment & maintenance of personal relations • bring about increased self-esteem • use unique potential of rhythm to energize & bring order • Emphasis on memorization of vocabulary pairs •

Refers to language to be learned as “material” • Suggestion is at the heart of this theory • PRINCIPAL THEORITICAL COMPONENTS: o Authority- people remember & are most influence by information coming from an authoritative source o Infantilization- suggest a teacherstudent relation like parent to a child o Double-Planedness- learners also learns from the environment where learning takes place o Intonation, Rhythm & Concert Pseudo-Passiveness- varying tone & rhythm of presented material helps both to avoid boredom ; intonation & rhythm are coordinated w/the musical background; induce a relax attitude Consensual Validation or Covalidation • is considered essential in to the learning process & key element of CLL classroom procedures View learning as a holistic one, since • “true” human learning is both cognitive & affective; “whole-person learning” Five Stages: o “Birth” Stage- feelings of security & belonging are established o learner as a child- begins to achieve a measure of independence from the parent o learner “speaks independently” & may need to assert his or her own identity o learner is secure enough to take criticism o learner merely works on improving style & knowledge of linguistic appropriateness Requirements for Successful Learning o Security

METHOD

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

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COMPETENCY-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING Howard Gardner-argues that all o Competency Based Educationhumans have these intelligences, but education movement that focuses people differ in strengths & on the outcomes or outputs of combinations of intelligences learning Learner-based philosophy that o Competency-Based Language characterizes human intelligence as Teaching having multiple dimensions that must • Designed not around the notions be acknowledged and developed in of subject knowledge but around education the notion of Learners are viewed as possessing competency(Docking, 1994) individual styles, preferences or • A syllabus & course content are intelligences developed around the subject Gardner claims that his view of • Objectives may be specified but intelligences is culture-free & avoid usually have little role in teaching conceptual narrowness usually or referencing associated with traditional models of • Student assessment is usually intelligences based on norm referencing 8 Native Intelligences: • Competency- description of the • Linguistic essential skills, knowledge, • Logical/Mathematical attitudes & behaviors required for • Spatial effective performance of the real• Musical world task or activity o • Bodily/Kinesthetic • Interpersonal • Intrapersonal • Naturalistic Looks at the language of the o EIGHT KEY FEATUIRES OF CBE: individual, including one or more • Focus on Successful Functioning second languages, not as an “added in society- enable students to on” & somewhat peripheral skill but become autonomous individuals as central to the whole life of the capable of coping w/ the language learner & user demands of the world • Focus on life skills- teaches language as a function of communication • Task or Performance-Centered Orientation- what counts is what students can do as a result of instruction • Modularized Instruction“Language learning is broken down into manageable & immediately meaningful chunks (Center for Applied Linguistics, 1983) • Explicit Outcomes are Priorityspecified in terms of behavioral objectives • Continuous & Ongoing Assessment- program evaluation is based tests results • Demonstrated Mastery of Performance Objectivesassessment is based on the ability to demonstrate prespecified behaviors • Individualized, Student-Centered Instruction MI proponents believe that there is • more to language than what is usually subsumed under rubric linguistics Language has its ties to life through senses Senses provide accompaniment & context for linguistic message that give it meaning & purpose there exist a cluster of mental •

METHOD BACKGROU ND

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING o Partly a response to the sorts of criticism the prominent American linguist Noam Chomsky had leveled at structural linguistic theory o Proponents saw the need to focus in language teaching on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures o D.A. Wilkins (1972)- proposed a functional or communicative definition of langue that could serve as basis for developing communicative syllabuses for language teaching • Described 2 types of meaning:  Notional Categories- time, sequence, quantity, location, frequency  Categories of Communicative Function o AIMS TO: • Make communicative competence the goal of language teaching • Develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language & communication o “One of the most characteristic of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language.” (littlewood, 1981) o Strong Version of CLT (advances the claim that language is acquired through communication, so that it is not merely a question of activating an existing but inert knowledge of the language but of stimulating development of the language system) and Weak Version of CLT (stresses the importance of providing learners w. opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes & characteristically attempts to integrate such activities into a wider program of language teaching), Howatt o Firth stressed that language needed to be studied in the broader sociocultural context of its use, which include participants, their behavior, their beliefs, the objects of linguistic discussion & word choice o Learner-centered & experience-based view of the second language teaching o Teachers are encouraged to develop materials “on the basis of the particular needs manifested by the class” (Applebee, 1974) o DISTINCT FEATURES: (Finnochiaro, 1983) • Meaning is paramount • Dialogues, if sued, center around communicative functions, not normally memorized • Contextualization is basic premise • Effective communication is sought

