Different Ways of Teaching a Language

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Grammar Translation Method

Developed in the 16th century as a method to teach Latin to scholars

Unlike the direct method, the classes were taught in the students’ native language. This method was adopted by EFL teachers in the late 18th century as a teacher-centered technique

GTM syllabus would focus on reading and writing skills, with a strong focus on grammar accuracy. In class, students would translate a text word by word, from their native language into English, using a bilingual dictionary. Students would also memorize the new vocabulary and the grammar rules

Vocabulary is normally taught as isolated words, so there is no focus on using vocabulary items in different contexts

Some language schools still use this approach, but most EFL teaching has moved towards a communicative model using functional language in context

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Direct Method

The Direct Method, or Natural Method, began around the turn of the 20th century. Some elements this approach—such as only allowing students to use English—are common in TEFL classrooms today.

The Direct Method had a practical (and commercial) purpose. People were starting to travel and needed to speak, which they couldn’t do after studying a language through Grammar Translation. Lots of private Direct Method schools were set up to take advantage of this market.

Direct Method assumed the best way to learn a second language was in the same way we learned our first language as a child. Only the target language was used in the classroom and teacher conveyed meaning by using pictures and objects.

Lessons focused on a form of speaking, where students would answer rapid questions from the teacher. Some classes had a ‘free conversation’ section, led by the teacher.

In a Direct Method class, students practiced speaking by answering the teacher’s questions and each student had only several minutes of speaking time per class.

In contrast, by getting students to speak to each other, you will be dramatically increasing the amount of speaking time that each student has.

The focus on Direct Method is mainly:

developing

listening

speaking skills

Vocabulary is taught using visuals, role play and realia. There is very little focus on reading, writing, or formal grammar rules although the learner does practice the correct pronunciation and deduce the form with guidance from the teacher.

Communicative activities are used to encourage the learners to develop fluency in the target language. Teachers prefer small groups where student talk time is maximized. It can initially be intimidating for a learner, so the teacher needs to create opportunities for learning , based on everyday experiences that keep the learners motivated.

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Audiolingualism

Audiolingualism became popular soon after the Second World War, and lasted until the 1970s. The US Army used this approach for mass training of soldiers being posted overseas. Its well known legacy is the language laboratory, a dedicated room where individuals sit in booths with headsets and microphones with a teacher sitting at the front.

Was based on the psychological theory of behaviorism, which suggested people and animals can be trained to do anything through repetition, reward and punishment.

In language laboratory session, a voice on a recording would say a sentence, and students would repeat it. Then students would hear a bell sound, and a word, prompting students to say the sentence again substituting the new word. The teacher would listen in the background and intervene whenever anyone made a mistake, to stop them from developing bad habits.

For many learners, the approach was joyless and stressful but the idea was intuitively appealing

Many of our students today believe the best way to learn vocabulary is to repeat it over and over

Seemed to improve the language ability of certain kinds of students

Focuses on listening and speaking over reading and writing

ALM has similarities to B. F. Skinner’s behavioral analysis theory, which suggested that all behavior was learned through repetition as well as positive and negative reinforcement.

Most lessons are based on pronunciation drills. The teacher presents the correct model which the students then repeat. The teacher can then add other words for students to replace in the structure.

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Total Physical Response

Total Physical Response was most popular in the 1970s, but is still often used with young readers.

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Communicative Language Teaching

CLT developed lists of ‘functions’ students need to learn, such as how to make a request, how to invite someone somewhere, or how to express an opinion

Lexical Approach

Lexis refers to vocabulary, and the lexical approach stressed the importance of learning vocabulary, especially words that typically go together such as ‘by the way’ or ‘strong coffee’

The approach stemmed from developments in neuroscience in the 1990s, which suggested that when we speak, the brain does not slot individual words into a grammar structure, but rather strings ‘chunks’ of words together.

While few schools adopted a pure ‘lexical approach’, the idea that students should notice combinations of words has been hugely influential. Often when we teach vocabulary, we’ll suggest other terms that can combine with the words we’re teaching.

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Task-Based Learning

Task-Based Learning, or TBL, originated in the 1980s.

TBL had the same goal as Communicative Language Teaching: students should be able to communicate. However, the method suggested ‘tasks’ could create more authentic communication, and develop fluency.

TBL lessons provided no initial language input at all; instead, students worked in groups to complete a meaningful, real world task. A task might be to create a poster about healthy eating, or to redesign their school, or to solve a local traffic problem. After task was completed, the teacher provided feedback and briefly discussed the language students used.

It was difficult to fit TBL into school curriculum, as method was unpredictable and it was unclear what students would achieve. However, the idea that communication should be as authentic as possible has strongly influenced CLT. TEFL teachers often incorporate task-like activities into a lesson.

Is not often used with low-level students because they don’t have the language resources to complete many life-like tasks

Several stages: Preparation, Perform task, Post task (assess students)

Teachers responsibility is to monitor, provide support and collect information that might be useful feedback

Where are we now?

We’re now at a stage where, as the British Council suggests, teachers and materials writers take an ‘eclectic approach’:

In move away from teachers following one specific methodology, the eclectic approach is the label given to a teacher’s use of techniques and activities from a range of language teaching approaches and methodologies. The teacher decides what methodology or approach to use depending on the aims of the lesson and the learners in the group. Almost all modern course books have a mixture.

The methods and approaches learned about were constructed by expert authorities, who generally required teachers to follow a set of rules

An eclectic approach trusts teachers to make judgements about what will work in a particular lesson and with particular learners, keeping in mind what we know is universally true about how people acquire languages