TEFL 5 summary.
Chapter 1.
Method: links thoughts and actions.
The techniques are the actions of a teacher
The thoughts are the principles.
Methods are coherent in the sense that there should be some theoretical or philosophical
compatibility among the links. To say there is coherence among the links does not mean, however,
that the techniques of one method can not be used with another. The techniques may look very
different in practice, though, if the thoughts behind them differ.
Many of your thoughts have been formed by your own experience as a language learner. It is
important to become aware of the thoughts that guide your actions, because you´re then able to
examine why you do what you do and perhaps can choose to think about or do things differently.
Unless you become clear about your beliefs, you will continue to make decisions that are
conditioned rather than conscious. Engaging with the professional beliefs of others in an ongoing
manner is also important for keeping your teaching practice alive. Furthermore, if the teacher
engages in classroom activity with a sense of intellectual excitement, there is at least a fair
probability that learners will begin to participate in the excitement and to perceive classroom
lessons mainly as learning events - as experiences of growth for themselves.
These days, absolute proscriptions to avoid use of the students´ common language have come under
attack. For instance, Cook suggests that such a proscription is isolationist and undermines the
possibility for teachers and students to establish a relationship between languages. Furter, he notes,
it also violates the pedagogical principle of moving from the known (here the common language of
the students) to the unknown (the language the students are learning).
Plurilingualism: the ability of a person who has competence in more than one language to switch
between multiple languages depending on the situation for ease of communication.
Inner criteria: silent way learners acquire "inner criteria," which play a central role "in one's
education throughout all of one's life". These inner criteria allow learners to monitor and self-correct
their own production.
Doubting and believing game: the doubting game requires logic and evidence. It emphasizes a model
of knowing as an act of discrimination: putting something on trial to see whether it is wanting or not.
The believing game emphasizes a model of knowing as an act of constructing, an act of investment,
an act of involvement. Requires a willingness to explore what is new.
, Chapter 2.
The Grammar-Translation Method: has had different names (e.G. The classical method). Earlier in
the 20th century, this method was used for the purpose of helping students to read and appreciate
foreign language literature. It was also hoped that through the study of the grammar of the target
language students would become more familiar with the grammar of their native language and that
this familiarity would help them speak and write in their native language better.
Finally it was thought that foreign language learning would help students grow intellectually; it was
recognized that students would probably never use the target language, but the mental exercise of
learning it would be beneficial anyway.
Principles of the Grammar-Translation Method:
● A fundamental purpose of learning a language is to be able to read literature written in it.
● An important goal is for the students to be able to translate each language into the other. If
they can do this, they are considered successful language learners.
● The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of language instruction.
● The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to
speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation.
● The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the
correct answer.
● It is possible to find native language equivalents for all target language words.
● Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the
native language.
● It is important for students to learn about the grammar or form of the target language.
● Deductive(= reaching an answer or a decision by thinking carefully about the known facts)
application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful pedagogical technique.
● Language learning provides good mental exercise.
● Students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language.
● Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms should be
committed to memory.
Goals of teachers using this method: a fundamental purpose of learning a language is to be able to
read literature written in the target language. To do this, students need to learn about the grammar
rules and vocabulary of the target language. In addition, it is believed that studying another language
provides students with good mental exercise, which helps develop their minds.
Role of teacher/students: roles are very traditional. Teacher is the authority in the classroom,
students do as he/she says so they can learn what he/she knows.
Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: students are taught to translate from one
language into another. Often what they translate are readings in the target language about some
aspect of the culture of the target language community. Students study grammar deductively, that
is, they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked
to apply the rules to other examples. They also learn grammatical paradigms. They memorize native
language equivalents for target language vocabulary words.
Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students.
,Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading and writing are the primary skills that the
students work on.
The language that is used in class the most is the students´ native language, since the meaning of the
target language is made clear by translating it into the students´ native language.
How is evaluation accomplished: written tests in which students are asked to translate from their
native language into the target language or vice versa are often used. Questions about the target
culture or questions that ask students to apply grammar rules are also common.
Having the students get the correct answer is very important. If students make errors or do not
know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.
Techniques of this method:
● Translation of a literary passage: students translate a reading passage from the target
language into their native language. The reading passage then provides the focus for several
classes: vocabulary and grammatical structures are studied in subsequent lessons. The
translation may be written or spoken or both.
● Reading comprehension questions: students answer questions in the target language based
on their understanding of the reading passage. They will have to answer questions about the
passage even though the answers are not contained in the passage itself (questions about
understanding + questions of which the answer can be found in text + own experience
questions).
● 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. Or students might be asked to define a set of words based on
their understanding of them as they occur in the reading passage.
● Cognates: students are taught to recognize cognates by learning the spelling or sound
patterns that correspond between the languages.
● Deductive application of rules: 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.
● Fill-in-the-blanks exercise.
● Memorization: students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native
language equivalents and are asked to memorize them. They are also required to memorize
grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms.
● Use words in sentences.
● 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.
, Chapter 3.
The Direct Method: Most recently, it was revived as a method when the goal of instruction became
learning how to use another language to communicate. One very basic rule: no translation is
allowed. Meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of
demonstration and visual aids.
Principles of the Direct Method:
● Reading in the target language should be taught from the beginning; however, the reading
skill will be developed through practice with speaking. Language is primarily speech. Culture
consists of more than the fine arts.
● Objects (e.g. realia or pictures) present in the immediate classroom environment should be
used to help students understand the meaning of words.
● The native language should not be used in the classroom.
● The teacher should demonstrate (i.e. draw on the board or give examples). It is desirable
that students make a direct association between the target language form and meaning.
● Students should learn to think in the target language asap. Vocabulary is acquired more
naturally if students use it in full sentences, rather than memorizing word lists.
● The purpose of language learning is communication.
● Pronunciation should be worked on right from the beginning of language instruction.
● Self-correction facilitates language learning.
● Lessons should contain some conversational activity- some opportunity for students to use
language in real contexts. Students should be encouraged to speak as much as possible.
● Grammar should be taught inductively. There may never be an explicit grammar rule given.
● Writing is an important skill, to be developed from the beginning of language instruction.
● The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not usually on linguistic structures.
● Learning another language also involved learning how speakers of that language live.
Goals of this method: teachers intend that students learn how to communicate in the target
language. So also, the students should learn to think in the target language.
Role of the teacher/students: although the teacher directs the class activities, the student role is less
passive than in the grammar-translation method. The teacher and the students are more like
partners in the teaching-learning process.
Some characteristics of the teaching/learning process: teachers believe students need to associate
meaning with the target language directly. In order to do this, when the teacher introduces a new
target language word or phrase, he demonstrates its meaning through the use of realia, pictures or
pantomime. He never translates it into the students´ native language. Students speak in the target
language a great deal and communicate as if they were in real situations. In fact, the syllabus used is
based upon situations or topics. Grammar is taught inductively; that is, the students are presented
with examples and they figure out the rule or generalization from the examples. An explicit grammar
rule may never be given. Students practice vocabulary by using new words in complete sentences.
The initiation of the interaction goes both ways, from teacher to students and from students to
teacher, although the latter is often teacher-directed. Students converse with one another as well.
