Topic: Comparing and Evaluating Methods: Some Suggestions

Comparative and Evaluation methods in English language teaching is used in the development of the
understanding of language learning process. In line with this, Total Physical Response and
Community Language Learning come in.
Dr. James Asher developed the Total Physical Response (TPR), which is based on how people
acquire their first language. You know, parents and other caregivers have a huge physical role in
helping children learn their mother tongue. On the other hand,
Community Language Learning (CLL) is a technique of teaching languages that incorporates
psychological elements and has students collaborate to develop the language skills they would like to
learn. Charles A. Curran developed this approach first.
By comparing design-level aspects, we discover that TPR often contains documented syllabus with
paced introduction of language and concepts. CLL runs without a syllabus and on the basis of what
students feel they should know. TPR emphasizes the value of individuals acting alone and makes no
assumptions about the relationships between learners. In short, TPR focuses on the grammar and
vocabulary. While CLL focuses on the interest of the language learner. As its name suggests, the
foundation of CLL is a collaborative and supportive connection between teachers and students.
We have been able to specify components that are common to all approaches and methods and to
highlight places where approaches and methods differ thanks to the usage of a common model for
the analysis of various teaching philosophies. The comparison of approaches is one level of
application for this concept. For example, it might be useful to know if two approaches' procedures
are likely to mesh well in a classroom setting or if their underlying theoretical presumptions are
similar. Let's compare Total Physical Reaction (TPR) with Community Language Learning using the
model as an illustration (CLL).
Asher's method, speaking, reading, and writing are given less priority in the beginning while listening
comprehension is given top priority, simulating the early phases of mother tongue acquisition.
Students act out teacher-issued orders to show that they have understood them; the teacher offers
creative, frequently funny variations of the commands. Activities are created to be enjoyable and give
students the opportunity to participate actively in their learning. Eventually, there will be games and
skits. Complete Physical Response offers a pleasant learning environment with little of the stress
associated with learning a foreign language. Students obey the teacher's orders when they are given.
As soon as students are "ready to talk," they assume leadership responsibilities. Instructors can
assess students by simply watching their behavior. Formal evaluation is accomplished by giving a
pupil a list of instructions to follow. The goal of TPR is to improve language and vocabulary
development by forging a neural connection between voice and action.
Curran's approach view their charges as "complete persons" having intellect, emotions, instincts,
physical reactions, and a desire to learn. Instructors are aware that learning can be dangerous.
Teachers can assist students overcome their concerns and harness positive energy for learning by
acknowledging and recognizing their fears. Students choose what they wish to learn to express in the
target language, so the syllabus is learner-generated.
CLL, the teacher serves as a counselor, helping pupils by recognizing their struggle to acquire a
language in a frequently perilous new learning environment. In the classroom, both the teacher and
the students make decisions. The teacher may guide interaction occasionally, but students may also
engage in spontaneous dialogue. Cooperative behavior is promoted. Teachers frequently ask
students how they feel about studying and then demonstrate comprehension to assist pupils get past
their bad sentiments. CLL is a technique of teaching languages that attempts to help students
improve both their language skills and their emotional and social skills. Both TPR and CLL view
stress, defensiveness, and humiliation as the three main obstacles to effective language acquisition.
They both believe that the key to overcoming these obstacles is the learners' dedication, focus, and
engagement in groups.
 Topic:Grammar-Translation Method

