METHODS OF TEFL

Dr. ALI ALSAGHEER

SOME ACRONYMS

MT = Mother tongue

L1= First language

L2 = Second language.

FL= Foreign language.

TESL= Teaching English as a second language.

TEFL= Teaching English as a foreign language.

TESOL = Teaching English to speakers of other

languages.

TOEFL= Testing of English as a foreign language.

ESP = English for special purposes.

EAP = English for academic purposes.

Basic Principles of TEFL

BASIC DEFINITIONS AND DIFFERENTIATIONS

ENGLISH AS A FIRST LANGUAGE ( Ll):

This refers to native speakers of the English — speaking

world who acquire the language as their MT.

In Ll situation, a child usually internalizes the system of

its MT at an early stage. The process of learning is
natural and full of variety.

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Motivation in teaching/learning Ll is integrative and
strong as the learner is prompted by inner drive.

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (L2):

It has some specific functions within a multilingual

society or minority groups.

It is learned after the MT.

In learning ESL, reinforcement comes from the learner's

immediate environment as language is used extensively
in everyday life. English functions as " Lingua Franca"
i.e the normal medium of instruction and
communication.

Motivation in teaching/learning English as a second

language is both integrative and instrumental.

ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (FL):

A FL is one which has no internal function in the

learner's country.

Learning of the FL is confined to the classroom. That is,

the language is taught and used in schools.

Normally, there is little, if any, reinforcement outside

the classroom.

EFL , as in the Arab World, is learnt like other subjects

in the school curriculum for operational purposes.

Motivation in teaching/learning English as a foreign

language is not high. It is largely dependent on the

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teacher, methods of teaching, language activities,
textbooks, and the classroom situation. It is instrumental
and pragmatic. Learners with an instrumental
motivation want to learn a language because of a
practical reason such as getting a job promotion or
getting into university.

Goals and objectives of TEFL to Egyptian Learners

Developing the learners' proficiency in understanding

and using English in spoken and written forms.

Improving the students' competence in communicating

in English with native speakers.

Enabling the learners to become well informed about

the life and culture of the countries which use English as
a means of communication. ( Do you agree?)

CENTRAL DETERMINANTS OF TEFL

The Learner

There is a close relationship between learning a foreign

language and the learner's willingness to learn this
language. Developing communicative competence
requires an active contribution from learners.

The EFL teacher

English language teaching is qualitatively different from

other types of teaching, because special qualifications
and training are required for the EFL teacher.

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THE METHOD OF TEACHING

Different methods

Different techniques

Different activities

THE TEACHING MATERIALS

Appropriate materials are required.

Authentic materials.

Materials should stress language use and not knowledge

of linguistic rules.

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

Physical environment

Affective atmosphere

LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE TEACHING

Comparative linguistics

It is concerned with the study of languages in their

written forms.

Psycholinguistics

It is the study of the relationship between linguistic and

psychological behavior. Psycholinguists retrieve
linguistic study information. Ll and (L2 In & other FL )
acquisition words, Psycholinguistics and learning: how
investigates learners store how and humans produce,
understand, and store language, and is therefore

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concerned with processes such as speaking, listening,
writing, and reading.

Sociolinguistics

It is concerned with the study of language as it is

actually used in real situations. That is, linguistic
knowledge as well as communicative competence, as a
learner " acquires knowledge of sentences, not only as
grammatical, but also as appropriate". The most
important of sociolinguistics in language teaching is to
provide the learners with the appropriate rules
awareness of speaking of and writing and raise their
sociolinguistics awareness, that's to say, the the socio-
cultural differences across languages.

The learner acquires competence as to : when to speak,

when not, with whom, in what manner.

Linguistic Principles Related to TEFL

LANGUAGE IS BASICALLY ORAL:

This principle implies that language is mainly an oral

activity ( speech) and writing is an attempt to represent
language. Therefore, the English system is inaccurate as
an alphabet.

