Escuela y Reproducción Social: Enseñar exige buen juicio

Escuela y Reproducción Social: Enseñar exige buen juicio: Las prácticas docentes necesitan de autocrítica, la vigilancia permanente debe abarcar diversas aristas ¿Es adecuado mi juicio? ¿Estoy hacie...

Unit 2: TPR

Total Physical Response

It is time for you to work. Find information on TPR and post your comments on the method, based on the following questions. 

1 Do you consider TPR an approach or a method? Justify your answer.

2 What kind of audience/ students do you think would profit more from TPR? Why? 

3Think of three topics that can be taught through TPR.

Unit 2:The Communicative Approach

The Communicative Approach


                                                  
                                                

Below you will find the link to one of the most influential writers in ELT. On this occasion, Jack Richards discusses the most important tenets of the Communicative Approach.

http://es.scribd.com/doc/85210315/Richards-Communicative-Language

After reading this text, go to the assignment section and answer do the exercises suggested. The idea is to be able to transfer your knowledge to real classroom situations. 

Finally, I share with you the power point presentation based on the text by Richards. 

http://es.scribd.com/doc/85179688/Communicative-Language-Teaching-CLT

Six thinking hats by Edward De Bono

 Who is Edward De Bono?

Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. He attended St Edward's College, Malta, during World War II and then the University of Malta where he qualified in medicine. He proceeded, as a Rhodes Scholar, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained an honours degree in psychology and physiology and then a D.Phil in medicine. He also holds a Ph.D from Cambridge and an MD from the University of Malta. He has held appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. Edward de Bono  is regarded by many to be the leading authority in the world in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He has written 62 books with translations into 37 languages and has been invited to lecture in 54 countries. He is the originator of lateral thinking which treats creativity as the behaviour of information in a self-organising information system - such as the neural networks in the brain. From such a consideration arise the deliberate and formal tools of lateral thinking, parallel thinking etc Why use parallel thinking? De Bono's alternative method of 'parallel thinking' should help you tackle tasks from six different perspectives. Hopefully, De Bono's strategies will help you shape your thinking not only in this subject but also in others as well as in decision making in your personal life.  Go to the document below and get acquainted with the rationale behind each hat.

http://es.scribd.com/doc/89227444/Six-Thinking-Hats

Unit 2: SUGGESTOPEDIA (Georgi Lazanov)

METHODS AND APPROACHES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN BRIEF

Gültekin Boran (Ph. D) Gazi University, Ankara
gboran@gazi.edu.tr

SUGGESTOPEDIA (Georgi Lazanov)

1.     Learning Theory: People use 5-10% of their mental capacity. In order to make better use of our mental reserves, limitations need to be desuggested. Students should eliminate the feelings that they cannot be successful and thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning. Psychological barriers should be removed.

     There are six principle theoretical components through which desuggestion and suggestion 

     operate and that set up access to reserves.

1.  Authority:  People remember best when the new information comes from a reliable    authoritative source.

2.  Infantilization: Authority is also used to suggest a teacher-student relation like that of "parent-child" relationship. In the child's role the learner takes part in role playing, games, songs and gymnastic exercises that help the older student regain the self confidence, spontaneity and receptivity of the child.

3.  Double-planedness:  The learner learns not only from the instructions but also from the environment. Physical features of the classroom are important.

4.  Intonation:  Varying intonation of the presented material helps to avoid boredom. T should present the material with different intonation patterns. Correct intonation patterns should be emphasised.

5.  Rhythm:  Materials presented with varying rhythm and tones are more interesting.

6.  Concert pseudo-passiveness:  Materials presented with varying rhythm, intonation, and tone should be accompanied by music. Music should have sixty beats in a minute. Baroque concertos work very well for this purpose.

2.  Language Theory: Lazanov does not articulate a theory of language. However according to this method communication is a two-plane process. Language is the first of the two planes. In the second plane, there are factors, which influence the linguistic message (e.g. the way one dresses, non-verbal behaviours that affect the linguistic message).

3.  Culture: The culture, which students learn, concerns the everyday life of people who speak the target language. The use of fine arts is also common.

4.  Teachers' Role: Teacher is the authority. Learners learn better if they get the information from a reliable authority. Students must trust and respect that authority.

5.  Students' Role: Students play a child's role (infantilization). They adopt a new identity (new name, job, family...etc.)  As they feel more secure, they can be less inhibited.

6.  Interactions: “St-st” and “T-st” interactions occur. Students often do "pair work" and "group work".

7.  Vocabulary Teaching: Vocabulary is emphasised. Claims about the success of the method often focus on the large number of words that can be acquired. Comments and explanations about the meanings can be provided in student's L1.

8.  Grammar Teaching: Grammar is taught explicitly but minimally. Explicit grammar rules are provided in L1.

9.  Materials: Dialogues are used with their translations in L1 on the opposite side. Texts with literary value are used. The textbook posters are used for peripheral learning.

