A summary of the nature of approaches, methods, and techniques.

1. The Nature of Approaches and
Methods
Prepared by
Raad Mohammed Ali

2. Introduction
In the late nineteenth century, linguists and language
specialists sought to improve the quality of language
teaching by referring to general principles and theories
concerning:
- How language is learned,
- How knowledge of language is represented and
organized, or
- How language itself is structured.

3. Early linguists, such as Henry Sweet, Otto
Jespersen, and Harold Palmer, elaborated
principles and approaches to the design of
language teaching, but specific practical details
were left to be worked out by others.
In 1963, the American applied linguist Edward
Anthony proposed a scheme to identify
approaches, methods and techniques

4. - The arrangement is hierarchical.
- Techniques carry out a method which is consistent within an
approach.
- An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with
the nature of language teaching and learning. It is axiomatic. It
describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught.
- Within one approach, there can be many methods.
- A technique is implementational – that which actually takes
place in a classroom.
- It is a particular trick, stratagem, or contrivance used to
accomplish an immediate objective.

5. According to Anthony’s model:
Approach is the level at which assumptions and beliefs
about language learning are specified;
Method is the level at which theory is put into practice
and at which choices are made about the particular
skills and content to be taught, and the order in which
the content will be presented;
Technique is the level at which classroom procedures
are described.

6. 1 Approach
Is a “philosophy”, or belief system, that a
method reflects.
Theory of language, theory of learning, and
relationship between language theory and
learning theory.

7. Theory of language

8. Cognitive model
A cognitive view of language “cognitivism” is based on the idea that
language reflects properties of the mind.
Atkinson (2011) identifies a number of features and assumptions of this
view:
* Mind as a computer - a set of operations that take in input, process it,
and produce output, as a computer.
* Representationalism – processes that the mind engages in to store
internal presentations of external events.
* Learning as abstract knowledge acquisition – i.e. abstracting the rules
of the competence that underlies linguistic performance, as Chomsky put
it.

9. According to Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar
(1980s), our minds contain a mental grammar that
consists of universal principals that are common to all
languages, and parameters that vary according to
different languages.
Examples of this view:
The Grammar – Translation Method,
The Cognitive-code approach
The Silent Way.

10. Structural model
According to this view, language is a system of structurally
related elements for the coding of meaning. The target of
language learning is to master elements of this system in terms
of:
phonology (e.g., phonemes),
grammatical units (e.g., phrases, clauses, sentences),
grammatical operations (e.g., adding, shifting, joining,
transformational elements), and
lexical elements (e.g., function words, and structure words).

11. Functional model
Language is a vehicle for the expression of
functional meanings and for performing real-
world activities. It is linked to the concept of
communicative competence (knowing how
language is used to achieve different
communicative purposes.)
Brown (1994) defines communicative
competence as:

12. That aspect of our competence which
enables us to convey and interpret messages
and to negotiate meanings interpersonally
within specific context… [The] knowledge
that enables a person to communicate
functionally and interactionally.

13. Interactional model
It sees language as a vehicle for the realization of
interpersonal relations and for the performance of
social transactions between individuals. Language is
seen as a tool for the creation and maintenance of
social relations.
Areas of inquiry:
second language acquisition, interaction analysis,
conversation analysis, and ethno-methodology.

14. The interactive perspective in language education, as
defined by Rivers (1987), “Students achieve facility in
using a language when their attention is focused on
conveying and receiving authentic message (that is,
messages that contain information of interest to both
speaker and listener in a situation of importance to both.”

15. Negotiation of meaning is believed to
play a central role in interactive views
of language, and is central to current
teaching proposals, including Task-
Based Language Teaching.

16. Sociocultural model
It views language as a communicative activity in which
social context is central. Knowledge is constructed
through social interaction with others and reflects the
learner’s culture, customs, and beliefs as well as the
collaborative activities people are engaged in.
Task – Based Language Teaching , Content – Based
Instruction , and Cooperative Language Learning.

17. Genre model
It is a functional model of language. Genre refers
to an area of human activity where there are norms
of language usage, such as in science, business,
medicine, literature. Texts are the units of
discourse that occur in different genres such as
narratives, descriptions, and explanations.

18. Lexical model
It prioritizes the role of lexis and lexical chunks
or phrases and highlights the interrelatedness of
grammar and vocabulary.
Methods : Lexical approach, aspects of Content –
Based Instruction and CLIL

19. Theory of learning

20. Behaviourism
This theory was based on the view that learning is a
process in which specific behaviours are acquired in
response to specific stimuli. Correct responses are
reinforced and increase the chance of the behaviour
becoming learned.
the three components of behaviourism:
1. Stimulus
2. Response
3. reinforcement
Compatible method: Audiolingual method

21. Cognitive code learning
It was developed in 1960s as an alternative to
behaviourism.
It emphasized that language learning was a
cognitive process depending on both deductive
and inductive learning as well as meaningful
practice.
The Presentation – Practice – Production (PPP)
approach used in situational language learning
and the Silent Way can be linked to this view.