LANGUAGE IS ARBITRARY

There is no logical reason why a certain segment of the

language behaves as it does. Thus, reason about
language forms or structures is often useless. Again,
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consonant practice and intensive work are often the best
way to master language.

LANGUAGE HAS FORM AND MEANING

Form can be studied scientifically and it can be

described accurately. However, meaning does not lend
itself to scientific study easily. Meaning of form
( spoken or written)can be determined by the situation
or context in which they are said or used.

KNOWING A LANGUAGE INCLUDES BOTH

ACCURACY AND APPROPRIATENESS

This principle implies that the EFL teacher should teach

both use and usage Of the language. That is, knowledge
of the language system and its realization in contexts of
use.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE

TEACHING AND LEARNING

LANGUAGE LEARNING IS HABIT FORMATION -

Learning a foreign language takes time.

Constant practice and repletion is needed.

LANGUAGE LEARNING IS THE ACQUISITION OF

SKILLS

Receptive skills

Productive skills

LEARNING TEFL INVOLVES MT INTERFERENCE

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Making use of contrastive studies of the two languages (
similarities and differences).

LANGUAGE LEARNING IS A MODEL BASED

PROCESS - The teacher is the chief model in the EFL
classroom. - Imitation of the model is a double-edged
weapon.

LANGUAGE LEARNING IS BASICALLY

ENJOYABLE

Anxiety free classroom ( Lowering the affective filter).

Enjoyable activities ( games, discussions, role playing.

Interviews, monologues, dialogues etc).

LANGUAGE LEARNING IS AN INDIVIDUAL AND

A SOCIAL PROCESS

Interaction

Cooperative activities

Individual activities

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LANGUAGE

LEARNING

Language Acquisition

Natural

In normal conditions

Starts from infancy to formal schooling

Language Learning

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It is used in a foreign language context.

Systematic and gradual.

Artificial

Starts late after the system of the leaner's MT has

already become established.

TECHNIQUES, METHODS AND APPROACHES

Techniques:

A technique is what the teacher actually does in the

classroom to implement a method which is, in turn,
consistent with an approach. It is a teacher's style or
trick to achieve an immediate objective in the lesson.
Techniques are highly individualized and customized to
learners' different learning styles . Techniques are more(
implementational).

Methods:

A method is the application of the detailed aspects of an

approach. It emphasizes an orderly logical arrangement
of steps.

It consists of a number of techniques used in a

systematic way to achieve the aim of language learning.
It is more ( procedural).

APPROACHES:

The term 't APPROACH" refers to principles or

assumptions underlying the process of language

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teaching and learning. OR, It is a set of principles,
beliefs, or ideas about the nature of language learning. It
is more ( theoretical) An example:

Principle: Language is a set of habits ( Behaviorist

approach).

Method: "Mimicry-memorization".

Technique: How the teacher manipulates " mim- mem"

in the classroom.

In BRIEF

An approach describes the theory or philosophy

underlying how a language should be taught.

A method or methodology describes, in general terms, a

way of implementing the approach (syllabus,
progression, kinds of materials).

Techniques describe specific practical classroom tasks

and activities.

TEACHING VOCABULARY

WHAT IS VOCABULARY?

Vocabulary is all the words that a person knows or

uses and it is all the words in a particular language.

WHY IS VOCABULARY IMPORTANT?

David Wilkins argued that: “without grammar little

can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed.”
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  Vocabulary is important to language development.

Vocabulary helps develop other language skills.

 Vocabulary Improves Reading Comprehension in

particular.

 Vocabulary plays an important part in expressing

yourself in writing.

TYPES OF VOCABULARY

 ESP vocabulary

This type of vocabulary is related to certain fields e.g

English for law, English for medicine, English for
tourism .....etc.

 Active ( productive) vocabulary

This type of vocabulary is related to the vocabulary we

use in everyday speech. active vocabulary includes all
words that you can think of and use right away when
you’re in the process of communicating.

 Passive vocabulary

This type of vocabulary is related to the

vocabulary we do not always use in everyday

language. Your passive vocabulary includes the words

you can recognize and understand, but can’t come up
with on your own when writing and speaking.

