Methods_and_Approaches_in_ELT.pptx

Module1
Approaches and Methods
in ELT
Part one: History of language
teaching

Main menu
 A brief history of language teaching
 The methods era (1920s-1980s)
 The Audiolingual Method
 Suggestopedia
 The Silent Way
 Community Language Learning
 Total Physical Response
 Communicative Language Teaching
 The post methods era(1990s till now)
 Competency-Based Language Teaching
 Standards-Based Language Instruction

Why do we need to know the
history of language teaching?
 Key to the understanding of the way
things are and why they are that
way.
 teachers may better comprehend the
forces that influence their profession

Classical period
(17th,18th,19th) centuries
EDUCATION AS AN ARM OF THEOCRACY
Purpose of education to teach religious orthodoxy
and good moral character
FOREİGN LANGUAGE LEARNİNG ASSOCIATED
WITH THE LEARNİNG OF GREEK AND LATİN
purpose of learning a foreign language to promote
speakers’ intellectuality
1850’s: Classical method came to be known as
Grammar Translation Method

1850s to 1950s: Grammar
Translation Method
 Emphasis on learning how to read and write.
 Emphasis on structures, rote memorization of voc.
and translation of literary texts
 Voc. is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
 Focus on grammatical rules, syntactic and Long
elaborate explanations of grammar are given
 Medium of instruction was the mother tongue
 No provision for the oral use of language
 Speaking and listening were mediated via
“conversation classes”, add-ons to the main course

Early Mid 20th Century(1920s)
 The Reform Movement
 Demand for ability to speak a foreign
language
 Reformers reconsidering the nature of
language and learning
 Three Reformers (the way children learned
languages was relevant to how adults
learned languages)
 C. Marcel
 F. Gouin
 T. Pendergast

Early Mid 20th Century
 Marcel
 Emphasized the importance of
understanding meaning in language
learning
 Pendergast
 Proposed the first structural syllabus
(arranging grammatical structures so
that the easiest was taught first)

F Gouin(French teacher of
Latin)
 Painful experience in learning German
 Tried to memorize a German
grammar book and a list of 248
irregular German verbs
 Observed his three-year old nephew
 Came up with the following insights
 Children use language to represent
their conceptions.
 Language is a means of thinking, of
representing the world to oneself.

Berlitz (The Direct Method)
 Posited by Charles Berlitz
Second language learning is similar to
first language learning
Emphasis on
- oral interaction
- spontaneous use of language
- no translation
- little if any analysis of
grammatical rules and structures

Direct Method
 The features of the Direct Method
 Classroom instruction was conducted in
the target language
 There was an inductive approach to
grammar
 Only everyday vocabulary was taught
 Concrete vocabulary was taught
through pictures and objects
 Abstract vocabulary was taught by
association of ideas

Direct Method
 New teaching points were introduced orally
 Communication skills were organized
around question-answer exchanges btw.
teachers and students
 Speech and listening comprehension were
taught
 Correct pronounciation and grammar were
emphasized

Critiques of the Direct
Method
 Successful in private language schools
(small classes, individual attention and
intensive study)
 Overemphasized the similarites btw FLL
and SLL.
 Required native speakers as teachers
 Its success dependeds on teacher’s skill
and personality more than on the
methodology itself

The Audiolingual Method
(1950s)
 Outbreak of the World War II
 Heightened the need to become orally
proficient
 “the Army Method” (an oral-based
approach to langauge learning)
 Charles Fries and Leonard Bloomfield
(structural linguist)
 İdentify the grammatical structures
and the basic sentence patterns
 Practice these patterns by systematic
attention to pronounciation and
intensive oral drilling

Features of ALM
 There is dependency on mimicry,
memorization of set phrases, and
overlearning.
 There is little or no grammatical
explanation. Grammar is taught inductively.
 Great importance is attached to
pronunciation.
 Very little use of the mother tongue by
teachers is permitted.
 Successful responses reinforced
 New material is presented in dialog form
 There is great effort to get students to
produce error-free utterances.

How is ALM different from
DM?
ALM- grammar or structure is the starting
point. Language was identified with speech
and speech was approached through
language
DM- No basis in applied linguistics learners
are exposed to the language, use it and
gradually absorb its grammatical structures
ALM differs from the Direct Method in that
vocabulary and grammar are carefully
selected and graded, and it’s based on
behaviorist habit-formation theory.

The Designer Method of the
1970s
Chomsky- drew the attention to the “deep
structure” of language
Earl Stevick- has taken into account the
affective and interpersonal nature of
language learning and teaching

Cognitive-Code Learning
Theory(Cognitive Approach)
 A reaction to the behaviorist features of the
Audio-lingual method Influenced by
cognitive psychology (Neisser 1967) and
Chomskyan linguistics (Chomsky 1959,
1965);
 Instruction is often individualized; learners
are responsible
 Language learning is viewed as rule
acquisition, not habit formation

Cognitive-code learning Theory
(Cognitive Approach)
 Vocabulary instruction is once again
important, especially at intermediate and
advanced levels;
 Errors are seen as inevitable,to be used
constructively in the learning process
 The teacher is expected to have a good
proficiency level in the English language
C

Cognitive-Code Learning Theory
(Cognitive Approach)
 Grammar must be taught deductively
(rules first; practice later) and/or inductively
(rules can either be stated after practice or
left as implicit information for the learners
to process on their own);
 Pronunciation is de-emphasized; perfection
is viewed as unrealistic and unattainable;
 Reading and writing are once again
important as listening and speaking;

Affective-Humanistic Approaches
of the 1970’s-1980’s
 The teacher should be proficient in the
target language and the student’s native
language since translation may be used
heavily in the initial stages to help students
feel at ease; later it is gradually phased
out.

