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Yusuf YAYLACI
LECTURE NOTES FOR
PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
Süleyman Demirel University
ALMATY 2011
Оқу-әдістемелік құралы “LECTURE NOTES FOR PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS- METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING”:
:
· 050119 Екі Шетел Тілі мамандығы бойынша жоғары білімнен кейінгі білім берудің Мемлекеттік жалпыға міндетті стандарты;
· «22»_маусым_2006 ж бекітілген « 050119Шет Тілі: Екі Шетел Тілі » мамандығы бойынша жұмыс оқу жоспары;
· ҚР БҒМ «11» мамыр 2005ж. № 289 бұйрығымен бекітілген «Шетел Тілдерін Оқытудың Қәзіргі Әдістемесі» пәнінің оқу бағдарламасы негізінде жазылды.
«Шетел Тілдерін Оқытудың Қәзіргі Әдістемесі» пәнінің оқу-әдістемелік құралын аға оқытушы, магистр, Яйладжы Юсуф жазды және Шетел Тілдері кафедрасының мәжілісінде талқыланды.
«_....._»__......................__2011 ж., хаттама №__..........__
Кафедра меңгерушісі _____________________ Құрманәлі А. А.
(қолы)
Оқу-әдістемелік құралы Шетел Тілдері кафедрасының кеңесімен ұсынылды
«_....._»___....................___2011 ж., хаттама №___........._.
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
Course objectives
SECTION I - Theoretical Basis of FLT Methodology
1.1. Basic concepts of ELT methodology:
“approach, method, technique”
A Historical Overview of Early Methods
The Grammar-Translation Method (19th Century)
Direct Method (Early 20th century)
Contributions of Other Disciplines to Foreign Language Education
Linguistics
Psycholinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Cognitive Linguistics
Cultural Linguistics
Educational Psychology
Approaches to Learning and Motivation in Foreign Language Education
Behavioral Views on Learning
Cognitive Views on Learning
Constructivist Views on Learning
Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching
Science-Research conception
Theory-Philosophy conception
Art-Craft conception
SECTION II- Analyzing Methods of FLT
Methods analysis
Approach, (theories of language, theories of language learning)
Design, (objectives, content choice-the syllabus, types of learning-teaching activities,
learner roles, teacher roles, role of instructional materials,)
Procedure (classroom techniques, practices and behaviors observed when the method is
used such as the interaction type and feedback)
An Overview of Language Learning Theories and Methods
Audio-lingual Method
The Silent Way (C. Gattegno)
Community Language Learning (Charles Curran)
De-suggestopedia(G. Lozanov)
Total Physical Response (TPR) (J. Asher)
The Natural Approach (Krashen & Terrell)
SECTION III- Communication in Foreign Language
Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Teaching)
Eclectic Approach
Content based Instruction
Culture in Foreign Language Teaching
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
This book of lecture notes for the ELT methodology course is designed to address the needs and concerns of pre-service teachers who are university students preparing to teach English as a foreign language in the schools and specialized linguistic gymnasiums at secondary level of education and inservice teachers who need a methods course to update their knowledge of second-language acquisition and instruction for personal growth or towards an academic credit for certification.
The course focuses on a number of concepts central to the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language. Students learn about current theoretical bases for second-language acquisition and how theory informs classroom practice. The course does not promote a particular methodology but rather presents principles of learning from which teachers can draw as they make decisions about instruction. In today's classrooms with diverse learners and curricular options, teachers must possess a repertoire of teaching practices relying on an evolving research and knowledge base.
AIMS
1. To develop an understanding of the theoretical principles and concepts in the underlying methods and techniques utilized in ELT.
2. To develop the practical skills necessary for analyzing and evaluating methods and techniques of foreign language teaching in the EFL classroom.
3. To increase participants' awareness of the different language learning strategies to achieve intercultural communicative competence as the primary goal for foreign language instruction.
