Teaching Methods

COMMON TEACHING METHODS

Lectures

STRENGTHS :

          -  presents factual material in direct , logical manner .

          -  contains experience which inspires .

          -  stimulates thinking to open discussion .

          -  useful for large groups .

LIMITATIONS :

         -  experts are not always good teachers .

         -  audience is passive .

         - learning is difficult to gauge .

         -  communication is in one way .

PREPARATION :

        -  needs clear introduction and summary .

        -  needs time and content limit to be effective .

        -  should include examples, anecdotes .

Lecture With Discussion

STRENGTHS :

           -  involves audience at least after the lecture .

           -  audience can question , clarify & challenge .

LIMITATIONS :

           - time may limit discussion period .

           -  quality is limited to quality of questions and discussion .

PREPARATION :

          - requires that questions be prepared prior to discussion .

Panel of Experts

STRENGTHS :

          - allows experts to present different opinions .

          -  can provoke better discussion than a one person discussion .

          -  frequent change of speaker keeps attention from lagging .

LIMITATIONS :

          -  experts may not be good speakers .

             -  personalities may overshadow content .

          -  subject may not be in logical order .

PREPARATION :

         -  facilitator coordinates focus of panel , introduces and summarizes .

           - briefs panel .

Brainstorming

STRENGTHS :

          -  listening exercise that allows creative thinking for new ideas .

         -  encourage full participation because all ideas equally recorded .

         -  draws on group’s  knowledge and experience .

         -  spirit of congeniality is created .

         -  one idea can spark off other ideas .

LIMITATIONS :

         -  can be unfocused .

           -  need to be limited to   5 – 7  minutes .

         - people may have difficulty getting away from known reality .

         -  if not facilitated well , criticism and evaluation may occur .

PREPARATION :

         -  facilitator selects issue .

           -  must have some ideas if group needs to be stimulated .

Videotapes

STRENGTHS :

         - entertaining way of teaching content and raising issues .

         -  keep group attention .

         -  looks professional .

        - stimulates discussion .

LIMITATIONS :

         - can raise too many issues  to have a focused discussion .

         -  discussion may not have full participation .

         - only as effective as following discussion .

PREPARATION :

         - need to set up equipment .

         - effective only if facilitator prepares questions to discuss after the show .

Class Discussion

STRENGTHS :

         - pools ideas and experiences from group .

         -  effective after a presentation, film or experience that needs to be analyzed .

         - allow everyone to participate in an active process .

LIMITATIONS :

         -  not practical with more than  20  people .

         -  few people can dominate .

         - others may not participate .

         - is time consuming .

         - can get off the track .

PREPARATION :

         - requires careful planning by facilitator to guide discussion .

         -  requires question outline .

Small Group Discussion

STRENGTHS :

         - allows participation of everyone .

         - people often more comfortable in small groups .

        -  can reach group consensus .

LIMITATIONS :

        -  needs careful thought as to purpose of group .

        -  groups may get side tracked .

PREPARATION :

         - needs to prepare specific tasks or questions for group to answer .

Case Studies

STRENGTHS :

         - develops analytic and problem solving skills .

         -  allows for exploration of solutions for complex issues .

        - allows students to apply new knowledge and skills .

LIMITATIONS :

       - people may not see relevance to own situations .

       -  insufficient information can lead to inappropriate results .

PREPARATION :

       - case must be clearly defined in some cases .

        - case study must be prepared .

Role Playing

STRENGTHS :

       - introduces problem situation dramatically .

       -provides opportunity for people to assume roles of others and thus appreciate another point of view.

       - allows for exploration of solutions .

       - provides opportunity to practice skills .

LIMITATIONS :

       - people may be too self-conscious .

       - not appropriate for large groups .

       - people may feel threatened .

PREPARATION :

        -  trainer has to define problem situation and roles clearly .

        - trainer must give very clear instructions .

Report –Back Sessions

STRENGTHS :

        - allows for large group discussion of role plays , case studies ,and small group exercise .

          - gives people a chance to reflect on experience .

         - each group takes responsibility for its operation .

LIMITATIONS :

         - can be repetitive if each small group says the same thing .

PREPARATION :

          - trainer has to prepare questions for groups to  discuss .

Worksheets / Surveys

STRENGTHS :

         - allow people to think for themselves without being influences by others .

        - individual thoughts can then be shared in large group .

LIMITATIONS :

          -can be used only for short period of time .

PREPARATION :

          - facilitator has to prepare handouts .

Index Card  Exercise

STRENGTHS :

          - opportunity to explore difficult and complex issues

LIMITATIONS :

          - people may not do exercise .