Suggestopedia (Lazanov)
 Used relaxation as means of retaining
knowledge and material
 Music plays a pivotal role (Baroque
music with its 60 beats per minute and
its specific rythm created “relaxed
concentration” which led to
“superlearning)

The Silent Way (Caleb Gattegno)
 Characterized by a problem-solving approach.
 Develops independence and autonomy and
encourages students to cooperate with each other.
 Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or
creates rather than remembers and repeats
what is to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical
objects.
 Learning is facilitated by problem solving the
material to be learned.

Community Language Teaching
(Charles A. Curran)
 Applies psychological counseling techniques to
learning
 Learners in a classroom were not regarded as a
“class” but as a “group” in need of certain therapy
and counseling.
 Basic procedures of CLL derives from counselor-
client relationship
 Open interpersonal communication and the role
of supportive community was emphasized
CLL can also be linked to language alternation
used in bilingual education (lesson presented first
in NL and again in the SL)

Comprehension-Based
Approaches
 An outgrowth of research in first language
acquisition that led some language
methodologists to assume that second or
foreign language learning is very similar to
first language acquisition; e.g., Postovsky
1974; Winitz 1981; Krashen and Terrell
1983)

Comprehension-Based
Approach
 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.
 Learners should begin by listening to
meaningful speech and by responding
nonverbally in meaningful ways before they
produce any language themselves.

Total Physical Response
(James Asher)
 Adult second language learning as a
parallel process to child first language
acquisition
 Undemanding in terms of linguistic
production
 Attempts to teach language through
physical motor activity (by the use of
imperatives)

1980’s Interactive views of
language teaching
 Communicative Language Teaching
 Learners learn a language through
using it to communicate
 Authentic and meaningful
communication should be the goal of
classroom activities
 Fluency is an important dimension of
communication
 Communication involves the
integration of different langauge skills
 Learning is a process of creative
construction and involves hypothesis
testing

Spin-off approaches of CLT
 These approaches share the same basic
set of principles of CLT, but which spell out
philosophical details or envision
instructioanl practices in somewhat
different ways
 The Natural Approach
 Cooperative Language Teaching
 Content- Based Language Teaching
 Task-Based Language Teaching

Module 1
Approaches and Methods
in ELT
Part two: Language Teaching
Methodology

Language Teaching
Methodology(Richards & Rodgers,
(2001)
Language
Teaching
Methodology
Theories of
Language
and Learning
Instructional
Design Features
Objectives
Syllabus
Activities
Roles of Teachers
Roles of Learners
Materials
Observed
Teaching
Practices

Elements and Subelements
of Method
1. METHOD a) The level that links theory to
practice and which includes
objectives, content selection and
organization, types of learning
activities, roles of teachers and
learners and roles of instructional
materials;
2. APPROACH b) The level of conceptuatization and
organization which encompasses the
actual moment to moment
techniques, behaviours and practices
that operate in language.
3. DESIGN c) The level at which a specific
instructional design is determined
according to a particular theory of
language and language learning
4. PROCEDURE d) The level at which assumptions
and beliefs about language and
language learning are specified.

Elements and Subelements of
Method
 Approach
 Assumptions and
beliefs about
language teaching
and learning
 Design
 Objectives
 Syllabus
 Activities
 Roles of Teachers
 Roles of Learners
 Materials
 Procedure
 Implementational
Phase
 A method is
theoretically
related to an
approach, is
organizationally
determined by a
design, and is
practically realized
in procedure

 Your understanding of what
language is and how the learner
learns will determine to a large
extent, your philosophy of education,
and how you teach English: your
teaching style, your approach,
methods and classroom techniques.

Then, what is language and
how poeple learn/acquire it?
 Video viewing: First and second
language learning/acquisition
theories
 TASK: watch the following video and
answer the question on the task
sheet.

 Therefore, what are some of the
main roles that you have to play as a
foreign language teacher?
 It is very important for you to
become aware of the thoughts that
guide your actions in the classroom.

 Everyone knows that being a good
teacher means giving positive
feedback to students and being
concerned about their affective side
on their feelings.

 Learning to listen to themselves is
part of lessening their reliance on the
teacher. The teacher will not always
be there. Also, they will be
encouraged to form criteria for
correcting their mistakes—for
monitoring their own progress.

 Observing a class will give you a
greater understanding of a particular
method and will give you more of an
opportunity to reflect on your own
practice than if you were to simply
read a description of it.

Fourteen questions
 1.What is the theory of language and
learning of the method or approach?
 2. What are the principles of teachers
who use this method or approach?
 3.What are the their goals?
 4. What is the role of the
teacher? What is the role of the
students?
 5. What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?

 6.What is the nature of student-
teacher interaction? What is the
nature of student-student interaction?
 7. How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 8. How is language viewed? How is
culture viewed?

 9. What areas of language are
emphasized? What language skills
are emphasized?
 10. What is the role of the students’
native language?
 11. How is evaluation accomplished?
 12. How does the teacher respond to
student errors?