 Structure or function vocabulary

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This type of vocabulary is limited in number. It

belongs to a closed set. The meaning of the

word of this type is mainly derived from the function it

serves in a sentence or in an utterance.

ACTIVE

When learning a language, both your active and

passive vocabularies change all the time. You use
words, forget words, try out new words and review
previously learned words. So, words may move freely
between your active and passive vocabularies as time
goes on, but your passive vocabulary will always be
much larger.

 However, no matter how many words you’ve learned

to understand, the moment comes when you need to use
them. And that’s where your active vocabulary prevails.

VS

PASSIVE VOCABULARY

TYPES OF VOCABULAR MEANING

 Lexical meaning

• Lexical meaning refers to the sense (or meaning) of a

word (or lexeme) as it appears in a dictionary; Also
known as semantic meaning, denotative meaning, literal
meaning , and central meaning.

Connotational meaning

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- This type of vocabulary meaning is related to one’s
experience and language culture. For example, a word
like “ interested” may have a Connotational meaning as
“ nosy”. This type of vocabulary forms a great problem
to Arab learners of English as teachers rarely teach the
connotative meaning of vocabulary to their students.
See words like: use, blue, want, chick, honey......etc.

 Idiomatic meaning : idioms, clichés, proverbs

This type of vocabulary meaning is vague. It is

difficult to understand idioms from separate

words or in light of lexical meaning. Idiomatic meaning

is dependent upon the culture of the language as well as
the appropriate relevant context.

 Examples:

 It is raining cats and dogs (an idiom).

 So on so forth (cliché).

 The crow is never the whiter for washing itself often

(a proverb).

DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY

 Arabic and English are not cognate languages.

Learners' culture can be a barrier to foreign

language vocabulary learning.

 Mother tongue interference and transfer influence the

learning of FL vocabulary.
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 The written form versus the spoken form has its
effect on learning the new vocabulary of the target
language ( FL).

 The word meaning is difficult to grasp because it

may change from one situation or context to another.

 Form changes of EFL have their impact on the

difficulties of teaching and learning vocabulary.

 The teacher's competence/incompetence influences

the methods of teaching the new vocabulary of FL.

STEPS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY

 Word Pronunciation and modeling  3Cs technique :

- Conveying the meaning

- Checking understanding

- Consolidating the meaning

Helping pupils to use the new word/s in different

contexts.

WORD PRONUNCIATION AND MODELING

The first step of teaching the new word is that the

teacher pronounces it correctly to his/her students . The
teacher models the word to help students recognize how
it is pronounced.

CONVEYING THE MEANING OF THE NEW

WORD/

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 Direct association

 Acting

 Visual aids ( pictures, cards, cut outs...etc)  Body

language ( facial expressions )

 Contextualization

 Synonyms and antonyms

 Using the mother tongue ( Translation)

CHECKING UNDERSTANDING

Pupils may pretend that they understand the meaning

of the word. They may also repeat the word without
understanding its meaning. Therefore, the teacher
should ask them some easy questions to make sure that
they understand the meaning of the word. In asking
questions the teacher should ask genuine questions; i.e.
questions to which s/he does not already know the
answers, otherwise, the situation would be very artificial
and boring.

CONSOLIDATE THE WORD MEANING

After checking pupils’ understanding of the new

word, the teacher should consolidate the meaning of the
word through asking questions or helping them use the
word in real communication. This can also be done
through dialogues or conversation in which they use the
new item.

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EXERCISES FOR PRONUNCIATION AND
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

 Pronunciation exercises:

1. MT treatment exercises

( p, g, th, ing, ck, u, o, v, sks and other L1 habits) 2.

Phonics exercises

3. Stress, intonation and vowel length exercises 4.

Minimal pairs exercises

5. Tongue twisters

VOCABULARY EXERCISES

 Word sets / categories (groups) - Airport:

- Restaurant: - Family:

 Scale exercises

- Room, flat, house, factory - Cool, cold, hot, frozen

- Orange, lemon, grapefruit

 Affixes

- ( re – in – er – or – dis ...etc)

 Flashcards exercises

 Word games

There are hundreds of vocabulary games you can get

and modify and use in the classroom. Just go to Google
and write " vocabulary games" and you will not fail
getting them.

