Techniques & Principles

in Language Teaching

Summarized by :
Hamid Torabi
 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Introduction
Debate and developments around the methods of language teaching and learning have been
ongoing since the time of Comenius in the 17th century, if not before. The complexity of contexts and
the greater appreciation of the issues lead us to the conclusion that the panacea of a single, universal,
optimum method for teaching and learning modern languages does not exist. Instead, teachers now
acknowledge the need to adopt an informed eclectic approach, incorporating elements from the range
of methods available. Most language teaching today emphasise oral communication, although many
Higher Education programmes place greater emphasis upon grammatical mastery and reading.

In attempting to define what ‘method’ is, we can consider Edward Anthony’s tripartite distinction of
Approach, Method and Technique (Anthony: 1963).

This distinction was developed and recast by Richards and Rodgers (1982, 1985) as Approach,
Design and Procedure, encompassed within the overall concept of Method, “an umbrella term for
the specification and interrelation of theory and practice” (Richards & Rodgers 1985: 16) where

 Approach refers to the beliefs and theories about language, language learning and teaching
that underlie a method
 Design relates the theories of language and learning to the form and function of teaching
materials and activities in the classroom;
 Procedure concerns the techniques and practices employed in the classroom as consequences
of particular approaches and designs.
There are many publications discussing the various language teaching methods employed over the
years. We have drawn here, inter alia, upon Chapter Two of H. Douglas Brown’s Teaching by
Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (Longman/ Pearson Education, White
Plains, New York, 2nd edition 2001).

Brown draws a distinction between methods as “specific, identifiable clusters of theoretically

compatible classroom techniques”, and methodology as “pedagogical practices in general.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

CHAPTER 2

The Grammar– Translation Method

The Grammar-Translation Method has had different names. At one time it was called the
Classical Method since it was first used in the teaching of the classical languages, Latin and Greek.
In past, this method was used for the purpose of helping students read and appreciate foreign language
literature. It was also hoped that, through the study of grammar of the target language, students would
become more familiar with the grammar of their native language. It was thought that foreign language
learning would help students grow intellectually; it was recognized that students would probably
never use the target language. Classes are taught in the students' mother tongue (L1), with little active
use of the target language. Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word lists. Elaborate
explanations of grammar are always provided. Grammar instruction provides the rules for putting
words together; instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words. Reading of difficult
texts is begun early in the course of study. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are
treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Often the only drills are exercises in translating
disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue, and vice versa. Little or no
attention is given to pronunciation.

The observations and their underlying principles

Observation Principle

The class is reading an excerpt from a novel A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign
language is to be able to read literature. Literary
language is superior to spoken language

Students translate the passage from English An important goal is for students to be able to
to Spanish translate each language into the other

The teacher asks students in their native The ability to communicate in the target language
language if they have any questions. is not a goal of foreign language instruction.

The students write out the answers to reading Primary skills to be developed are reading and
comprehension questions. writing. Little attention is given to speaking and
listening.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher decides whether an answer is The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is
correct or not very important that students get the correct answer.

Students translate new words from English It is possible to find native language equivalents for
Into Spanish. all target language words.

Students learn that English „-ty‟ corresponds Learning is facilitated through attention to
to –dad and -tad in Spanish similarities between the target language and the
native language.

Students are given a grammar rule for the use It is important students learn about the form of the
of a direct object with two-word verbs target language.

Students apply a rule to examples they are Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule
given. is a useful pedagogical technique.

Students memorize vocabulary. Language learning provides good mental exercise.

The teacher asks students to state the Students should be conscious of the grammatical
grammar rule. rules of the target language.

Students memorize present tense, past tense, Wherever possible, verb conjugations should be
and past participle forms of one set of committed to memory.
irregular verbs,

The teacher goals: According to the teacher following this method, the purposes of language
learning is to: enable students to read literature, provide students with good mental exercise.

The roles of the teacher & the students: The roles are very traditional. The teacher is the authority
in the classroom. The students do as she says so they can learn what she knows.

Characteristics of teaching/learning process:

 Students are taught to translate from one language to another. ,

 Students study grammar deductively.
 Students also learn grammatical paradigms.
 Students memorize native language equivalent for target language words.

Interaction: Most of interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students. There is little
student initiation and little student- student interaction.

Students’ feelings: In this method, there are no principles which relate to this area.
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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Views on language & culture: Literary language is considered superior to spoken language and is
therefore the language that students study. Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine
arts.

Emphasis: Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading and writing are the primary skills
that the students work on. There is much less attention given to speaking and listening. Pronunciation
receives little, if any, attention.

The role of the native language: The meaning of the target language is made clear by translating
it into the students‟ native language. The language that is used in class is mostly the students‟ native
language.

Evaluation: Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their native language to the
target language or vice versa are used. Questions that ask students to apply grammar rules are also
common.

Response to errors: Having the students get the correct answer is considered very important. If
students make errors or do not know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.

Deductive Grammar: In the Grammar-Translation Method, students study grammar deductively;

that is to say, they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then
are asked to apply the rules to other examples.

Techniques:

 Translation of a literary passage. Students translate a reading passage from the target
language into their native language. Vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are
studied in subsequent lessons.
 Use of words in the sentences: In order to show that students understand the meaning and
use of new vocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.
 Composition: The last technique to be mentioned here is composition in which the teacher
gives the students a topic to write in the target language.
 Reading comprehension questions. The first group of questions asks for information
contained in the passage. The second group requires inferences. The third group requires
students to relate the passage to their own experience.
 Antonyms/ synonyms:
 This is another technique associated with the method in which students are given a set of
words and are asked to find antonyms or synonyms in the reading passage.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

 Cognates: Still another technique used in the method is to teach students to recognize
cognates by learning the spelling or sound pattern that correspond between the languages.
 Deductive application of rule: Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exception to
each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some
different examples.
 Fill-in-the-blanks: Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in
the blanks with new vocabulary items of a particular grammar type, such as prepositions or
verbs with different tenses.
 Memorization: Students are given lists of target vocabulary words and the native language
equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Students are also required to memorize
grammatical rules.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

CHAPTER 3

The Direct Method

The Direct Method is not new. Most recently, it was revived as a method when the goal of
instruction became learning how to use the target language to communicate. Since the Grammar-
Translation Method was not very effective in preparing students to use the target language
communicatively, the Direct Method became popular. The Direct Method has one very basic rule:
No translation is allowed. That is to say, meaning is conveyed directly in the target language through
the use of demonstration and visual aids.

The direct method, sometimes also called natural method, is a method that refrains from using the
learners' native language and just uses the target language. It was established in Germany and France
around 1900. The direct method operates on the idea that second language learning must be an
imitation of first language learning, as this is the natural way humans learn any language - a child
never relies on another language to learn its first language, and thus the mother tongue is not necessary
to learn a foreign language. This method places great stress on correct pronunciation and the target
language from outset. It advocates teaching of oral skills at the expense of every traditional aim of
language teaching. According to this method, printed language and text must be kept away from
second language learner for as long as possible, just as a first language learner does not use printed
word until he has good grasp of speech. Learning of writing and spelling should be delayed until after
the printed word has been introduced, and grammar and translation should also be avoided because
this would involve the application of the learner's first language. All above items must be avoided
because they hinder the acquisition of a good oral proficiency.

