Especialização em Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Uso de Novas Tecnologias Módulo III Professora: Aula 1: Approaches and methods in ELT
Objectives: To present an overview of different methods and approaches towards language teaching; To raise participants awareness in the fields of Pedagogy and Andragogy; To provide participants with varied techniques and resources for working with different age groups in the language classroom; To provide participants with opportunities to practice and produce materials based on the content.
Agenda: Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Classroom Management
Warm-up: What can you remember from the CLT module? What comes to your mind when you think of methods in ELT?
Methods& Approaches in LanguageTeaching
Lead-in: What are the methods and approaches that language teachers have used over the years to teach foreign or second languages? What are the current methodological trends and challenges? Where does language teaching methodology appear to be heading?
Whatis a method?
Method Approach What sthe difference? Technique Procedure
Task 1: Worksheet 1 Read the definitions by Celce-Murcia (2001) for method, approach, technique and procedure and complete them. Then, read Harmer s definition and compare them to your ideas.
Approach Method Procedure Technique
Methods& approaches Theoriesof Learning in ELT
The starting point for all language teaching should be an understanding of how people learn. But it is too often the case that learning factors are the last to be considered. [...] In other words, the key to successful language learning and teaching lies not in the analysis of the nature of language but in understanding the structures and processes of the mind. Unfortunately, we still know too little about how people learn. Nevertheless, if we wish to improve the techniques, methods and content of language teaching, we must try and base what we do I the classroom on sound principles of learning. HUTCHINSON & WATERS, 1987
What the interested teacher needs to do when confronted with a new method, for example, is to see if and/or how it incorporates theories of language and learning. What procedures does it incorporate? Are they appropriate and effective for the classroom situation that the teacher works with? In the case of techniques and activities, two questions seem worth asking: are they satisfying for both students and teachers, and do they actually achieve what they set out to achieve? Popular methodology includes ideas at all various levels [ ], and it is these methods, procedures, approaches (and models) which influence the current state of English language teaching. HARMER, 2008
Which learning theories are you familiar with? What s the difference between them? February, 2012.
Main learning theories Behaviorism Cognitivism Constructivism/Socio Interactionism The affective factor Skinner & Pavlov Learning = mechanical process of habit formation Learner = passive receiver Frequent reinforcement of a stimlus-response sequence Reward-punishment Ausubel Learning = active process of making sense of data Learner = active processor of information/center of the learning process Problem-solving Piaget/Vygotsky Learning = active process of construction Emphasis on the process Experience/interaction Learn by doing/with others Cognitive/social Gardner & Lambert Learning = emotional experience Cognitive and emotional aspects Motivation Learning styles Multiple intelligences
Task 2: Text Discussion What are the main methods and approaches presented? What are the main differences among them? What s the author s conclusion? Is there such a thing as the best method? What are the future trends for language teaching?
Task 3: Worksheet 2 Based on the article, what are the main characteristics and differences among the methods and approaches?
Methods and approaches in ELT Major trends 14th century Reading Writing Vocabulary Grammar Grammar- Translation Direct Approach Speaking Pronunciation 1920 s/1930 s Reading Comprehension Reading Approach Audiolingual Method Speaking Pronunciation Accuracy Drills 1970 s Speaking Communication Fluency Communicative Approach 16th/19th century 1940 s Alternativeapproaches/ Designer methods LEFFA, 1988
Alternative approaches and methods Suggestopedia Whole language Multiple Intelligences Community language Learning Neurolinguistic Programming The silent way The lexical approach Total Physical Response Alternative approaches Competency- Based Language Teaching RICHARDS & RODGERS, 2011
Task 4: Materials Look at different materials and decide which method or approach they refer to.
Task 5: Worksheet 3 You are going to watch 3 lessons. Decide which approach/method is being used in each one. Then, justify your decision mentioning at least three characteristics of each method/approach in the lessons.
Lessons Audiolingual Method Repetitive drills Use of visual aids NO grammar explanation Communicative Approach Direct Method Learners learn a language through using it to communicate Free practice Authentic and meaningful communication Material is first presented orally Series of questions in the target language Rules are generalized from the practice and experience
Task 6: Discussion How important is method to language learning? Is such as thing as the best method? Why? Why not? Which method/approach do you use to teach? Why? How can you incorporate the ideas here to your teaching from now on?
