Language Teaching Methods and Approaches

What the resources cover

Most of this page is mind maps, and they walk through the main methods one by one. You will find maps on The Direct Method, The Silent Way, The Natural Approach, Lexical Approach, Whole Language Approach and COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING. The Audiolingual Method appears several times, with its origins in what became known as the Army Method during World War II and its basis in a structural view of language.

Where to start

Begin with the historical overviews. A brief history of language learning and History of language teaching show how methods developed, so later maps make more sense. Then move to Language Teaching Methods and METHODS AND APPROACHES FOR TEACHING for the wider picture.

Next, take the communicative family: Communicative Language Teaching, TBL Task-Based Language Teaching and Comparing and contrasting CBI, CLT, TBI. The last one is useful for seeing where these approaches differ.

Exam-focused material

Several maps are written for oposiciones candidates, such as the ones on variables to take into account in the English foreign language class and on games and creativity. The flashcard decks Questions for TEFL exam and Methodologies in ESL. are handy for quick recall, and the note on Method vs Post-method is worth reading once you know the individual methods.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then test yourself. The quizzes The Direct Method and Silent way PROJECT pair neatly with the maps of the same names. If a question surprises you, go back to the map and note what you missed.

Where this fits

This unit sits in the Language Learning and Teaching Approaches strand of Education and pedagogy. It is the place for comparing methods before you look at classroom practice.

Open a map that matches what you are studying this week, and add your own notes alongside it.