Few language teachers today are familiar with term Oral Approach, though it has shaped the design of many widely used EFL textbooks and courses including many still being used today

1. Presented by:
Jabbar Dayaa

2. Outline
 Introduction
 Situational Language Method
The principles
The main characteristics
 The Approach
Theory of language
Theory of leraning
 The Dsign
The Objectives
The syllabus
Types of learning and teaching activities
Learner roles
Teacher roles
 Procedure
 Pros and Cons

3.  Introduction
Situational language teaching is an approach
developed by British applied linguists in the
1930s to the 1960s, and which had an impact
on language courses which survive in some
still being used today.
The Oral Approach and Situational Language
Teaching relied on the structural view of
language. Both speech and structure were
seen to be the basis of language and,
especially, speaking ability.

4.  Two main principles
Vocabulary control:
Control a number of vocabulary that can be used
in different texts (2000 words or so).
Grammar control:
Classification of grammatical structures into
sentence patterns that could be used to assist
learners to internalize the rules and sentence
structures.

5.  Situationa Language Teaching Method
It involved the principles of:
 Selection : choice of lexical & grammatical
content
 Gradation : organization of content
 Presentation: which techniques used for
presentation and practice

6. The main characteristics:
1. Language teaching begins with the spoken
form
2. TL is the language of the classroom.
3. New language points are introduced and
practiced situational
4. Vocabulary selection is followed
5. Grammatical items are graded
6. Reading & Writing are introduced once lexical
& grammatical basis are estabilished

7.  Theory of language
 The Structural view of language is the view
behind the Oral Approach and Situational
Language Teaching.
 Speech was viewed as the basis of language
and structure as being at the heart of speaking
ability and must be linked to the content and
situations in which language is used.
 Language was viewed as purposeful activity
Approch

8.  Theory of learning
The theory of learning underlying Situation Language
Teaching is behaviorism, addressing more the
processes, than the conditions of learning. It includes the
following principles:
 Language learning is habit-formation.
 The meaning of words can be learned only in a linguistic
and cultural context.
 Mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make
bad habits.
 Language skills are learned more effectively if they are
presented orally first, then in written form.

9.  Objectives
 Teach a practical command of the four basic
skills of a language, through structure.
 Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar.
 Ability to respond quickly and accurately in
speech situations.
 Automatic control of basic structures and
sentence patterns
Design:

10.  The syllabus
Situational Language Teaching used a
structural syllabus and a word list, where
the structures are always taught within
sentences, and vocabulary is chosen
according to how well it enables sentence
patterns to be taught.
Example by Frisby

11.  Types of learning and teaching activities
Situational Language Teaching employs a
situtational approach to presenting new
sentence pattterns and drill-based manner of
practicing them.
situation means the use of:
 Concrete objects
 Pictures
 Realia
 Actions and gestures can be used to demonstrate
the meaning of a new language item.
Practiced techniques: guided repetion,
substitution activities

12.  Learner roles
In the initial stages the learner is required
simply to:
 Listen and repeat what the teacher says
 Respond questions and commands
 Teacher roles
 In the presentation stage the teacher serves
as a model (setting up situations)
 Then he becomes like the skillful conductor.
Lessons are teacher-directed

13.  The role of instructional materials
Situational Language Teaching is dependent
upon:
 Textbook: Contains organized lessons
planned around different grammatical
structures.
 Visual aids: They are produced by the teacher
or commercially produced. They consist on
wall charts, flashcards, pictures and so on.

14.  Typical procedures in Situational Language
Teaching include:
 Procedures that move from controlled to
freer practice of structures.
 Procedures that move from oral use of
sentence patterns to their automatic use in
speech, reading and writing.
Procedure:

15.  A typical situational Language Teaching
lesson would consist of:
 pronunciation
 revision (to prepare for new work if
necessary)
 presentation of new structure or vocabulary
 oral practice (drilling)
 reading of material on the new structure, or
written exercises.

16. Some activities

18.  Suitable for introduction to the language.
 A good method for teaching pronunciation or
vocabulary
 Oral production without risk.
 Does not require many resources
 Its strong emphasis on oral practice, grammar and
sentence patterns conform to the intuitions of many
teachers.
Advantages

19.  A boring teacher
 The learner is required simply to listen and
repeat what the teacher says and to respond to
questions and commands.
 This method does not account for the
fundamental characteristic of language namely
the creativity and uniqueness of individual
sentences.
Drawbacks