PREPARATION :

          - facilitator must prepare questions .

Guest Speaker

STRENGTHS :

          - personalizes topics .

          - breaks down audience’s stereotypes .

LIMITATIONS :

         - may not be a good speaker .

PREPARATION :

         - contact speakers and coordinate .

         - introduce speaker appropriately .

Values Clarification Exercise

STRENGTHS :

           - opportunity to explore values and beliefs .

           - allows people to discuss values in a safe environment .

           - gives structure to discussion .

LIMITATIONS :

           - people may not be honest .

           - people may not be too self – conscious .

PREPARATION :

          - facilitator must carefully prepare exercise .

          - must give clear instructions .

- facilitator must  prepare discussion questions .

              The grammar-translation method was widely used until two or three decades ago. Some of the most characteristics are still present in most forein language classrooms. The method was originally used to teach latin, a language which was not taught for everyday communication. However the method was gradually generalized to teach living or modern languages such as English, French,etc. It has been used by teachers of Englis for about a hundred years.

                As a discipline, this method aims at mastery of general rules govering the written language  and translation from and into the foreign language. To help pupils achieve such aims, linguists and grammarians prescribe the whole grammar of the language according to certain criteria-what is right and what is wrong. That is, they are concerned with marking rules on how people ought to speak and write  in conformity with some agreed standards. No attention is paid to practical mastery of the language, as the method does not concern itself with how pupils learn the language or how they actually use it. The main concern is linguistic. Thus students studing classical languages ( Latin and Greek ) had to spend their time in defining the parts of speech, and in memorizing conjugations, declensions and rules of grammar of these languages. They were also required to translate literary selections making heavy use of dictionaries in order to explain  the meaning of the foreign language vocabulary in the mother tongue.

          Pupils learning English according to this method have to learn by heart grammatical rules and tables of conjugations, and have to translate with the help of a dictionary.

          The main Imitations underlying the grammar-translation method can be summarized as follows:

(a)             The method aims at knowing the grammar of the language which provides the rules for putting words together. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given, and instructions often focus on the form and inflection of words.

(b)            It emphasizes the written language at the expense of the functional nature of the language and of how it is used to convey social functions such as requesting, greeting, expressing feelings, introducing people or showing attitudes, etc. communicative skills are neglected since the stress is on knowing rules and exceptions.

(c)             People practice reading for the sake of memorizing a number of vocabulary items and for translation.

(d)            Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of separate words. However the teaching of vocabulary is inadequate because the choice of words is not made on a scientific basis. Words are used in sentences to illustrate grammatical rules and are presented out of context.

        In such a teaching situation, the pupils' role is largely passive. There are two reasons for this. The functional and social nature of the language is disregarded in the grammar-translation method, and the training is often carried out by drills taken from classical texts which usually have nothing to do with the pupils' interests and needs. The student learns more about how the language works than about how to use the language in a communicative way.

      As explained in the preceding section, The grammar-translation method could not be of help to those who want to speak the foreign language with a reasonable degree of fluency. In order to overcome this shortcoming, The direct method was developed for the teaching of foreign languages. It became popular throughout the early years of the twentieth century. By "Direct" is meant teaching in the foreign language, without use of the mother tongue. The theory, however, was based on the assumption that learning a foreign language is very much like learning one's mother tongue, i.e. "that exposing the language impresses it perfectly upon the learner's mind"  ( Lado 1961, p.5 ). This belief as proved to be false because learning the native language in childhood doesn't assure the acquisition of a foreign language adequately in adulthood. Moreover, language acquisition in childhood is a trait while language learning in adulthood is a skill. Psychologists believe that unless  the first language is acquired by early childhood, the capacity to acquire any human language will become measured and limited. In contrast, the learning of second language is not restricted to people of a particular age. Nonetheless, the Direct method was received with enthusiasm by foreign language teachers in Europe and the United states. The main features underlying it can be summed up as follow:

(a)             It gives priority to speech and oral skills, and rejects memorization of conjugations, declensions and rules of grammar. At the same time it rejects the

  pupils' mother tongue as it considers translation a useless activity in teaching a           foreign language; therefore the meaning of concrete or abstract words and      sentences is given through dramatization, demonstration or pointing at objects without the use of the mother tongue.

(b)            Grammatical rules are not taught. They are acquired unconsciously through practical use (i.e. intensive listening and imitation). That is to say rule generalization comes after experience.