Have you ever questioned what it means to "make the language come alive for your students"? One
of the easiest ways to achieve this is to convey the language in real-world contexts that are
meaningful to your students. Teachers should have any teaching methods available to them to create
the ability of a child to learn languages better.
Grammar-Translation Method appears relatively easy to apply and it makes few demands on
teachers, which is perhaps the exact reason of its popularity. The grammar-translation method has
been employed by language instructors for many years. Originally used to teach languages and
literatures like Latin and Greek, it is one of the oldest approaches of teaching a foreign language.
Listening comprehension and spoken communication are minimally used in this strategy.
Grammar-Translation Method was prevalent in foreign language classrooms from the mid 19th
century to the mid 20th century. It was first introduced in Latin and ancient Greek classrooms in the
early 19thcentury, replacing more communicatively-oriented methods as Latin ceased to be a spoken
language. As there was no longer a strong justification for teaching oral skills in the classical
languages, the GrammarTranslation Method espoused the goal of developing the ability to read and
translate classical texts. By the mid 19th century the method had been adopted for teaching modern
languages by German scholars such as Karl Plötz and Johann Seidenstücker, and it quickly spread
to classrooms throughout Europe and the United States. Grammar-Translation Method, just as the
name suggests, emphasizes the teaching of the second language grammar,
its principle techniques is translation from and into the target language. In practice, reading and
writing are the major focus; little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or listening.
The student‘s native language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of the second
language. Language learners are passive in language learning and teachers are regarded as an
authority, i.e. it is a teacher-centered model. Richards and Schmidt (Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics 2002, p. 231) have defined the grammar-translation method as ―a
method of foreign or second language teaching which makes use of translation and grammar study
as the main teaching and learning activities.
Grammar-Translation method was originally called the classical method because it was mainly used
in the teaching of Latin and Greek in the 16th century. In the early 19th century, which saw the
decline of Latin and its relegation to an academic language, the grammar-translation method was
adopted to help L2 learners to read, study, and translate foreign languages and language literature.
Two of the key assumptions of this methodology were that:
1.Language learners must develop a good knowledge (learning and memorizing grammatical rules) of
the grammatical systems of their first (L1) and second languages (L2).
2. They need to be able to develop the ability to translate texts from their L1 into the L2 and vice
versa. Ability to accurately translate texts was associated with the ability to learn the grammatical
system of the target language.
The principal aim of the grammar translation method was to make language learning easier and the
central feature was the replacement of traditional texts by exemplary sentences. Grammar-translation
classes are usually conducted in the students' native language. Moreover, the first language, as a
reference system, can dispel misunderstandings in the process of learning the second language.
Then, thinking about formal features of the second language and translation as a practice technique
put the learner into an active problem-solving situation.
HOW TO TAUGHT GRAMMAR?
1. Translation of literary a passage - Translating target language, usually a literary passage to native
language.
2. Reading comprehension - Finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to
personal experience.
3. Antonyms/synonyms - Finding antonyms/synonyms for words/sets of words.
4. Cognates - Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language.
5. Deductive application of rules - Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, and then
applying them to new examples.
6. Fill in the blanks - Filling gaps in sentences with new words/items of a particular grammar type.
7. Memorization - memorizing vocab lists, grammatical rules & grammatical paradigms.
8. Vocab practice - students create sentences to illustrate them know the meaning & use of new
words. 9. Composition - students write about a topic using the target language.
ADVANTAGES  The major advantages of GTM are given below: - The teachers need a few
specialized skills on particular topics. - Students get the opportunity to achieve maximum accuracy on
targeted language. - The learners have to read the classic literature which develops their mental and
intellectual ability. - Literature also helps to enrich multiple potentials of the learners. - The leaners
have to memorize a lot of vocabularies which help them to make different kinds of sentences. - CTM
also helps students to improve the reading and writing proficiency of the targeted language.
DISADVANTAGES  The major disadvantages of GTM are given below:
The students get less opportunity to engage in several segments, unlike Communicative Language
Teaching. - Grammar Translation Method mainly a teacher centered method that's why learners get
less opportunity to interact with the teachers. - Students are not offered to produce their own
sentences in the classroom. - They get less opportunity to develop their speaking and listening skills.
- Oral interaction is avoided in GTM. - In GTM accuracy is more emphasized then fluency.
The teacher has to know the suitable method for their teaching learning process as the condition,
context and social culture in each of the countries is different. Grammar Translation Method (GTM)
provides students to translate sentences directly for practicing translation and learning the application
of tenses at once. GTM focuses on the application of grammar and correct sentence structure.
Reading and writing are the major focus; little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or
listening. The Grammar-translation method evolved to some extent in time, incorporating some points
from other foreign language teaching methods such as the direct method. Learning gets easy as the
conduction is done in the native language. It promotes the skills of reading and writing effectively.

