Mid-Semester Activities

1.      Name and explain 4 different teaching Approaches, describe the main features of those Approaches. Choose three that you would prefer to use as a teacher and discuss why you like them better than the others.

1)      The Oral Approach: according to Richards and Rodgers (2014), this approach was developed by Palmer and Hornby, and became “the accepted British approach to English language teaching” (p. 46) in the 1950s. Its methodological principles include: selection (choosing materials to teach grammar), gradation (organization of contents), and presentation (presentation techniques and practice). These authors mention that the main characteristics of this approach are: spoken language comes first, materials are presented orally before written, the target language is always used in class, language is introduced and practiced situationally, vocabulary is taught through selection procedures, simple grammar forms are taught before more complex ones, and when there is enough grammatical knowledge, reading and writing is introduced.

2)      The Communicative Approach: according to Richards (2006), this approach was first proposed in the 1970s, and its goal was to teach communicative competence, which refers to: the knowledge of language use for different purposes, changing language depending on the setting or participants, understanding different texts, and maintaining communication when one has limited language knowledge. In order to do so, the purposes for learning another language could be more specific, as well as the settings, which makes the role of the learners change, which depending on the communicative events, and the language functions they might use, they must learn the concepts, and the grammatical content along with vocabulary that they will need. Therefore this approach’s main characteristics are: making real communication the ultimate goal of learning another language, providing learners with the opportunity to practice what they know, being tolerant of errors because they prove that the learner is developing communicative competence, developing accuracy and fluency, linking the 4 skills (reading, speaking, writing, listening) together like they are in the real world, and letting the students induce grammar rules.

3)      The Eclectic Approach: according to Popova (2001), this approach is a combination of different approaches, put together in order to integrate them to form a better foreign language teaching syllabus. Its main characteristics are: providing freedom to overcome financial, administrative or pedagogical constraints, complementing techniques, methods and approaches, flexibility in order to fulfill objectives, making the target language more attractive through variety, and providing students with different learning styles to be able to acquire another language.

4)      Structural Approach: according to Mareva and Nyota (2011), this approach views the elements of language as linear and rule-governed. Richards and Rodgers (1995) as cited in Mareva and Nyota (2011) mention that this approach regards linguistic levels as “pyramidically structured from phonemes to morphemes to phrases, clauses and sentences” (p. 104), and therefore depends on grammatical rules. According to Nasr (1994), the main characteristics of this approach are: believing that language is a system of structures that apply to phonology and grammar, and that must be taught in their linguistic and cultural contexts; learning vocabulary is gradual, the 4 language skills must be learned by linguistic habits, the structures of the native language contrast and can be compared with those of the language being learned, and this will help explain the problems that the learners will have in the process of learning another language; and finally, believing textbooks in the target language will work for any type of native speaker.

I would choose the communicative approach because I believe language in real communication situations can be more relevant than just learning the form of a foreign language, and also because tolerance of errors is important for the learners to feel motivated and keep learning.  I would also choose the oral approach because I think that using the target language to speak is important because most situations in real life depend on speaking abilities; and I would choose this approach because simpler grammar forms are introduced before complex ones, and I believe that being familiar with simple forms helps understanding more complex ones. Finally, I would choose the eclectic approach because I believe that variety is very important for almost all of the aspects of language teaching, and if there are different people in a class with different learning styles, it isn’t fair to not help and not stimulate their learning process; and I would also choose this approach because of the flexibility with external factors, like the budget for material.

2.      Design an eclectic approach in which you include techniques and activities from the different teaching approaches and methods. Justify your choices. Using that Approach, how would you teach grammar, listening comprehension, reading, vocabulary, speaking or writing?

My eclectic approach is called: the Interlanguage Approach

Its goal is to be aware of the stages of the learners’ interlanguage, in a specific language and level, in order to create the syllabi. Its main characteristics are: to use techniques and methods from different approaches that can apply to the stages of Selinker’s theory of interlanguage for a specific group learning a foreign language at the same level. Learners will first be tested in order to find out what their interlanguage is like and then be placed in a level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).

The techniques and activities used to teach grammar would be: teaching the grammar structure in the target language with enough time for the learners to understand but not as much time for them to lose their concentration, then they would practice orally and then write down the new structure. The presentation of the grammar structure in the target language will be with a specific topic and a specific context in which the structure is more used. Finally they will talk or write (whichever their learning style is) with a native speaker about the same topic the lesson was about and practice the grammar structure.

The techniques and activities used to teach listening comprehension would be: a warm up with background information provided by the learners by asking them questions about a certain topic in the target language. If there is a bigger lack of vocabulary, they will listen to the text in the bottom up form, and if there are fewer problems with vocabulary, they will listen to the text in a top down form. Learners will listen as many times as they feel necessary, and then, they will use the vocabulary speaking or writing freely, or discuss the topic with the group and write an opinion about the text.

The techniques and activities used to teach reading would be: a warm up with background information provided by the learners by asking them questions about a certain topic in the target language. If there is a bigger lack of vocabulary, they will read the text in the bottom up form, and if there are fewer problems with vocabulary, they will read the text in a top down form. Learner will read the text as many times as they feel necessary, and then, they will use the vocabulary speaking or writing freely, or discuss the topic with the group and write an opinion about the text.

The techniques and activities used to teach speaking would be: depending on their level, learners will present a topic or act out a specific context, for content or form oriented purposes. If they choose a presentation, they will give it to the class, and then talk about the topic with a native speaker. If they choose to act, they will act for the lass, and then act out the context with a native speaker. They will compare their performance with the class and with the native speaker and discuss or write about their experience and what they learned.

The techniques and activities used to teach writing would be: a topic and a type of text will be chosen and background information will be provided by the learners by asking them questions in the target language. Then they will replicate as many texts of a certain type about the topic discussed as they feel necessary, and then create their own text about the topic and in the type of text studied. At the end, the texts will be read and evaluated, and finally re-written.

Errors will be corrected when the learner is perceived to be fossilizing them, and in the evaluations (exams), any changes in the interlanguage will be the sign for them to be able to change levels.

References:

Mareva, R. & Nyota, S. (2011). Structural or communicative approach: A case study of

English Language teaching in Masvingo urban and peri-urban secondary schools. Internal journal of English and literature Vol. 3(5), 103-111.

Nasr, R. T. (1994). Whole Education: A New Direction to Fill the Relevance Gap. USA:

University Press of America.

Popova, D. (2001). Eclecticism in Foreign Language Teaching. Greta: revista para profesores

de inglés, Vol. 9(2), 35-37.

Richards, J. C. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. USA: Cambridge

University Press.

Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.

United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.