Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(0402529)
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Reasons of learning a
2nd/foreign language
• Academic: to pursue degrees or certificates (* only a small portion in fact)
• Non-academic:
(a)to survive in Target Language community e.g. talking to neighbors,
helping children at school, or carrying out daily functions effectively
(b) English for specific purpose (ESP): to learning the lg as to apply in
work
(c)Culture: to know about the target community. It helps you to see things
from a different perspective, or get a deeper understanding of another culture
• Mixed: to learn for pleasure, for integrating into a culture or to be forced to
To understand students’ need and motivation of learning a language
is crucial for successful learning and teaching.
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Advantages children benefit
from learning a foreign
language:
• Children’s greater potential for developing accurate
pronunciation, accent and fluency before puberty
• Children’s favorable attitude towards a language
and its culture,
either their mother tongue or a second language.
• Children’s less mental barriers of learning than
adults
• Children’s learning two languages simultaneously
without
suffering from inter-lingual interference
• Listening along with speaking, a preliminary and preferable
role in the natural order of language acquisition for children
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• But “learners of different ages have different characteristics” is
more preferable than the critical hypothesis.
• Besides, accurate pronunciation is not the most important
goal of language learning but a necessary or desirable goal.
• There are also other factors that determine the effectiveness of
one’s language learning such as teacher’s language competence,
the learning environment and so on.
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Important Terminologies
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Language
• A language is a system of visual or auditory
symbols of communication and the rules used to
operate them.
• A set of symbols and words people use to
communicate with each other.
• It is considered to be a system of communicating
with other people using sounds, symbols and words
in expressing a meaning, idea or thought.
• The language can be used in many forms,
primarily through oral and written communications
as well as using expressions through body
language.
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Second language vs. Foreign language
Second language
• It is the language a person learns after the first language.
• People may use it for communicative purposes besides
his/her mother tongue.
• It may have some official status in the country.
• e.g. English is the second language in India
Foreign language
• Foreign language refers to a language used abroad.
• It has no role in one’s native country.
• A person learns it for using in countries where it is used as
the
first language or to use in his own country when guiding
tourists coming from regions of this language.
• For example Chinese is a foreign language in India.
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Foreign Language Learning
VS. Second Language
Acquisition
• Foreign Language Learning: refers to the process of
learning of a nonnative language in the environment of one’s
native language (e.g., French speakers learning English in
France.
• This is most commonly done within the context of the
classroom.
• Second language acquisition: SLA, generally refers to the
process of learning of a nonnative language in the environment
in which that language is spoken (e.g., German speakers
learning Japanese in Japan).
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the Acquisition-learning hypothesis by Stephen
Krashen- (1941-)
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Second Language Acquisition (SLA):
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ESL—an abbreviation for English as a second language such as in
Singapore
EFL— an abbreviation for English as a foreign language such as
Japan
ESP_ (English for Special/Specific Purposes) can involve teaching
English to professionals working in literally any field - airline
pilots or cabin crew, air traffic controllers, bankers, doctors…
EAP_ stands for English for Academic Purposes and often involves
teaching the sort of (fairly high level) English students from
abroad might need to cope with a university course in Britain or
the US.
• CALL-- computer-assisted language learning
• CAI: computer-assisted instruction
• 3 P- a traditional classroom teaching procedure derived
from the Situational Approach of presentation,
practice and production
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• Deductive learning of grammar— is an approach to language
learning in which learners are taught rules and given specific
information about a language. They then apply these rules when
they use the language. For example, in the grammar translation
method, specific grammar rules are given to learners and practice
subsequently follows to familiarize students with the rule. The
features of it are time-saving and suitable for adult learners who
can afford abstract thinking. Besides it is widely used in EFL
contexts where exposure to the target language is limited and the
length of instruction time is short. (e.g. GTM, adult learners,
FI/analytic learners, EFL contexts)
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• Inductive learning— is an approach to language learning in
which learners are not taught grammatical or other types of
rules directly but are left to discover or induce rules from their
experience of using the language. Language teaching methods
which emphasize use of the language rather than presentation of
information about the language include the direct method, the
communicative approach and counseling learning. The features
of it are time-consuming and applicable to young learners in
natural settings such as ESL contexts.
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Performance and Competence
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• Teacher-centered vs. learner-centered teaching
Teacher-centered (fronted) teaching— a teaching style in
which instruction is closely managed and controlled by
the teacher, where students often respond in unison to
teacher questions, and where whole-class instruction is
preferred to other methods.
Learner-centered teaching— methods of teaching which
emphasizes the active role of students in learning, tries to give
learners more control over what and how they learn and
encourages learners to take more responsibility for their own
learning. It is encouraged by many current teaching approaches.
