Understanding methods and approaches in ELT - Unit 1

Audio-lingual method

The theory behind this is that learning a language means learning habits. The new language is heard and
drilled repeatedly before the learner sees it in its written form. Learners mimic, repeat and memorise
set phrases and grammar structures. is not explained. is learned in context. Audio recordings and
visuals are used. is immediate.

Direct method

The theory behind this method is that second language learning is similar to how we learn our first
language. All teaching is done in the target language and the learner is not allowed to use his or her own
language. The focus is on oral , no translation, and little or no focus on or rules. Pictures, objects and
association are used to teach .

Communicative language teaching

This method focuses on helping learners to communicate well and appropriately in different real-life .
There is a focus on all skills, grammar and vocabulary. Learners use language in a practical and functional
way to communicate . Fluency and accuracy are both important for .

Grammar translation method

This comes from the classical method of language learning, which used to be associated with learning
Latin and Greek. Learners analyse grammar and translate sentences from the language into the
language and vice versa. There is little or no focus on developing ability.

Exercise 1

Listen to four teachers talk about their approaches to teaching grammar. As you listen, write down:

 the main ideas of each approach

 whether you think it's inductive or deductive
 your opinion about it.

Listen carefully - more than once if you need to. Not all of them fit neatly into a category of inductive
or deductive.

Teacher 1: You don't really need to teach grammar explicitly, saying things like, 'This is the past
perfect and you form it like this'. That's unnecessary. Learners will pick it up for themselves. If they
want more grammar, the teacher can give them exercises to do outside class, but don't waste
precious class time teaching it. I think it's better to teach learners to communicate, to practise as
much as possible in class with real language. Grammar will look after itself.
Main ideas:
 You don't really need to teach grammar explicitly.
 It’s better to teach learners to communicate, to practice as much as possible in class with
real language.
Inductive approach
What do I think?
I Think that this approach is might work better for students who have some knowledge of the
language and also, who have the opportunity to practice the target language outside the
classroom.
Teacher 2: I always look over a new unit in a book and then teach my learners the grammar rule
before we even begin the unit; I explain the rules that are going to come up and then do some
exercises with the class. That really helps them to be clear about what the unit is about and they can
do the activities in the unit better. I think they learn better that way.
Main ideas:
 Teach learners grammar structure to help them to understand the unit before they move into
deductive approach
What do I think?
I think this approach is helpful with students who do not know anything about the target
language and need a solid base to star building their language skills.

Teacher 3: Whatever you teach, you have to include fun in it! Even if it IS grammar, I believe
teachers should somehow link it with real-life situations. Experiencing is the best way of learning. So
it must be something visual and aural. The more concrete it is the better the result would be. The
thing is, the learner should link the language with a real experience.
Deductive and inductive.

Teacher 4: I think grammar should always be practiced in context. Using tasks that develop the four
skills, learners should be working with meaning so that they produce the structure freely before
passing on to the next grammar structure. After the task-based activities, you can follow on with an
analysis of the structure used and try to elicit the form and use from the learners.

Deductive and inductive. For me, this is the ideal way of teaching a language thou, I would like to
add that in some cases, we need to adapt to the way of earning our students are used to.

Inductive or deductive? 5
Read some examples of activities that could be used to clarify grammar. Decide if they're more
inductive or deductive.

A group of your learners decide they want to learn more slang expressions in English, so you bring

an English film to school and they watch it at break time to pick up and discuss new expressions.

They write up a dialogue and perform it for you, and you give them some feedback.

Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. You've helped them by providing some material and giving them

feedback, but they've done the exploring and the work of understanding the English.

You tell a story about your childhood. Each time you use a past tense verb, you hold up a card with

that verb. At the end, you have them write 'past simple' in their notebooks, and copy all the verbs.

You explain that you used the past simple because it happened in the past.

inductive

Correctdeductive

Feedback

This is a deductive approach. You gave them the words and explained that they were past tense.

There was no discovery at all.

You put two timelines for different tenses on the board. Learners work in pairs to interpret them and

try to make example sentences. You walk around and give help as needed.
Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. You guided the learners by providing some information (the timelines)

but let them figure out the rules.

On the board you write examples of past perfect sentences and a breakdown of the form, and ask

them to copy it down in their book and make some more sentences.

inductive

Correctdeductive

Feedback

This is a deductive approach. You provided the form and example sentences, and they copied – so

there was no real 'discovery'.

You hand out a copy of two pages out of a comic book, and ask the learners to find examples of

three different forms about the future. You then hand out another comic page with empty speech

bubbles, and ask them to use the forms in their own comic.

Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback
This is an inductive approach. By getting learners to find three different forms of the future, they're

exploring and discovering the language, and thinking about it.