(c)             The new material is presented orally. Thus words and patterns are taught through direct association with actions, dialogues, situations, objects or pictures. "Mim-mem" technique is also used. Pupils memorize selected foreign language sentences, short dialogues, expressions and songs after imitation. The mother tongue is never used in all these activities. The proffered type of exercise is a series guest ions based on these activities and answered in the target language. Verbs are systematically conjugated

      Many techniques and procedures are developed to make this method more effective in foreign language teaching. For example, statements are demonstrated with actions and pupils repeat both the language model and the actions as in this sentences: 'I'm standing up. I'm going to the window. I'm looking at the traffic in the street. I see a boy riding on a bicycle, ' etc.

      Such sequential exercise is usually followed by related questions such as What are you doing? Where are you going? What are you looking at? What can you see? What is the boy doing? Etc., or questions such as What is he going? Where did he go? etc.

     This method has been criticized for being time-consuming and the least direct approach. Its insistence of giving the meaning of words and structures through dramatization, demonstration or association without resorting to the mother tongue has led to the using of roundabout techniques which are time-wasting. This process might be successful with concrete sentences but fails with abstract words. Using the native language, therefore, in some instances ensures that the required meaning is comprehended in addition to the fact that it saves time. A further advantage, as already mentioned, in that valuable learning time is saved. Moreover, the method requires, among other things, for its proper application, a highly competent teacher who is endowed with fluency in the foreign language and adequate knowledge of its techniques. It also requires a large number of class hours since most of the work is done in the classroom. In addition, the direct method suffers from lack of selection, gradation and controlled presentation of contents. Consequently pupils are never clear about what they are studying.

   It is clear that the two foregoing methods, namely the Indirect and the Direct, are rather extreme. On the one hand, the chief purpose of the grammar-translation method is to develop an ability to translate while the spoken language is

neglected. The Direct method, on the other hand, lays heavy emphasis on the oral aspects of the language and intensive speech practice. Yet it discards the use of translation. A new method known as the Reading method emerged in the thirties.

      The method was with known in the Arab world as the West's method. It became popular during the period between 1930 and 1960 when it was replaced by the audio-lingual method. However, some variations of the Reading method such as oral, silent, selective, free and comprehension readings are still practiced in English classes.

    The method aims at achieving an intensive reading skill for the purposes of comprehension, vocabulary acquisition and grammatical rules. On the other hand, The reading method aims at extensive reading where learners read on their own special readers which are graded in order gradually to develop their reading abilities. Translation is, however, discouraged. In stead, learners are trained to deduce the meaning of words from the context. That is, their comprehension is assessed through guest ions on the contexts of the reading materials. The main characteristics of this method can be summed up as follow:

(a)             The method is divided into intensive and extensive reading. From the beginning, a great amount of reading is undertaken both in and out of class. Pupils are trained to comprehend the meaning directly without translating what they are reading.

(b)            Intensive and extensive reading are graded in order to develop gradually the pupil's reading ability.

(c)             The teaching of grammar rules is based principally on the structures found in the reading passages. Only the grammar necessary for reading is taught.

(d)            Minimal attention is paid to pronunciation, whereas translation receives due care. 

 Consequently the meaning method places a great emphasis on one skill i.e. reading whereas other skills are neglected. However, this method may be of great benefit for component learners in that it arouses their curiosity to know about foreign cultures and also increases their ability to read in the foreign language. The reading method continued to be used till new approaches, namely the structural and later the communicative emerged.

           The theory implies the acquisition of oral language skills through oral practice based on repetition and learning by analogy. The approach is often referred to as the audio-lingual method.

This method aims at 'developing listening and speaking skills first, as the foundation on which to build the skills of reading and writing' (Rivers 1971,pp.23-4). In other words, the foreign-language pupils is brought to proficiency in oral and aural use of structures before being taught how to read and write them. The advantages of this method claim that language is essentially acquired through habits and that responses must be drilled until they become automatic and natural. This process reflects a behaviorist view of language learning influenced by psychologist skinner. The approach proposed this mechanical process of habit formation through which the phases of stimulus, response and reinforcement would determine the formulation of structure drills and would lead the pupil to the acquisition of these structures.

     William Moulton, in 1961, summed up the assumptions on which this method is based as follows:

(a)             Language is speed, not writing. That is, it is the spoken aspect of language that concerns structural linguists.

(b)            Language is a set of habits. This principle means that language is acquired by imitation and practice. Habits are established by stimulus, response and reinforcement.

(c)             Teach the language, not about the language. This means that we must teach pupils 'a set of habits' not a set of rules, as the main goal of language learning is to enable pupils to talk in the language and not to talk about it.

(d)            Languages are different. Languages are differ from each other in their sounds and structures. Each language is systematic and sufficient to serve the purpose of the community which speaks it. There is no such a thing as a primitive language.