 13. What is the role of the teaching
materials?
 14.What are the advantages and
drawbacks of the method or
approach?

The Audio-Lingual Method
 The Audio-Lingual Method, like the
Direct Method, is also an oral-based
approach. However, it is very
different in that the Audio-Lingual
Method drills students in the use of
grammatical sentence patterns.

Theory of language and
learning
 It also,unlike the Direct Method, has
a strong theoretical base in
linguistics and psychology. It has
principles from behavioral
psychology (Skinner, 1957).
It was thought that the way to
acquire the sentence patterns of the
target language was through
conditioning—helping learners to
respond correctly to stimuli through
shaping and reinforcement.

 Learners could overcome the habits
of their native language and from the
new habits required to be target
language speakers.

 It was thought that the way to
acquire the sentence patterns of the
target language was through
conditioning—helping learners to
respond correctly to stimuli through
shaping and reinforcement.
Learners could overcome the habits
of their native language and form the
new habits required to be target
language speakers.

Principles
 1. “Language is speech, not writing”.
 2. “A language is a set of habits”.
 3. “Teach the language, not about
the language”.
 4. “A language is what its speakers
say, not what some one thinks they
ought to say”.
 5. “Languages are different”.
W. Moulton ( cited in Richards &
Rodgers, 2001,p: 55)

Goals of language learning
 The purpose of language learning is
to learn how to use the language to
communicate as a long term goal;
however, in the short term goal
accuracy prevails over fluency.

Role of the students’
language
 The native language and the target
language have separate linguistic
systems. They should be kept apart
so that the students’ native
language interferes as little as
possible with the students’ attempts
to acquire the target language.

Role of the teacher and
students
 One of the language teacher’s major
roles is that of a model of the target
language. Teachers should provide
students with a good model. By
listening to how it is supposed to
sound, students should be able to
mimic the model.

 The teacher should be like an
orchestra leader—conducting,
guiding, and controlling the students’
behavior in the target language.

 It is important to prevent learners
from making errors. Errors lead to
the formation of bad habits. When
errors do occur, they should be
immediately corrected by the teacher.

Teaching/ Learning process
 The major objective of language
teaching should be for students to
acquire the structural patterns;
students will learn vocabulary
afterward.

 Language learning is a process of
habit formation. The more often
something is repeated, the stronger
the habit and the greater the learning.

 Particular parts of speech occupy
particular ‘slots’ in sentences. In
order to create new sentences,
students must learn which part of
speech occupies which slot.

 Positive reinforcement helps the
students to develop correct habits.
 Students should learn how to
respond to both verbal and non
verbal stimuli.
 Pattern practice helps students to
form habits and which enable them
to use the patterns.
 Students should “overlearn” to
answer automatically without
stopping to think.

 The learning of a foreign language
should be the same as the
acquisition of the native language.
The rules necessary to use the
target language will be figured out or
induced from examples.

 The major challenge of foreign
language teaching is getting
students to overcome the habits of
their native language.

 Speech is more basic to language
than the written form. The ‘natural
order’ –the order children follow
when learning their native
language—of skill acquisition is:
listening, speaking, reading, and
writing.

The nature of student-teacher
interaction
 Most of the interactions is between
teacher and students and is initiated
by the teacher.

View of language and culture
 Everyday speech is emphasized in
the Audio-lingual Method. The level
of complexity of the speech is
graded, so that beginning students
are presented with only simple
patterns. Culture consists of the
everyday behavior and lifestyle of
the target language speakers.

 Language cannot be separated from
culture. Culture is not only literature
and the arts, but also the everyday
behavior of the people who use the
target language. One of the
teacher’s responsibilities is to
present information about that
culture.

Areas of language and skills
emphasized
 Vocabulary is kept to a minimum
while the students are mastering the
sound system and grammatical
patterns.

 The oral/aural skills receive most of
the attention. Pronunciation is
taught from the beginning, often by
students working in language
laboratories on discriminating
between members of minimal pairs.

The role of the students’
native language
 The target language is used in the
classroom, not the students’ native
language.

How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Students might be asked to
distinguish between words in a
minimal pair, for example, or to
supply an appropriate verb form in a
sentence , using a discrete-point
approach to testing.

How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 Student errors are to be avoided if at
all possible through the teacher’s
awareness of where the students will
have difficulty and restriction of what
they are taught to say.

The role of instructional
materials
 Instructional materials in the
Audiolingual Method assist the
teacher to develop language mastery
in the learner. They are primary
teacher-oriented.
 Tape recorders and audiovisual
equipment often have central roles in
an audiolingual course.

 Video viewing:
Task: Watch the following video
about ALM and
a) identify the steps
techniques of the lesson
b) say which features of the
method you liked or disliked.
Say why.

The decline of Audioligualism
 Audiolingualism reached its period of
most widespread use in the 1960s
and was applied both to the teaching
of foreign language in the United
States and to the teaching of English
as a second or foreign language.

 Audiolingualism stresses the
mechanistic aspects of language
learning and language use.
 Focuses much on form
 Errors are not tolerated
 No transfer of skills for
communication purposes
 ALM is teacher –centered

 Yet, students are motivated in
earlier stages
 Grading is used as a main
principle
 No translation is used

Total Physical Response
(TPR)
 TPR is a language teaching
method built around the
coordination of speech and
action; it attempts to teach
language through physical
motor activity. Developed by
James Asher, a professor of
psychology at San Jose State
University, California.

learning
 TPR reflects a grammar-based
view of language.
 The use of the imperative to
teach vocabulary and structures
is central to the method. Why?

