INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. IN SEARCH OF A PROFESSIONAL LABEL No other d@cipline seems to be so much concerned about methodology as that of ‘Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language (TEFL or TESL). The notion of methodology seems to hold a particular fascination for teachers of English. For many language teachers adherence to a particular method seems to be part of their professional identity, and yet for ail its history of heated debate and upheaval (is ‘grammar’ in or out of Tashion this year?), methodologists still do not really have any definitive answers for teachers. Nowadays, there exist controversies in our profession ranging from the search for reasonable language teaching methodology to the search for an appropriate professional name. ‘The following names and acronyms have been suggested as professional labels and have gained relatively permanent acceptance: - TEFL (Teaching/Teachets of English as a Foreign Language): used in educational situations where instruction in other subjects Is not normally given in English, + TESL (Teaching/Teachers of English as a Second Language): used in educational situations where English is the partial or universal medium of instruction for other subjects.INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO TEAL (Teaching/Teachers of English as an Additional Language): used in parts of Canada in lieu of TES! to stress the benefits of first-language maintenance. = TESOL (Teaching/Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages): a cover-term for teachers working in any of the abuve situations. - ELT (English Language Teaching), a more neutral, cover-all term which avoids the issue of context. 1.2. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE TERMS APPROACH, METHOD AND TECHNIQUE? A BRIEF LOOK AT THE ELT LITERATURE Edward Anthony (1963) identified three levels of organisation in language teaching, which he termed approach, method, and technique. The arrangement is hierarchical. The organisational key is that techniques carry ( out 2 method which is consistent with an approach... .» Ant approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and fearning. An approach is axiomatic. It des®ibes the nature of the subject matter to be taught... ja. Method is art overall plan for the orderly presentation of tanguage matorial, no part of which contraaicts, and aif of which is based upon, the selected approach. An approach Is axiomatic, a method is pracedural. : Within one approach, there can be many methods... _ A technique is implementationat - that which actually takes place th a classroom. It is a particular trick, stratagem, or contrivance used to accomplish an immediate objective. Techniques must be consistent with @ method, and therefore in harmony with an approach es well. (Anthony 1963:63-7) According to this model, an approach to language teaching is something that reflects a certain theory and beliefs about language and language learning. Ihis term is the broadest of the three. A method is a set of procedures; a system that spells out exactly how to teach a language (what particular skilis and content to teach). Methods are more specific than approaches but less specific than techniques. A technique is @ classroom device er activity and thus represents the narrowest term of the three. SomeINSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL es @) IEXPRO techniques are widely used and found in many methods (imitation and repetition); others are specific to or characteristic of a given method. Anthony's proposal was simple and comprehensive, but failed to give sufficient attention to the nature of a method itself, He does not mention the roles of teachers and learners assumed in a method, for example, nor the role of instructional materials or the form they are expected to take. For Richards and Rodgers (1986) Anthony's proposal of an analysis of language- teaching practices was a point of departure; however, they preferred to consider ‘method’ as an umbrella term for the specification and interrelation of theory and practice, and therefore they preferred to use the terms approach, design, and procedure. Following Anthony, the first level in the system, approach, “refers to theories about the nature of language and language learning that serve as the source of practices and ‘ principles in language teaching,” (Richards & Rodgers 1986:16) The second level in the . * system, design. is the level of method analysis that specifies the relationship of theories of language and learning to the selection and organisation of language content (syllabus), to the types of tasks and’ learning activities, and to the roles of learners, teachers and materials within the method. The third level, procedure, comprises the classroom @&hniques and practices that are consequences of particular approaches and designs. Finally, the torm method refers to a lanyuuge-teaching philosophy that contains a standardised set of procedures or principles for teaching a language that are "based upon a given set of theoretical premises about the nature of language and language learning. The system is illustrated in the figure below. For more information, see Appendix 1.1: Summary of elements and sub-elements that constitute a method according to Richards and Rodgers (1986:28). Figure 1.1: Relevant elements of a teaching/leerning system, Source: Richards 1985: 17.INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO In their opinion the three elements help us understand the differences and similarities between one method and another by showing how these elements are interrelated in language-teaching practices: 8 method Is theoretically related to an approach, is organisationally determined by 2 design, and is practically realised in procedure. (1986:16) A number of other ways of conceptualising approaches and methods in language teaching have been proposed. Mackey, in his book Language Teaching Analysis (1965), elaborated perhaps the most well-known model of the 1960s, one that focuses primarily on the levels of method and technique. Mackey's model of language teaching analysis concentrates on the dimensions of selection, gradation, presentation, and repetition underlying a method. In fact, despite the title of Mackey's book, his concern is primarily with the analysis of textbooks and their underlying principles of organisation. His analysis fails to address the level of approach, nor does it deal with the actual classroam behaviours of teachers and learners, except a5 these are represented in textbooks. 