Observations and their underlying Principles

Observations Principles

The students read aloud a passage about United Reading should be taught from the beginning of
States geography. language instruction.

The teacher points to a part of the map after each Objects :e.g. realia or pictures) should be used
sentence is read. to help students understand the meaning.

The teacher uses the target language to ask the The native language should not be used in the
students if they have a question. classroom.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher answers the students‟ questions by The teacher should demonstrate, not explain or
drawing on the blackboard or giving examples. translate.

The teacher asks questions about the map in the Students should learn to think in the target
target language. language as soon as possible.

Students ask questions about the map. The purpose of language learning is
communication: therefore students need to learn
how to ask questions as well as answer them).

The teacher works with the students on the Pronunciation should be worked on right from
pronunciation of „ Appalachian‟. the beginning of language instruction.

The teacher corrects a grammar error by asking Self-correction facilitates language learning.
the students to make a choice

The teacher asks questions about the students; Lessons should contain some conversational
students ask each other questions. activity- some opportunity for students to use
language in real contexts

The students fill in the blanks with prepositions Grammar should be taught inductively. There
practiced in the lesson. may never be an explicit grammar rule given.

The teacher dictates a paragraph about United Writing is an important skill, to be developed
States geography. from the beginning of language instruction.

All of the lessons of the week involve United The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not
States geography. usually on linguistic structures.

A proverb is used to discuss how people in the Learning another language also involves
U.S. view punctuality. learning how speakers of that language live.

The teachers' goals: Teachers who use the Direct Method intend that students learn how to
communicate in the target language. In order to do this successfully, students should learn to think in
the target language.

The roles of the teachers & the students: Although the teacher directs the class activities, the student
role is less passive than in the Grammar Translation Method.

Characteristics of the teaching/learning process: In this method, students need to associate

meaning and the target language directly. Students speak in the target language a great deal. In the

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Direct Method, is based upon situations or topics. Grammar is taught inductively. An explicit
grammar rule may never be given.

Inductive Grammar teaching: In Direct Method Grammar is taught inductively; that is, the students
are presented with examples and they figure out the rule or generalization from the examples.

Interaction: In the Direct Method the initiation of the interaction goes both ways, from teacher to the
students and from students to teacher, although the latter is often teacher directed.

Students’ feelings: There are no principles of the method which relates to this area.

View on language: Language is primarily spoken, not written. Therefore, students study common,
everyday speech in the target language.

View on culture: The students study culture consisting of the history of the people who speak the
target language, the geography of the target countries, and the information about the daily lives of the
speakers of the language.

Emphasis: Vocabulary is emphasized over grammar. Although work on all four skills occurs from
the start, oral communication is seen as basic. Pronunciation also receives attention from the
beginning.

Evaluation: In the Direct Method, students are asked to use the language, not to demonstrate their
knowledge about the language. They are asked to do so using both oral and written skills.

Response to errors: The teacher, employing various techniques, tries to get students to self-correct.

Some techniques used in the Direct Method

 Reading aloud: Students takes turn reading sections of a passage, play, or dialog out loud.
At the end of each students turn, the teacher uses gestures, pictures, realia, examples, or other
means to make the meaning of the section clear.
 Questions and answer exercise: This exercise is conducted only in the target language.
Students are asked questions and answer in full sentences so that they practice new words.
 Getting students to self-correct: The teacher has the students self-correct by asking them to
make a choice between what they said and an alternative answer he supplied.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

 Conversation practice: The teacher asks students a number of questions in the target
language, which the students have to understand to be able to answer correctly.
 Fill-in-the-blank exercise: This technique has already been discussed in the Grammar
Translation Method, but differs in its application in the Direct Method. In the Direct Method,
all items in „fill-in-the-blank exercises‟ are in the target language. No explicit grammar rule
would be applied. The students should induce the grammar rule they need to fill the blanks
from the examples.
 Dictation: The teacher reads the passage three times. In the first and the last time, he reads
with normal speed. In the second time, he reads phrase by phrase, allowing the students to
write down what they have heard.
 Map drawing: This technique is used to give students listening comprehension practice. The
students are given a map with the geographical features unnamed. Then the teacher gives the
students directions so that the students, following the instruction, have a completely labeled
map.
 Paragraph writing: The teacher asks the students to write a paragraph on a topic which has
already been introduced to them through the reading passage. They can write the paragraph
from memory, or they can use the reading passage in the lesson as a model.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 4

The Audio-Lingual Method

The Audio-Lingual Method, like the Direct Method, is an oral-based approach. However,
rather than emphasizing vocabulary acquisition, the Audio-Lingual Method drills students in the use
of grammatical sentence patterns. The Audio-Lingual Method, unlike the Direct Method, has a strong
theoretical base in linguistics (Charles Fries: 1945) led the way in applying principles from structural
linguistics in developing the method. In the development of the Audio-lingual Method, principles
from psychology (Skinner 1957) were also incorporated. It was thought that the way to acquire the
sentence patterns of the target language was through conditioning.

This method is based on the principles of behavior psychology. It adapted many of the principles and
procedures of the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of speaking skills. The audio-lingual
method has students listen to or view recordings of language models acting in situations. Students
practice with a variety of drills, and the instructor emphasizes the use of the target language at all
times. The audio-lingual method was used by the United States Army for "crash" instruction in
foreign languages during World War II. Due to weaknesses in performance, audio-lingual methods
are rarely the primary method of instruction today.

New material is presented in the form of a dialogue. Based on the principle that language learning is
habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and over-
learning. Structures are sequenced and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using
repetitive drills. Little or no grammatical explanations are provided; grammar is taught inductively.
Skills are sequenced: Listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed in order. Vocabulary is
strictly limited and learned in context. Teaching points are determined by contrastive analysis
between L1 and L2. There is abundant use of language laboratories, tapes and visual aids. There is
an extended pre-reading period at the beginning of the course. Great importance is given to precise
native-like pronunciation. Use of the mother tongue by the teacher is permitted, but discouraged
among and by the students. Successful responses are reinforced; great care is taken to prevent learner
errors. There is a tendency to focus on manipulation of the target language and to disregard content
and meaning.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Observations and their underlying principles

Observations Principles

The teacher introduce a new dialog. Language forms do not occur by themselves;
they occur most naturally within a context.

The teacher uses only the target language in the The native language and the target language
classroom. Actions, pictures, or realia are used have separate linguistics systems. They should
to give meaning otherwise. be kept apart.

The teacher introduces the dialogs and drills by One of the teacher's major roles is that of a
modeling them; she also corrects model of the target language.
mispronunciation by modeling correct sounds.

The students repeat each line of the new dialog Language learning is a process of habit
several times. formation. The more often something is
repeated, the stronger the habit and the greater
the learning.

The students stumble over one of the lines of the It is important to prevent learners from making
dialog. The teacher uses a backward build up errors. Errors lead to the formation of bad habits.
drill.

The teacher initiates a chain drill in which each The purpose of language learning is to learn how
student greets another. to use the language to communicate.

Observation: The teacher uses a single- slot and In order to create new sentences, the students
multiple-slot substitution drills. must learn which part of speech occupies which
slots.

The teacher says, „Very good‟, when the Positive reinforcement helps the students to
students answer correctly. develop correct habits.