NATURAL APPROACH • Tracy Terell(1977)- attempt to develop a language teaching proposal that incorporated the “naturalistic” principles researchers had identified in studies of second language acquisition • Stephen Krasehen- elaborated the theoretical rationale of Natural Approach • Place less emphasis on teacher monologues, direct repetition and formal question and answers • Less focus on accurate production of target language sentences • Emphasis on input rather than practice

METHOD BACKGROU ND

COOPERATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING o makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of learners in classroom o group learning activity organizes so that learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information (Olsen & Kagan, 1992) o provide opportunities for naturalistic 2nd language acquisition through the use of interactive pair/ group activities o provide teachers with a methodology to enable them to achieve goal & one that can be applied to a variety of curriculum o enable focused attention to particular lexical items, language structures and communicative functions thru interactive tasks o enhance learner motivation & reduce learner stress

APPROACH

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Premise 1: “all normal children growing up in a normal environment learn to talk. We are born to talk…we may think of ourselves as having been programmed to talk… communication is generally

CONTENT –BASED INSTRUCTION • Teaching is organized around the content or information that students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus • “If any word in English language is hot, buzzworthy and fingersnappingly with it, surpassing even millennium in both general discourse and insideres that word is content” (William Safire, New York Times, 1998) • Content-Refers to the substance or subject matter that we learn or communicate through language rather than the language used to convey it • St. Augustine- early proponent of Content-Based Language Teaching as proposed by Brinton, Snow and Wesche (1989) • “Language that is being taught could be used to present subject matter and students would learn the language as a by-product of learning about the real-world content “ (Widdowson, 1978) • ROLE IN OTHER CURRICULUM DESIGN: o Immersion Education- type of foreign language instruction in which the regular school curriculum is taught through the medium of foreign language o Immigrant On-Arrival Programsfocus on the language newly arrived immigrant in a country need for survival o Program for Students with Limited English Proficiency (SLEP)- governmentally mandated programs to serve especially those children whose parents might be served by the on-arrival programs, more generally designed to provide inclass or pullout instruction for any school-age children whose language competence is insufficient to participate fully in normal school instruction o Language for Specific Purposes (LSP)- movement that seeks to serve the language needs of learners who need language in order to carry out specific roles • Two Central Principle: o People learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself o Content-based instruction better reflects needs for learning second language • Language is text and discoursebased- vehicle for learning content; focus on teaching is how meaning & information are communicated and constructed through text & discourse

METHOD BACKGROU ND

APPROACH

TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING • refers to an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction of language • proposes the notion of “task” as a central unit of planning and teaching • aimed to provide learners with a natural content of language use • “The central purpose we are concerned with this language learning, and task present this in the form of problem-solving negotiation between knowledge that the learners old and new knowledge.” ( Candlin and Murphy, 1987) • THEORITICAL BACKGROUND: o Psycholinguistic Perspective- task is a device that guides learners to engage in certain types of information processing that are believed too important for effective language use for language acquisition and using mental processing that is beneficial to acquisition o Interaction Hypothesis - meaning negotiation can contribute to acquisition. o Cognitive Approach- constructs both exemplar-based system and rule-based system wherein lexical items and formulaic chunks of language contribute to fluency, accuracy and complexity. o Constructivism- learners learn in ways that are meaningful to them, they learn better if they feel in control of what they are learning, learning is closely linked to how people feel about themselves, and learning takes place in a social context through interaction with other people. • FOUR CATEGORIES OF TEAM PERFORMANCE: o orientation function (processes for generating and distributing information necessary to task accomplishment to team members) o organizational functions (processes necessary for members to coordinate actions necessary for task performance) o adaptation functions (processes occurring as team members adapt their performance to each other to complete the task) o motivational functions (defining team objectives and “energizing the group” to complete the task) • •

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION • “Prussian Method” • PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS o To learn language in order to read its literature or in order to benefit from the mental discipline & intellectual development that result from foreign language study o Reading & writing are major focus o Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts used, and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study and memorization o Sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice o Accuracy is emphasized o Grammar is taught deductively o Student’s native language is medium of instruction

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Laid foundations for the development of new ways of teaching languages and raise controversies that have continued to the present day General Reformers Believed That: o Spoken language is primary and that this should be reflected in an oral-based methodology

EDL 201 – Applied Linguistics for Communication Arts University of the Philippines – Visayas Iloilo City