1.3. SOME INGREDIENTS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING In this section we will Jook at what goes into methods and how these ingredients can be mixed and processed differently to produce both the well-known ‘off the shelf” methods and the ‘home-baked’, idiosyncratic teacher versions. To some extent this is consistent with the idea that in the 21st century we have arrived at the ‘eclectic’ stage, where practitioners and theorist have largely given up on the idea of a universally applicable approach. These characteristics can be used as criteria for discussion of some of the best known ELT methods, as we will see in the next chapters. We will now look at some variables in more detail. Our goal is to enable you to become better informed about the nature, strengths, and weaknesses of methods and approaches so that you will be able to judge them more effectively. Here is a list of important variables: ~ Perceived goals of language learning. = Decisions about what is to be taught.INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO ~ Beliefs about the nature of language. - Beliefs about the procass of language, learning/acqui + Amount of prescription for teachers. + Attitudes to different classroom techniques and activities. - The role and nature of materials. - The relative roles of taachers and learners. = Attitude to the use of learners’ native language (L1) in the classroom. + Attitude to error. - Beliefs about evaluation and assessment. Following the terminology proposed by Richards and Rodgers we have included the language theory benind each method or approach discussed in this subject and, whenever possible, the learning theory behind it. 1.4. AT THE LEVEL OF “APPROACH” 1.4.1, BELIEFS ABOUT THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE In analysing approaches to language teaching it is evident that an important methodological variable is the attitude to language itself. In some methods language is treated as a Subject which can be approached in the same way as any other subject on the curriculum, perhaps as a body of factual information to be digested and memorised. More recently language hes come to be viewed as an aspect of human behaviour and methods have changed to accommodate this. Let us briefly focus then on the three main trends in language theory that frame the different methods and approaches ‘discussed in this subject: a} The first, and the most traditional of the three, is the structural view, the view that language is a system of structurally related elements for the coding and decoding of language. The target of language learning is seen to be the mastery of elements of this system. which are generally defined in terms of phonological units (e.g., phonemes), grammatical units (e.g., morphemes, phrases, sentences), grammatical operations (e.g., adding, shifting, joining, or transforming elements), and lexical items (e.g., function words and structure words). As wa will see in Chapter 2, the Audiolingual Method embodies this | particular viow of language, as do contemporary methods such as TotalINSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO ») Physical Response and the Silent Way. both of which will be explored in Chapter 3. ‘The second view of language Is Wie British functional view, which considers language as a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning. The communicative movement in language teaching subscribes to tnis view of language (see Chapter 4). This theory goes beyond the grammatical characteristics of language and emphasises both the semantic and communicative dimension. Firth stated that: The linguist has to study the ‘text’, ie., the corpus of utterances, (a) in their linguistic environment or context, {.2., tn relation to surrounding language jtems, and (b) in their context of situations, ie., in relation to non-verbal constituents Which have bearing on the utterance, such es persons, objects and events. (in Stern:7983, p. 138) The functional view leads to a specification and organisation of language teaching content by categories of meaning ‘and function rather than by elements of structure and grammar. Wilkins’ Notional Syiabuses (1976) is an attempt to spell out the implications of this view of language for syllabus design. A notional syllabus would include not only elements of grammar and lexis but also specify the topics, notions, and concepts the learner needs to communicate. (See Chapter 4 for a detailed account of this.) Halliday also elaborated his own linguistic model, based on the theories of Firth and, together with other authors, he offered a linguistic base for language teaching (Halliday, Mcintosh and Stravens:1964). See Chapter 4 for an account of Halliday's research. Stem has matched the terms that Linguistics has generated: Beara System Cote Message Language ‘Verbal Behaviour . Competence Form’ Function We could say that while Linguistics in general had boon exclusively interested in the elements of the first column and had excluded the rest (considering that they did not belong to a “scientific” study, or because they id not constitute the “essence” of language, etc.), the functional view took the first step towards the study of language reflected in the concepts in the right column iY] texPeo)INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO heh these elements would constitute the study core of the so-called “language sciences” (Hymes: 1974). This change of orientation would allow a more fruitful focus in language