The teacher uses spoken cues and picture cues. Students should learn to respond to both verbal
and nonverbal stimuli.

The teacher conducts transformation and Each language has a finite number of patterns.
question-and-answer drills. Pattern practice helps students to form the habit
of using them.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher poses questions to the students Students should „overlearn‟, i.e. learn to answer
rapidly. automatically without stopping to think.

: New vocabulary is introduced through lines of The major objective of language teaching is the
the dialog; vocabulary is limited. structural patterns. Vocabulary can be learned
afterward.

Students are given no grammar rule; Like native language learning, the rules of the
grammatical points are taught through examples target language should be induced from
and drills examples.

The teacher does a contrastive analysis of the The major challenge of foreign language
target language and the students‟ native teaching is getting students to overcome the
language in order to locate the places where the habits of their native language. A comparison
students may have trouble. between the languages will reveal the areas of
difficulties.

The students do some limited written work. Speech is more basic to language than written
form. The natural order of language acquisition
is: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

The supermarket alphabet game and discuss of Language is not separated from culture. Culture
American and football is included. is not only literature and fine arts, but also the
everyday behavior of people

The teacher goals: Teachers want their students to be able to use the target language
communicatively. In order to do this, they believe students need to overlearn the language and use it
automatically.

The roles of the teacher and the students: The teacher is like an orchestra leader, directing and
controlling the language behavior of the students. Students are imitators of the teacher's model or the
tape.

Characteristics of the teaching/ learning process: New vocabulary and structural patterns are
presented through dialogs. Grammar is induced from the examples given. Cultural information is
contextualized in the dialogs. Reading and writing are based upon the oral work.

Interaction: There is student-to-student interaction in chain drills, but this interaction is teacher-
directed. Most of the interaction is between teacher and students and is initiated by the teacher.
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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Students’ feeling? There are no principle of the method that relates to this area.

View on language: The view of language in the Audio-lingual Method has been influenced by
descriptive linguistics. Every language is seen as having its own unique system. Everyday speech is
emphasized in the method. The level of complexity of the speech is graded so that beginning students
are presented with only simple patterns.

What areas of language is emphasized? Vocabulary is kept to a minimum while the students are
mastering the sound system and grammatical patterns. A grammatical pattern is not the same as a
sentence.

What language skills are emphasized? The natural order of skills presentation is adhered to:
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The oral/aural skills receives most of attention.
Pronunciation is taught from the beginning.

The role of the native language: The habit of the students‟ native language are thought to interfere
with the students‟ attempts to master the target language. Therefore, the students‟ native language is
not used.

Evaluation: The tests in this method are discrete-point in nature, that is, each question on the test
will focus on only one point of the language at a time.

Response to errors: Students errors should be avoided through the teacher's awareness of where
the students will have difficulty and restriction of what they are they are taught to say.

Some techniques used in Audio lingual method

 Dialog memorization
 backward buildup,
 Repetition drill
 Chain drill,
 Single-slot substitution drill
 Multiple-slot substitution drill
 Transformation drill
 Question-and answer drill

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 5

The Silent Way

This method created by Caleb Gattegno (1972) begins by using a set of colored rods and
verbal commands in order to achieve the following: To avoid the use of the vernacular. To create
simple linguistic situations that remain under the complete control of the teacher to pass on to the
learners the responsibility for the utterances of the descriptions of the objects shown or the actions
performed. To let the teacher concentrate on what the students say and how they are saying it, drawing
their attention to the differences in pronunciation and the flow of words. To generate a serious game-
like situation in which the rules are implicitly agreed upon by giving meaning to the gestures of the
teacher and his mime. To permit almost from the start a switch from the lone voice of the teacher
using the foreign language to a number of voices using it. This introduces components of pitch, timbre
and intensity that will constantly reduce the impact of one voice and hence reduce imitation and
encourage personal production of one's own brand of the sounds. To provide the support of perception
and action to the intellectual guess of what the noises mean, thus bring in the arsenal of the usual
criteria of experience already developed and automatic in one's use of the mother tongue. To provide
a duration of spontaneous speech upon which the teacher and the students can work to obtain a
similarity of melody to the one heard, thus providing melodic integrative schemata from the start.
Teaching is subordinate to learning and the teacher always starts from the point of where the students
are, not what he/she wants to teach. Materials The complete set of materials utilized as the language
learning progresses include: A set of colored wooden rods A set of wall charts containing words of a
"functional" vocabulary and some additional ones; a pointer for use with the charts in Visual Dictation
A color coded phonic chart(s) Tapes or discs, as required; films Drawings and pictures, and a set of
accompanying worksheets Transparencies, three texts, a Book of Stories, worksheets.

One of the shortcomings of the Audio-Lingual Method was the students‟ inability to readily
transfer the habits they had mastered in the classroom to communicative use outside of it.

A reaction against the method: Linguists Noam Chomsky argued that language acquisition could
not possibly take place through habit formation since people create and understand utterances they
have never heard before.

An Alternative view: Chomsky proposed that speakers have a knowledge of underlying abstract
rules, which allow them to understand and create novel utterances. So language is not a product of
habit formation, but rather of rule formation

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Cognitive Approach: The emphasis on human cognition led to the establishment of the Cognitive
Approach. Rather than simply being responsive to stimuli in the environment, learners formulate
hypotheses to discover the rules of the language. According to cognitive approach, errors were
inevitable and were signs that learners were actively testing their hypotheses. In the early 1970s there
were great interest in applying this approach to language teaching. No language teaching method ever
really developed from the Cognitive Approach; instead a number of „innovative methods‟ emerged.
In the next few chapters we will take a look at these.

Although Caleb Gattegno's Silent Way did not stem directly from the Cognitive Approach, it shares
certain principles with it. One of the basic principles of the Silent Way is that: Teaching should be
subordinated to learning. This principle is in keeping with the active search for rules ascribed to the
learner in the Cognitive Approach. Gattegno look at language learning from the perspective of the
learner. He said that learning is a process which we initiate by ourselves by mobilizing our inner
resources to meet challenge at hand.

Observations and their underlying principles

The teacher points to five blocks of color The teacher should start with something the
without saying anything. The blocks of color students already know and build from that to the
represent the sounds of five English vowels unknown. Languages share a number of
close to the five simple vowels of Portuguese. features, sounds being the most basic.
Observation: The teacher points to the first Language learners are intelligent and bring with
block of color and says /a/. Several students say them the experience of already learning a
/e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ as the teacher points to the other language. The teacher should give only what
four blocks. help is necessary.
The teacher does not model the new sounds, but Language is not learned by repeating after a
rather uses gestures to show the students how to model. Students need to develop their own
modify the Portuguese sounds. „inner criteria‟ for correctness.
Students take turns tapping out the sounds. Students‟ action can tell the teacher whether or
not they have learned.
One student says, ‘A esquerda, to help Students should learn to rely on each other and
another. themselves.
The teacher works with gestures, and Principle: The teacher works with the students
sometimes instructions in the students 'native while the students work on the language.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

language, to help the students to produce the

target language sounds as accurately as possible.
The students learn the sounds of new blocks of The teacher make use of what students already
color by tapping out the names of their know.
classmates
The teacher points to a rod and then to three Learning involves transferring what one knows
blocks of color on the sound-color chart. The to new contexts.
students respond,‟ rod‟.
The teacher points to the words „a‟ and „rod‟ Reading is worked on from the beginning but
on the word chart. follows from what students have learned to say.

