VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) Vol.5 An International Peer Reviewed Journal Spl.Issue 3 http://www.joell.in 2018
NATIONAL SEMINAR PAPER
HUMANISTIC APPROACHES: INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES TO TEACH ENGLISH IN ELT CLASSROOM Palle Manohar1, Dr.G.Chenna Reddy2 1(Research Scholar, Dept. of English, Acharya Nagarjuna University.) 2(Asso. Prof. Dept. of English, Acharya Nagarjuna University.)
ABSTRACT The introduction of Humanistic Approaches are the need of the present day education system especially ELT classroom. An explosion of new and innovative approaches to learn a language came to light in the recent years. It seems that drastic changes have taken place in everyday life with English language teaching. With the introduction of computer technology classroom communication has been changing day by day. As a result, students
are rapidly turning more cosmopolitan and relaxed, more democratic and less
egocentric. At this juncture there is a call for new Approaches in classroom. All these approaches are always considered as Humanistic Approaches. The Humanistic Approaches may relieve the students from stress and strain in the present classroom. Learning should be joyful, it should not be painful. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the new trends in this area of language teaching and some suggestions are made with practical experience.
Keywords: ELT classroom- Humanistic Approaches.
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article Copyright © 2018 VEDA Publications Author(s) agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 63 Proceedings of National Seminar on “Language of Literature and Culture” held on 22nd & 23rd Nov., 2018. Organised by the Dept. of English, JMJ College for Women, Tenali.
VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) Vol.5 An International Peer Reviewed Journal Spl.Issue 3 http://www.joell.in 2018 INTRODUCTION 3. The indirect role of the teacher highlights Humanistic Approaches in ELT are an the importance and the centrality of the attempt to respond the needs of the students in the learner. In other words teaching is classroom. The main principle of these Approaches is subordinated to learning to shift the education from teaching to learning So 4. The Silent Way is also related to a set of that the teacher is no longer a center in the premises that we have called “problem- classroom but someone who facilitate the process of solving approaches to learning.” The education. Silent Way Method, Total Physical premises are reflected in the words of Response, Suggestopedia and Community Language Benjamin Franklin: Learning are some of the Humanistic Approaches in Tell me and I forget English Language teaching. Teach me and I remember SILENT WAY METHOD Involve me and I learn The Silent Way is a language-teaching ADVANTAGES method created by Caleb Gattegno that makes use of Learning through problem solving looks silence as a teaching method. Gattegno introduced attractive especially because it fosters the method in his book Teaching Foreign Languages creativity, in Schools in 1963. It is usually considered as an discovery, "alternative" language-teaching method. The silent increase in intelligent potency and way is a methodology of teaching language based on Long term memory. the idea that teachers should be silent. At the same DISADVANTAGES time learners should be encouraged to speak as The Silent Way is often criticized of being a much as possible. harsh method. “The Silent Way is characterized by its The learner works in isolation focus on discovery, creativity, problem and communication is lacking badly in a solving and the use of accompanying Silent Way classroom. materials”. Richards and Rodgers With minimum help on the part of the (1986:99) teacher, the Silent Way method may put the The method emphasizes that the active learning itself at stake. student participation. Silence is used as a tool to The material (the rods and the charts) used achieve the goals of the students. The teacher uses a in this method will certainly fail to introduce mixture of silence and gestures to focus students' all aspects of language. Other materials will attention and to encourage them to correct their have to be introduced. own errors. Pronunciation regarded as fundamental TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE to the method with a great deal of time spent on Total Physical Response (TPR) originally every lesson. developed in1960s by James Asher an American FEATURES OF SILENT WAY METHOD professor of psychology. Total Physical Response is 1. The Silent Way is based on the premise that based on the theory that the memory is enhanced the teacher should be silent as much as through association with physical movement. It is possible in the class room but the learner also closely associated with theories of mother should be encouraged to produce as much tongue language acquisition in young children. as possible. Basically they respond physically to parental 2. The Silent Way belongs to the tradition that commands, such as "Pick it up" and "Put it down". learning as a problem solving, creative, Total Physical Response as an approach to teaching a discovery activity, in which the learner as a second language is based on listening and this is principle actor rather than a bench-bound linked to physical actions and oral pronunciation. listener. Early years of life are the period of emotional, physical, cognitive and language development is very
64 Proceedings of National Seminar on “Language of Literature and Culture” held on 22nd & 23rd Nov., 2018. Organised by the Dept. of English, JMJ College for Women, Tenali.
VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) Vol.5 An International Peer Reviewed Journal Spl.Issue 3 http://www.joell.in 2018 fast. It is the most valuable time to start teaching a DISADVANTAGES OF TOTAL PHYSICAL foreign language to young children. Although there RESPONSE are different methods and techniques in teaching Students who are not used to such things foreign languages, the most appropriate one for might find it embarrassing. young learners is Total Physical Response method. Students feel happier about copying. Total Physical Response is a method It is only really suitable for beginner levels. which is built around the coordination of Whilst it is clear that it is far more useful at speech and action in other words it is to lower but not with Intermediate and teach language through activity (Richards Advanced levels. and Rodgers, 2001). Can’t teach everything with it and if used a There are no texts in the teaching lot it would become repetitive techniques. environment but there is a teaching foreign language SUGGESTOPEDIA through songs, games, and stories.Total Physical Suggestopedia is a modern teaching Response activities contain instructions such as method, which focuses on how to deal with the "Walk to the door", "Open the door", "Sit down" and relationship between mental potential and learning "Give Maria your dictionary". The students are ability. “It is very appropriate to use in teaching needed to carry out the instructions by physically speaking for young language learners” (Xue, 2005). performing the activities. Such activities can be both This method was introduced by George Lazanov in motivating and fun. 1975, a Bulgarian psychologist and educator. Maleki ADVANTAGES OF TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (2005) believed that “we are able of learning much It is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can more than we think, provided we use our brain power be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and inner capacities”. Lazanov created suggestopedia and the mood. for learning that capitalized on relaxed states of mind It is very memorable. It really helps students for maximum retention material. Suggestopedia is an to remember phrases or words. effective method with a combination of desuggestion It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need and suggestion to achieve super learning. The most to be active in the class. important objective of suggestopedia is to motivate It can be used in large or small classes. It more of students’ mental potential to learn by doesn't really matter how many students suggestion. Desuggestion means unloading the you have as long as you are prepared to take memory banks, or blocking memories. Suggestion the lead, the students will follow. means loading the memory banks with desired and It works well with mixed-ability classes. The facilitating memories. physical actions get across the meaning ADVANTAGES OF SUGGESTOPEDIA effectively so that all the students are able The most conspicuous characteristics of the to understand and use the target language. method are It doesn't require a lot of preparation or 1. The decoration, furniture and arrangements materials. As long as you are clear what you of the class room. want to practise (a rehearsal beforehand 2. The use of music, and the authoritative can help), it won't take a lot of time to get behavior of the teacher. ready. 3. Lozanov acknowledges ties in the traditions It is very effective with teenagers and young of Yoga and Soviet psychology. learners. 4. Dramatic way of learning is a prominent It involves both left- and right-brained feature of Suggestopedia. Traditional way of learning. the methods doesn’t care for the psychological aspects like the perception levels of homogenous and heterogeneous.
65 Proceedings of National Seminar on “Language of Literature and Culture” held on 22nd & 23rd Nov., 2018. Organised by the Dept. of English, JMJ College for Women, Tenali.
VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) Vol.5 An International Peer Reviewed Journal Spl.Issue 3 http://www.joell.in 2018 5. Lozonov promises success through recording techniques.C.L.L teachers must be highly Seggestopedia to the academically gifted proficient and sensitive to nuance in both L1 and L2. and ungifted alike. As with most methods, C.L.L combines innovative 6. In the student’s role the learner takes part in learning tasks and activities with conventional ones. role playing, games, songs and gymnastic They include: Translation, Group Work, Recording, exercises that help the older student regain Transcription, Analysis Reflection and Observation, the self-confidence, spontaneity and Listening Free conversation. receptivity of the child. CONCLUSION DISADVANTAGES Linguists say that a strange language can be 1. It is not possible without the bright learnt in six months duration. Though English decoration of the class room, the musical language is treated as second language in India, background the shape of the chairs. majority Indian English learners learn it for more than 2. Suggesopedia can be applicable in the select two decades. In process of learning they learn it schools in India because of the under pressure which causes a lot of stress and infrastructure provided by the government strain. Majority of the learners practice The Grammar or the managements. Translation Method, which is not practically 3. It is very difficult to implement in the inapplicable in the Indian context. Though the overcrowded class rooms. teachers have avoided the idea ‘spare the rod spoils COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING the child’ the teachers have adopted “complete the The CLL approach was developed by Charles syllabus and get the pass mark, or first class. In the Arthur Curran, professor of psychology at Loyola process of learning English language majority Indian University Chicago. Basically he was a counselling learners feel stress and strain which may be called specialist. This method refers to two roles: that of the inhumanistic. In this context it is an urgent task to teacher and student learner. Also the method draws practice the Humanistic Approaches in Indian class on the counselling base and refers to these rooms. respective roles as a counsellor and a client. REFERENCES According to Curran, “a counsellor helps a client [1]. Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers understand his or her own problems better by (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge 'capturing the essence of the clients concern ...[and] University Press relating [the client's] affect to cognition...;in effect, [2]. http://teflpedia.com/Suggestopedia#Roles_of_Teacher understanding the client and responding in a _and_Students on April 14, 2011. detached yet considerate manner”. [3]. Xue, Jinxiang. 2005. Critical Review on Suggestopedia. Division of Language and Communication.20 Jan.2009, Community language learning (CLL) is a pr 1
66 Proceedings of National Seminar on “Language of Literature and Culture” held on 22nd & 23rd Nov., 2018. Organised by the Dept. of English, JMJ College for Women, Tenali.