WHAT IS A LANGUAGE TEACHING APPROACH, METHOD AND TECHNIQUE ?

AN APPROACH is a set of language teaching and learning theories and principles (Answers the question Why? ) A METHOD is the way you apply these theories and principles to language teaching and learning (How) A TECHNIQUE is the tools and the tasks you use to make your method succeed in language teaching and learning(a classroom device or activity) A PROCEDURE is an order of sequence of techniques (such as First you do this, then you do that … ).

APPROACHES AND METHODS

A methodological timeline Grammar translation Direct Method Audio-lingualism CLT …and beyond! timeless 1880-1940 1940-1960 mid 1970s-present

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION Use of mother tongue. Vocabulary items are taught in the form of word lists. Elaborate explanations of grammar. Focus on the morphology and syntax. Reading of difficult texts early in the course. Practice focuses on exercises translating sentences or texts from mother tongue to the target language and vice versa. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.

TECHNIQUES 1) Translation of a Literary Passage (Translating target language to native language) 2) Reading Comprehension Questions (Finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to personal experience) 3) Antonyms/Synonyms (Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words). 4) Cognates (Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language) 5) Deductive Application of Rule (Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then applying them to new examples) 6) Fill-in-the-blanks (Filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type). 7) Memorization (Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms) 8) Use Words in Sentences (Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words) 9) Composition (Students write about a topic using the target language)

DISADVANTAGES The Grammar Translation Method may make the language learning experience uninspiring and boring. The Grammar Translation Method may also left the students with a sense of frustration when they travel to countries where the studied language is used (they can’t understand what people say and have to struggle mightily to express themselves at the most basic level) This method neither approaches nor encourages the students’ communicative competence.

Reasons why it still used The Grammar Translation Method is still common in many countries – even popular. Brown in his book Incremental Speech Language (1994) attempts to explain why the method is still employed by stating: “This method requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers.” “Grammar rules and Translation Tests are easy to construct and can be objectively scored.” “Many standardized tests of foreign languages still do not attempt to test communicative abilities, so students have little motivation to go beyond grammar analogies, translations and other written exercises.”

DIRECT METHOD The Direct Method, also called the Natural Approach, developed towards the end of the 19th century. Provide learners with a practically useful knowledge of language. They should learn to speak and understand the target language in everyday situations. Rise of phonetics and phonology as a new linguistic discipline. Emphasis on providing a useful knowledge of target knowledge (direct use of the target language in class). Target language should be learnt like children learn their first language. All teaching was very much teacher centered. Words and phrases useful for everyday life.

PRINCIPLES Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught. Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes. Grammar was taught inductively. New teaching points were introduced orally. Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pic­tures; abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas. Both speech and listening comprehension were taught. Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING Never translate: demonstrate Never explain: act Never make a speech: ask questions Never imitate mistakes: correct Never speak with single words: use sentences Never speak too much: make students speak much Never use the book: use your lesson plan Never jump around: follow your plan Never go too fast: keep the pace of the student Never speak too slowly: speak normally Never speak too quickly: speak naturally Never speak too loudly: speak naturally Never be impatient: take it easy

AUDIO LINGUAL METHOD(Army method) The Audio-Lingual method of teaching had its origins during World War II. It is based on the structural view of language and the behaviorist theory of language learning. Both were considered as a reaction against the shortcomings of the Grammar Translation method. both reject the use of the mother tongue both stress that speaking and listening competences preceded reading and writing competences. The direct method highlighted the teaching of vocabulary while the audiolingual approach focus on grammar drills.

Structuralism The structural view to language is the view behind the audio-lingual method. This approach focused on examining how the elements of language related to each other in the present. Behaviorism It contends that leaning occurs through associations, habit formation and reinforcement. When the learner produces the desired behavior and is reinforced positively, it is likely that behavior be emitted again.

SOME CHARACTERİSTİCS OF THE METHOD language learning is habit-formation, mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they are considered bad habits, language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form, analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis, the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context. The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling. Lessons in the classroom focus on the correct imitation of the teacher by the students. Not only are the students expected to produce the correct output, but attention is also paid to correct pronunciation. Although correct grammar is expected in usage, no explicit grammatical instruction is given. It is taught inductively. Furthermore, the target language is the only language to be used in the classroom.

QUESTIONS The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

2.Teaching concepts and vocabulary through pantomiming, real-life objects and other visual materials. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

3. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

4. The structures of the foreign languages are best learned when compared and contrasted with those of first language. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

5. Teaching grammar by using an inductive approach (i. e 5.Teaching grammar by using an inductive approach (i.e. having learners find out rules through the presentation of adequate linguistic forms in the target language). A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

6. One of the main goals is to develop students’ reading ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

7. The teacher drills students in the use of grammar. A 7. The teacher drills students in the use of grammar. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

8. It refers to theories about the nature of language and language teaching. Method Approach Technique Procedure

9. It is what really happens in the classroom, in the actual teaching. Method Approach Technique Procedure

10. It is understood as a system that clearly explains how to teach a language (syllabus organization- contents and skills to be taught-, roles of teachers and learners, kinds of materials to use.) Method Approach Technique Procedure

11. It can be understood as a set of actions, operations and strategies which have to be executed accordingly to a perception on how to obtain an expected result, in our case on how to increase competition in a foreign language. Method Approach Technique Procedure

12. Vocabulary is taught in the form isolated word lists. A 12. Vocabulary is taught in the form isolated word lists. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

13. L2 is learned the same way as the L1 acquired- by total immersion technique. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

14.Students self-correct by teacher offering choices between what they said and the proper pronunciation/structure. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

15. Students learn by repeating structures/patterns in drills; mimicking dialogues; memorizing set phrases. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method

16. Errors are corrected immediately, and reinforced by correct response. A. Grammar-Translation B. The Direct Method C. Audio Lingual Method