Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)

Approaches, Methods and Techniques (The Content)

1. Basic definitions
1.1. Technique
1.2. Method
1.3. Approach


2. Teaching methods and approaches
2.1. The Grammar-Translation Method / Approach
2.2. The Direct Method
2.3. The Aural- Oral Approach (The Audio Lingual Method)
2.4. The Situational Approach
2.5. The Communicative Approach
2.6. The Eclectic Method


Approaches, Methods and Techniques

1. Basic definitions
'Technique', 'method' and 'approach' are terms which recur so often in the field of language teaching that they need to be defined in order to draw a distinction between them.

1.1. Technique
This is what actually goes on in the classroom as an implementation of a method, which in turn is an application of an approach. A technique refers to all the activities used by the teacher and performed by the pupils in the classroom. For example, audio-visual aids such as language labs, tape recorders, television set, slides, video recorders are techniques which are used to achieve an immediate objective. Some techniques are used with a variety of methods such as imitation and repetition. Others, however, are specific to a given method.


1.2. Method
This is the application of the principles underlying a particular approach. A method consists of the use of a certain number of techniques in a systematic way in order to achieve the aim of language teaching. A method includes the lesson plan, the syllabus, the textbook, other teaching materials and the number of teaching periods. It also includes decisions made about language teaching outside the classroom. All these components must be in harmony with the basic principles of the selected approach.

A method is procedural in the sense that it shows accurately how a language should be taught as it deals with the practical side of foreign language instruction. A method is more general than a technique and more specific than an approach.

1.3. Approach
This term is relatively new compared to the term 'method'. An approach refers to the principles or assumptions underlying the process of language teaching and learning. It is also a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of the language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic. It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught. It is also considered a theory of applied linguistics, which seeks to explain the phenomenon of language learning in terms which assit the learner to achieve his goal.

Technique, method and approach are interdependent. They are arranged in the form of a hierarchy in which 'approach' is placed at the top followed by 'method' and then 'technique'.

2. Teaching methods and approaches

In language teaching, there are constant changes and developments of teaching methods and approaches. This can be attributed to the different focuses on different types of language skills either written or oral, to the realisation that a given method or approach carries certain limitations which render it unable to meet the needs of the learners for real communication or to the development of the need for communication especially after the Second World War. Each new method or approach is built on the limitations of the preceding one. The following are the most common language teaching methods and approaches and their shortcomings.

2.1. The Grammar-Translation Method / Approach
This method was originally used to teach classical languages, such as Latin and Greek, which were not taught for everyday communication. But gradually, it was generalised to teach modern languages such as French and English. It dominated the English language teaching field in Algeria in the 1960's at all educational levels. This method is a way of studying a language through detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by an application of this knowledge to the task of translating sentences into and out of the target language.

The method was based on a prescription of the whole grammar of the language according to the criterion of what is right and what is wrong in order to enable the learners to master the general rules governing the written form of the language and to translate from and into the foreign language.

Shortcomings
This approach has been criticised on many grounds:
a) This approach was not based on any explicit psycholinguistic or sociolinguistic theory. Therefore, it did not concern itself with how learners learn the language or how they actually use it. Its main concern was purely linguistic.

b) Practical mastery of the language being learned or actual use of it were totally ignored.

c) The learners in that approach were completely passive.

d) As the classroom technique consisted of giving definitions, rules, explanations and exceptions in the mother tongue, the time necessary for practicing the foreign language is greatly reduced.

e) The technique of giving definitions and rules is very boring and of little benefit to the learners.

f) The method is a continuous process of memorisation of lists of unusable grammar rules, vocabulary and of attempts to produce perfect translations of literary extracts. Therefore, the focus is on form rather than meaning. Very often students cannot concentrate on the message as they are obliged to read word by word.

g) Although translation from time to time is helpful, it becomes harmful when it is taken as a method of learning a language. The learner is thus implicitly admitting that he does not intend to learn the foreign language or that it is impossible for him to learn it, since the only way for him to undertand it is through translation.

h) As for the use of literary works by great authors for teaching a foreign language, it is agreed on that one should be able to understand, speak and read adequately the language before one starts to read and appreciate literature written in that language.