10.   Syllabus: A course lasts 30 days and ten units of study. Each unit has a long dialogue consisting of 1200 words. There is grammar review and commentary section with a list of vocabulary. The dialogues are graded by lexis and grammar.

11.   Role of L1: L1 is used to make the meaning of dialogues clear. The teacher can use L1 when necessary but he uses L1 less and less as the course proceeds.

12.   Evaluation: Evaluation is conducted on students'  "in-class-performances" and not through formal tests, which would threaten the relaxed atmosphere, which is considered essential for accelerated learning.

13.  Goals and Objectives: Teachers hope to accelerate the process by which students learn to use a foreign language for everyday communication. For this, more of the students' mental power must be tapped. This can be achieved by removing psychological barriers.

14.  Error Correction: At the beginning levels, errors are not corrected immediately because the emphasis is on communication. When errors of form occur, teachers uses the correct form later on during class, because immediate interference by the teacher may destroy the relaxed atmosphere in classes.

15.  Student's Feelings: A great deal of attention is given to students' feelings. Students should feel relaxed and secure. Teacher's existence and classmates' existence should not threaten the individual. Individual's self-confidence is important. Choice of new identity makes students feel more comfortable and secure. The classroom conditions (temperature, lighting, armchairs) should supply students with the feeling of relaxation and comfort.

16. Techniques:

¨    Classroom set up: dim lights, soft music, cushioned armchairs, and posters on the walls.

¨    Positive Suggestion:  

Þ  Direct Suggestion:  The teacher tells students they are going to be successful to create self-confidence.

Þ  Indirect Suggestion: This is provided by music and comfortable physical conditions of the classroom.

¨    Peripheral Learning: Posters, lists, charts, texts, paintings, and graphs are hung on the walls of the classroom. Students learn from these although their attentions are not directly on these materials.

¨    Visualisation: Students are asked to close their eyes and concentrate on their breathing. Then the teacher describes a scene or an event in detail so that students think they are really there. When the scene is complete, the teacher asks students to slowly open their eyes and return to the present. This can be done just before students write a composition in order to activate their creativity.

¨    Choose a New Identity: Students can be asked to write about their fictional new identity, new home town, family, etc.

¨    First Concert: Music is played. The teacher begins a slow, dramatic reading, synchronised in intonation with the music. The music is classical. Teacher's voice is usually hushed, but rises and falls with the music.

¨    Second Concert:  Students put their scripts aside. Students close their eyes and listen as the teacher reads with musical accompaniment. This time the content that is read by the teacher is emphasised by the way the teacher reads the text. Music is secondarily important. At the end of the concert, the class ends for the day.

¨    Primary Activation:  Primary activation and secondary activation are the components of the active phase of the lesson. Students read the dialogue in the target language aloud as individuals or groups. They read it sadly, angrily, and amorously.

¨    Secondary Activation: Students engage in various activities such as singing, dancing, dramatising, and playing games. Linguistic forms are not important. Communication is important. In order to make students focus on communication, activities are varied.

17. Skills: Oral communication is emphasised. Speaking and listening are important. Writing and reading are also important. Students write imaginative compositions to improve their writing, and read dialogues or texts to practise reading. 

Unit 2: THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD (ALM)

METHODS AND APPROACHES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN BRIEF

Gültekin Boran (Ph. D) Gazi University, Ankara
gboran@gazi.edu.tr

                                

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD (ALM)

1. Learning Theory: Learning is based on the principles of Behaviourism. (Mim-mem approach).
     Habit Formation is essential.

Habit Formation

                

                                        Reinforcement (Behaviour is likely to occur again)

  Stimulus----organism

                                           No reinforcement or negative reinforcement (Behaviour is not likely to occur again)

                                      

Rules are induced from examples. Explicit grammar rules are not given. Learning is inductive.

Habit formation is actualised by means of repetitions and other mechanical drills.

2. Language Theory: Language is based on descriptive linguistics. Every language is seen as its own unique system. The system is comprised of several different levels. (i.e. phonological, morphological, and syntactic). There is a natural order of skills. 1. Listening, 2. Speaking, 3. Reading,   4. Writing. Everyday speech and oral skills are important. Perfect pronunciation is required. Language is primarily for Oral Communication.

3. Culture: Culture consists of everyday behaviour, and lifestyle of the target language community. Culture is presented in dialogues.

4. Teacher’s Role: T is like an orchestra leader. S/he directs and controls the language behaviour of the students. T is a good model of the target language, especially for pronunciation and other oral skills. The differences between Sts’ L1 and L2 should be known by the teacher.

5. Students’ Role: Sts are imitators of the teacher as perfect model of the target language or the native speakers in the audio recordings.