 He claims that speech directed
to young children consists
primarily of commands, which
children respond to physically
before they begin to produce
verbal responses.

 Asher shares with the school of
humanistic psychology a
concern for the role of affective
factors in language learning.

 Asher has elaborated an
account of what he feels
facilitates or inhibits foreign
language learning. For this
dimension of his learning theory
he draws on three influential
learning hypotheses:

 1. There exists a specific innate
bio-program for language
learning which defines an
optimal path for first and second
language development.
 2. Brain lateralization defines
different learning functions in the
left-and-right brain hemispheres.

 3. Stress intervenes between
the act of learning and what is to
be learned; the lower the stress,
the greater the learning.

 Listening should be
accompanied by physical
movement. Speech and other
productive skills should come
later.

 Asher sees TPR as directed to
right-brain learning, whereas
most second language teaching
methods are directed to left-
brain learning. Asher hold that
the child language learner
acquires language through
motor movement.

 Similarly, the adult should
proceed to language mastery
through right hemisphere motor
activities, while the left
hemisphere watches and learns.

The objective of TPR
 The objective of TPR is to teach
oral proficiency at a beginning
level. Comprehension is a
means to an end. The ultimate
aim is to teach basic speaking
skills. TPR requires initial
attention to meaning rather than
to the form of items. Grammar
is thus taught inductively.

Teacher and students’s roles
 Learners in TPR have the primary
roles of listener and performer.
They listen attentively and
respond physically to commands
given by the teacher. Learners
are also expected to recognize
and respond to novel
combinations of previously taught
items.

 Learners monitor and evaluate
their own progress. They are
encouraged to speak when they
feel ready to speak—that is,
when a sufficient basis in the
language has been internalized.
The teacher plays an active and
direct role in TPR.

Characteristics of the T/ L
process
 Lessons begin with commands
by the teacher; students
demonstrate their understanding
by responding physically.
 Activities later on include games
and skits.

Teacher and students
interaction
 Teacher interacts with individual
students and with the group.
 In the beginning, the teacher
initiates all actions.
 Later on, this is reversed.
Students issue commands to
teacher and other students (role
reversal).

Dealing with feelings
 The method was developped
principally to reduce the stress
associated with language
learning.
 Studends are not forced to
speak untill they atre ready.
 Learning in made as enjoyable
as possible.

View of language and culture
 Oral modality is primary.
 Culture is the lifestyle of native
speakers of the target language.

Areas of language/ skills
emphasized
 Grammatical structures and
vocabulary are emphasized,
imbedded in the imperative.
 Understanding precedes
production.
 Spoken language precedes the
written word.

Role of students’ native
language
 The method is introduced in
students’ native language, but
rarely used later on.
 Meaning is made clear through
actions, gestures and teacher’s
voice.

Role of materials
 Generally, no textbook is used in
TPR.
 Materials and realia play an
important and increasing role.
 Classroom objects are used in
earlier stages of learning;
pictures, realia, slides, word
charts and skits are used later
on.

Response to students’ errors
 Students are expected to make
errors once they begin
speaking.
 Teacher corrects only major
errors. « Fine-tuning » occurs
later.

Means of evaluation
 Teacher can evaluate students
through simple observation of
their actions.
 Formal evaluation is achieved
by commaning a student to
perform a series of actions.

Evaluation of the method
 Advantages:
 Providing comprehensible input
via actions minimizes stress for
students.
 Creating a supportive classroom
environment may enhance
language learning and memory
retention.

 Drawbacks:
 Beyond beginner level, activities
involving commands may become
repetitious and boring for learners.
 Learning structures is basically
restricted to a single form.
 Moving from listening to the
speaking phase may be
problematic for large groups.

Total Phycical Response
 Video viewing:
about TPRand
Say why.

The Silent Way
 The Silent Way is the name of a
method of a language teaching
devised by Caleb Gattegno.

 It is based on the premise that
the teacher should be silent as
much as possible in the
classroom but the learner
should be encouraged to
produce as much language as
possible.

 Elements of the Silent Way,
particularly the use of color
charts and the colored
Cuisenaire rods, grew out of
Gattegno’s previous experience
as an educational designer of
reading and mathematics
programs.

learning
 The sentence is the basic unit of
teaching, and the teacher
focuses on propositional
meaning, rather than
communicative value. Students
are presented with the structural
patterns of the target language
and learn the grammatical rules
of the language through largely
inductive processes.

Learning hypotheses
 1. Learning is facilitated if the
learner discovers or creates
rather than remembers and
repeats what is to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by
accompanying physical objects.

 3. Learning is facilitated by
problem solving involving the
material to be learned.

 Gattegno sees vocabulary as a
central dimension of language
learning and the choice of
vocabulary as crucial.

 Gattegno looked at language
learning from the perspective of
the learner by studying the way
babies and young children learn.

Principles
 The teacher should start with
something the students already
know and build from that to the
unknown. Languages share a
number of features, sounds
being the most basic.

 Language learners are
intelligent and bring with them
the experience of already
learning a language. The
teacher should give only what
help is necessary.

 Language is not learned by
repeating after a model.
Students need to develop their
own ‘inner criteria’ for
correctness—to trust and to be
responsible for their own
production in the target
language.

 Students’ actions can tell the
teacher whether or not they
have learned.

 The teacher makes use of what
students already know. The
more the teacher does for the
students what they can do for
themselves, the less they will do
for themselves.