4. To develop a working knowledge of the principles of modern language assessment with more focus on designing tests which assess reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar.
5. To develop the participants awareness of the applications of recent information and communication technologies in ELT
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this course, successful participants will be able to:
· demonstrate an understanding of current theories of second-language acquisition research.
· demonstrate the ability to reflect critically on teaching and learning experiences on the course and relate them to the Kazakh educational context by creating lesson segments that reflect theory and practice.
· design performance-based assessments.
· analyze existing tests and construct appropriate language ones;
· understand the relationship between methodological approaches to the teaching of a foreign language and the use of technology;
· manage the use of all sorts of resources and technology as a tool for professional development and to promote student learning.
· design unit and daily lesson plans in alignment with the standards for language learning.
· develop the ability to reflect on their teaching, student learning and to make changes as warranted.
1. 1. Basic concepts of ELT methodology:
“approach, method, technique”
In attempting to define what ‘method’ is, we can consider Edward Anthony’s tripartite distinction of Approach, Method and Technique (Anthony: 1963).
Edward Anthony’s definition of the terms ‘approach, method and technique’ has a hierarchical relation with each other. The word " approach " refers to ‘theoretical positions and beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of language learning, and the applicability of both to pedagogical settings.’ (Brown, 1994:51) In this sense, it refers to the theoretical principles that guide all components of teaching (teacher, learner, language and culture) in a certain foreign language teaching situation.
Anthony further defines the term “ method” as ‘a generalized set of classroom specifications for accomplishing linguistic objectives’. Methods are especially about the teacher and student roles, learning objectives, the sequence and presentation of materials. A ‘method’ is used to explain different ways according to a certain theory of teaching and learning in all language learning contexts.
A “technique” is ‘any of a wide variety of exercises, activities, or devices used in the language classroom for realizing lesson objectives’. (Anthony: 1963).
Richards and Rodgers (1982, 1985) further developed this distinction as Approach, Design and Procedure, which encompasses within the overall concept of Method, “an umbrella term for the specification and interrelation of theory and practice” (Richards & Rodgers 1985: 16)
A Historical Overview of Early Methods
A sense of history can provide teachers and teacher educators with a solid basis for critically evaluating the latest trends in a study of foreign language teaching.
The origins of foreign language teaching go back to the ancient Greeks, who were interested in learning about the mind and developing their will through learning another language. The Romans were probably the first to study a foreign language formally by studying Greek, learned from Greek tutors and slaves. Their approach was less philosophical and more practical than that of the Greeks.
In Europe before the 16th century, much of the language teaching involved teaching Latin to priests. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, French was a lingua franca for speaking to foreigners. Members of the court spoke French, of course, but it was also a necessary language for travelers, traders, and soldiers. French was fairly widely taught during this period, and a study of the theoretical books and language textbooks from this period indicate that many of the same questions that are being considered today by language teachers were being considered then.
The Grammar-Translation Method
The grammar-translation method was the dominant foreign language teaching method in Europe from the 1840s to the 1940s, and a version of it continues to be widely used in some parts of the world, even today.
The status of Latin changed during this period from a living language that learners needed to be able to read, write in, and speak, to a dead language which was studied as an intellectual exercise. Thus it was still acknowledged as an important language to learn for the purpose of gaining access to classical literature, and up until fairly recently, for the kinds of grammar training that led to the mental skills considered so important in any higher education study stream. The analysis of the grammar and rhetoric of Classical Latin became the model language teaching between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Emphasis was on learning grammar rules and vocabulary by rote, translations, and practice in writing sample sentences. The sentences that were translated or written by the students were examples of grammatical points and usually had little relationship to the real world. Latin has been studied for centuries, with the prime objectives of learning how to read classical Latin texts, understanding the fundamentals of grammar and translation, and gaining insights into some important foreign influences Latin has had on the development of other European languages Though some people tried to challenge this type of language education, it was difficult to overcome the attitude that Classical Latin (and to a lesser extent Greek) was the most ideal language and the way it was taught was the model for the way language should be taught. When modern languages were taught as part of the curriculum, beginning in the 18th century, they were generally taught using the same method as Latin. It is now more commonly known in Foreign Language Teaching circles as the Grammar Translation Method.