The teacher sits down at the table and is silent. Silence is a tool. It helps to foster autonomy.
After a minute, a girl points to a rod and says ,‟A
rod.‟
The teacher points to a particular rod and taps Meaning is made clear by focusing students‟
out „ a blue rod‟ on the sound-color chart. perceptions, not through translation.
One students tries to say „ a pink rod‟ and has Principle: Students can learn from one another.
trouble. He looks to the teacher, but the teacher The teacher‟ silence encourages group
remains silent and looks to the other students. cooperation.
The first student tries to say „ a pink rod‟ If the teacher praises or criticizes students, they
again. This time the teacher accepts the student's will be less self-reliant. The teacher's actions can
correct pronunciation. interfere with students‟ developing their own
criteria.
Another students has trouble pronouncing part Errors are important and necessary to learning.
of the phrase „ a pink rod‟. Using gestures, the They show the teacher where things are unclear.
teacher isolates the trouble spot for her.
After locating the error, the teacher does not If students are simply given answers, they
supply the correct language until all self- will not retain them.
correction options have failed.
The teacher mouths the correct sound, but does Students need to learn to listen to themselves.
not vocalize it.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The student's pronunciation is improved but Principle: At the beginning, the teacher needs to
still not as close to the target language sounds as look for progress, not perfection. Learning takes
some of the students are able to come. The place in time. Students learn at different rates.
teacher works with her a bit longer.
The teacher listens attentively. A teacher's silence frees the teacher to closely
observe the students‟ behavior.
The teacher says, Take the green rod, only once. Students learn they must give the teacher their
attention in order not to miss what he says.
Student's attention is a key to learning.

The students take turns issuing and complying Students should engage in a great deal of
with commands to take a rode of certain color. meaningful practice without repetition.
The students practice commands with The elements of the language are introduced
compound objects. logically, expanding upon what students already
know.
The students take turns tapping out the Students gain autonomy in the language by
sentences of their choice on the word charts. exploring it and by making choices.
Some students choose to tap out simple Language is for self-expression.
commands; others tap out more complex ones.
The teacher asks the students for their The teacher can gain valuable information from
reactions to the lessons. student feedback.
There is no homework assigned. Some learning takes place naturally as we sleep.
Students will naturally work on the day's lesson
then
In subsequent lessons, the students will learn to The Syllabus is composed of linguistic
use a number of different linguistic structures. structures.
The students will practice making sentences The structures of the syllabus are not arranged
with different combinations of the linguistic in a linear fashion, but rather are constantly
structures being recycled.
The students will practice writing the sentences The skills of speaking, reading, and writing
they create. reinforce one another.

The teacher goals: Students should be able to use the language for self-expressions. In order to do
this, they need to develop independence from the teacher, to develop their own inner criteria for
correctness.
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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The roles of the teacher and the students: The 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, and to actively engage
in exploring the language.

Characteristics of the teaching/learning process: Students begin the study of language through its
basic building blocks, its sounds. The teacher sets up situations that focus student's attention on the
structures of the language. The teacher uses the students‟ errors as evidence of where the language
is unclear to students and, hence, where to work. The students receives a great deal of practice with
a given target language structure without repetition for its own sake. They gain autonomy in the
language by exploring it.

Interaction: For much of the student- teacher interaction, the teacher is silent. He is still very active
listening attentively to students‟ speech, and silently working with them on their production through
the use of nonverbal gestures.

What about the students’ feelings? The teacher constantly observes the students. When their
feelings interfere, the teacher tries to find ways for the students to overcome them.

Views on language & culture: Languages of the world share a number of features. However, each
language also has its own unique reality, or spirit. The culture is inseparable from the Language.

What areas of language are emphasized? Pronunciation is worked on from the beginning. There is
also a focus on the structures of the language, although explicit grammar rules may never be supplied.
Vocabulary is somewhat restricted.

Language skills: All four skills are worked on from the beginning of the course, although there is a
sequence in that students learn to read and write what they have already produced orally.

The role of the native language: The students‟ native language is used to give instructions when it
is necessary. It is also used during the feedback sessions. Knowledge students possess of their native
language can be exploited by the teacher of the target language.

Evaluation: Although the teacher may never give a formal test, he assesses student learning all the
time. One criterion of whether or not students have learned is their ability to transfer what have been
studying to new contexts.

Response to errors: Student errors are seen as a natural, indispensable part of the learning process.
The teacher uses student errors as a basis for deciding whether further work is necessary.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Techniques

 Sound-color chart. The chart contains blocks of color, each one representing a sound in the
target language. The teacher, and later the students, points to blocks of color on the chart to
form syllables, words, and even sentences.
 Teacher’s silence: The teacher gives just as much help as is necessary and then is silent. Or
the teacher sets up an unambiguous situation, puts a language structure into circulation, and
then is silent.
 Peer correction: Students are encouraged to help another student when he is experiencing
difficulty. Any help should be offered in a cooperative manner, not a competitive one.
 Rods: At the beginning level, the rods can be used to teach colors and numbers. Later on they
can be used for more complicated structures.
 Self-correction gestures: For example, the teacher may put his palms together and then move
them outwards to signal to the students the need to lengthen the particular vowel they are
working on.
 Word chart: The teacher, and later the students, points to vowels on the wall charts in a
sequence so that they can read aloud the sentences they have spoken.
 Fidel charts: The teacher, and later the students point to the color-coded Fidel charts in order
that students associate the sounds of the language with their spelling.
 Structured feedback: Students are invited to make observations about the day's lesson and
what they have learned. The teacher accepts the students‟ comments in a nondefense manner.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 6

Desuggestopedia

The methods presented in this chapter and the next chapters are illustrative of what Celce-
Murcia calls an affective-humanistic approach, an approach in which there is respect for student's
feelings. The originator of this method, Georgi Lazanov, believes as does Silent Way's Caleb
Gattegno that language learning can occur at a much faster rate than ordinarily transpires.
Suggestopedia is one of the teaching methods developed by Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi
Lozanov based on the study of Suggestology. The method has been used in different fields of studies
but mostly in the field of foreign language learning. Lozanov claimed that by using this method one
can teach languages approximately three to five times as quickly as conventional methods. The theory
applied positive suggestion in teaching when it was developed in the 1970s.

However, as improved, it has focused more on “desuggestive learning” and now is often called
“desuggestopedia.” Desuggestopedia is the latest of the six major foreign-language teaching methods
known to language teaching experts (the oldest being the grammar translation method.) The name of
Suggestopedia is from the words “suggestion” and “pedagogy.” Suggestopedia is the latest of the six
major foreign-language teaching methods known to language teaching experts (the oldest being the
grammar translation method.)

Observations and their underlying principles

The classroom is bright and colorful. :Principle: Learning is facilitated in a cheerful environment.

Among the posters hanging around the room are Students can learn from what is present in the
several containing grammatical information environment, even if their attention is not directed to
Desuggestopedia :Principle: it: Peripheral learning.