teaching, which became more concerned with using the language (functionalism) than with knowing the linguistic system (structuralism). You will seo in later chaptors how the debate between structuralism and functionalism affected methodological proposals in the development of methods and approaches. As many linguists started to distance themséives from an abstract, structural view of language study, they started to take social and situational contexts, as wall as the attitudes of the spaakors, into consideration. A series of now disciplines arose, under new labels and with new study techniques, which tried to relate the study of language to the outside world and to the scciological context of the speakers. These new disciplines were syntax, semantics and pragmatics. A clear definition of each of these fields is provided by Yule: Syntax is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in Sequence, and which sequences are well-formed. (Yule 1997: 4) Semantics is the study of the reletionships between linguistic forms and entities in the world; that is, how werds literally connect to things. Semantics analysis also attempts to establish the relationships between verbat descriptions and states of affairs in the world as accurate (true) or not, regardless of who produces that description. : ibid.) Pragmatics is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms and the users of thase forms (...) one can talk about people's intended meanings, their assumptions, thelr purposes of goals, and the kinds of actions (for example, requests) that thay are performing when they speak {ibid.). In one way or another all theSe disciplines began to question several aspects of language use to which the grammatical theory of Saussure or Chomsky, for instance, could not give an appropriate answer. These disciplines, together with Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, and others nave contributed to a better understanding of fanguage use in the last two decades: They have focused on the problems of meaning. of psychological processes that lead to the production and understanding of a message, of the way a conversation is. ‘organised and works, and of the role of paralinguistic and non-verbal elements in communicative exchanges. It was not until the 1980s, though, that all these cisciplines began to work in the same direction and at the same pace, integrating their contributions and offering a new model that reflects the view of language as communication,INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO ©) The third view of language can be called the interactional view. The view of language as communication is a complex one. A key concept to understand is hat of language as action, that is, “we do things with words”: thi is from the theory of "speech acts” developed by language philosophers such as J.L. Austin (1962) and J.R. Searle (1969). Thay advocated that language is much more than the transmission of information or meaning (fecutionary act), since it also expresses an intention (iiocutionary acd) and produces an effect on the listener (perfocutionary ect) This view sees language as a vehicle for the realisation of interpersonal selations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals. Language is seen as a tool for the creation and maintenance of social relations. Areas of inquiry being drawn on in the development of interactional approaches to language teaching include interaction analysis, conversation analysis, and ethnomethodology. Interactional theories focus on the pattems of moves, acts, negotiation, and interaction found in conversational exchanges. 1.4.2. BELIEFS ABOUT THE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE LEARNING/ACQUISITION As regards language theory, we are concerned with a model of language competence and an account of the basic features of linguistic organisation and language use. As regards learning theory, we are concerned with an account of the central processes of learning and an account of the conditions believed to promote successful language learning. These principles may or may not lead to a method by themselves (see Community Language Learning ot Total Physical Response In Chapter 3). ‘The actual process involved in acquiring/learning a language is one of the issues that has caused the most debate conceming language teaching, and It Is a debate which continues to the present day. For this reason we have devoted an entire subject of the course to this topic (Second Language Acquisition). Nevertheless, we will analyse those Issues in language acquisition that are directly related to the different methods end approaches discussed in this subject. Theories of language learning have influenced decisions as to the optimal location of classroom activities on continua like the following: a) deductive... inductive The advent of the cognitive approach meant a change of direction from” teaching the structures of the language (deductive) towards making the learner aware of how the language works (inductive), thus avoiding the direct study of grammatical rules.INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO ieateg experiential b) analyt During the last two decades tharo has boon a debate about the convenience of adopting an analytical point of view (focused on the foreign or second language) versus an experiential point of view (focused on communication). From the 1980s communication has become a common strategy in the foreign of Second language (L2) classroom. snaturalistic acquisition ©) habit formation. The behaviourist theory of learning. so popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was based on repetition and memorisation techniques. In contrast, Krashen's Monitor Theory (1981) distinguished between “acquisition” as an unconscious process similar to the process of leaming an L1, and “learning” as the conscious knowledge of formal linguistic rules and how these wark. The concern for knowing how a speaker acquires his/her linguistic competence had already been raised by Chomsky and his