Unit 15 APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

Unit 15 APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

Approaches to language teaching refer to the view of language and how it takes place. There are distinctive approaches to teach, but I am going to mention the most important ones. Presentation, Practice, Production (PPP) which is learning by seeing the new language in context in controlled and guided conditions. It is recommended to apply situational presentations and miming at the presentation stage, drills at the practice stage and role-plays at the production stage. Lexical approach where vocabulary is the most important aspect and it is learnt by chunks, Here, I would use authentic written or spoken materials that encourage my learners to notice chunks in context since chunks need to be noticed in order to be leant. Functional approach whose syllabus focuses on functions usually graded based on their frequency of use. Communicative approach where interaction and communication are the most important aspects. I would use pair or group work activities to develop my pupils’ communicative skills. Grammar Translation method where translating and learning words by heart are essential factors. Students have to work out what the language means by applying rules. Total Physical Response (TPR) where learners learn by being exposed to language. Here, learners need a silent period to work out the language and then produce it. TPR is most used with beginners and young learners. Knowing about all the possible approaches, I have come to the conclusion that using an eclectic approach in my class would be a great idea since picking the best out of different approaches to keep my students motivated and involved and to make my lessons relevant to different kinds of learners would make my classes successful because I can fulfill my pipuls`expectations by using the most suitable resources and activities to motivate them during the class. In conclusion, you need to choose the appropriate approach, method, task, activity, coursebook, etc. to motivate and encourage your students to learn the language.

These pictures show some possible tasks or activities, materials and approaches you can apply in your classroom. 

                                                   Presentation Practice Production

Situational presentations (Presentation stage)

                                                     Controlled activitites (Practice stage)

                                                              Role-plays (Productive stage)

                                                       Lexical Approach

                                                   
                                        Authentic Written materials (newspaper)
 
                                      
                                        Authentic Spoken matrial (movies)

                                    Communicative Approach

                                             
                                                  Pair conversation  

                                 

                                                     Groups conversation

                                   Total Phisical Response

                              

Simon Says

References for additional information

  

- http://www.slideshare.net/joissss/approaches-to-language-teaching. (2014).

- Moramodules.com,. (2014). Second-language Teaching Methods | Mora Modules. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from http://moramodules.com/ALMMethods.htm

- Shoebottom, P. (2014). Language teaching methods. Esl.fis.edu. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/method.htm