TECHNIQUES AND METHODS TO TEACH ENGLISH

1. An approach to language teaching is something that reflects a certain theory and beliefs about
language andlanguage learning.A methodisasetof procedures;asystemthatspellsoutexactlyhow
to teach a language (what particular skills and content to teach). Methods are more specific than
approaches but less specific than techniques. A technique is a classroom device or activity and thus
represents the narrowest term of the three. Some technique are widely used and found in many
methods (imitation and repetition); others are specific to or characteristic of a given method.
Here is a list of important variables to judge methods:
 Perceived goals of language learning.
 Decisions about what is to be taught.
 Beliefs about the nature of language.
 Belief about the process of language learning/ acquisition.
 Amount of prescription for teachers.
 Attitudes to different classroom techniques and activities.
 The role and nature of materials.
 The relative roles of teachers and learners.
 Attitude to the use of learners' native language (L1) in the classroom.
 Attitude to error.
 Belief about evaluation and assessment.
Module N°3:WhatDoWeMeanByTheTermsApproach,MethodAnd
Technique?
Design
Procedure
Approach

2. 1. ATTHELEVELOF“METHOD”
1.1. TheObjectivesofaMethod
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;
 Focus on general competence;
 Include aspectsof the culture and/or literature of the target language community.
2. THEEARLYMETHODS
The purpose of this unit is to review the early history of language teaching methods; we will
provide you with a background for discussion and suggest the issues to keep in mind when
analyzing these methods.
Like educationalsystems,methodologiesare aproductof theirtimesand are equallyrootedinthe
ideas of their time. And in the same way that ideas have the habit of coming and going out of
fashion, methodologies also go out of fashion.
3. BeforeThe19Th
Century:TheNeedForAMethod
Methods:
3.1. TheGrammar-Translation Method
3.1.1. Background
The Grammar-TranslationMethodemergedinPrussiaatthe end18th
centuryand
became firmly entrenched in the 19th
century.
It was rooted in the formal teaching of Latin and Greek.
3.1.2. Objectives
The aim the course was to train students to read literature written in the foreign
language and to write the foreign language accurately. There was very little
opportunity to practice the language orally by means of listening or speaking
activities; there was just occasional reading-aloud practice.
3.1.3. AStructure-BasedMethodology

3. Analyzingthe grammarsystemof a language wasbasedon deductiontechniques:
the ruleswere firstexplained,the studentslearntthem, andafterwardsexamples
were provided.A typical textbookthusconsistedof chaptersor lessonsorganized
aroundgrammar points.The linguisticunitonwhichlanguage teachingwasbased
was the sentence.
Translation was the technique used to extract meaning from texts and the basic
activities developed in the classroom consistedof teaching grammar rules and of
regularpractice intranslatingsentenceslike thefollowingintoandoutof the target
language.
Teacherswere more preoccupiedwithwrittenexercisesandlengthybilingual lists
of vocabulary. The written exercises were repetitive and the language presented
was academic and unreal. The most immediate aim of the teacher was the
completionof allthe exercisesineachlessonandcoveringall thelessonscontained
in the book.
The students' native language was the medium of instruction and it was used to
explain new items and to enable comparisons to be made between the two
languages. The foreign language was not used in the class to any extent.
3.1.4. TeacherAndLearnerRoles
The teachingactivitywas focusedonthe teacherashe becomesthe mostrelevant
figure within the classroom. He gives a lot importance to error correction and
always looks for grammatical and lexical accuracy. However, the teacher's role in
the classroomwasnot verydemanding,since he hadnoneedtobe imaginativeor
creative in planning the lessons.
On the other hand, the student's role was a passive one: they absorbed the
information supplied by the teacher and afterwards they had to reproduce it in
order to satisfy the teacher.
3.1.5. Language TeachingInnovationsInTheNineteenthCentury
In Germany, England, France, and other parts of Europe, new approaches to
language teaching were developed by individual language teaching specialists.
Educators recognized the need for speaking proficiency rather than reading
comprehension,grammar,orliteraryappreciationasthe goal forforeignlanguage
programmers; there was an interest in how children learn languages.
4. THEREFORMMOVEMENT
The discipline of Linguisticswas revitalized.Phonetics(the scientificanalysisanddescriptionof the
sound systems of languages) was established, providing new insights into speech processes.The
International Phonetic Association was founded in 1886, and its International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) was designed to enable accurate sound transcription for any language.