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Target language vs. native language
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Part A: Language Teaching Approaches: An
Overview
1. Grammar-Translation Approach
2. Direct Approach
3. Reading Approach
4. Audiolingualism (United States)
5. Oral-Situational Approach (Britain)
6. Cognitive Approach
7. Affective-Humanistic Approach
8. Comprehension-Based Approach
9. Communicative Approach
Nine Twentieth-Century Approaches to Language Teaching
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Approach
An approach refers to the general assumptions about what
language is and about how learning a language occurs (Richards
and Rodgers, 1986). It represents the sum of our philosophy
about both the theory of language and the theory of learning. In
other words, an approach to language teaching describes:
1. The nature of language,
2. How knowledge of a language is acquired,
3. And the conditions that promote language acquisition.
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Method
A method is a practical implementation of an approach. A theory
is put into practice at the level a method. It includes decisions
about:
The particular skills to be taught,
The roles of the teacher and the learner in language teaching
and learning,
The appropriate procedures and techniques,
The content to be taught,
And the order in which the content will be presented.
It also involves a specific syllabus organization, choices of the
materials that will boost learning, and the means to assess learners
and evaluate teaching and learning. It is a sort of an organizing
plan that relies on the philosophical premises of an approach.
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Procedures
Jeremy Harmer (2001) describes ‘procedures’ as “an ordered set of techniques.”
They are the step-by-step measures to execute a method. A common procedure
in the grammar-translation method, for example, is to start by explaining the
grammar rules and exemplifying these rules through sentences that the students
then had to translate into their mother tongue. According to Harmer, a
procedure is “smaller than a method and larger than a technique.”
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Technique
Implementing a procedure necessitates certain practices and behaviors that
operate in teaching a language according to a particular method. These
practices and behaviors are the techniques that every procedure relies on.
Techniques, in this sense, are part of procedures. They are the actual moment-
to-moment classroom steps that lead to a specified outcome.
Every procedure is realized through a series of techniques. They could take
the form of an exercise or just any activity that you have to do to complete a
task. For instance, when using videos, teachers often use a technique called
“silent viewing” which consists of playing the video without sound and
asking students to figure out what the characters were saying.
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1.Grammar-Translation
Approach
Background
The grammar-translation method of foreign language teaching is
one of the most traditional methods, dating back to the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was originally used to
teach 'dead' languages (and literatures) such as Latin and
Greek, and this may account for its heavy bias to-wards written
work to the virtual exclusion of oral production.
1.Grammar-Translation Approach
Characteristics
1. Classes are taught in the students' mother tongue.
2. Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word
lists.
3. Elaborate explanations of grammar are always
provided.
4. Reading of difficult texts is begun early in the
course of study.
5. Little attention is paid to the content of texts.
6. Often the only drills are exercises in translating
disconnected sentences.
7. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
2. The Direct Method
Background:
a reaction to the grammar-translation approach in an attempt
to integrate more use of the target language in instruction.
The Principal Characteristics
1. Only use the target language in class.
2. The learner should be actively involved in using
the language in realistic everyday situations.
3. Students are encouraged to think in the target
language.
4. First speaking is taught and then only reading and
writing.
2. The Direct Method
Strategies Using Direct Method
1. Q & A: The teacher asks questions of any nature and
the students answer.
2. Dictation: The teacher chooses a grade
appropriate passage and reads the text aloud.
3. Reading Aloud: Students take turn reading sections of a
passage, play or dialog out loud.
4. Getting Students to Self-Correct: The teacher should
have the students self-correct by offering them a
choice between what they said and the proper
pronunciation.
5. Map Drawing
2. The Direct Method
Drawbacks
1. L2 should be learned in way in which L1 was acquired
- by total immersion technique.
2. It rejects use of the printed word - but this objection
is illogical since L2 learner has already mastered his
reading skills.
3. Later disciples of Direct Method took it to extremes
and
refused to speak a single word of English in lessons.
4. Also Direct Methodists failed to grade and structure
their materials adequately - no selection, grading or
controlled presentation of vocabulary and structures.
3. Reading
Approach
It is like Grammar Translation Approach since it also
stressed on written skills. But, it was flexible approach as far
as the teaching is concerned.
a. Only the grammar useful for reading comprehension
is taught.
b. Vocabulary is controlled at first (based on frequency
and usefulness) and then expanded.
c. Translation is once more a respectable classroom
procedure.
d. Reading comprehension is the only language
skill emphasized.
e. The teacher does not need to have good oral
proficiency in
the target language.