6. Interactions: T-St,     ST- ST. Interactions are mostly initiated by the teacher.

7. Vocabulary Teaching: Meaning is taught directly. L1 is prohibited because it may cause bad habit formations. Vocabulary is introduced through dialogues.

8. Grammar Teaching: Explicit rules are not provided. Students induce the rules through examples and drills. Students acquire grammar by being exposed to patterns through mechanical drills.

9. Materials: Dialogues

10. Syllabus: Grammar points and sentence patterns in structural syllabus.

11. Role of L1: L1 is not allowed in the classroom. It may cause interference and bad habit formation in L2.

12. Evaluation: Discrete-point tests are used. Each item (question) should focus on only one point of the language at a time. E.g. distinguishing between words in a minimal pair. Appropriate verb form in a sentence.

13. Goals and Objectives: to enable students to speak and write in the target language. To make students able to use the target language automatically without stopping to think. To form new habits in the target language.

14. Error Correction: Errors are corrected by the teacher since errors may cause bad habit formation.

15. Sts’ Feelings: There are no principles related to Sts’ feelings.

16. Techniques:

       1. Dialogue Memorisation

       2. Minimal pairs: (for teaching pronunciation)

       3. Complete the dialogue

       4. Grammar Games

       5. Mechanical Drills

             a) Repetition drill

             b) Chain Drill

             c) Single- slot Substitution Drill (T gives one cue to be substituted)

             d) Multiple-slot Substitution Drill (T gives more than one cue to be substituted)

17. Skills: Listening and speaking are emphasised. There is a natural order of skills.

                  1. Listening 2. Speaking 3. Reading 4. Writing  

Unit 2: THE DIRECT METHOD (DM)

METHODS AND APPROACHES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN BRIEF

Gültekin Boran (Ph. D) Gazi University, Ankara
gboran@gazi.edu.tr

THE DIRECT METHOD (DM)

DM was born as a reaction to GTM because GTM cannot prepare learners for real life language situations in which oral communication is the media.

1. Learning Theory: Inductive learning is essential. There is a direct relation between form and meaning. L2 learning is similar to L1 acquisition. There is a direct exposure to the target language. Exposure of Long chunks in the target language. Learning occurs naturally.

2. Language Theory: Language is for oral use. Each language is unique. There is a direct relation between form and meaning. No other language should interfere when learning a language.

3. Culture: Not only art or literature, but also other aspects of culture (namely, life style, customs, traditions, institutions, food, daily habits, history, geography, etc.)   Should be taken into consideration. Daily speech is important.

4. Teacher's Role: The teacher usually directs the interactions but he/she is not as dominant as in GTM. Sometimes acts like a partner of the students.

5. Students' Role: Sts are active participants. Sometimes pair works take place. Even the teacher takes roles in activities.

6. Interactions: T- st and St - st interactions often occur.

7. Vocabulary Teaching: Pictures, realia, examples, sample sentences are used to teach vocabulary. Use of L1 is not allowed. There is a direct relation between form and meaning.

8. Grammar Teaching: Grammar is taught inductively. Examples and drills are given and students are expected to discover and acquire the rules. Drills like chain drill, yes question, no question, or question are used to help students induce the rule.

9. Materials: Reading passages (for topics), Dialogues (for situation), plays (for situations) are used.

10. Syllabus: Situational and topical syllabuses are used.

11. Role of L1: L1 is not permitted.

12. Evaluation: Sts' ability to use the language is tested. Not about language, the language itself.

13. Goals and Objectives: Teaching Sts how to communicate in the target language. Teaching of thinking in the target language.

14. Error Correction: Sts' self correction.

15. Sts' Feelings: There is no information dealing with this issue.

16. Techniques: Reading aloud, Question and answer exercise, self correction, conversation practice, fill-in-the-blank exercise, dictation, drawing (for listening comprehension), and paragraph writing.

17. Skills: Speaking, listening, reading and writing are important skills. Especially speaking and listening are emphasised. Vocabulary is over grammar.

Unit 2: THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD (GTM)

METHODS AND APPROACHES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN BRIEF

Gültekin Boran (Ph. D) Gazi University, Ankara
gboran@gazi.edu.tr

Abbreviations:
T: Teacher
Sts: Students
L1: First Language, Mother Tongue
L2: Second Language, The language the students aim to learn

THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD (GTM)

1.  Learning Theory: Deductive learning is essential. First, the teacher gives rules explicitly then the rules are reinforced with examples and exercises.

2.  Language Theory: Language is for understanding the literature. Translation is the way to learn the language. Oral communication is not primarily important. Written language is superior to spoken language. Students also learn the structure of their own native language. Those who study a foreign language become more cultured and intellectual.

