Teaching Methods

I The Grammar Translation Method
The grammar translation method is a foreign language teaching method derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. The method requires students to translate whole texts word for word and memorize numerous grammatical rules and exceptions as well as enormous vocabulary lists. The goal of this method is to be able to read and translate literary masterpieces and classics.

Initial Principles of Grammar-Translation Method
-A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read its literature. Literary language is superior to spoken language. Students' study of the foreign culture is limited to its literature and fine arts.
-An important goal is for students to be able to translate each language into the other. If students can translate from one language into another, they are considered successful language learners.
-The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of foreign language instruction.
-The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation.
-The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the correct answer.
-It is possible to find native language equivalents for all target language words.
-Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the native language.
-It is important for students to learn about the form of the target language.
-Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful pedagogical technique.
-Language learning provides good mental exercise.
-Students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language.
- Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory.

* What are the goals of teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method?
According to the teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method, a fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature written in the target language. To do this, students need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. In addition, it is believed that studying a foreign language provides students with good mental exercise which helps develop their minds.
* What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The roles are very traditional. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students do as he says so they can learn what he knows.

Advantages:
-The phraseology of the target language is quickly explained. Translation is the easiest way of explaining meanings or words and phrases from one language into another.
-Teacher’s labour is saved. Since the textbooks are taught through the medium of the mother tongue, the teacher may ask comprehension questions on the text taught in the mother tongue. Pupils will not have much difficulty in responding to questions on the mother tongue. So, the teacher can easily assess whether the students have learnt what he has taught them. Communication between the teacher and the learners does not cause linguistic problems. Even teachers who are not fluent in English can teach English through this method.
-The students grasp the language easily and quickly. It saves lot of time and energy that would be spent on explanation.

Disadvantages:
-It encourages the habit of word to word translation.
-It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning a language is listening, speaking, reading and writing. That is the way how the child learns his mother tongue in natural surroundings. But in the Grammar Translation Method the teaching of the second language starts with the teaching of reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed. This poses problems.
-It neglects speech. Thus, the students who are taught English through this method fail to express themselves adequately in spoken English.
-Exact translation is not possible. Translation is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one language to another is not always possible.


II The Direct Method
The Direct Method was the outcome of a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. It was based on the assumption that the learner of a foreign language should think directly in the target language. According to this method, English is taught through English. The learner learns the target language through discussion, conversation and reading in the second language.
This method has one basic rule and that is that no translation is allowed. The meaning of the name "Direct Method" comes from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed directly into the second language through demonstration and visual aids.

Objectives:
The basic premise of the Direct Method is that students will learn to communicate in the target language, partly by learning how to think in that language and by not involving L1 in the language learning process whatsoever. Objectives include teaching the students how to use the language spontaneously and orally, linking meaning with the target language through the use of realia, pictures or pantomime.

The main principles of the Direct Method:
-The native language is not used in the classroom.
-The learner is actively involved in using the language in realistic everyday situations.
-Students are encouraged to think in the target language.
-Speaking is taught first before reading or writing.
-Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught.
-Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures.
-Abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.
-This method states that the printed word should be kept away from the second language learner for as long as possible.

Advantages:
-Language material is presented through the medium of English language and not through the mother tongue. This provides the learner an opportunity of listening to the spoken form of language.
-Listening and speaking are given due importance.
-It enables the learner to think in foreign language without the aid of mother tongue. This strengthens his ability of self-expression.
-It prepares an easy ground for writing.

Disadvantages:
-This method is suitable for small size classes.0
-It is a time consuming method.
-All vocabulary items be taught by this method.
-Not all the teachers can teach this method.
-It is an expensive method.


III The Oral Approach
Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching refer to an approach to language teaching developed by British applied linguist from the 1930s to the 1960s. Even though neither term s commonly used today, the impact of the Oral Approach has been long lasting and it has shaped the design of many widely used EFL/ESL textbook and courses, including many still being used today.
The origin of this approach began with the work of British applied linguists in the 1920s and 1930s. Beginning of this time a number of outstanding applied linguist developed the basis principled approach to methodology in language teaching.

Objectives of SLT in teaching:
-To teach four skills through structure.
-Accuracy in pronunciation and grammar, errors are to be avoided.
-Reading and writing are introduced after he learner has a sufficient basic lexical and grammatical knowledge achieved through oral or speech work.

The main characteristic of this approach:
- Language teaching begins with the spoken language. material is taught orally before it is presented in written form
-the target language is the language of the classroom.
-new language points are introduced and practiced situationally.
-selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered.
-items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones.
-reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is established.