Topic: Task Based Language Teaching

TBLT started in the 1970s when scholars argued that language instruction should teach both
grammar and meaning (Skehan, 2003). The field widely takes Prabhu as one of the first proponents
for tasks or TBLT when he started the approach in teaching secondary school classes in Bangalore,
India in the 1970s (Ellis, 2003; Long & Crooks, 1992; Shehadeh, 2005). From then on, TBLT began to
be recognized and widely discussed in language teaching and research in Second Language
Acquisition (SLA). Some of its proponents (e.g., Willis, 1996) believe that TBLT develops from
communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the predominant language teaching approach since the
1970s, because TBLT shares the same several principles with CLT. Though TBLT is argued to have
originated from CLT, it has its own rationales from different philosophies and approaches toward
language instruction. Nowadays TBLT is a broad term, which involves not only research and
teaching, but testing and curriculum design in SLA
 B. Willis (1996) An activity "where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative
purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome" It is more effective to use a meaning- based approach
than a form-based approach.
C. Skehan (1996) Tasks primarily focus on meaning and resemble real-life situations. Since tasks are
goal-directed activities, participants decide which language forms to use to achieve the goal. Skehan
(1998), drawing on a number of other writers, puts forward key characteristics of a task:
 A task is goal-directed.
 A task has a primary focus on meaning.
 A task has a clear pedagogic relationship to real world language needs.
 A task has a clearly defined outcome.
2. What is Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT)? TBLT is an approach which offers students
opportunities to actively engage in communication in order to achieve a goal or complete a task.
TBLT seeks to develop students' interlanguage through providing a task and then using language to
solve it. Its principal focus is on the completion of meaningful tasks. Such tasks can include creating a
poster, producing a newsletter, video, or pamphlet, or designing a map of the school or neighborhood

Types of Learning and Teaching Activities:

1. Listing - Brainstorming, fact-finding
2. Ordering and sorting – Sequencing , ranking, categorizing, classifying
3. Comparing – Matching, finding similarities, finding differences
4. Problem solving – Analyzing real or hypothetical situations, reasoning, and decision making
5. Sharing personal experiences – Narrating describing, exploring, and explaining attitudes, opinions,
reactions
6. Creative tasks – Brainstorming, fact- finding, ordering and sorting, comparing, problem solving and
many others
.(Willis,1996 Willis and Willis (2007):
• A good task not only generates interest and creates an acceptable degree of challenge, but also
generates opportunities for learners to experience and activate as much language as possible" •
Focus on language occurs when learners "pause their process for meaning and switch to thinking
about the language itself".
• Focus on form occurs when the teacher isolates a specific structure and explains it outside the
context of the communicative activity.

TOPIC: FUNCTIONAL NOTIONAL APPROACH

Brief History In 1972, the British linguist D.A. Wilkins published a document that proposed a radical
shift away from using the traditional concepts of grammar and vocabulary to describe language to an
analysis of the communicative meanings that learners would need in order to express themselves
and to understand effectively
FUNCTIONAL NOTIONAL APPROACH
FINOCCHIARO, M. and BRUMFIT, C. (1993) The notional functional approach in ESL is a way of
structuring a syllabus around ―notions,‖ real life situations in which people communicate, which are
further broken down into ―functions‖ specific aims of communication. The functional approach to
language is divided into two main aspects functional and notional
1.) Notion refers to the concept, idea or thought conveyed by the language. expressed through
nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.
2.) Function is some kind of communicative act it is the use of language to achieve a purpose.
Situation may affect variations of language such as the use of dialects, the formality or informality of
the language and the mode of expression.
The Concept of Functional-notional Approach
A functional-notional syllabus is primarily based not on a linguistic analysis but on an analysis of
learners‘ social and/or vocational communicative needs. This approach holds that the classification of
skill levels should be based on what people want to do with the language (functions) or in terms of
what meanings people want to convey (notions). As such, this approach is based on the following
concepts:
(1) Communication is meaningful behavior in a social and cultural context that requires creative
language use rather than synthetic sentence building
(2) language is constructed around language functions and notions; functions such as evaluating,
persuading, arguing, informing, agreeing, questioning, requesting, expressing emotions and
semanticgrammatical notions such as time, quantity, space, location, and motion. The aim of this
approach was to transfer these functions to acts of communication.
Notions are meaning elements that may be expressed through nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs. A notion is a concept, or idea: it may be quite specific, in which
case it is virtually the same as vocabulary (dog, house, for example); or it may be very general – time,
size, emotion, movement – in which case it often overlaps with the concept of ―topics‖. A notion may
be ―time past‖; this may include past tenses, phrases like a month ago, in 1990, last week, and
utterances using temporal clauses beginning with when….., before…., after…. and so on
A function is some kind of communicative act: it is the use of language to achieve a purpose, usually
involving interaction at least between two people. Examples would be suggesting, promising,
apologizing, greeting, inviting
ELEMENTS:
A. The persons taking part in the speech act
B. The place where the conversation occurs
C. The time the speech act is taking place
D. The topic or activity that is being discussed. Exponents are the language utterances or statements
that stem from the function, the situation and the topic.
Code is the shared language of a community of speakers.
Code-switching is a change or switch in code during the speech act, which many theorists believe is
purposeful behaviour to convey bonding, language prestige or other elements of interpersonal
relations between the speakers. Categories of functions
: 1. PERSONAL expressing one‘s thoughts or feelings
2. INTERPERSONAL Enabling us to establish and maintain desirable social and working
relationships
3. DIRECTIVE Attempting to influence the actions of others
4. REFERENTIAL talking or reporting about things, actions, events, or people in the environment in
the past or in the future 5. IMAGINATIVE Discussions involving elements of creativity and artistic
expression
Functional-national is a method of language teaching that categorize along with others under the
rubric of a communicative approach. The method stresses a means of organizing a language
syllabus. This approach holds that the classification of skill levels should be based on what people
want to do with the language (functions) or in terms of what meanings people want to convey
(notions).
A Functional Notional Approach to language learning places major emphases on the communicative
purposes of speech or in speaking skill. That is what people want to do or accomplish through
speech. In teaching language, the Functional Notional Approach to language helps the teacher to
identify the needs of the learner and analyze the needs in order to draw the syllabus, beside that also
to teach the purposes of speech.