Concluding We need to be able to say, what is important in methodological terms, especially if we concede that a choice of one method alone may not be right in many situations. We have to be able to extract the key components of the various methods we have been describing. What is that students need, and what should we offer them?
[ ] the actual way we do things depends not on the choice of a method (though it is possible that a method or a version of a method may be appropriate, but rather why and where we are teaching. What we want to achieve, with whom and in what context? We need to analyze these features and then choose from the procedures and techniques at our command those that best fit the situation we are in, at all levels and at all stages of teaching we should be able to say clearly why we are doing what we are doing HARMER, 2008
Teaching models/procedures How do you usually organize your lesson? Which procedures and techniques do you use? What are the main teaching models/procedures for organizing a lesson?
Teaching models/procedures Jig-saw reading: Follow the instructions in Worksheet 4. PPP TBL TTT
PPP Presentation Practice Production
Criticism to PPP It might be appropriate for beginner and elementary students; Teacher-centred; It seems to assume students learn in straight lines ; It reflected neither the nature of language nor the nature of learning (Lewis, 1993:190); It is fundamentally disabling, not enabling (Scrivener, 1994:15). HARMER, 2008
Some alternatives to PPP Deep-end strategy (Johnson, 1982) ARC (Scrivener, 1994) OHE (Lewis) III (McCarthy & Carter, 1995) ESA (Harmer, 1998) Immediate production (deep end) Presentation or practice Authentic use Restricted use Clarification and focus Observe Hypothesize Experiment Illustration Interaction Induction Engage Study Activate HARMER, 2008
PPP Large number of trainers and trainees still use it as the main default model for the teaching of new language forms; Many coursebooksuse this model for organizing lessons; What all these models demonstrate is a desire to put PPP firmly in its place as one of a number of teaching procedures for the teacher o employ rather than the central plank of good teaching. The goal is flexibility, not rigidity. HARMER, 2008
TBL
TTT Test Set task Sts perform the task Teach Teach/review the target language Practice it Test Set new/similar task Sts perform the task
TTT or PPP? http://www.eltconcourse.com/training/initial/teaching/structurelessons.html
Task 7: Mini lesson Work in three groups. Each group should design a lesson for teaching past activities using one of the three teaching models we have just discussed: PPP, TBL and TTT.
Task 7: Mini lesson Módulo III Metodologia de ensino de língua inglesa Stage Procedures
Methods and approaches in ELT What comes next? Grammar- Translation Direct Approach Reading Approach Audiolingual Method Communicative Approach Reading Writing Vocabulary Grammar Speaking Pronunciation Reading Comprehension Speaking Pronunciation Accuracy Drills Speaking Communication Fluency???? LEFFA, 1988
There s no best method why? It all depends on the teaching context Thereis some truthto every method We need to rethink what best might mean PRABHU, 1990
Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy 1990 s: New ideas Need to go beyond the limitations of the concept of method Need to go beyond the limitations of the transmissional model call to find an alternative way of designing effective teaching strategies call to find an alternative way of creating efficient teaching professionals Postmethod pedagogy KUMARAVADIVELU, 2001
Beyond methods Having witnessed how methods go through endless cycles of life, death, and rebirth, the language teaching profession seems to have reached a state of heightened awareness an awareness that, as long as we remain in the web of method, we will continue to get entangled in an unending search for an unavailable solution: that such a search drives us to continually recycle and repackage the same old ideas; and that nothing short of breaking the cycle can salvage the situation. Out of this awareness has emerged what I have called a postmethod condition. KUMARAVADIVELU, 2003
The postmethod era Recent explorations in L2 pedagogy signal a shift away from the conventional concept of method toward a postmethod condition that can potentially refigure the relationship between theorizers and teachers by empowering teachers with knowledge, skill and autonomy.so empowered, teachers could devise for themselves a systematic, coherent, and relevant alternative to method, one informed by principled pragmatism. The postmethod condition can also reshape the character and content of L2 teaching, teacher education, and classroom research. In practical terms, it motivates a search for an open-ended, coherent framework based on current theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical insight that will enable teachers to theorize from practice and practice what they theorize. KUMARAVADIVELU, 2004