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 Simple Dictionary

What is the speaking skill in the EFL classroom?

● Speaking skill in the EFL classroom is defined as the

skill which allows students to communicate effectively.
This skill gives students the ability to convey
information verbally and in a way that the listener can
understand the message easily. Speaking is an
interactive process where information is shared, and if
necessary, acted upon by the listener

Some important tips

● Listening and speaking are closely intertwined as they

form the oral communication process.

● Accuracy refers to the production of grammatically

correct spoken language.

● Fluency in oral communication is the ability to

communicate without pauses or hesitations, without
needing to search for words or phrases, and without
having to think about what they are about to say.

What is more important in language teaching: accuracy

or fluency

● Accuracy should always be a major part of any

language teaching course. Without an accurate
knowledge of their target language, students will never
be able to be understood.

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● Accuracy activities come before fluency activities.
This is common sense – there is no point in building
fluency with incorrect forms or incorrect words. Get the
basics right and then speed it up.

● Be clear about whether activities are designed to

build accuracy or fluency and stick to your plan.

● It is worth mentioning that we cannot really focus on

both accuracy and fluency at the same time.

● During accuracy-focused activities, it is the role of the

teacher to correct students and model native-like forms.

● During fluency-focused activities, we need to shut all

corrections off. No correction or interruption. Our role
is to encourage and support rapid speech, to lower the
affective filter and anxiety related to making mistakes.

● Wherever possible try and ensure that lessons

incorporate opportunities for students to develop both
their accuracy and fluency.

What makes teaching/learning speaking difficult to

EFL learners?

● “Mute English learners” is a phenomenon prevailing

in many EFL classes. They may be able to read and
write English well but they find great difficulty to speak
. The following are some factors that make teaching
speaking difficult to EFL learners:

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● Psychological/Affective challenges such as
nervousness, fear of making mistakes, lack of
confidence , shyness , and lack of motivation).

● Linguistic problems such as insufficient vocabulary,

insufficient grammar, mispronunciations, MT
interferences and transfer.

● Environmental problems such as lack of learning

context , insufficient practice, low participation in the
EFL classroom.

Principles For Teaching Speaking In EFL Classes

1. Creating Realistic Situations

The teacher should think of a situation where the type of

language he wants to introduce is commonly used.

2. Engaging All Students

The students should communicate with each other, and

not only with the teacher. The teacher should think of
techniques to engage all the students in speaking
activities.

3. Personalizing Speaking Topics

It will be easier for students to speak in a foreign

language about topics they are interested in. The teacher
should think about his students’ interests when he/she
plans speaking activities.

4. Creating an anxiety free English classroom

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Many students are afraid of speaking in class, they are
shy. They are afraid of making mistakes. It is the role of
the teacher to create a friendly class where students feel
happy and relaxed. This motivates and encourages them
to speak without fear or hesitation.

Techniques for teaching speaking to Elementary

Students

● Mechanical practice:

These drills are helpful for acquiring basic knowledge

of linguistic competence ( correct pronunciation, oral
vocabulary, verb forms, and grammatical patterns).
These drills include repletion, mimicry- memorization,
and substitution drills.

● Meaningful practice:

- This stage introduces students to social

formulas such as greetings, introductions, complaints,

apologies, thanking, asking for information, Requests,
orders, Explanations....etc.

- This stage includes both guided and free oral activities.

- In the guided oral activities, the teacher provides the

class with the topic and content of what to be said, and
students communicate within this framework.

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● In the free oral activities, the teacher has to set up the
situation or provide the stimuli that arouse the students’
interests and motivate them to speak.

● Visual aids, games, interviews, role playing, and

debates are good examples of free oral activities that
encourage students to be involved in oral
communication in the English classroom

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