Topic: Billingualism Method

Introduction Charles Joseph Dodson (C.J. Dodson) developed the Bilingual Method of Teaching
English between 1967 and 1972. He did as a counterpart to the Audiovisual Method. He also had in
mind the Direct Method. It's composed of bi-, meaning ―two,‖ and lingual, which means ―pertaining
to languages.‖ Sociolinguistically in general, bilingualism can be interpreted as the use of two
languages by a speaker in association with others. Therefore, Bilingual method is a method of
learning by using a language other than mother tongue (Chreese: 2010).
The bilingual method focuses more on using the language for oral communication. Students won't be
using their native tongue much in the classroom. As with the direct method, basic texts make use of
picture strips to accompany the dialogue. Bilingual method is one of the newest method.Where two
languages are used one is the mother tongue of the students and the other is the target language
(English). Mother tongue is used in the class to achieve the target language. This method is the
midway approach of grammar translation method and direct method.
Not only does bilingual education give children the opportunity to acquire a second language which
encourages their cognitive, social and academic growth, but it is a lifelong asset. Bilingualism will
continue to students throughout their lives in areas such as the work force, travelling and even their
health.

Topic:The Test Teach Test Approach

Test Teach Test ( it is also known as TTT) was launched one week before the country gained
Independence on 31st August 1962. TTT Limited is a wholly owned state enterprise providing
broadcast, production and transmission services for audiences within Trinidad and Tobago and
beyond. It is also a language teaching that approach where students complete diagnostic tests at the
beginning of the lesson, without the help of the teacher. After looking at the results, the teacher must
be plans and presents a lesson based on the students' specific needs.
Once students have had the chance to work with the target forms from the aspects of concept, form
and pronunciation, and they have demonstrated that they have greater understanding of the target
language, they are presented with a second ‗Test‘ task, similar to the one used in the first stage,
where students can try the same type of activity with the same target language, demonstrating the
progress that they have made during the first stages of the class.
Test-Teach-Test is an approach to teaching when:
Step 1 — Test — students, first, do a controlled task, it‘s a kind of screening, diagnostic test.
Step 2 — Teach — teachers, based on the mistakes students have made, do an input, clarify the
rules of the target language, extend and develop the language area.
Step 3 — Test — students do another task to have further practice with the target language. The
teacher checks if students have understood the language and if the teacher needs to re-teach.
Example: The learners, who have not studied phrasal verbs, are given a text and asked to find
examples. They are able to do this but not to deduce meaning. The teacher plans a lesson to help
learners develop this, and then asks them to do a similar activity.
Advantages of test-teach-test. - The final benefit of the TTT structure is that it allows for positive error
and self-correction by students, even encouraging errors as a learning tool as they make their way
through new territory at the beginning of the lesson without support. Jun 24, 2019
Disadvantages of Test-Teach-Test. - TTT requires the teacher to adapt on the fly. The first part can
be time-consuming if the teacher gives a task or test that is too difficult for students to complete. It's
not suitable for beginners. It's quite difficult to execute with mixed-level ESL/EFL classes.
The main goal of this phase is to fill in gaps in knowledge with explicit teaching and for students to
focus on accuracy with the target language
Second goal to this phase is to help students improve their fluency while maintaining accuracy in
learning.
Lastly the teacher is observed errors that the students are making with the target process of
Language. In addition, this encourages a reflective learning approach, as the types of error and
peerlearning strategies can be evaluated during the learning process, and be borne out in the final
Test stage as demonstrated progress.