22. Creative – construction hypothesis
It was proposed in the 1970s, but still implicit in current
theories of SLA.
It suggests that learning is a creative process that has
common features regardless of the learner’s language
background.
Errors are seen as signs of learning rather than failure.
Compatible methods: Communicative – Language –
Teaching and Task – Based language Teaching.

23. Skill learning
Skills are integrated sets of behaviours that are learned
through practice.
Skill learning theory suggests that complex uses of
language are made up of a hierarchy of skills.
Initially, skills are often consciously managed and
directed by the learner. This is called “controlled
processing”.

24. Over time, skills can be automatic and do
not require conscious attention. This is
called “automatic processing”.
Many language teaching methods treat
learning as skill – based learning.

25. Interactional theory
This view argues that learning is an interactive process and
depends on learners working together to achieve mutual
understanding.
The concept that is central to this view is the negotiation
of meaning (the modification of input learners receive
when they communicate with more advanced learners or
native speakers and the kind of feedback they receive from
their interlocutors.)
Both Communicative Language Teaching and Task –
Based Language Teaching reflect the aspects of this
theory.

26. Constructivism
This theory draws on the work of Jean Piaget and John
Dewey on child development as well as on the work of
Lev Vygotsky.
Learning is seen as something that results from the
learner’s internal construction of meaning.
Knowledge does not exist independently of the meaning
constructed from experience by the learner or
community of learners.

27. Sociocultural learning theory (social
constructivism)
It views language learning as resulting from
dialogue between a learner and a more
knowledgeable other person.
The term “sociocultural” means that learning
takes place in a particular social setting in which
there is interaction between people, objects, and
cultural organized activities and events.

28. 2 Design

29. Design is the level of method analysis in which we consider:
1. What the objectives of a method are,
2. How language content is selected and organized wi thin the
method (the syllabus),
3. The types of learning tasks and teaching activities the
method advocates,
4. The roles of learners,
5. The role of teachers, and
6. The role of instructional material.

30. A. Objectives
Different theories of language and language learning
determine what learning outcomes a method sets out to
achieve.
The specification of particular learning outcomes is a
product of design, not of approach.
For example, some methods focus primarily on oral
skills and say that reading and writing skills are
secondary and derive from transfer of oral skills.

31. B. The syllabus
Traditionally, the term “syllabus” has been
used to refer to the form in which
linguistic material is specified in a course
or method.

32. All methods involve overt or covert decisions
concerning the selection of language items or
features (words, sentence patterns, tenses..) that
are to be used within a course or a method.
Simply put, one makes decisions about what to
talk about (subject matter) and how to talk about
it (linguistic matter).

33. A number of taxonomies of syllabus types
in language teaching have been proposed.
For example, Richards (2001) lists ten
basic syllabus types: grammatical, lexical,
functional, situational, topical or content –
based, competency – based, skills – based,
task – based, text – based, and integrated.

34. C. Types of learning and
teaching activities

35. * Instructional process: organized and directed
interaction of teachers, learners, and
materials in the classroom.
* Often serve to distinguish methods:
differences among methods at the level of
approach manifest themselves in the choice
of different kinds of learning and teaching
activities and interaction patterns: use of
games, arrangement, and grouping of
learners.

36. D. Learner Roles
1. Degree of control learners have over content of
learning.
2. Patterns of learner groupings.
3. Degree to which learners influence the learning of
others.
4. The view of learner as a processor,
performer, initiator, problem solver
5. Types of learning tasks set for learners.

37. E. Teacher Roles
1. types of functions teachers fulfill.
2. teacher influence over learning.
3. degree to which teacher determines
the content for learning.
4. types of interaction between teacher
and learners.

38. F. The Role of instructional
Materials
- primary functions of materials
- the form materials take. (textbook,
audiovisual)
- relation of materials to other input
- assumptions made about teachers
and students/learners.

39. III. PROCEDURES
- classroom. techniques, practice, and
behaviors observed when the method is used.
- resources in terms of time, space, and
equipment used by teachers.
- Instructional pattern observed in lesson
- Tactics and strategies used by teachers and
learners when method is being used.

40. Factors responsible for the rise and fall of
methods:
1. Paradigm shift
2. Support network
3. Practicality
4. Teacher’s language proficiency
5. Compatibility with local traditions