4. 4.1.TheDirectMethod
In the middle of the 19th
centurythe originsof whatwouldbecome the DirectMethodwere
developedbyJ.S.Blackie,aScottishteacher,whointhe 1850s wasadvocatingthe avoidance
of the mother tongue, the direct association of word with object, and the relegation of
grammar to a subordinate position.
At that time international relation in the fields of Politics and Commerce above all, were
gaining increasing relevance. It seems logical them that the interest was in stressing the
ability to use the foreign language rather than in analysing it. Besides, the fact that the
grammar-translation method did not have interpersonal communicationas one of its main
goals, made it unsuitable for students who were not from an academic background.
From a theoretical pointof view thismethodwasverymuchbasedonthe linguistictheories
of the time,whichconsideredthe oral language and Phoneticsasimportantcomponentsin
the teachingand learningprocessof a foreignlanguage.The studentslearntounderstanda
language by listening to a great deal of it, and they learn to speak it, by speaking it. Oral
communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organised around
question-and-answerexchangesbetweenteachers andstudentsinsmall,intensive classes.
The DirectMethodadvocateslearningbythe directassociationof foreignwordsandphrases
withobjectsand actionsor, in other words,speechisassociatedto appropriate action.This
means that students have to understand meaning clear, using miming, sketches or
explanations in order to clarify the meaning of abstract vocabulary.
Because of the importance given to the oral language, Phonetics also played an important
role; correct intonation became a key focus of interest. The students are taught the new
sound system right from the beginning and are encouraged to do phonetic transcription.
If there isa word that studentsdonot understand,thisisnevertranslated;onthe contrary,
students are encouraged to inter meaning of unknown words from the context.
4.2.TheReadingMethod
The Reading Method focused on the systematic teaching of reading comprehension. The
studentswere trainedtoreadthe foreignlanguage withdirectapprehensionof meaning,but
without a conscious effort to translate. It was expected that students would use the same
techniques theyhad used when learning to read in their native language. So, if there were
any words the students did not understand, they would infer meaning from the context.
Reading could either be intensive or extensive:
 The intensive readingtaskswere continuouslysupervisedbytheteacher,whowould
check the degree of comprehension achieved. The intensive reading al provided
source material for grammatical study and for the acquisition of vocabulary.
 Extensive reading activities were also part of the learning process. In this case the
students would read on their own texts graded to their language level; these

5. materials contained controlled vocabulary and syntax structures. The extensive
reading led the way to undertaking class projects, which were valuable from the
pedagogical point of view.
Writingwaslimitedtoexerciseswherethe studentshadthe opportunity touse some of the
vocabulary and essential structures also necessary to understand the text.
The studyof grammar wassupposed tobe directedtothe needsof the reader,sothere was
no need for active reproduction.
Some importance was also given to correct pronunciation, since there was oral practice
relatedtoatext:studentshadtoreadthe textaloudortodoexercisesconsistingof questions
and answer.
4.3.Oral ApproachOrSituational Approach
The Oral Approachis focusedonthe theoriesdevelopedinEnglandbetweenthe 1930s and
the 190s. Two of the leaders in this movement were Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornby, who
were familiar with the work of such linguists as Otto Jespersen and Daniel Jones.
4.3.1. MainFeatures
The main characteristics of the approach were as follows:
1. The firststepinthe learningprocesswasto become familiarwiththe new sound
systemand to understand simple spokenlanguage andthe use of simple speech
patterns;studentscarriedout listeningandspeakingactivitiescontainingsimple
phrases.
2. The target language wasthe language of instructionandthe native language was
to be avoided.However,inordertocorrect some of the flawstheyhadobserved
in that language teachingsystemof the DirectMethod,theyacceptedthe use of
the native language when explaining the meaning of some words or some
grammar points of a strictly functional kind.
3. Palmer viewed grammar as the underlying sentence patterns of the spoken
language,Palmer,Hornby,andotherBritishappliedlinguistsanalyzedEnglishand
classified its major grammatical structure into sentence patterns (later called
“substitutiontables”),whichcouldbe usedtohelpinternalizethe rulesof English
sentence structure.
They also consideredthat it was necessary to add more practice of grammatical
structures, and these were introduced gradually from simple forms to complex
ones, offering opportunities for practicing them in situational contexts.
4. Likewise, vocabulary was graded to ensure that an essential general service
vocabularywascovered.The effortstointroduce ascientificandrationalbasisfor
choosingthe vocabularycontentof alanguagecourse representthefirstattempts
to establish principles of syllabus design in language teaching.