 Learning involves transferring
what one knows to new contexts.
 Reading is worked on from the
beginning but follows from what
students have learned to say.

 Silence is a tool. It helps to
foster autonomy, or the exercise
of initiative. It also removes the
teacher from the center of
attention so he can listen to and
work with students. The teacher
speaks, but only when
necessary.

 Meaning is made clear by
focusing students’ perceptions,
not through translation.
 Students can learn from one
another. The teacher’s silence
encourages group cooperation.

 Student attention is a key to
learning.
 Students should engage in a
great deal of meaningful
practice without repetition.
 Language is for self-expression.

 The teacher can gain valuable
information from student
feedback.

What are the goals of teachers
who use the Silent Way?
 Students should be able to use
the language for self-
expression—to express their
thought, perception, and
feelings.

What is the role of teacher?
 The teacher is a technician or
engineer.
 The teacher should respect the
autonomy of the learners in their
attempts at relating and
interacting with the new
challenges.

What is the role of the
students?
 The role of the students is to
make use of what they know, to
free themselves of any
obstacles that would interfere
with giving their utmost attention
to the learning task.

What are some characteristics of
 Students begin their study of the
language through its basic
building blocks, its sounds.
 This provides valuable
information for the teacher and
encourages students to take
responsibility for their own
learning.

What is the nature of student-
teacher interaction?
 For much of the student-teacher
interaction, the teacher is silent.
 Student-student verbal
interaction is desirable (students
can learn from one another) and
is therefore encouraged.

How are the feelings of the
 The teacher constantly observes
the students. When their
feelings interfere, the teacher
tries to find ways for the
students to overcome them.

How is language viewed?
 Languages of the world share a
number of features. However,
each language also has its own
unique reality since it is the
expression of a particular group
of people.

How is culture viewed?
 Their culture, as reflected in
their own unique world view, is
inseparable from their language.

What areas of language are
emphasized?
 Since the sounds are basic to
any language, pronunciation is
worked on from the beginning.

Specialized teaching
materials
 Cuisenaire rods

What language skills are
emphasized?
 All four skills are worked on from
the beginning of the course,
although there is a sequence in
that students learn to read and
write what they already
produced orally.

students’ native language?
 Meaning is made clear by
focusing the students’
perceptions, not by translation.

What is the role of materials ?
 The materials are manipulated
both by the students and the
teacher independently and
cooperatively.
 The main role of these materials
is to promote language learning
by direct association.

How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Assessment is continual.
 The teacher’s silence frees him to
attend to his students and to be aware
of these needs.
 The teacher observes student’s ability
to transfer what they have learnt to
new contexts.
 Students are expected to learn at
different rates, and to make progress,
not necessarily speak perfectly in the
beginning.

 Student errors are seen as a
natural, indispensable part of
the learning process. Errors are
inevitable since the students are
encouraged to explore the
language.

Evaluation of the method
 Advantages:
 Teacher talking time is
minimized in the classroom.
 Learners are made responsible
for their own learning and are
required to test their hypotheses
about how the target language
system works.

 Drawbacks:
 Method may not suit all types of
learners (use of inductive
learning only).
 Difficult to use beyond the
basics of the language.
 Real communication among
students is rarely achieved (lack
of motivation)

 Video viewing:
about the Silent Way and
Say why.

Suggestopedia
 In order to make better use of
our reserved capacity, the
limitations we think we have
need to be ‘desuggested.’
 Desuggestopedia, the
application of the study of
suggestion to pedagogy, has
been developed to help students

 eliminate the feeling that they
cannot be successful or the
negative association they may
have toward studying and, thus,
to help them overcome the
barriers to learning.

Theory of language / learning
 Lozanov does not articulate a
theory of language, nor does it
seem that he is concerned with
how language elements are
organized.
 However, « suggestion » is a
crucial notion of the theory of
learning underlying
Suggestopedia.

Principles
 Learning is facilitated in a
cheerful environment. The
classroom is bright and colorful.
 Students can learn from what is
present in the environment,
even if their attention is not
directed to it (‘Peripheral
learning).

 If students trust and respect the
teacher’s authority, they will
accept and retain information
better. (The teacher speaks
confidently.)

 The teacher gives the students
the impression that learning the
target language will be easy and
enjoyable.

 The students choose new
names and identities and feel
less inhibited since their
performance is really that of a
different person.

 The dialogue that students learn
contains language they can use
immediately. Songs are useful
for ‘freeing the speech muscles’
and evoking positive emotions.

 Fine art provides positive
suggestions for students.
 One way that meaning is made
clear is through native language
translation.

 Communication takes place on
‘two planes’: on one the
linguistic message is encoded;
and on the other are factors
which influence the linguistic
message. On the conscious
plane, the learner attends to the
language; on the subconscious
plane, the music suggests that
learning is easy and pleasant.

 When there is a unity between
conscious and subconscious,
learning is enhanced.

 A calm state, such as one
experiences when listening to a
concert, is ideal for overcoming
psychological barriers and for
taking advantage of learning
potential.

 The fine arts (music, art, and
drama) enable suggestions to
reach the subconscious. The
arts should, therefore, be
integrated as much as possible
into the teaching process.

 The teacher should help the
students ‘activate’ the material
to which they have been
exposed. Novelty aids
acquisition.

 Music and movement reinforce
the linguistic material. If they
trust the teacher, they will reach
this state more easily.