3.  Culture: Culture is limited to literature and fine arts.

4.  Teachers' Role: Teacher is the strict authority. Classes are teacher centred.

5.  Students' Role: Students are the passive receivers of the new information. The teacher starts the activities and directs them. Students are supposed to memorise the rules and the new vocabulary with their meanings in their native language.

6.  Interactions: Very often “Teacher –Student” interactions occur. Rarely “Student – Student” interactions also occur.

7.  Vocabulary Teaching: The most common vocabulary teaching technique is “the memorisation of long lists of vocabulary with their equivalents in the students’ native language. Other techniques are
      -Teaching “cognates” (i.e., “cinema –sinema”, “theatre – tiyatro” ..., etc).
      - Using synonyms and antonyms  

8.  Grammar Teaching: The teaching of grammar is deductive. The teacher introduces the rules explicitly and wants the students to apply these rules to new examples in exercises. Students are supposed to memorise the rules. In order to explain the rules, the teacher uses comparison and contract between the students’ native language grammar and target language grammar. Translation is a common way to clarify the meanings of the new grammar patterns in the target language.

9.  Materials: Texts from the target language literature are used. The teacher may either write the text or use an authentic literary text.

10.Syllabus: Structural syllabus (i.e., list of structures to be taught during the course) is used. The order of structures starts from the easiest   

11.Role of L1: L1 (i.e., students’ native language) has an important function in teaching vocabulary and grammar. Since oral communication in the target language is not important, classroom instructions are given in L1.

12. Evaluation: Translation is an important technique to test students’ progress in the target language. In addition, “fill-in-the-blank” type test items are also used. Synonyms, antonyms, and cognates can be asked to test vocabulary in formal tests. Reading passages and comprehension questions about the passages can also take place in tests as the reading section.

13.Goals and Objectives: Among the goals are to teach translation, to read and understand literary texts in the target language, to make students aware of their native language structure and vocabulary, and to improve students’ mental capacities with grammar exercises.

14.Error Correction: The teacher corrects the errors strictly. Errors are not tolerated. Accuracy is emphasised strictly. Accuracy means grammatical correctness.

15.Student's Feelings: There is no information about how GTM deals with students’ feelings.  V     Therefore, we cannot consider this method as a humanistic approach.

16.Techniques:

1. Translation of a Literary Passage: Students translate a passage from the target language into their native language. The passage provides the focus for several classes: vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are studied in the following lessons.

2. Reading Comprehension Questions: Students answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the reading passage. First, they answer information questions whose answers they can find in the passage. Second, they answer inference questions based on their comprehension of the passage although the answer cannot be found in the passage directly in the passage. Third, they answer questions that require students to relate the passage to their own experience.

3. Antonyms / Synonyms: Students are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in the reading passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to find synonyms for a particular set of words.

4. Cognates: Students are taught to recognise cognates by learning the spelling or sound patterns that correspond between the languages. Students should be aware of “true cognates” (i.e., theatre-tiyatro) and “false cognates” (i.e., apartment-apartman).

5. Deductive Application of Rule: Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples.

6. Fill-in-the blanks: Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks with new vocabulary items or necessary items of grammatical features.

7. Memorisation: Students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalents and are asked to memorise them. Students are also required to memorise grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations.

8. Use words in Sentences:  In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.

9. Composition: The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. The topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a précis (pronounced as /preısı/).

17. Skills: The primary skills to be improved are “reading” and “writing”. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost no attention to pronunciation

Unit 2: Diane Larsen-Freeman on Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching

Dr. Diane Larsen-Freeman is a professor of education and director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is also Distinguished Senior Faculty Fellow at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has spoken and published widely on the topics of teacher education, second language acquisition, English grammar, and language teaching methodology. In 1997, Dr. Larsen-Freeman was inducted into the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1999, she was named an ESL pioneers by ESL Magazine. In 2000, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Heinle & Heinle Publishers.


Enter the site below and listen to Diane Larsen-Freeman.


Using a combination of lecture and experiential exercises, ESL education specialist Diane Larsen-Freeman traces the evolution of language teaching methods over the past 60 years, discussing how each evolutionary phase has contributed to a more "whole-person" view of language learners. Larsen-Freeman suggests that when educators treat language as a closed, static system, they create a critical barrier to student empowerment. When language is instead seen as the complex, dynamic system, teachers are able to help their students transform their linguistic world, not merely conform to it. Larsen-Freeman illustrates how this shift in understanding has implications for what and how teachers teach. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na5lzXZKEV0&feature=related

Post a personal reaction to Dr. Larsen  Freeman’s explanation. 

1. What are some of the issues raised by Dr. Larsen Freeman?
2. What are the benefits of using a method according to Dr. Larsen Freeman?

Unit 2: Approaches and methods

An Analysis of Language Teaching Approaches and Methods

http://es.scribd.com/doc/87814197/Methods-Reviewed