4. Audio-lingualism (United States)
Background
This method is based on the principles of
behavior psychology or behaviorism . It adapted
many of the
principles and procedures of the Direct Method, in part
as a re-action to the lack of speaking skills of the
Reading Approach.
It emphasizes the teaching of listening and speaking
before reading and writing.
4. Audio-lingualism (United States)
Characteristics:Strategies /Techniques :
Characteristics
The students have to be fully alert to make the most of what
the teacher says to play the major part in the learning.
Various aids are used as simple pointers, or to make shapes,
helping the learners deduce the meanings for themselves.
The method has many traditional aspects, including use
of traditional structural syllabuses.
8. Comprehension–Based Approach/Task-based teaching
Task-based teaching
It has become a subject of keen contemporary interest, and different task-based
approaches exist today. One underlying principle holds for all the approaches
– to place the emphasis firmly on activities or tasks that learners do in class.
One thing should be mentioned is that, there are a number of features that will
make tasks more or less difficult. So that we can progressively give our
learners tasks where there are more and more things to think about, and
consequently less and less attention available for form.
It tried to teach through a more natural process, i.e., it offers a great deal of
listening and does not force to activate speaking from learner. In fact, it is
a step forward on the Cognitive Approach.
8. Comprehension–Based Approach
Characteristics
a. Language acquisition occurs if and only if the learner comprehends meaningful input.
b. Listening comprehension is very important and is viewed as the basic skill that
will allow speaking, reading, and writing to develop spontaneously over time,
given the right conditions.
c. Learners should begin by listening to meaningful speech and by responding
nonverbally in meaningful ways before they produced any language themselves.
d. Learners should not speak until they feel ready to do so; this result in
better pronunciation than if the learner is forced to speak immediately.
e. Learners progress by being exposed to meaningful input that is just one
step beyond
their level of competence.
f. Rule learning may help monitors (or become aware of) what they do, but it will not
aid their acquisition or spontaneous use of the target language.
g. Error correction is seen as unnecessary and perhaps even counterproductive; the
important thing is that learners can understand and can make themselves understood.
h. If the teacher is not native (or near-native) speaker, appropriate materials such as
audiotapes and videotapes must be available to provide the appropriate input for
the learners.
9. Communicative
Approach
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Part B: Communicative
Language Teaching for the
Twenty-First Century
Sa ndra J.
Sa vignon
Communicative Language Teaching for the Twenty-First Century
S A N D R A J. S A V I G N O N
Background
One fairly modern approach, it views language learning more
as a system thus revolving to teach as a system, i.e.,
authentic material and practical situation.
In "Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) for the Twenty-
First Century" Savignon identifies five components of a
communicative curriculum. She sees the identification of
learner communicative needs and goals as the first step in the
development of a teaching program that involves learners as
active participants in the interpretation, expression, and
negotiation of meaning.
What Is Communicative Language Teaching?
Perhaps the majority of language teachers today, when asked
to identify the methodology they employ in their
classrooms, mention “communicative” as the methodology
of choice.
What do you understand by communicative language
teaching?
Communicative language teaching can be understood as a
set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how
learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that
best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners
in the classroom.
The Goals of Language Teaching
Communicative competence includes the following aspects of
language knowledge:
1. Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and
functions
2. Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the
setting and the participants (e.g., knowing when to use formal and
informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written
as opposed to spoken communication)
3. Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts
(e.g., narratives, reports, interviews, conversations)
4. Knowing how to maintain communication despite having
limitations in one’s language knowledge through using
(e.g.,
different kinds of communication strategies)
Background
• CLT origins, can be found in changes in the British Language teaching
tradition in the 1960s.
• Back then, the Situational Language Teaching Approach was the norm
that consisted in internalizing the structures of a language. Mostly,
learning grammar rules without vocabulary development.
• The SLT did not fill the need to develop language competence in
Language teaching.
• A group of experts saw the need to focus in communicative proficiency
rather than mastery of structures. (Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T.S. p.64)
• Sandra J. Savignon, along with others promoted the CLT approach.
• Along with the changes in Europe it helped to reform the
language teaching.
• Authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged
in real communication with one another became quite popular
Concepts
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Teacher Role
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The Role of Instructional Materials
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Referenc e
Books
• Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Oxford
University Press.
• Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, H. Douglas Brown, Prentice Hall
Regents.
• Teaching by Principles, H. Douglas Brown, Prentice Hall Regents.
• Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Jack C. Richards & Theordore S.
Rodgers, Cambridge University Press.
• An introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. Diane Larsen-
Freeman
& Michael H. Long.
•
The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer, Longman, Ltd.
•
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Celce-Murcia, M. H&H
•
Second Language Teaching & Learning. David Nunan. (1995). H& H.
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