 In an atmosphere of play, the
conscious attention of the
learner does not focus on
linguistic forms, but rather on
using the language. Learning
can be fun.

 Errors are corrected gently, not
in a direct, confrontational
manner.

who use suggestopedia?
 Teachers hope to accelerate the
process by which students learn
to use a foreign language for
everyday communication. In
order to do this, more of the
students’ mental powers must
be tapped.

What is the role of teacher
and learners?
 The teacher is the authority in
the classroom. In order for the
method to be successful, the
students must trust and respect
him or her. Once the students
trust the teacher, they can feel
more secure. If they feel secure,
they can be more spontaneous
and less inhibited.

 The learners must maintain a
pseudo-passive state and be
highly receptive to the materials
used.
 They must immerse themselves
in the procedures of the method
regain self-confidence,
spontaneity and receptivity of a
child.

 The posters are changed every
few weeks to create a sense of
novelty in the environment.
Students select target language
names and choose new
occupations. During the course
they create whole biographies to
go along with their new identities.

 The teacher initiates interactions
with the whole group of students
and with individuals right from
the beginning of a language
course.

 If students are relaxed and
confident, they will not need to
try hard to learn the language. It
will just come naturally and
easily.

 Language is the first two planes
in the two-plane process of
communication. In the second
plane are the factors which
influence linguistic message.

 The culture which students learn
concerns the everyday life of
people who speak the language.
The use of fine arts is also
important in Desuggestopedic
classes.

emphasized?
 Vocabulary is emphasized.
Grammar is dealt with explicitly
but minimally.

emphasized?
 Speaking communicatively is
emphasized. Students also
read in the target language (for
example, dialogs) and write (for
example, imaginative
compositions).

 Native-language translation is
used to make the meaning of
the dialog clear. The teacher
also uses the native language in
class when necessary.

How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Evaluation usually is conducted
on students’ normal in-class
performance and not often
through formal tests, which
would threaten the relaxed
atmosphere considered
essential for accelerated
learning.

 Errors are corrected gently, with
the teacher using a soft voice.

What is the role of materials?
 The main role of the materials(
texts, lenghty dialogues, music,
posters, classroom furniture…)
is to allow the process of
memorization in Learning to
accelerated by up to 25 times
over that in conventional
methods (super-learning).

What are the advantages and
drawbacks of the method?
 Advantages: The use of music,
a comfortable environment and
the positive relationship
between the teacher and
students would make the learner
more receptive and, in turn,
stimulate learning via the power
of positive suggestion.

 Drawbacks: There is little
evidence to support the
extravaguant claims of sucess.
 Many people will find classical
music irritating than stimulating.
 The lenght of the the dialogues
and the logistics used will
probably be beyond the means
of most educational institutions.

Community Language
Learning Method (CLL)
 It takes its principles from more
general Counseling-Learning
approach developed by Charles
A. Curran.
 Curran believed that a way to
deal with the fears of students is
for teachers to become
‘language counselors.’

 By understanding students’
fears and being sensitive to
them, he can help students
overcome their negative feelings
and turn them into positive
energy to further their learning.

What is the theory of language/
learning of the method?
 The language theory on which
CLL is based reflects a social –
process view of language in
which comunication is seen as
an exchage between
participants.
 For learning theory, CLL is an
application of Counseling
learning techniques in which

 the whole person( feelings and
emotions as well as linguistic
and behavioural skills) is
involved.

Principles
 The two most basic principles which
underlie the kind of learning that can
take place in the CLL Method are
summed up in the following phrases:
(1) ‘Learning is persons,’ which
means that whole-person learning of
another language takes place best in
a relationship of trust, support, and
cooperation between teacher and
students and among students.

 (2)‘Learning is dynamic and
creative,’ which means that
learning is a living and
developmental process.

 Building a relationship with and
among students is very
important.
 Any new learning experience
can be threatening. When
students have an idea of what
will happen in each activity, they
often feel more secure.

 Language is for communication.
 The superior knowledge and
power of the teacher can be
threatening. If the teacher does
not remain in the front of the
classroom, the threat is reduced
and the students’ learning is
facilitated.

 The teacher should be sensitive
to students’ level of confidence
and give them just what they
need to be successful.
 Students feel more secure when
they know the limits of an
activity.

 Teacher and students are whole
persons. Sharing about their
learning experience allows
learners to get to know one
another and to build community.

 Guided by the knowledge that
each learner is unique, the
teacher creates an accepting
atmosphere. Learners feel free
to lower their defenses and the
learning experience becomes
less threatening.

 The teacher understands what
the students say.
 The students’ native language is
used to make the meaning clear
and to build a bridge from the
known to the unknown.
Students feel more secure when
they understand everything.

 The teacher asks the students
to form a semicircle in front of
the blackboard so they can see
easily.
 Learning at the beginning
stages is facilitated if students
attend to one task at a time.

 The teacher encourages student
initiative and independence, but
does not let student flounder in
uncomfortable silences.
 Students need quiet reflection
time in order to learn.

 In groups, students can begin to
feel a sense of community and
can learn from each other as
well as the teacher.
Cooperation, not competition, is
encouraged.

 The teacher should work in a
non-threatening way with what
the learner has produced.
 Developing a community among
the class members builds trust
and can help to reduce the
threat of the new learning
situation.

 Retention will best take place
somewhere in between novelty
and familiarity.

who use CLL Methods?
 Teachers who use the
Community language Learning
Method want their students to
learn how to use the target
language communicatively.