It is hard to decide which is more surprising - the fact that this method has survived right up until today (alongside a host of more modern and more "enlightened" methods), or the fact that what was essentially a method developed for the study of "dead" languages involving little or no spoken communication or listening comprehension is still used for the study of languages that are very much alive and require competence not only in terms of reading, writing and structure, but also speaking, listening and interactive communication. How has such an archaic method, "remembered with distaste by thousands of school learners" (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:4) persevered?
It is worth looking at the objectives, features and typical techniques commonly associated with the Grammar Translation Method, in order to both understand how it works and why it has shown such tenacity as an acceptable (even recommended or respected) language teaching philosophy in many countries and institutions around the world.
Objectives
According to most teachers who employ the Grammar Translation Method to teach English the most fundamental reason for learning the language is give learners access to English literature, develop their minds "mentally" through foreign language learning, and to build in them the kinds of grammar, vocabulary and translation skills necessary to pass any one of a variety of standardized written tests usually required for attending a higher educational institution.
Some teachers who use the method might also claim that it is a very effective way to prepare students for "global communication". Others may even say it is the "less stressful" for students than any other method, because almost all the teaching occurs in students’ native language and they are rarely called upon to speak the language in any communicative fashion.
More conservative teachers from more conservative countries would probably say "because that's the way it's always been done - it's the way I learned and look, now I'm a professor". The point being, the method is institutionalized and considered fundamental. Such teachers are probably even unaware that the method has a name and can be compared alongside other methods.
Therefore, among the goals are to teach translation, to read and understand literary texts in the target language, to make students aware of their native language structure and vocabulary, and to improve students’ mental capacities with grammar exercises.
Key Features
According to Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979:3), the key features of the Grammar Translation Method are as follows:
Translation is a common way to clarify the meanings of the new grammar patterns in the target language.
Typical Techniques
Diane Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:13) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with the Grammar Translation Method. The listing here is in summary form only.
· Translation of a Literary Passage
(Translating target language to native language, Often, the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue. Students translate a passage from the target language into their native language. The passage provides the focus for several classes: vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are studied in the following lessons.)
(Students answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the reading passage, finding information in it,, making inferences and relating to personal experience. First, they answer information questions whose answers they can find in the passage. Second, they answer inference questions based on their comprehension of the passage although the answer cannot be found in the passage directly in the passage. Third, they answer questions that require students to relate the passage to their own experience.)
· Antonyms/Synonyms
(Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words. Students are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in the reading passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to find synonyms for a particular set of words).
· Cognates
(Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language)
· Deductive Application of Rule
(Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then applying them to new examples. Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions 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
(Filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type. Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks with new vocabulary items or necessary items of grammatical feature.)
· Memorization
(Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms)
· Use Words in Sentences
(Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words. In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.)
· Composition
(Students write about a topic using the target language. The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. The topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a précis (pronounced as /preısı/).
Comments
Many people who have undertaken foreign language learning at high schools or universities even in the past 10 years or so may remember many of the teaching techniques listed above for the Grammar Translation Method. They may also recall that the language learning experience was uninspiring, rather boring, or even left them with a sense of frustration when they traveled to countries where the language was used only to find they couldn't understand what people were saying and struggled mightily to express themselves at the most basic level.