You hand out a list of ten sentences using the conditional. You ask learners to work in pairs and

write up a set of 'rules' for sentences with if.

Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. Learners are working in pairs to look at example sentences and

create the rules. They are 'discovering'.

Incorrectdeductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. You guided the learners by providing some information (the timelines)

but let them figure out the rules.

On the board you write examples of past perfect sentences and a breakdown of the form, and ask

them to copy it down in their book and make some more sentences.

inductive

Correctdeductive

Feedback
This is a deductive approach. You provided the form and example sentences, and they copied – so

there was no real 'discovery'.

You hand out a copy of two pages out of a comic book, and ask the learners to find examples of

three different forms about the future. You then hand out another comic page with empty speech

bubbles, and ask them to use the forms in their own comic.

Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. By getting learners to find three different forms of the future, they're

exploring and discovering the language, and thinking about it.

You hand out a list of ten sentences using the conditional. You ask learners to work in pairs and

write up a set of 'rules' for sentences with if.

Correctinductive

deductive

Feedback

This is an inductive approach. Learners are working in pairs to look at example sentences and

create the rules. They are 'discovering'.

Inductive or deductive? 6
You've looked at the difference between inductive (learner-centred) and deductive (teacher-led)
approaches. Are you beginning to see which type of teacher you tend to be? Remember, while
there's a time and place for both approaches, it's important to always think about which approach
best meets your learners' needs. This takes practice – and a lot of self-awareness!
In the rest of this unit and the following units, you'll be learning about several different popular
approaches to language teaching. As you read about them, decide if they're more inductive or
deductive, and think about how they may work in your context. You may find some new ways you'd
like to teach, so take notes if it helps!

PPP approach
PPP 2
Imagine you're teaching a lesson using the PPP approach. Look at the 'P' words and put the
three stages in the order that you think you would do them in the classroom.
 Presentation – The teacher builds context and elicits/highlights meaning, form and
pronunciation.
 Practice – This stage consists of controlled practice time. The learners practise the
target language with drills and controlled activities, focusing on accuracy.
 Production – This is also a practice stage but with freer practice. The learners try to
personalise the language and use it in a less controlled activity, focusing on fluency.


PPP is more suitable for lower-level learners. The benefits for the teacher are that it's an easy
approach to set up, formulaic and highly structured. Teachers also feel confident that they have
done their job, i.e. presented the language to all the learners (although this doesn't mean that all the
learners understand or are able to use it). The negatives are that it's a top-down approach, teacher-
led and predictable. Some learners may find this approach too boring or too passive and 'switch off'.
PPP is usually a deductive approach. The teacher presents the target language, and then gives
learners the opportunity to practise it. PPP works better at lower levels, but it becomes a bit
problematic with more advanced learners, whose abilities may be much less uniform, and who need
to compare and contrast several grammatical items at the same time.
In the presentation stage, the teacher can present the new language creatively, such as with
realia, flashcards or a short story, for example.
In the second stage, learners have an opportunity for controlled practice. During this stage of the
lesson it's important to correct phonological and grammatical mistakes. Common activities which can
be used for the controlled practice stage include gap fill exercises, substitution drills, sentence
transformations, split sentences, picture dictations, class questionnaires, reordering sentences and
matching sentences to pictures. Many learners' books and workbooks have exercises and activities
which can be used at this stage.
The final stage is the production stage, with opportunities for freer practice. Unfortunately, the
teacher often runs out of time and this is the stage that gets cut out, even though it's crucial for
developing learner confidence and competence. Again there are numerous activities for this stage
and what you choose will depend on the language you're teaching and on the level of your learners.
However, information gaps, role plays, interviews, simulations, find someone who, spot the
differences between two pictures, picture cues, problem solving, personalisation activities and board
games are all meaningful activities which give learners the opportunity to practise the language more
freely.
In the production stage, it's important to monitor and make a note of any errors so that you can
build in class feedback and error analysis at the end of the lesson.
Even though the PPP approach is generally considered a deductive approach, there are still ways to
make it as learner-centred as possible. Using real contexts, checking comprehension regularly
throughout the lesson, and giving learners opportunities to ask questions.
Jim Scrivener, in Learning Teaching (2011), suggests that all grammar teaching and clarification falls
on a continuum from explanation - to guided discovery - to self-directed discovery.
Where do you think PPP falls on the continuum? The more the teacher talks and explains, the
farther left it is. The more opportunities you give learners for discovering and exploring language, the
farther right your approach is.
In the next units you'll look at more approaches. Try to keep this continuum in mind as you do so,
and, as always, think about how this is relevant to your own teaching.