What is the role of the teacher?
 The teacher’s initial role is
primarily that of a counselor.
Rather, it means that the
teacher recognizes how
threatening a new learning
situation can be for adult
learners.

students?
 Initially the learners are very
dependent upon the teacher. It is
recognized that as the learners
continue to study, they become
increasingly independent. CLT
methodologists have identified five
stages in this movement from
dependency to mutual
interdependency with the teacher.

 It should be noted that accuracy
is always a focus even in the
first three stages; however, it is
subordinated to fluency.

 In a beginning class, which is what
we observed, students typically have
a conversation using their native
language. The teacher helps them
express what they want to say by
giving them the target language
translation in chunks. These chunks
are recorded, and when they are
replayed, it sounds like a fairly fluid
conversation.

 During the course of the lesson,
students are invited to say how
they feel, and in return the
teacher understands them.

 According to Curran, there are
six elements necessary for non-
defensive learning: security,
aggression, attention, reflection,
and retention.

 The Community Language
Learning Method is neither
student-centered, nor teacher-
centered, but rather teacher-
student-centered. Teacher-
student-centered, with both
being decision-makers in the
class.

 Responding to the students’
feelings is considered very
important in Counseling-
Learning. The teacher listens
and responds to each comment
carefully. While security is a
basic element of the learning
process, the way in which it is
provided will change depending
upon the stage of learner.

Curran writes that ‘learning is
persons, meaning that both
teacher and students work at
building trust in one another and
the learning process.

 Curran believes that in this kind
of supportive learning process,
language becomes the means
for developing creative and
critical thinking. Culture is an
integral part of language
learning.

emphasized?
 The most important skills are
understanding and speaking the
language at the beginning, with
the reinforcement through
reading and writing.

 Where possible, literal native
language equivalents are given
to the target language words
that have been transcribed.

How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Although no particular mode of
evaluation is prescribed in the CLL
Method, whatever evaluation is
conducted should be in keeping with
the principles of the method. Finally,
it is likely that teachers would
encourage their students to self-
evaluate—to look at their own
learning and to become aware of
their own progress.

How does the teacher respond to
student errors?
 Teachers should work with what
the learner has produced in a
non-threatening way. One way
of doing this is for the teacher to
repeat correctly what the
student has said incorrectly.

What are the advantages/
limitations of the method?
 Advantages:
 The learners are responsible for
their own learning.
 The learners are supposed to
become independent and
autonomous.
 The learning environment
provides support and security
for the students.

 Drawbacks:
 CLL can be done only with small
number of students.
 Students have to shatre a single
mother tongue.
 Undertaking CLL requires some
counselling training.

Communicative Language
Teaching
 It became clear that communication
required that students perform
certain functions as well, such as
promising, inviting, and declining
invitations within a social context
(Wilkins, 1976). In short, being able
to communicate required more than
linguistic competence; it required
communicative competence (Hymes,
1971)—knowing when and how to
say what to whom.

What is the theory of language
and learning of CLT?
 Such observations contributed
to a shift in the field in the late
1970s and early 1980s from a
linguistic structure-centered
approach to a Communicative
Approach (Widdowson, 1990).

 CLT aims broadly to apply the
theoretical perspective of the
Communicative Approach by
making communicative
competence the goal of
language teaching and by
acknowledging the
interdependence of language
and communication.

 CLT was mainly influenced by the
work of British functional
linguists(e.g.,Firth and Halliday),
American
sociolinguists(e.g.,Hymes and
Labov), and the work in philosophy
of language(e.g.,Austin and
Searle)

 Concerning learning theory, little
has been written about it.
 Yet, recent accounts of CLT
have tried to describe theories
of language learning theories
that are compatible with the
communicative approach.

 Savignon(1983) emphasized the
role of linguistic, social,
cognitive,and individual
variables in language
acquisition.
 Krashen et al. stressed that
language learning is achieved
via using language
communicatively(language use).

Principles
 Authenticity
 The task principle
 The meaningfulness principle

Principles
 Whenever possible, ‘authentic
language’ –language as it is
used in a real context—should
be introduced.
 Being able to figure out the
speaker’s or writer’s intentions is
part of being communicatively
competent.

 The target language is a vehicle for
classroom communication, not just
the object of study.
 One function can have many
different linguistic forms. Since the
focus of the course is on real
language use, a variety of linguistic
forms are presented together. The
emphasis is on the process of
communication rather than just
mastery of language forms.

 Students should work with
language at the discourse or
suprasentential (above the
sentence) level. They must
learn about cohesion and
coherence, those properties of
language which bind the
sentences together.

 Games are important because
they have certain features in
common with real
communicative events—there is
a purpose to the exchange.
Also, the speaker receives
immediate feedback from the
listener on whether or not he or
she has successfully
communicated.

 Students should be given an
opportunity to express their ideas
and opinions.
 Errors are tolerated and seen as a
natural outcome of the development
of communication skills. Since this
activity was working on fluency, the
teacher did not correct the student,
but simply noted the error, which he
will return to at a later point.

 One pf the teacher’s major
responsibilities is to establish
situations likely to promote
communication.
 Communicative interaction
encourages cooperative
relationships among students. It
gives students an opportunity to
work on negotiating meaning.

 The social context of the
communicative event is
essential in giving meaning to
the utterances.
 Learning to use language forms
appropriately is an important
part of communicative
competence.