psycholinguistlc theories: he rejected the behaviourist view of language learning and focused his studies on the discovery of tanguage learning processes, asserting that to that of leaming an L1. - the process of leerning an L2 is sin tho process of linguistic acquisition responds to a mechanism of contrasting hypotheses with real language use; mistakes show that rules are being internalised Despite his above proposels, Chomsky famously voiced the following doubts about the relevance of his work for language teaching: | am, frankly, rather sceptical about the significance. for the teacher of languages, of such insights and understanding as have been attained in Linguistics and Psychotogy. Surely the teacher of language would do well to keep.informed of progress and discussion in these fields, and the efforts of linguists and psychologists to approach the problems of language teaching from a principled point of view are extremely warthwhite, from an intellectual a3 well as a social point of viow. Stil, it is difficult to believe that cither Linguistics or Psychology has achieved a level of theoretical understanding that might enabie it to support a ‘technology’ of language teaching. (Chomsky, 1968) Irenically, however, Chomsky's ideas are cited as the stimulus ce many a development in language teaching since the mid 1960s. It goes without saying that no approach to language teaching can have any credibility without firm foundations in a thoory of how language is learnt, For this will inform decisions on all aspects of any language teaching progremme.INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO 1.5. AT THE LEVEL OF “METHOD” In the following chapters we will be analysing the different methods and approaches and will be considering the various aspects that characterise them. 1.5.1. THE OB3ECTIVES OF A MFTHOD: Most ‘off the shelf’ methods include some information about the syllabus to be followed and the learning objectives to ba achieved. Depending on the goals of language learning, decisions may include whether to: = focus on language-using skills; = focus on knowledge about language: = focus on specific situational abilities; = fecus on general competence; include aspects of the culture and/or literature of the target language community. 1.5.2. THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR We will refer to how language content is selected and organised within the method or, in other words, the syllabus model incorporated by the method. We will also have a look at the different types of learning tasks and teaching activities the method advocstes, This is perhaps the variable in which methods can most easily be seen to differ as this is the interface between more theoretical principles and practice in the classroom. Techniques and activities ere the trademarks of methods. 4.5.3, THE ROLES OF LEARNERS AND TEACHERS Again we can often see quite radical differences botween approaches in the way teacher and learner roles are specified. Naturally some aspects of teacher role wilt depend not so much on the method 2s on the expectations of the learners, the institution ard society. Teacher role can also be culturally determined (see Chapter 5). The most important distinction we find in learner roles is whether learners are seen as passive empty vessels to be filled from the ‘fountain of wisdom’, -the teacher-, orINSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO whether learners are seen a3 active determiners of their own learning who need little more than guidance and support from their teacher. 1.5.4, THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, This is another characteristic by which differing approaches are easily identified: a quick flick through any collection of language teaching materials should be sufficient to uncover its methadolagical provenance. While a texthook may be the cornerstone of one method, other methods may require teachers to select or produce their own materials according to the current needs of their students, but within certain guidelines, and yet other methods, for example Counselling Language Learning, may consider it unnecessary to have any materials other than those the learners themselves produce. 1.6. A FEW NOTES ON THE SUBJECT Within each chapter our aim has been to present a comprehensive picture of a particular | approach or method. Some of these mathods/approaches have been more popular than others, Some of the methods examined in the following chapters include an extensive historical background: wnen this is considered to be less relevant, we have stressed linguistic, psychological or educational traditions. TASK 1.1 Answer the following questions by choosing only ONE answer. 1." is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning.” (Anthony 1963:63). Which of the following terms matches this definition? a) Method b) Approach > A ¢) Technique 2. Which of the following elements does not correspond to the concept of ‘design’, according to Richards & Rodgers’ (1986) definition: a) The role of the teacher b) Types of activities for the classroom ¢) The cognitive processes involved in language learningINSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA PROFESIONAL IEXPRO 3. Which of the following elements is not included in language teaching from a structural point of view? a) Topics b) Loxical items c) Grammatical units 4. Which of the following views of language places importance on the effect the speaker has on his or her interlocutor? a) Structural view ») Functional view ¢) Interactional view _ 5. Which of the following language learning processes does not correspond to the structural view of language teaching? a) Inductive ») Analytic ©) Conscious learning 1.7. APPENDIX [1] APPENDIX 1.1: Summary of elements and sub-elements that constitute @ method according to Richards and Rodgers (1986:28). 1.8. WEB READING cle on the concept of methods, and possible future [1] Interesting an developments. Web Link: http://www. cal.org/rosources/DigesUrodgars. htnl [Read: August 23, 2010 GMT-5].