The teacher speaks confidently. If students trust and respect the teacher's authority,
they will accept and retain information better

The teacher gives the students the impression that The teacher should recognize that learners bring
learning the target language will be easy and certain psychological barriers with them to the
enjoyable. learning situation. She should attempt to desuggest
these.

The students choose new names and identities. Assuming a new identity enhances students‟ feeling
of security and allows them to be more open.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The students introduce themselves to the teacher. The dialog that the students learn contains language
they can use immediately.

The students play rhythmic instruments as they sing Songs are useful for „freeing the speech muscles‟
a song and evoking positive emotions.

The teacher distributes a lengthy handout to the . The teacher should integrate indirect positive
class. The title of the dialog is „To want is to be able suggestions: there is no limit to what you can do into
to. the learning situation.

The teacher briefly mentions a few points about The teacher should present and explain the grammar
English grammar and vocabulary. and vocabulary, but not dwell on them.

There are reproductions of classical painting Fine art provides positive suggestions for students.
throughout the text.

Observation: In the left column is the dialog in the One way that meaning is made clear is through
target language. In the right column is the native native language translation.
language translation.

The teacher reads the dialog with a musical Communication takes place on „two planes‟: on one
accompaniment. She matches her voice to the the linguistic message is encoded; and on the other
rhythm and intonation of the music. are factors which influence the linguistics message.
Communication takes place on „two planes‟. On the
conscious plane, the leaner attends to the language;
on the subconscious plane, the music suggests that
learning is easy and pleasant.

For the homework, the students are to read the dialog At these times, the distinction between the conscious
at night and in the morning. and the subconscious is most blurred and, therefore,
learning can occur.

The teacher gives the students hats to wear for the Dramatization is a particularly valuable way of
different characters in the dialog. The students take playfully activating the material. Fantasy reduces
turns reading portions of the dialog. barriers to learning.

Observation: The teacher tells the students that The fine arts :music, art, and drama) enable
they are auditioning for a play. suggestions to reach the subconscious. The arts
should, therefore, be integrated as much as
possible into the teaching process.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher teaches the students a children's : It is desirable the students achieve a state of
song. ‘infantilization' so they will be more open to
learning.

The teacher and students play a game. In the atmosphere of play, the conscious
attention of the learner does not focus on
linguistic forms, but rather on using the
language.

The student makes an error and the teacher Errors are corrected gently, not in a direct,
corrects the error in a soft voice. confrontational manner.

The teacher goals Teachers hope to accelerate the process by which students learn to use a foreign
language for everyday communication.

The role of the teacher & the students: The teacher is the authority in the classroom. If the students
trust the teacher, they can feel more secure. If they feel secure, they can be more spontaneous and
less inhibited. Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: A Desuggestopedia course
is conducted in a bright and cheerful classroom. Posters displaying grammatical information are hung
around the room to take advantage of students‟ peripheral learning. Students select language names
and choose new occupations. The texts students work from are handouts containing lengthy dialogs.
There are two major phases: the receptive phase and the activation phase.

Interaction: The teacher initiates interactions with the whole group of students and with the
individual's right from the beginning of a language course.

What about students’ feeling? A great deal of attention is given to students‟ feelings in this method.
One of the fundamental principles of the method is that if students are relaxed and confident, they
will learn language easily.

Views on language: Language is the first of two-plane process of communication. In the second
plane are the factors which influence the linguistic message.

Views on culture: The culture which students learn concerns the everyday life of people who speak
the language. The use of the fine arts is also important in Desuggestopedic classes.

What areas of language is emphasized? Vocabulary is emphasized. Grammar is dealt with

explicitly but minimally. : Speaking communicatively is emphasized. Students also read and write in
the target language.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The role of the student native language: Native-language translation is used to make the meaning
of the dialog clear. The teacher also uses the native language in class when necessary.

Evaluation: Evaluation usually is conducted on students‟ normal in-class performance and not
through formal tests, which would threaten the relaxed atmosphere considered essential for
accelerated learning.

Response to student errors: Errors are corrected gently, with the teacher using a soft voice.

Techniques

 Classroom set-up: The challenge for the teacher is to create a classroom environment which
is bright and cheerful.
 Peripheral learning: This technique is based upon the idea that we perceive much more in
our environment than that to which we consciously attend.
 Positive suggestion: It is the teacher's responsibility to orchestrate the suggestive factors in a
learning situation, thereby helping students break down the barriers to learning that they bring
with them.
 Direct & indirect suggestions: Direct suggestion appeals to the students‟ consciousness.
Indirect suggestion which appeals to the students‟ subconscious, is actually the more powerful
of the two.
 Choose a new identity: The students choose a target name and a new occupation. As the
course continues, the students have an opportunity to develop a whole biography about their
fictional selves.
 Other Techniques: Role play, First concert, Second concert, Primary activation, and creative
activation are other techniques used in the method.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 7

Community Language Learning

This method advises teachers to consider their students as whole persons. Whole person
learning means that teachers consider not only their students‟ intellect, but also their feelings. The
method takes its principles from the more general Counseling Learning approach developed by
Charles A. Curran who was influenced by Carl Rogers "humanistic psychology". Adults are
threatened by the change inherent in learning. Curran believed that a way to deal with the fears of
students is for teachers to become language counselors.

The foreign language learner's tasks, according to CLL are (1) to apprehend the sound system
of the language (2) assign fundamental meanings to individual lexical units and (3) construct a basic
grammar In these three steps, the CLL resembles the Natural Approach to language teaching in which
a learner is not expected to speak until he has achieved some basic level of comprehension.

There are 5 stages of development in this method. 1. “Birth” stage: feeling of security and
belonging are established. 2. As the learners' ability improve, they achieve a measure of independence
from the parent. 3. Learners can speak independently. 4. The learners are secure enough to take
criticism and being corrected. 5. The child becomes an adult and becomes the knower.

Observations and their underlying principles:

Observation Principle

The teacher greets the students, introduces Building a relationship with and among
himself, and has the students introduce students is very important
themselves.

The teacher tells the students what they are Any new learning experience can be
going to do. threatening. People learn non-defensively when
they feel secure.

Students have a conversation Language is for communication

The teacher stands behind the students. The superior knowledge and power of the
teacher can be threatening.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher translates what the students want to The teacher give the students what they need to
say in chunks. be successful.

The students are invited to talk about how they Teacher and students are whole persons.
felt during the conversation. Community language learning :

The teacher understands what the students say The teacher ‘counsels’ the students. He does not
offer advice, but rather shows them that he is
really listening to them.

The students listen to the tape and give the The students‟ native language is used to make
Indonesian translation. the meaning clear.

The teacher reads the transcript three times. The Students need quite reflection time in order to
students relax and listen. learn.

In the Human Computer activity, the students Student's best learn when they have a choice in
choose which phrase they want to practice what they practice. Students develop an inner
pronouncing; the teacher repeats the phrase until wisdom about where they need to work.
the learner is satisfied and stops.

Students work together in groups of three. In groups, students can begin to feel a sense of
community and can learn from each other as
well as the teacher

The teacher corrects by repeating correctly the The teacher should work in non-threatening way
sentence the students have created. with what the leaner has produced.

The students read their sentences to the class. Developing a community among the class
members builds trust and reduces the threat of
the new learning situation.