6. 5. Reading and writing were introduced one a sufficient lexical and grammatical
basis was established.Occasional translation was allowedas a checking method
on comprehension of precise details in reading.
Unlike the Direct Method or the Reading Method, which gave much more importance to
speaking and reading respectively, the Oral Approach sought a balance between the
developments of the four linguistic skills at all stages: oral comprehension, writing
comprehension,oral productionandwritingproduction,althoughthe emphasisremainedon
oral presentations.
4.4.TheAudio-LingualMethod
The existing methods at that were not considered suitable to promote the communicative
needs which had arisen as a consequence of war, so the “American Council of Learned
Societies” created a linguistic programme called “ASTP” (“Army Specialised Training
Programme”) in 1941. This programmer offered instruction for 50 different languages to
100,000 members of the Army who were expected to acquire oral competence in several
languages by means of using a combination of techniques from the different existing
methods, such as the Direct Method, audio-visual media (films, radio, and so on), and
recordings.
The “methodology”of the Army Method impliedintensive contactwiththe target language
(=tenhoursa day, six daysa week) insmall classesof mature andhighlymotivatedstudents,
which is why such excellent results were often achieved and the programme was very
successful.
Despite the difficulties in adapting it as a method, the success of the “ASTP”, together with
the linguisticneedsof foreignstudentsinthe Americanuniversitiesledtothe development
of a new method in foreign language teaching in the US in the 1950s: Audiolingualism.
4.5.WhatisTheBasicofAudiolingualism?
The history of the Audiolingual Method is linkedto the Institute of EnglishLanguage at the
University of Michigan, created in 1939. One of the linguists from this university, Charles
Fries, was trained in structural linguistics, and he applied the principles of structural
linguisticstolanguage teaching.The new approachfor language learningwasfirstcoinedas
the “Oral Approach”, the “Aural-Oral Method” or the “Structural Approach”; later on the
combination of structural linguistic theory, contrastive analysis, aural-oral procedures,and
behaviourist psychology led to the “Audiolingual Method”, a term coined in 1964 by
Professor Nelson Brooks. Although many of its aspects may seem similar to those of the
British Oral Approach, both traditions developed independently.
It was in the 1960s that the Audiolingual Method reached its greatest popularity.

7. 4.5.1. MainFeatures
4.5.1.1. Typesofactivities
Audiolingualists based their theories on the observation of a corpus of a
particular language in order to describe its sound and the possibilitiesof
word combination. This descriptive approach led them to research what
people really say in their mother tongue. The Audiolingualists took as a
model the wayachildacquiresthesehabits.Childrenlearn alanguage,and
all the social ruleswhichare complementarytoit,inspokenform.Thisidea
ledthemto thinkthat studentsacquire the foreignlanguagemore easilyif
it is in the spoken form.
Teachingwasthereforebasedondialoguesthatcontainedcommonly-used
every-day expressions and basic structures. These dialogues provided a
meansof contextualizingkeystructuresandillustratingsituationsinwhich
structures might be used as well as some cultural aspects of the target
language.
Dialogues and pattern drills were learned by a process of mimicry and
memorization: first as a group, then in smaller groups and finally
individually. The benefits of these procedures were the relatively high
motivation of students, as the drilling protects them from their initial
embarrassment and minimizes mistakes.
Correct pronunciation,stress,rhythm, andintonationwere emphasizedas
opposed to grammatical explanations.
The reading tasks were at first an adaptation or recombination of what
students had learned orally. Writing was imitative, consisting of
transcriptions of words and dialogue sentences.
The use of the L1 was avoided in the classroom as much as possible,
althoughitwas neverforbidden.The treatmentof errorwas an important
component of the learning process and sometimes students were not
encouraged to speak in order to avoid mistakes.
4.5.1.2. LearnerandTeacherRoles
Learners played an active role in the classroom by responding to stimuli;
however,itwasthe teacherwhodecidedthe contentsof a lessonandthe
pace of learning, and who monitored and corrected the learners'
performance.
The teacher's role was therefore a central one, and it required
inventiveness and resourcefulness so as to encourage the practice of
structures by means of different drill and tasks, and by choosing relevant
situations.

