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English teaching methods and approaches
Throughout the history of teaching languages a number of
different teaching approaches and methodologies have been
tried and tested with some being more popular and effective
than others. It’s beneficial to be familiar with a few of these.
1 – The Direct Method
The direct method of teaching English is also known as the Natural
Method. It’s used to teach a number of different languages not just
English, and the main idea of the Direct Method is that it only uses
the target language that the students are trying to learn. Its main
focus is oral skill and it is taught via repetitive drilling. Grammar is
taught using an inductive way and students need to try and guess
the rules through the teacher’s oral presentation.
2 – The Grammar Translation Method
This is the traditional or ‘classical’ way of learning a language
and it’s still commonly used. Some countries prefer this style
of teaching and the main idea behind this method is that the
students learn all grammar rules, so they’re able to translate
a number of sentences.
3 – The Audio Lingual Method
The Audio Lingual Method otherwise known as the New Key
Method or Army Method is based on a behaviourist theory that
things are able to be learned by constant reinforcement. This is
related to the Direct Method and just like its predecessor it only
uses the target language. The biggest difference between the
Audio Lingual Method and the Direct Method is its focus of
teaching. The Direct Methods focuses on the teaching of vocabulary whereas the Audio Lingual Method focuses on specific
grammar teachings.
4 – The Structural Approach
As the name suggests, the method is all about structure. The
idea is that any language is made up of complex grammar rules.
These rules, according to this approach need to be learnt in a
specific order, for example the logical thing would be to teach
the verb “to be” prior to teaching the present continuous which
requires using the auxiliary form of the verb “to be”.
5 – Suggestopedia
This is a behaviourist theory and related to pseudoscience. This
theory is intended to offer learners various choices. It relies a lot
on the atmosphere and the physical surroundings of the class.
It’s essential that all learners feel equally comfortable and
confident. When teachers are training to use the Suggestopedia
method, there’s a lot of art and music involved. Each Suggestopedia lesson is divided into three different phases – 1. Deciphering 2. Concert Session 3. Elaboration.
6 – Total Physical Response
Total Physical Response, otherwise known as TPR is an approach
that follows the idea of ‘learning by doing’. Beginners will learn
English through a series of repetitive actions such as “Stand up”,
“Open your book”, “Close the door”, and “Walk to the window
and open it.” With TPR, the most important skill is aural comprehension and everything else will follow naturally later.
7 – Communicative Language Teaching CLT
The idea behind this approach is to help learners communicate
more effectively and correctly in realistic situations that they
may find themselves in. This type of teaching involves focusing on important functions like suggesting, thanking, inviting, complaining, and asking for directions to name but a few.
8 – The Silent Way
The main of this way of teaching is for the teacher to say very
little, so students can take control of their learning. There’s a big
emphasis on pronunciation and a large chunk of the lesson
focuses on it. This method of learning English follows a structural
syllabus and grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are
constantly drilled and recycled for reinforcement. The teacher
evaluates their students through careful observation, and it’s
even possible that they may never set a formal test as learners
are encouraged to correct their own language errors.
9 – Community Language Learning
This is probably one of the English teaching methods where the
student feels the safest as there’s a great emphasis on the
relationship and bond between the student and teacher. Unlike a
lot of the other methods and approaches of teaching English as a
Second Language, a lot of the L1 (mother tongue) is used for
translation purposes.
10 – Task Based Language Learning
The main aim of this approach to learning is task completion.
Usually, relevant and interesting tasks are set by the teacher and
students are expected to draw on their pre-existing knowledge
of English to complete the task with as few errors as possible.
11 – The Lexical Approach
The Lexical syllabus or approach is based on computer studies that
have previously identified the most commonly used words. This
approach in teaching focuses on vocabulary acquisition and teaching
lexical chunks in order of their frequency and use. Teachers of the
Lexical Approach place a great emphasis on authentic materials.
(Available: http://www.huntesl.com. Adapted.)