The postmethod era The post-method condition is a sustainable state of affairs that compels us to fundamentally restructure our view of language teaching and teacher education. It urges us to review the character and content of classroom teaching in all its pedagogical and ideological perspectives. It drives us to streamline our teacher education by refiguring the reified relationship between theory and practice. KUMARAVADIVELU, 2006
Conceptualizing postmethod pedagogy Pedagogy of particularity All pedagogy is local disillusionment with CLT : different students and cultures Critical awareness reflective teaching Pedagogy of practicality Theory X practice theory of practice Teachers as autonomous individuals Teachers awareness and sense making Pedagogy of possibility Empowers participants knowledge and social practices that work with experiences Concerned with individual identity Kumaradivelu, 2001
Actualizing postmethodpedagogy The postmethod learner Autonomous individual: academic & social autonomy The postmethod teacher Autonomous individual Continual process of self-development Encouraged and empowered to embrace aspects of possibility Self-explore and self-improve Conduct teacher research KUMARAVADIVELU, 2006
Macrostrategic framework for language teaching KUMARAVADIVELU, 2003
The post-methods era Beyond approaches and methods Core principles: - Engage all learners in the lesson; - Make learners, and not the teacher, the focus of the lesson; - Provide maximum opportunities for student participation. - Develop learner responsibility; - Be tolerant of learner s mistakes; - Develop learners confidence; - Teach learning strategies; - Respond to learners difficulties and build on them; - Use a maximum amount of student-to-student activities; - Promote cooperation among learners; - Practice both accuracy and fluency; - Address learner s needs and interests. BAILEY, 1996 in RICHARDS & RODGERS, 2011
A principled approach Diagnosis Account for communicative and situational needs anticipated among designated learners, and to diagnoseappropriate curricular treatment for those specific learners and their distinctive context and for their particular goals. Treatment Devise effective pedagogical objectives which have taken into account all the contextual variables in a classroom. It underlies the creation of a set of learning experiences that are appropriate for realizing established objectives. Assessment Assesswhat went right and what went wrong in a lesson, that is to systematically evaluate the accomplishment of curricular objectives. And it assists them in revising activities, lessons, materials and curricula. BROWN, 2002
Wrap-up How does the discussion of methods and the post-method era relate to your practice as an English teacher? According to the authors what is the importance of methods in ELT today? What is more important in this debate? Which conclusions can we reach about the best method or approach to teach EFL/ESL? What are the characteristics/principles of a lesson in the postmethod era?
Adapt, don t adopt. [...] We must build on our past and present knowledge of what works to refine and improve existing language teaching practices and, it is hoped, develop other practices that will be even better and more encompassing. We cannot be satisfied with the current, inprogressstate of affairs but must seek out new ways to provide learners with the most effective and efficient language learning experiences possible, taking into account the learners goals, interests, and learning contexts. Language teachers must also become familiar with the research in the field of instructed second language acquisition.[ ] CELCE-MURCIA, 2014
References: BROWN, H. D. English Language Teaching in the Post-Method Era: Toward better diagnosis, treatment and assessment. In: RICHARDS, J. C.; WILLY A. R. Methodology in Language Teaching An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: CUP, 2002. CELCE-MURCIA, M. An Overview of Language Teaching Methods and Approaches. In: CELCE-MURCIA, M.; BRINTON, D. M;. SNOW, M. A. (eds.). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 4 th ed. Cengage, 2014. HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd ed. Pearson Longman, 2008. HUTCHINSON, T. & WATERS, A. English for specific purposes : A learning-centred approach. Cambridge: CUP, 2009. KUMARAVADIVELU, B. Beyond methods: macrostrategies for language teaching. Yale University Press, 2003. KUMARAVADIVELU, B. The postmethodcondition: (e)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly vol. 28, n. 1, Spring 1994. KUMARAVADIVELU, B. Toward a postmethod pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly vol. 35, n. 4, Winter 2001. LEFFA, V. J. Metodologia do ensino de línguas. In BOHN, H. I.; VANDRESEN, P. Tópicos em linguística aplicada: O ensino de línguas estrangeiras. Florianópolis: Ed. da UFSC, 1988. p.211-236. RICHARDS, J.; RODGERS, T. S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. 2 nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2011. PRABHU, N. S. There is no best method why? TESOL Quartely, v. 24, no. 2, 1990. pp. 161-176.