 The teacher acts as a facilitator
in setting up communicative
activities and as an advisor
during the activities.
 In communicating, a speaker
has a choice not only about
what to say, but also how to say
it.

 The grammar and vocabulary
that the students learn follow
from the function, situational
context, and the roles of the
interlocutors.

 Students should be given
opportunities to listen to
language as it is used in
authentic communication. They
may be coached on strategies
for how to improve their
comprehension.

What are the goals of
teachers who use CLT?
 The goal is to enable students to
communicate in the target
language. To do this students
need knowledge of linguistic
forms, meanings, and functions.
Communication is a process;
knowledge of the forms of
language is insufficient.

What is the role of the teacher?
 The teacher facilitates communication in
the classroom. In this role, one of his
major responsibilities is to establish
situations likely to promote communication.
During the activities he acts as an adviser,
answering students’ questions and
monitoring their performance. He might
make note of their errors to be worked on
at a later time during more accuracy-based
activities. At other times he might be

 A ‘co-communicator’ engaging
in the communicative activity
along with students (Littlewood,
1981).

students?
 Students are, above all,
communicators. They are actively
engaged in negotiating meaning—in
trying to make themselves
understood and in understanding
others.
 Since the teacher’s role is less
dominant than in a teacher-centered
method, students are seen as more

 Responsible managers of their
own learning.

 The most obvious
characteristics of CLT is that
almost everything that is done is
done with a communicative
intent. Students use the
language a great deal through
communicative activities such
as games, role plays, and
problem-solving tasks.

 According to Morrow (in
Johnson and Morrow, 1981),
activities that are truly
communicative have four
features in common: purpose,
information gap, choice, and
feedback.

 In communicative, the speaker
has a choice of what she will
say and how she will say it.
True communication is
purposeful. A speaker can thus
evaluate whether or not his
purpose has been achieved
based upon the information she
receives from his listener.

 Another characteristic of CLT is
the use of authentic materials. It
is considered desirable to give
students an opportunity to
develop strategies for
understanding language as it is
actually used.

 Finally, we noted that activities
in CLT are often carried out by
students in small groups. Small
numbers of students interacting
are favored in order to maximize
the time allotted to each student
for communicating.

The communication
continuum
Non-communication Communication activities
activities
No communicative desire
No communicative purpose
Form not content
One language item only
Teacher intervention
Materials control
A desire to communicate
A communicative purpose
Content not form
Variety of language
No teacher intervention
No materials control

 The teacher may present some
part of the lesson, such as when
working with linguistic accuracy.
At other times, he is the
facilitator of the activities, but he
does not always himself interact
with the students.

 Students interact a great deal
with one another. They do this
in various configurations: pairs,
triads, small groups, and whole
group.

 One of the basic assumptions of
CLT is that by learning to
communicate students will be
more motivated to study a
foreign language since they will
feel they are learning to do
something useful with the
language.

Linguistic competence, the
knowledge of forms and their
meanings, is just one part of
communicative competence.
Another aspect of
communicative competence is
knowledge of the functions
language is used for.

 Thus, learners need knowledge
of forms and meanings and
functions. However, they must
also use this knowledge and
take into consideration the
social situation in order to
convey their intended meaning
appropriately.

 Culture is the everyday lifestyle
of people who use the language.
There are certain aspects of it
that are especially important to
communication—the use of
nonverbal behavior which might
receive greater attention in CLT.

emphasized?
 Language functions might be
emphasized over forms. Typically,
a functional syllabus is used. A
variety of forms are introduced for
each function. Only the simpler
forms would be presented at first, but
as students get more proficient in the
target language, the functions are
reintroduced and more complex
forms are learned.

emphasized?
 Students work on all four skills
from the beginning. Just as oral
communication is seen to take
place through negotiation
between speaker and listener,
so too is meaning thought to be
derived from the written word
through an interaction between
the reader and the writer.

 Judicious use of the students’
native language is permitted in
CLT. However, whenever
possible, the target language
should be used not only during
communicative activities, but
also for explaining the activities
to the students or in assigning
homework.

How is evaluation
accomplished?
 A teacher evaluates not only the
students’ accuracy, but also
their fluency.
 A teacher can informally
evaluate his students’
performance in his role as an
adviser or co-communicator.

 Errors of form are tolerated
during fluency-based activities
and are seen as a natural
outcome of the development of
communication skills.

What is the role of materials?
 There are two types of
materials:
 Text-Based Materials
 Task-Based Materials
The major role of these materials
is to promote communication.

What are the advantages and
limitations of CLT?
 Advantages:
 CLT methodology has enabled
classroom practice to become
more learner-centered.
 Language skills are no longer
used for renforcement(ALM) but
they are integrated.

 Limitations:
 Negotiation of meaning is
extremely threatening for some
teachers(change in the
classroom power structure).
 CLT requires efficient learning
strategies and learner training
strategies to enable learners to
reflect on their own learning.

 CLT makes greater demands on
the teachers(inappropriate class
management skills, time
consraints and lack of support
resources).
 Some students are reluctant to
work cooperatively in class.

Rounding off the « methods
era »
 Discussion:
In concluding the chapter about
«Language Teaching Methods:A
Critical Analysis », Nunan(1991
mentions two major shortcomings
of the « methods approaches to
language teaching. Identify these
drawbacks ans say whether you
agree or disagree with them.

Methods_and_Approaches_in_ELT.pptx

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