Methods/Approaches of Teaching ESOL: a Historical Overview 93 the Method Became Very Popular in the 1960S
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Methods/Approaches chapter of Teaching ESOL: 13 A Historical Overview K ey Issu es ❖ Historical overview of methods and approaches to teaching english as a foreign/second language ❖ The Grammar-Translation Method ❖ The Direct Method ❖ The Audio-Lingual Method ❖ Suggestopedia ❖ The silent Way ❖ Total Physical Response ❖ The Natural Approach ❖ The Communicative Approach For centuries, people have used formal education as a way to learn new languages. Over time, the methods and approaches have evolved to theories of language acquisition and educational theory. In addition to adjustments to the theories, changes to the populations of students and their objectives for learning new languages have also changed. More and more the students in mainstream classes are speakers of other languages. Language acquisi- tion methods and strategies are no longer limited to the language-learning classroom. These techniques can be used in a variety of settings depending on the needs of the students. 91 The Grammar-Translation Method of studying, the students were unable to speak the language. It became clear that using the grammar- The grammar-translation method (also known as the translation method by itself is ineffective. The stu- classical method) is a method of language teaching dents needed to play a more active role in their lan- that emphasizes grammar rules and one-to-one vo- guage acquisition in order to actually use the cabulary translation. Grammar rules are taught language for communication purposes. through presentation and explicit instruction. In- Although this method is unsuccessful when used struction in this style of language teaching is in the in isolation, there are some opportunities to use students’ native language. Student practice the gram- pieces of the grammar-translation method with lan- matical rules through translation exercises between guage learners in the mainstream classroom today. the native and target language. Vocabulary lists, Often language learners develop a fossilization of dictionary definitions, and memorization strate- errors when learning in an immersion setting. When gies—which are frowned upon in other language chatting with their peers, students’ errors often go teaching methods—are the main focus of this style uncorrected. Using the grammar-translation method, of language teaching. teachers can encourage the students to practice spe- Grammar-translation first began based on a be- cific grammatical points that they have trouble with. lief that different kinds of knowledge were stored in separate sections of the brain. Mathematic knowl- edge, for example, was thought to be located in one Mainstream Classroom Use area, art in another, language in another, and so on. Emilio is having trouble understanding present It was believed that studying different subjects was participle verbs. He confuses his tenses, misuses a good way of exercising the brain. Thus, learning the participles, and has trouble understanding this another language provided the necessary mental grammatical concept when he hears it or reads it. exercise to develop the part of the brain believed to Since Emilio’s teacher has some knowledge of his be reserved for languages. home language, Spanish, she is able to share com- At this time, the main goal for learning a lan- parisons between the two languages to help him to guage was not for speaking and/or communication. positively transfer this prior knowledge to his work The driving force was to exercise the mind and at in English. the same time to be able to read in that language. Exercise: Translate the following sentences The languages taught in those early days were Latin from Spanish to English. and Greek, so another reason for studying foreign languages was to appreciate the classics in their ❖ Mi abuela ha corrido tres maratones.— original language. Translation: My grandmother has run three When educators first started using this method, marathons. communicating in the language was not a goal. ❖ Pedro ha comido cinco rebanadas de pizza.— Therefore, classes were taught primarily in the stu- Translation: Pedro has eaten five slices of dents’ native language and the teacher made no ef- pizza. fort to emphasize correct pronunciation of the lan- ❖ Ruth ha vivido en México seis años.