IV The Audio-Lingual method (Army Method)
This method of Language Learning is also called the Aural-Oral Method. This method is said to result in rapid acquisition of speaking and listening skills. The audio-lingual method drills students in the use of grammatical sentence patterns. When this method was developed it was thought that the way to acquire the sentence patterns of the second language was through conditioning or helping learners to respond correctly to stimuli through shaping and reinforcement.
The Audio lingual Method is a method for teaching foreign languages. Linguists at the University of Michigan invented this method in the late 1950s. In the Audiolingual method, students first hear a language. Later, they speak the language, and after that, they read and write in it. This way of language teaching is similar to the Direct Method. Like the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method doesn’t use the students’ native language. For example, if you are in an English class in Turkey, the teacher only speaks English, and no Turkish. However, unlike the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method does not teach vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drills grammar. In the Audiolingual method, grammar is most important for the student. In other words, the student must repeat grammar patterns after the teacher. The students don’t learn lots of vocabulary. This method also uses psychology. The students get a reward for speaking correctly. They get punishment if they speak incorrectly; because it is based on habit formation, which is establishesd by stimulus, response and reinforcement. It gives priority to speaking the target language, and using the native language is not allowed.

Principles of the Audiolingual Method:
-Speaking and listening competence preceded reading and writing competence.
-Use of German is highly discouraged in the classroom.
-The development of language skills is a matter of habit formulation.
-Students practice particular patterns of language through structured dialogue and drill until response is automatic.
-Structured patterns in language are taught using repetitive drills.
-The emphasis is on having students produce error free utterances.
-This method of language learning supports kinesthetic learning styles.
-Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught. Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures. Abstract vocabulary is taught through association of ideas.
-The printed word must be kept away from the second language learner as long as possible

Objectives:
-Accurate pronunciation and grammar.
-Ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations.
-Knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns to express oneself in practical, everyday situations.

Procedure
Here is a typical procedure in an audio-lingual course
-Students hear a model dialogue.
-Students repeat each line of the dialogue.
-Certain key words or phrases may be changed in the dialogue.
-Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds.
-The students practice substitutions in the pattern drills.

V- Competency Based Approach CBA
The Competency Based Approach is among the latest methods of 21st century; it’s a Canadian approach which based on « the competency » in learning. Scholars say competency itself is a function of three core components: « attitude (behaviour), skills, and knowledge ». If a student takes only one core component and ignores the other, he cannot be seen to have satisfactory mastered the competency.

The Competency-Based Approach is a research-supported approach based on the primary goal of defining the critical behaviors needed for effective and superior individual and organizational performance. Simply defined, a competency is a set of related behaviors that (1) impact job performance; (2) can be measured against established standards; and (3) can be improved through training and development.

Features of CBA:
-A focus on successful functioning in society. The goal is to enable students to become autonomous individuals capable of coping with the demands of the world.
-A focus on life skills. Rather than teaching language in isolation, CBLT teaches language as a function of communication about concrete tasks. Students are taught just those language forms/ skills required by the situations in which they will function. These forms are normally determined by needs analysis.
-Task or performance-oriented instruction. What counts is what students can do as a result of instruction. The emphasis is on overt behaviors rather than on knowledge or the ability to talk about language and skills.
-Modularized instruction. Language learning is broken down into meaningful chunks. Objectives are broken into narrowly focused sub-objectives so that both teachers and students can get a clear sense of progress.
-Outcomes are made explicit. Outcomes are public knowledge, known and agreed upon by both learner and teacher. They are specified in terms of behavioral objectives so that students know what behaviors are expected of them.
-Continuous and ongoing assessment. Students are pre-tested to determine what skills they lack and post-tested after instruction on that skill. If they do not achieve the desired level of mastery, they continue to work on the objective and are retested.
-Demonstrated mastery of performance objectives. Rather than the traditional paper-and-pencil tests, assessment is based on the ability to demonstrate pre-specified behaviors.
-Individualized, student-centered instruction. In content, level, and pace, objectives are defined in terms of individual needs; prior learning and achievement are taken into account in developing curricula. Instruction is not time-based; students progress at their own rates and concentrate on just those areas in which they lack competence. There are two things to note about competency-based instruction. First, it seeks to build more accountability into education by describing what a course of instruction seeks to accomplish. Secondly it shifts attention away from methodology or classroom processes, to learning outcomes. In a sense one can say that with this approach it doesn’t matter what methodology is employed as long as it delivers the learning outcomes.

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