(a)             This method gives priority to the spoken language which the pupil needs as an instrument of communication; so it emphasize listening and speaking and considers them more important than reading and writing. Accordingly, teaching the foreign language should follow the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Language teaching courses should reflect this sequence and should teach the language of daily usage.

(b)            Great importance is attached to pronunciation with special attention to intonation. This objective is realized by intensive pattern practice, much use of tapes and language laboratory, and by the memorization of dialogues regardless of the lexical meaning which is unimportant beside perfect pronunciation.

(c)             There is a great efforts to prevent pupils' errors and successful responses are immediately reinforced. However, there is tendency to manipulate language and disregard meaning. Sometimes, especially at the beginning, learners repeat incomprehensible material to make the production of speech automatic and habitual.

 Despite the foregoing limitations, the audio-lingual method is still the most widespread method of foreign language teaching  today. The method was adopted in the educational systems of the Arab World in the sixties and continued to be used over the last two decades until it was replaced in some Arab countries, by the communicative approach.

 Nevertheless, the majority of Arab countries are still committed to the aural-oral approach (audio-lingual method). However some modifications have been introduced to make foreign language teaching and learning more interesting and more appropriate. Among these major modifications are situational and contextual teaching. 

            Situational teaching requires the use of  physical demonstration of notions and objects in order to present and practice the structural of the language. Actions are simulated to illustrate the utterances, numerous pictures and other real objects are used. Contextual teaching on the other hand attempts to teach the structures of the language in everyday situations where they are likely to occur. These situations are presented in the form of dialogues with titles such as 'at the supermarket' , 'going to the post office' , 'visiting a friend' or 'a school library' , etc. Though contextualization is a vital component in foreign-language teaching and learning, it has its own limitations which can be summed up in the following:

(a)             Situations are not graded. They are usually selected at random to serve the                                                                                                                       purpose of structures on which they are based.

(b)            Learners are not shown how a structure in a particular situation can be used in another.

          This is generally referred to as the functional-notional approach. It emerged in the early 1970s as a result of the work of the Council of Europe experts. The approach was designed primarily to meet the needs of adult learners, tourists or people engaged in academic, cultural, technical or economic activities. However, it can be traced to the work of Chomsky in the 1960s, when he advanced the two notions of 'competence' and 'performance' as a reaction against the prevalent audio-lingual method and its views and language learning. These two concepts were developed later on by Hymes, into a 'communicative competence' which refers to the psychological, cultural and social rules which discipline the use of speech. Such competency, as Hymes (1974,p.277) remarks, is 'fed by social experience, needs and motives, and issues in action that is itself a renewed source of motives, needs and experience'.

        This new concept of 'communicative competence' has been expanded by a number of  writer including Bung (1973), Tim (1973), Van Ek (1973), Alexander (1976), Wilkins (1976), Sratton (1977), Dobson (1977), Finocchiaro (1979) and Richterich (1980). They have proposed seven categories of communicative functions, which are requesting and giving information, expressing thought

processes, expressing opinions, moral discipline and evaluation, modifying people's behaviour, expressing personal feelings and interacting socially.

       The basic principles underlying the communicative approach are as follow:

(a)             The theory of language learning underlying the approach is holistic rather than behaviouristic. It assumes that 'language acquisition depends not only on exposure to environmental stimulation but also on specific innate propensities of the organism' (Hwang 1970).

Thus, language acquisition is seen as a creative process, not as habit formation. The idea of language learning by a stimulus-response process is rejected.

   (b)     Communicative competence, as spelt out by Widdowson (1984), implies                                                                                  

knowledge of the grammatical system of the language as well as performance. In other words such competence includes both the usage and the use of the language.

   (c)     Unlike the audio-lingual method, the communicative approach gives 

             priority to the semantic content of the language learning.

   (d)     One aspect of communication is the interaction between speakers. This                           

             approach provides communicative functions (uses) and notions (semantic                                            

             themes and language items).

In spite of the proliferation of theories of language-teaching, no language teacher applies exclusively any of the given or known teaching theories. Teachers often incorporate features of different approaches in their particular methodology. Thus their teaching may be based on the communicative theory, but supplemented with a careful grading of words and grammatical forms and structures so that the pupils can develop gradually and simultaneously both their communicative competence and knowledge of the language system. The use of many different practical approaches is very common among foreign language teachers. They feel such practices overcome the problems associated with theoretical approaches, and increase their professional competence.

The eclectic approach is, therefore, a framework involving procedures and technique drawn from various methods. It is useful in practical situations in the classroom. It is not based on a specific theory or discipline; but there are some assumptions underlying it.  

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