Very few modern language teaching experts would be quick to say that this is an effective language teaching method, and fewer would dare to try and assert that it results in any kind of communicative competence. As Richards and Rodgers (1986:5) state, "It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory." And yet the Grammar Translation Method is still common in many countries - even popular. Brown attempts to explain why the method is still employed by pointing out
"It requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers. Tests of grammar rules and of translations are easy to construct and can be objectively scored. Many standardized tests of foreign languages still do not attempt to tap into communicative abilities, so students have little motivation to go beyond grammar analogies, translations, and rote exercises." (1994:53)
However, even as early as the mid-19th, theorists were beginning to question the principles behind the grammar-translation method. Changes were beginning to take place. There was a greater demand for ability to speak foreign languages, and various reformers began reconsidering the nature of language and of learning. Among these reformers were two Frenchmen, C. Marcel and F. Gouin, and an Englishman, T. Pendergast. Through their separate observations, they concluded that the way that children learned language was relevant to how adults should learn language. Marcel emphasized the importance of understanding meaning in language learning. Pendergast proposed the first structural syllabus. He proposed arranging grammatical structures so that the easiest were taught first. Gouin believed that children learned language through using language for a sequence of related actions. He emphasized presenting each item in context and using gestures to supplement verbal meaning. Though the ideas of these and other reformers had some influence for a time, they did not become widespread or last long. They were outside of the established educational circles, and the networks of conferences and journals which exist today did not exist then to spread their ideas.
Reform Movements and the Direct Method
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. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, linguists became interested in the problem of the best way to teach languages. These reformers, who included Henry Sweet of England, Wilhelm Vietor of Germany, and Paul Passy of France, believed that language teaching should be based on scientific knowledge about language, that it should begin with speaking and expand to other skills, that words and sentences should be presented in context, that grammar should be taught inductively, and that translation should, for the most part, be avoided. In other words, all reformers were vehemently opposed to teaching of formal grammar and aware that language learning was more than the learning of rules and the acquisition of imperfect translation skills.
Vietor ('Die Sprachunterricht muss umkehren' 1882) "This study of grammar is a useless torture. It is certainly not understood; therefore it can have no effect as far as the moulding of the intellect is concerned and no-one could seriously believe that children could learn their living German tongue from it."
Instead grammar should be acquired inductively by inducing the rules of how the language behaves from the actual language itself. "Never tell the children anything they can find out for themselves." (Jesperin 1904)
These ideas spread, and were consolidated in what became known as the Direct Method, the first of the "natural methods." The Direct Method became popular in language schools, but it was not very practical with larger classes or in public schools.
While Gouin’s The Art of Learning and Studying Foreign Languages, published in 1880, can be seen as the precursor of modern language teaching methods with its ‘naturalistic’ approach, the credit for popularising the Direct Method usually goes to Charles Berlitz, although he marketed it as the Berlitz Method.
The basic premise of the Direct Method was that one should attempt to learn a second language in much the same way as children learn their first language. The method emphasized oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis of grammar rules. Sauveur, one of the pioneers of the Direct Method, at the end of the 19thC, would hold the attention of his learners on his performance, and was able to give elaborate speeches even on the very first lesson.
Richards and Rodgers summarized the principles of the Direct method as follows (2001: 12)
According to Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979:3), the key features of the Grammar Translation Method are as follows:
· Vocabulary Teaching: Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught; concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught through association of ideas;
· Grammar Teaching: Grammar was taught inductively; correct grammar was emphasized.
· Teaching Oral Skills: Both speech and listening comprehension were taught. Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully traded progression organized around questions-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small intensive classes; correct pronunciation was emphasized. New teaching points were taught through modeling and practice;
Comments
As we shall see, the method has its limitations, particularly in schools. It is perhaps better suited to debutants than to more advanced learners - most of the adults that came into language schools were, until quite recently, absolute beginners. It is still useful when a teacher is dealing with a class in which the pupils do not possess a common L1.
Disadvantages of Direct Method
1. Major fallacy of Direct Method was the belief that the second language should be learned in a way in which the first language was acquired - by total immersion technique. But obviously far less time and opportunity in schools exists compared with a small child learning his mother tongue.
