Questões de Concurso

KUMARAVADIVELU, B. (1994, p.28-29) points out three important categories of language teaching method: language-centered, learnercentered and learning-centered. Although, from the practitioner’s point of view, none of these methods can be realized in their purest form in the actual classroom, the sample below can be classified as follow:

Introductory classroom Young EFL learners in an English language school. Teacher starts the class asking a strong learner, ‘Enzo, how are you?’ The learner responds, ‘Fine, how are you?’. The teacher continues, asking different learners, who respond in turn: Teacher: Sophia, how are you? Student: Fine, how are you? Teacher: Francisco, how are you? Student: Fine, how are you? Teacher: Valentina, how are you? Student: Fine, how are you? If a learner struggles to produce the response, the teacher demonstrates the correct utterance by first mouthing the syllables and then saying them aloud if necessary. The teacher corrects pronunciation, particularly emphasizing the /h/ sound in ‘how’ by breathing on her/his hand as if using a mirror, and drills the prompts with the students. The activity continues until every learner has been asked and has provided the correct response.

(a)

learner-centered methods (e.g., communicative methods) that seek to provide opportunities for learners to practice preselected, presequenced linguistic structures and communicative notions through function-focused activities, assuming that a preoccupation with form and function will ultimately lead to L2 mastery.

(b)

learning-centered methods (e.g., “the natural approach”) that seek to provide opportunities for learners to participate in open-ended meaningful interaction through language learning tasks, assuming that a preoccupation with meaning making will ultimately lead to L2 mastery

(c)

language-centered methods (e.g., audiolingualism) that seek to provide opportunities for learners to practice preselected, presequenced linguistic structures through form-focused exercises, assuming that a preoccupation with form will ultimately lead to L2 mastery.

(d)

learner-centered methods (e.g., audiolingualism) that seek to provide opportunities for learners to practice preselected, presequenced linguistic structures and communicative notions through function-focused activities, assuming that a preoccupation with form and function will ultimately lead to L2 mastery.