— guage. Grammar study was the focus of the lessons, Translation: Ruth has lived in Mexico for six with much rote memorization of grammatical as- years. pects such as verb conjugations and recitation of rules that described language functions. Educators This adaptation of the grammar-translation soon began to notice that because the primary em- method can help to distinguish what elements posi- phasis was on reading and translating passages, the tively or negatively transfer between Emilio’s lan- conjugation of verbs, and explanation and memori- guages. While this method is not recommended as zation of grammatical rules their students were not the sole approach for a language teacher, it is possi- learning to use the language. Even after many years ble to use adapted versions of the grammar-transla- 92 Part Two: Principles and Practices in Language Teaching tion method as a supplement for specific skills that In addition, cultural aspects of the countries need further practice. where the target language is spoken are also in- cluded in the lessons. For example, when studying Spanish, students would discuss the sports that are The Direct Method widely practiced in Spain or Latin America. This The direct method began as a complete departure also allows for discussions regarding geography, from the grammar-translation method. Instead of climate, cultural traditions, and other elements that focusing on reading and writing, this method fo- foster a richer conversation in the target language. cused on speaking and listening. Students recognize their new language as a tool with The emphasis is on the direct associations the which they can communicate. Reading and writing student makes between objects and concepts and the are also taught from the beginning. corresponding words in the target language. The use The most widely known application of the direct of the native language is avoided; the use of the tar- method is practiced at the Berlitz language schools get language is emphasized at all times. In this located throughout the world. Berlitz classes are method, the primary goals are for students to think generally for highly motivated adults who need to and speak the language; thus, no use of the native speak a foreign language for business purposes. Al- language is allowed. Teachers use objects, visuals, though many of the techniques developed for the and realia to provide the comprehensible input. In- direct method have also been used in other methods, struction revolves around specific topics. Aspects of applying the direct method in noncommercial grammar are taught inductively through the handling schools fell out of favor as early as 1920 (Richards of the topic. The basic focus of this method of lan- & Rodgers, 1986). The grammar-translation method guage instruction is that students learn their second dominated public school and university language language in a similar way to their first language. teaching in the United States until World War II. This method aims to prove that there is no need for a deep analysis of grammatical rules or spelling pat- terns. Instead, the students are taught that the sole Audio-Lingual Method purpose of language is communication. The United States involvement in World War II The direct method uses a lot of repetition to en- brought a significant change in the teaching of lan- courage students to learn new vocabulary and lan- guages in U.S. schools. It quickly became apparent guage patterns. It follows a five-step process: Show, that the grammar-translation method had not pro- Say, Try, Mold, Repeat. Using real life objects, pic- duced people who were able to speak the foreign tures, or flash cards, the teacher will present a vo- languages they had studied. The U.S. government cabulary word or grammatical structure. For exam- asked the universities to develop foreign language ple, using pictures of a child doing different actions programs that produced students who could com- the teacher can present the present progressive struc- municate effectively in those languages. ture. This use of cards can be modified for different Changes in the beliefs about how people learn verb tenses and different pronouns that will encour- impacted the teaching methodologies being devel- age the same vocabulary while slowly introducing oped. Based on theories of behaviorist psychology more grammatical structures. The practiced structure (refer to Chapter 1), the audio-lingual method could be “The boy is running.” By switching the (ALM) was developed. flash cards, the students can practice “The boy is In ALM, the emphasis was on the memorization sleeping,” “The boy is eating,” “The boy is danc- of a series of dialogues and the rote practice of lan- ing,” “The boy is smiling.” This can be practiced in guage structures. This method was based on the idea a question/answer structure by demonstrating and that language is speech, not writing, and language is asking: “The boy is sleeping. What are you doing?”, a set of habits. It was believed that extended practice “The boy is eating. What is Brooke doing?” of the dialogues would develop oral language profi- ciency. The use of the native language was avoided. Chapter 13: Methods/Approaches of Teaching ESOL: A Historical Overview 93 The method became very popular in the 1960s. speaker of another language, seeing the instructions Language laboratories began to surge, and students while hearing the instructions will help to emphasize were required to listen to audiotapes and repeat dia- the language being used. One way to help students logues that captured aspects of daily living. In addi- to learn commands and steps in routines is to pro- tion, specific structural patterns of the language vide a smaller version of the same instructions that studied were embedded in those dialogues.