The teacher plays the tape two more times while Retention will best take place somewhere in
the students listen. between novelty and familiarity.

The students are once again invited to talk about In addition to reflecting on the language,
the experience in that evening. students reflect on what they have experienced

Other activities with the transcript of the first In the beginning stages, the „syllabus‟ is
conversation occur. generated primarily by the students.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher goals: The teacher wants the students to learn how to use the target language
communicatively, to learn about their own learning, to take responsibility for it, and to learn how to
learn from one another.

The role of the teacher: The teacher's initial role is a counselor. Initially the learners are very
dependent upon the teacher. However, as they continue to study they become increasingly
independent. Five stages have been identified from dependency to mutual interdependency with the
teacher. In stages I, II, and III, the teacher focuses not only on the language but also on being
supportive of learners. In Stage IV, the teacher can focus more on accuracy. Accuracy is subordinated
to fluency in the first three stages. The reverse is true in Stages IV and V.

Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: In this method, students typically have a
conversation using their native language. The teacher translates what they want to say in chunks.
These chunks are recorded, and when they are replayed, it sounds like a fairly fluid conversation.
Later, a transcript is made of the conversation, and native language equivalents are given. According
to Curran, there are six elements necessary for non-defensive learning: security, aggression, attention,
reflection, retention, and discrimination.

Interaction: The nature of student-teacher interaction changes within the lesson and over time. At all
times initially, the teacher structures the class; at later stages, the students assume more responsibility.
Students can learn from their interaction with each other as well as their interaction with the teacher.
A spirit of cooperation, not competition, can prevail.

What about the student feelings? Responding to the students‟ feelings is considered very important
in Counseling-Learning. In this method, the attempt is to provide a sense of security for students in a
number of ways.

Views on language & culture: Language is for communication. At first, the focus is on sharing and
belonging between persons through the language tasks. Then the focus shifts to the target language.
Culture is an integral part of language learning.

What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized? : Particular
grammar points, pronunciation patterns, and vocabulary are worked with. The most important skills
are understanding and speaking the language at the beginning.

The role of the students’ native language: Students‟ security is initially enhanced by using their
native language. Directions in class are conducted in the native language. In later stages, more and
more of the target language is used.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Evaluation: The test would likely be more of an integrative test than a discrete point one. It is also
likely that teachers would encourage their students to self-evaluate.

Techniques: Tape recording student conversation, Transcription, Reflection on experience,

Reflective listening, Human Computer, Small group tasks are techniques used in the method.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 8

Total Physical Response

The Comprehension Approach is a general approach to foreign language instruction which gives the
importance to listening comprehension. In Krashen and Terrell's Natural Approach which fits within
Comprehension Approach, emphasis is placed on students‟ developing basic communication skills
and vocabulary through their receiving meaningful exposure to the target language. It is thought that
if the teacher uses language that is just in advance of students‟ current level of proficiency, while
making sure that her input is comprehensible, acquisition will proceed naturally. In this method,
creating a low affective filter is also a condition for learning that is met when there is a good classroom
atmosphere. Another method that fits within the Comprehension Approach is Winitz and Reed's self-
instruction program and Winitz. The learnable. In this method, students listen to tape-recorded words,
phrases, and sentences while they look at accompanying pictures. The meaning of the utterances is
clear from the context the picture provides.

TPR stands for Total Physical Response and was created by Dr. James J Asher. It is based upon the
way that children learn their mother tongue. Parents have 'language-body conversations' with their
children, the parent instructs and the child physically responds to this. The parent says, "Look at
mummy" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so. These conversations continue for many months
before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can't speak during this time, the child is
taking in all of the language; the sounds and the patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough,
the child reproduces the language quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the
language classroom. In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. She starts by saying a word
('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and demonstrating an action. The teacher then says the
command and the students all do the action. After repeating a few times it is possible to extend this
by asking the students to repeat the word as they do the action. When they feel confident with the
word or phrase you can then ask the students to direct each other or the whole class. It is more effective
if the students are standing in a circle around the teacher and you can even encourage them to walk
around as they do the action.

The Lexical Approach, also fits within the Comprehension Approach. Lexical Approach. Developed
by Michael Lewis, is less concerned with student production and more concerned with providing
comprehensible input. A fourth method, James Asher's Total Physical Response: TPR, which is the
focus of this chapter, puts the principles of Comprehension Approach into practice.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Observations & their underlying principles

Observations Principles

The teacher gives a command in the target Meaning in the target language can often be
language and performs it with the students. conveyed through actions.

The students say nothing. The students‟ understanding of the target

language should be developed before speaking.

The teacher gives the commands quite quickly. Students can initially learn one part of the
language rapidly by moving their bodies

The teacher sits down and issues commands to The imperative is a powerful linguistic device
the volunteers. through which the teacher can direct student
behavior.

The teacher directs students other than the Students can learn through observing actions as
volunteers. well as by performing the actions themselves.

The teacher introduces new commands after she It is very important that the students feel
is satisfied that the first ones have been successful. Feeling of success and low anxiety
mastered. facilitate learning.

The teacher changes the order of commands Students should not be made to memorize fixed
routines.

When the students make an error, the teacher Correction should be carried out in an
repeats the command while acting it out. unobtrusive manner.

The teacher gives the students commands they Students must develop flexibility in
have not heard before. understanding novel combinations of target
language chunks.

The teacher says: ”Jump to the desk”. Everyone Language learning is more effective when it is
laughs. fun.

The teacher writes the new commands on the Spoken language should be emphasized over
blackboard. written language.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

A few weeks later, a student who hasn't spoken Students will begin to speak when they are
before gives commands. ready.

A student says, “Shake hand with your Students are expected to make errors when they
neighbor.” first begin speaking. Teachers should be tolerant
of them.

Teacher goals: Teachers who use TPR believe in the importance of having their students enjoy their
experience in learning to communicate in a foreign language.

What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?

Initially, the teacher is the director of all student behavior. The students are imitators of her nonverbal
model. Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: The first phase of a lesson is one
of modeling. The instructor issues commands to a few students, then performs the actions with them.
In the second phase, the same students demonstrate that they can understand the commands by
performing them alone.

Interaction: Initially the interaction is characterized by the teacher speaking and the students
responding nonverbally. Later on, the students become more verbal and the teacher responds
nonverbally.

What about the student feeling? One of the reasons TPR was developed was to reduce the stress
people feel when studying foreign languages. Feeling of success and low anxiety facilitate learning.

One way is to allow learners to speak when they are ready. Another way to is to make language
learning as enjoyable as possible. Finally, there should not be too much modeling.

Views on language & culture: Just as with the acquisition of the native language, the oral modality
is primary. Culture is the lifestyle of people who speak the language natively.

What areas of language are emphasized? Vocabulary and grammatical structures are emphasized
over other language areas. These are embedded within imperatives.

What language skills are emphasized? Understanding the spoken word should precede its production.
The spoken language is emphasized over written language.

What is the role of the students’ native language? TPR is usually introduced in the student's native
language. After the introduction, rarely would the native language be used. Meaning is made clear
through body movement.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Evaluation: Formal evaluation can be conducted simply by commanding individual students to

perform a series of actions. For more advanced students, the performance of skits they have created
can become the basis for evaluation.