8. 4.6.TheRoleofMaterials
Instructional materialswere primarilyteacheroriented.Inthe elementaryphases of acourse
a student textbookwas often not used as students were primarily listening, repeating, and
responding.
Tape recordersandaudio-visualequipmentwere oftenusedinanaudionlingualcourse:they
providedaccurate modelsforlisteningpractice. A dialoguewaspresentedandstudentswere
engaged in drilling exercises, repeating the dialogue sentence by sentence, or in follow-up
fluency drills on grammar or pronunciation.
4.7.CognitiveCodeLearningorCognitiveApproach
Fromthe verybeginningthe objective of languageteachingwastogive the same importance
tothe fourskills,andthecontentswerefocusedonthegrammatical component,withspecial
relevance granted to morphology and syntax within the sentence. Some of the theoretical
underpinnings of the Cognitive Approach were:
1. Conscious learning of the language systemis promoted: learners need to have control
of the language rules in order to be able to generate their own language in new
situations(the principle of creativity).Inotherwords,learnersneedto understand the
systemof rules; thusgrammar isexplainedopenlyandisoftencontrastedwiththe first
language.Makingmistakesisviewsaspartof the processof achievinganunderstanding
of rules.
2. Conscious focus on grammar acknowledges the role of abstract mental processes in
learning rather than defining learning simply in terms of habit formation.
3. Learningmust go from the knownto the unknown,so that the learnerscan familiarize
themselveswiththe rulesfirst(knowledge) andapplythemafterwards(performance).
This meansthat learnersfirstdeal withcontrolledcomprehensionandmanipulationof
linguistic forms for later use in real communication situations. It is believedthat if the
students have a cognitive control over the language structure, they will automatically
develop the ability to use them in meaningful situations.
4. Learningmustbe meaningful(incontrasttothe routine repetitionof ´drills´),itmustbe
relatedtothe newmaterialsandadaptedto the learnersneeds.Thuslearningisunder
the learner's control.
Although many have considered the changes implemented by the Cognitive Approach as
superficial,particularlythose concerningtechniquesandclassroomdynamics,itwas widely
acceptedinthe UnitedStates,andmanyof the activitiescarriedoutinthe classroomcontext
consistedof the combinationof astructural ´syllabus´withacognitiveapproachandavariety
of communicative and personalized activities and strategies.

9. The term cognitive code is still sometimes invoked to refer to any conscious attempt to
organise materialsaroundagrammatical syllabuswhileallowingformeaningfulpractice and
use of language.
1. Which of the following can be found in the Grammar Translation Method?
2. Which of the following can be found in the Direct Method?
L1/L2 vocabularylists.
Grammar rulesexplainedinthe L2.
An activityforinferringinformationfromthe textinordertoanswer
comprehensionquestions.
Group work.
TASK
Done
a)
b)
c)
d)

10. 3. Which of the following can be found in both the Oral Approach and Audiolingualism?
4. Which of the following can be found in the Cognitive Approach?
L1/L2 vocabularylists.
Grammar rulesexplainedinthe L2.
The teachershowsa picture to explainthe meaningof anew word.
An emphasisonaccurate pronunciation.
An occasional use of the L1.
Analysisof underlyinggrammaticalstructures.
A heavyemphasisonreadingandwritingskills.
The use of oral repetitiondrills.
A learner-centredapproach.
More emphasisonthe skillsof readingandwritingthanonspeakingand
listening.
Grammatical analysis.
The use of controlledpractice activities.
Mistakesare immediatelycorrected.
a)
b)
c)
d)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
a)
b)
c)
d)

11. What has been the attitude toward the teaching of (a) pronunciation, (b) grammar, (c)
vocabulary in the approaches discussed in this unit?
TASK
Done