2 Is the first language learning process really applicable to second foreign language learning at later stages? The first language learning is essential part of child's total growth of awareness of world around him. He starts off with blank sheet, then starts collecting/selecting organizing the experience of a totally new world, perceived through his senses, by formulating a variety of pre-verbal concepts.
Subsequently, part of the process of learning how to live is the acquisition of skills to verbalize his desires and aversions and to label his concepts, so as to make living more sufficient and secure.
Effectiveness of these verbalizing skills depends on maturation level of the child / on type of environment on intelligence.
Language is part of an intrinsic process through which child learns to recognize / deal with new situations.
4 The Direct Method rejects use of the printed word - but this objection is illogical since second language learner has already mastered his reading skills.
Does printed word interfere with FL pronunciation? -In fact experiments show that the printed word is of real help to consolidate the FL and actually reinforces retention (ef 'Je ma pel') - leaves mental imprint, image of shape of word.
5 Later disciples of Direct Method took it to extremes and refused to speak a single word of English in lessons. To avoid translating new words, they searched for an association between new words and the idea it stood for: 'Voilà un livre, voici une craie'. Extreme Direct Methodists had cupboards full of realia. Explanations became cumbersome and time-consuming. (Definition type explanations UN meunier est UN homme qui travaille dans UN moulin' / 'court est le contraire de long'). Teachers would be jumping over desks flapping fins, rather than say that the English for 'saumon' is 'salmon'. Concepts like cependant'/ 'néanmoins' - obviously need immediate translation!
6 Successful teacher of the Direct Method needed competence in his language / stamina/ energy/ imagination/ ability and time to create own materials and courses - beyond capacity of all but gifted few.
"The method by its very nature presupposes a teacher of immense vitality, of robust health, one endowed with real fluency in the modern language he teaches. He must be resourceful in the way of gesture and tricks of facial expression, able to sketch rapidly on the board and in the language teaching day, he must be proof against linguistic fatigue".
7 Also Direct Methodists failed to grade and structure their materials adequately - no selection, grading or controlled presentation of vocabulary and structures. Plunged pupils into flood of living language - quite bewildering for pupils.
However, many teachers did modify the Direct Method to meet practical requirements of own schools, implemented main principles, i.e teaching through oral practice and banning all translation into target language. Obviously compromise was needed.
Direct method did pave the way for more communicative, oral based approach, and as such represented an important step forward in the history of language teaching.
1. 3. Contributions of Other Disciplines
Foreign language education has been evolving in new directions under the influence of research in certain social sciences that emerged relatively recently as a result of interdisciplinary approaches in science and education. For instance, Chomsky's emphasis on linguistic competence greatly stimulated the development of the related disciplines of psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. Other related fields are anthropological linguistics, computational linguistics, mathematical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and the philosophy of language.
Here are some of the significant interdisciplinary aspects of science and scientific disciplines that contributed to the development of foreign language teaching approaches and methods:
Linguistics
Defined as the study of the nature and structure of language, it traditionally encompasses semantics, syntax, and phonology.
Synchronic linguistic studies aim to describe a language as it exists at a given time; diachronic studies trace a language's historical development.
Greek philosophers in the 5th century BC who debated the origins of human language were the first in the West to be concerned with linguistic theory. The first complete Greek grammar, written by Dionysus Thrax in the 1st century BC, was a model for Roman grammarians, whose work led to the medieval and Renaissance vernacular grammars. With the rise of historical linguistics in the 19th century, linguistics became a science.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Ferdinand de Saussure established the structuralist school of linguistics, which analyzed actual speech to learn about the underlying structure of language.
In the 1950s Noam Chomsky challenged the structuralist program, arguing that linguistics should study native speakers' unconscious knowledge of their language (competence), not the language they actually produce (performance). His general approach, known as transformational generative grammar, was extensively revised in subsequent decades. Other grammatical theories developed from the 1960s were generalized phrase structure grammar, lexical-functional grammar, relational grammar, and cognitive grammar.
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