Response to student errors: It is expected that students will make errors when they first begin
speaking. Teachers should be tolerant of them and only correct major errors.

Techniques

Using commands to direct behavior: The use of commands is the major teaching technique of TPR.
The commands are given to get students to perform an action; the action makes the meaning clear.

Role reversal is a technique in which students command their teacher and classmates to perform
some action. Action sequence is another technique used in this method.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 9

Communicative Language Teaching:

The goal of most of the methods we have discussed is for students to learn to communicate in the
target language, but in the 1970s, educators noticed that the methods could not meet the goal in the
right way. Background: Some educators observed that students could produce sentences accurately
in a lesson, but could not use them appropriately when genuinely communicating outside of the
classroom. Others noted that being able to communicate required more than mastering linguistic
structures. Students may know the rules of linguistic usage, but be unable to use the language. In
short, being able to communicate required more than linguistics competence; it required
communicative competence that is, knowing when and how to say what to whom. Such observations
contributed to a shift in the field in the late 1970s and early 1980s from a linguistic structure-centered
approach to a Communicative Approach.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of languages that

emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. Despite a
number of criticisms, it continues to be popular, particularly in Europe, where constructivist views
on language learning and education in general dominate academic discourse.

Communicative Language Teaching aims broadly to apply the theoretical perspective of the
Communicative Approach by making communicative competence the goal of language teaching.

Observations and their underlying principles:

Observation Principle

The teacher distributes a handout that has a copy of Whenever possible, „authentic language‟- language
a sports from a recent newspaper. as it is used in a real context- should be introduced.

The teacher tells the students to underline the Being able to figure out the speaker's or writer's
reporter's predictions and to say which ones they intentions is part of being communicatively
think the reporter feels most certain of and which he competent.
feels least certain.

The teacher gives the students the directions for the The target language is a vehicle for classroom
activity in the target language communication, not just the object of study.

The students try to state the reporter's prediction in One function can have many different linguistic
different words forms.

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Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The students unscramble the sentences of the Students should work with language at the discourse
newspaper article. level.

The students play a language game. Games are important because they have certain
features in common with real communicative events.

The students are asked how they feel about the Students should be given an opportunity to express
predictions. their ideas and opinions.

A student makes an error. The teacher and other Errors are tolerated and seen as a natural outcome of
students ignore it. the development of communication skills.

The teacher gives each group of students a strip story One of the teacher's major responsibilities is to
and a task to perform. establish situations likely to promote
communication.

The students work with a partner to predict what the Communicative interaction encourages cooperative
next picture in the strip story will look like. relationships among students.

The students are to do a role play. The social context of the communicative event is
essential in giving meaning to the utterances.

The teacher reminds the students that one of them is Learning to use language forms appropriately is an
playing the role of the boss and that they should important part of communicative competence.
remember this when speaking to her

The teacher moves from group to group offering The teacher acts as a facilitator in setting up
advice and answering questions. communicative activities.

The students suggest alternative forms they would In communicating, a speaker has a choice not only
use to state a prediction to a colleague. about what to say but also how to say it.

After the role play is finished, the student elicit The grammar and vocabulary that the students learn
relevant vocabulary. follow from the function, situational context, and the
roles of the interlocutors.

For their homework, the students are to listen to a Principle: Students should be given opportunities to
debate on the radio or watch it on television. listen to language as it is used in authentic
communication. They may be coached on strategies
on how to improve their comprehension.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher goals: The goal of the teachers who use Communicative Language Teaching is to enable
students to communicate in the target language.

What is the role of the teacher? The teacher facilitates communication in the classroom. During the
activities he acts as an advisor. He might make note of students‟ errors to be worked on during
accuracy-based activities. What is the role of students? Students are Communicators. They are
actively engaged in negotiating meaning- in trying to make themselves understood and in
understanding others.

Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: The most obvious characteristic of CLT is
that almost everything that is done is done with a communicative intent. Students use language a great
deal through communicative activities.

Communicative activities: Activities that are truly communicative have three features in common:
information gap, choice, and feedback. Use of authentic materials. It is desirable to give students an
opportunity to develop strategies for understanding language as it is actually used.

Interaction: The teacher may present some part of lesson. At other times, he is the facilitator of the
activities. Sometimes he is a communicator. Students interact a great deal with one another.

What about the students’ feeling? One of the basic assumptions of CLT is that by learning to
communicate students will be more motivated to study a foreign language.

How is language viewed? Language is for communication. Linguistic competence, the knowledge
of form and their meaning, is just one part of communicative competence. Another aspect of
communicative competence is the knowledge of the functions language is used for. Learners need
knowledge of forms and meaning and functions. However, they must also use this knowledge and
take into consideration the social situation in order to convey their intended meaning appropriately.

What areas of language are emphasized? :Language functions might be emphasized over forms.
Students work with language at the sup sentential or discourse level. They learn about cohesion and
coherence.

What language skills are emphasized? Students work on all four skills from the beginning. Just as
oral communication takes place through negotiation between speaker and listener, so too is for written
texts.

The role of the native language: Judicious use of the students‟ native language is permitted in the
CLT. However, whenever possible, the target language should be used.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Evaluation A teacher evaluates not only the students‟ accuracy, but also their fluency. A teacher can
informally evaluate his students‟ performance in his role as an advisor or communicator.

Formal evaluation: For more formal evaluation, a teacher is likely to use an integrative test which
has a real communicative function.

Some techniques used in CLT: Authentic materials, scrambled sentences, language games, picture
strip story, and role play are some techniques used in the method.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Chapter 10

In this chapter, we will be investigating three more approaches that make communication central:
content based instruction, task-based instruction, and the participatory approach. The approaches we
examine in this chapter do not begin with functions, or indeed, any other language items. Instead,
they give priority to process over predetermined linguistic content. In these approaches rather than,
learning to use English, students use English to learn it. In spite of their differences, the three
approaches have in common teaching through communication rather than for it.

Content-based instruction: The special contribution of content based instruction is that it integrates
the learning of language with the learning of some other content, often academic subject matter. In
content-based instruction the selection and sequence of language items arise from communicative
needs, not predetermined syllabi.

Observations and their underlying principles

Observations principles

The class is studying geography. The subject matter content is used for language
teaching purposes.

The teacher asks the students what they know Teaching should build on students‟ previous
about a globe experience.

The student call out their answers When learners perceive the relevance of their
enthusiastically as the teacher writes them on the language use, they are motivated to learn.
blackboard.

The teacher supplies the missing language when The teacher „scaffold‟ the linguistic content, i.e.
the students have trouble in explaining a concept helps learners say what it is they want to say by
in the target language. building together with the students to a complete
utterance.

The teacher reads the new vocabulary and then Language is learned most effectively when it is
the students watch a video. used as a medium to convey informational
content of interest to the students.

The students fill in the vocabulary words in the Vocabulary is easier to acquire when there are
blanks in the modified cloze passage as they contextual clues.
watch the video.

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 Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

The teacher provides a number of examples When they work with authentic subject matter,
using the present passive with latitude and students need language support.
longitude coordinates.

For homework, the students are given a map, Communicative competence involves more than
which they are to label based on a descriptive using language conversationally. It also includes
reading they have been given. the ability to read, discuss, and write about
content from other fields.

