The Direct Method

In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not
allowed to use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on
good pronunciation.

Grammar-translation

Learning is largely by translation to and from the target language. Grammar rules are to
be memorized and long lists of vocabulary learned by heart. There is little or no emphasis placed
on developing oral ability.

Audio-lingual

The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There
is much practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively
drilled before being seen in its written form.

The structural approach

This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned
one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb "to be" is introduced and practised before
the present continuous tense which uses "to be" as an auxiliary.

Suggestopedia

The theory underlying this method is that a language can be acquired only when the
learner is receptive and has no mental blocks. By various methods it is suggested to the student
that the language is easy - and in this way the mental blocks to learning are removed.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close
your book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural
comprehension.

Communicative language teaching (CLT)

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and
appropriately in the various situations she would be likely to find herself in. The content of CLT
courses are functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression
of time, quantity, location.
 The Silent Way

This is so called because the aim of the teacher is to say as little as possible in order that
the learner can be in control of what he wants to say. No use is made of the mother tongue.

Community Language Learning

In this method attempts are made to build strong personal links between the teacher and
student so that there are no blocks to learning. There is much talk in the mother tongue which is
translated by the teacher for repetition by the student.

Immersion

This corresponds to a great extent to the situation we have at our school. ESL students
are immersed in the English language for the whole of the school day and expected to learn math,
science, humanities etc. through the medium of the target language, English.

Immigrant students who attend local schools find themselves in an immersion situation;
for example refugee children from Bosnia attending German schools, or Puerto Ricans in
American schools. .

Task-based language learning

The focus of the teaching is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the
learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little
correction of errors. (This is the predominant method in middle school ESL teaching at Frankfurt
International School. The tasks are subsumed in a major topic that is studied for a number of
weeks. In the topic of ecology, for example, students are engaged in a number of tasks
culminating in a poster presentation to the rest of the class. The tasks include reading, searching
the internet, listening to taped material, selecting important vocabulary to teach other students
etc.)

The Natural Approach

This approach, propounded by Professor S. Krashen, stresses the similarities between

learning the first and second languages. There is no correction of mistakes. Learning takes
place by the students being exposed to language that is comprehensible or made comprehensible
to them.

The Lexical Syllabus

This approach is based on a computer analysis of language which identifies the most
common (and hence most useful) words in the language and their various uses. The syllabus
teaches these words in broadly the order of their frequency, and great emphasis is placed on the
use of authentic materials.

CHAPTER 5 : Second Language Acquisition for Adult Learners

By: Julio Fopolli. Retrieved from https://www.eslbase.com/teaching/language-acquisition-adult-

learners

In our previous mini-article entitled Language Acquisition vs. Language Learning we

mentioned an important distinction in the way in which children acquire their mother tongue
naturally, by means of meaningful interactions with their parents in which the focus of every
single exchange is communicative in nature. Adults, in contrast, when trying to learn a second
language, are usually presented with a myriad of grammar rules and patterns to master from the
very first class.
It is said by advocates of these procedures, that their cognitive development cannot be
equalled to that of a child and that statement is very true indeed. However, the fact that there
are important cognitive and developmental differences between children and adults does not by
any means imply that language should be presented devoid of any meaning as a rigid set of rules
and patterns which are essential to master. Advocates of this school have the perception that
every single piece of the puzzle they teach (i.e. a certain pattern, rule, tense, etc) is going to be
inserted into the big picture one day and the puzzle will be perfectly complete for the student to
see and use. In reality, students simply receive piece after piece after piece of a big something
that they are never able to tell what it is or when they will be able to see it, if ever.

Have you ever tried to make a really big puzzle without an overall picture of what it would
look like when finished? If you have, you will have noticed that it may be a very frustrating and
draining activity, with no clear goals and objectives. Every effort you make seems to be
meaningless and you usually feel like drifting around aimlessly and purposelessly. Isn’t it part and
parcel of the Second language teaching profession to find thousands of adult learners who could
recite a grammar book by heart but nevertheless are unable to communicate basic ideas naturally
and fluently if it is that they can communicate them at all?

This, of course, does not have any resemblance to the way in which a first language is
acquired. Nor does it mean that children and adults acquire a first and a second language in
precisely the same way. There are obvious differences among children and adults learning a
second language.

What was highlighted in our previous article is the need for language to be meaningful at
all times, and this is common ground for both children and adults alike. Language without
meaningful communication is as useless as Valentine’s Day without lovers or Children’s day
without any kids (I apologize for using the same analogy as in my previous article).

However, a quick look at present-day language courses clearly shows that this is not the
case at all. You will see from the very first lesson, that the students have laundry lists of words to
master and memorize, grammar, vocabulary, grammar and more vocabulary to make them feel
they can even “touch” the language, those pretty “tangible” patterns they learn lesson after
lesson that make them feel so secure and confident. The truth is, in the vast majority of cases,
that whenever presented with a REAL situation in which they have to use the language, more
often than not they dry up and are unable to utter two coherent phrases altogether. Are they to
blame for their “failure?” Of course not. If what you are trained to do exclusively is grammar,
repetitions and drills, you cannot be expected to produce something different, something
communicative. The magic “click” that is supposed to take place in the students’ brains after
constant hammering and repetition apparently never takes place or if it does, in the best of cases,
it is in less than 2 per cent of the learners.

What does this show? Clearly it is an indicator that must make us reflect on the
importance of our teaching practices. Just because we as teachers learned things in a certain
way does NOT mean that it is THE way. Pragmatic results clearly show that a grammar based
approach to teaching a language is highly ineffective since language per definition entails
communication. Until we come to understand this simple fact, we will keep seeing students
dropping out of their language studies because “they are too hard for them, they are not cut
out to learn a second language” and statements like these. And they may be true… They do
NOT need to learn a second language. Then need to acquire it in all the senses of the word