Content-based approach:

There are different models of content-based instruction. In the first model academic subjects are
learned through the medium of a foreign language.

In the adjunct model, students enroll in a regular academic course. In addition, they take a language
course that is linked to the academic course.

In sheltered- language instruction in a second language environment, a third model of content-based

instruction has been used.

Whole Language Approach:

Although the Whole Language Approach originated in classes for children who speak English as a
native language, it has often been used with second language learners as well. The Whole Language
Approach calls for language to be regarded holistically, rather than as pieces, i.e. the vocabulary
words, grammar structures and pronunciation points.

The top-down approach: In the Whole Language Approach, students work from the top-down,
attempting first to understand the meaning of the overall text before they work on the linguistic forms
comprising it.

The bottom-up approach:

In the bottom-up approach students learn a language piece by piece and then work to put the pieces
in place, constructing whole meaningful texts out of the pieces. Whole Language educators see errors
as part of learning and they embrace the ideas of Vygotsky about the social nature of learning.

Language Experience Approach:

The Language Experience Approach is a technique to teach reading that fits with principles of Whole
Language Approach.

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Task-based instruction:

A task-based approach aims to provide learners with a natural context for language use. As learners
work to complete a task, they have abundant opportunity to interact. In recent years, Task-based
language learning (TBLL), also known as task-based language teaching (TBLT) or task-based
instruction (TBI), has grown steadily in popularity. TBLL is a further refinement of the CLT
approach, emphasizing the successful completion of tasks as both the organizing feature and the basis
for assessment of language instruction.

Observations and their underlying principles.

Observations principles

The teacher tells the class that they are going to The class activities have a perceived purpose
complete a timetable. and a clear outcome.

The teacher begins by having the class help her A pre-task, in which students work through a
begin to fill out a class schedule. This done similar task to one that will later do individually,
through whole-class interaction. is a helpful way to have students see the logic
involved in what they are being asked to do.

The teacher first has the students label the time The teacher breaks down into smaller steps the
periods and then the days. logical thinking process necessary to complete
the task

The students‟ papers were marked by the Students should receive feedback on their level
teacher on the basis of the content. of success in completing a task

Students are asked to design a way to survey the This gives the students more opportunity for
other students about their favorite subjects. authentic and meaningful interaction. Task-
based instruction

Three Types of Tasks.

Prabhu identified three types of tasks. An information-gap activity, an opinion-gap activity, and a
reasoning-gap activity. An information-gap activity involves the exchange of information among
participants to complete a task.
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An opinion-gap activity requires that students give their personal preferences, feelings, or attitudes
to complete a task. A reasoning gap activity requires students to derive some new information by
inferring. Whereas in Prabhu's approach, the teacher designs the tasks, others believe that the way
to begin is to conduct a needs analysis of real world tasks.

Project work: As with a task-based approach, the language practiced in the classroom is not
predetermined, but rather derives from the nature of a particular project that students elect to do.

Participatory Approach: Although it was originated in the early sixties with the work of Paulo
Freire, it was not until the 1980s that the participatory approach started to be discussed in the language
teaching.

In some ways the participatory approach is similar to the content based approach in that it begins with
content that is meaningful to the students and any forms that are worked upon emerge from that
content. What is strikingly different regarding participatory approach is the nature of content. It is not
the content of subject matter texts, but rather content that is based on issues of concerns to students.

Observations and their underlying principles in the participatory approach:

Observations principles

The teacher engages the students in an initial What happens in the classroom should be
discussion about what is happening in their connected with what happens outside that has
lives. relevance to the students.

The teacher leads the class in discussing the Education is most effective when it is
problem, ending with students responding experience-centered, when it relates to students‟
solutions. real needs.

The teacher asks the students if they want to When knowledge is jointly constructed, it
write a group letter. She uses a collaborative becomes a tool to help students find voice and
process to do so. by finding their voices, students can act in the
world. Students learn to see themselves as social
and political being.

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The students work together to edit the letter for Focus on linguistic form occurs within a focus
meaning and form. They continue editing the on content. Language skills are taught in service
letter for homework. of action for change, rather than in isolation.

The students are to bring their revised versions Students can create their own materials, which
of the letter to class can become text for other students.

The students discuss what they have learned in A goal of participatory approach is for students
class. to be evaluating their own learning.

Learning to communicate by communicating, rather than by preparing to do so through practicing the

various pieces of language, is a different way to approach the goal of developing communicative
competence.

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Chapter 11

In this chapter, we will deal with three methodological innovations: learning strategy training,
cooperative learning, and multiple intelligence.

Characteristics of good language learners:

According to Rubin, good language learners are willing and accurate guesser who have a strong desire
to communicate. They attend to both the meaning and the form of their message. They practice and
monitor their own speech as well as the speech of others. In order to maximize their potential and
contribute to their autonomy, language learners need training in learning strategies.

Learning strategy training: Wenden( 1985) observed that language teachers‟ time might be spent
profitably spent in learner training, as much as in language training. Such suggestions led to the idea
of learning strategy training.

Learning strategy training

Observations principles

Prior to the lesson the teacher has been reading The students‟ prior knowledge and learning
the students‟ learning journals, where the experiences should be valued and built upon.
students regularly write about what and how
they are learning.

The teacher decides to have the students work Studying certain learning strategies will
on the strategy of advance organization. contribute to academic success.

The teacher models the use of the strategy using The teacher's job is not only to teach language,
a think-aloud demonstration. but to teach learning.

The students practice the new learning strategy. For many students, strategies have to be learned.
The best way to do this is with „handson‟
experience

The students evaluate their own success in Students need to become independent, self
learning the strategy. regulated learners. Self-assessment contributes
to learner autonomy.

The teacher asks the students to try out the new Principle: An important part of learning a
strategy on a different reading they choose for strategy is being able to transfer it, i.e. use it in
homework that night. a different situation.

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Cooperative Learning:

Cooperative or collaborative learning essentially involves students learning from each other in group.
It is the way that students and teachers work together that is important. In cooperative learning, the
teachers teach students collaborative or social skills so that they can work together more effectively.
Observations and their underlying principles

Observations principles

The vocabulary lesson will be done in Students are encouraged to think in terms of
cooperative groups. Each student is to help the „positive interdependence‟, which means that
other students learn the new vocabulary words. the students are not thinking competitively and
individualistically, but rather cooperatively.

The students ask which groups they should In cooperative learning, students often stay
form. together in the same group for a period of time.

The students are to work on the social skills of Social skills need to be explicitly taught.
encouraging others.

The students appear to be busy working in their Language acquisition is facilitated by students
groups. interacting in the target language.

Students take the test individually. Although students work together, each student
is individually accountable.

Groups move back together to compare and Responsibility and accountability for each
combine scores. other's learning is shared.

The group discusses how the target social skills Each group member should be encouraged to
has been practiced. feel responsible for participating and for
learning.

The teacher gives feedback on how students did Teachers not only teach language, they teach
on the target social skills. cooperation as well.

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Multiple Intelligences:

According to Gardner individuals have at least seven distinct intelligences: :1) Logical/mathematical,
2) Visual/spatial, 3) Body/kinesthetic, 4) Musical/rhythmic, 5) Interpersonal 6) Intrapersonal, 7)
Verbal/linguistics

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