2.2. The Direct Method
This method was developed in order to overcome the shortcomings of the Grammar-Translation Method which was unhelpful to those who wanted to learn a foreign language for communication. This method became popular during the early years of the Twentieth Century. It is called 'Direct' because the teaching of the foreign language was done without any resort to the mother tongue. It is based on the assumption that one should learn a foreign language as one would learn one's mother tongue. This method was used in Algeria in the 1970's through the textbooks Andy In Algeria, Learn English With Us. 3éme AM (1977) and Madjid In England, Learn English With Us. 4éme AM (1977). The main assumptions underlying this method are:

a) Grammatical rules are not taught explicitly but are rather acquired unconsciously through intensive listening and imitation. So memorisation of conjugations and rules of grammar is rejected as priority is given to speech and oral skills.

b) Translation is considered a useles activity in foreign language learning. Thus dramatisation, demonstration and pointing at objects are used for teaching the meaning of difficult words.

c) As the focus is put on speech and oral skills, reading and writing are postponed for months until firm grounds in listening and speaknig are secured. However, advanced learners can read literary texts for pleasure and comprehension and not for grammatical analysis.

d) Pupils are also introduced to the foreign culture inductively.

Many techniques and procedures are used for the sake of making this method more effective such as question and answer exchanges between teacher and learners, vocabulary teaching through demonstration, objects and pictures, and the 'mim-mem' technique which consisted of the students imitating selected foreign language sentences, short dialogues, expressions and songs, and then memorising them.

Shortcomings
a) In this method all the language activities are related to the classroom context, and not to real life situations. Therefore, learners are not prepared to use the foreign language for communication as the teachers do not think of them using it outside the confines of the classroom

b) It is time consuming because it is not easy to explain the meanings of the difficult words through pointing at objects and dramatisation, especially in the case of abstract words.

c) It requires a highly competent teacher who is very fluent in the foreign language and a great number of class hours as most of the work is done in the classroom.

2.3. The Aural- Oral Approach (The Audio Lingual Method)
After the Second World War, there emerged a wide-world interest in foreign languages and an urgent need for international communication. As there was a general feeling of discontent with the traditional methods, namely the Grammar-Translation Method and the Direct Method whose validity and adaquacy, especially for teaching the spoken form of language, were questioned, the necessity of developing a new teaching method which would cater for these shortcomings was felt.

Developments in the fields of linguistics as well as experimentation in Educational Technology and Psychology gave rise to the Aural-Oral Approach which was a reaction to the Grammar Translation Method and a modification of the Direct Method. The Aural-Oral Approach was used in Algeria through Succes With English Coursebouk I 1970 and Succes With English Coursebouk II 1971.

The theory on which the approach is based implies the acquisition of oral language skills through oral practice based on repetition and learning by analogy. The Aural-Oral Approach is based on the belief that language is essentially acquired through habits and that responses must be drilled until they become natural and automatic. This reflects a behaviourist view of language learning influenced by the psychologist Skinner.

The method aims at developing listening and speaking first as the foundation on which to build the skills of reading and writing. This means that before the learners are taught how to read and write the language structures, they should first be brought to proficiency in oral and aural use of these structures. The following are the assumptions on which this method is based:
Langauge is speech not writing
Lnaguge is a set of habits. This principle means that language is acquired by imitation and practice. Habits are established by stimulus, response and reinforcement.
Teach the language, not about the language. This means that we must teach the pupils a set of habits, not a set of rules to enable them to talk in the language not to talk about the language.
A language is what its native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say, we should deal with language as it is and not prescribe what other people say.
Shortcomings
a)This method encouraged successful responses and manipulation of language and disregarded meaning. So, pupils especially at the early stages of language instruction have to repeat incomprehensible material to make the production of speech automatic and habitual. In this way the method fails to prepare the learner to use the foreign language for meaningful communication.

b) Mechanical drills and repetition can be effective in the early stages of language instruction or for the teaching of certain aspects of language, but they are not necessarily conducive to real communication.

c) The focus on mechanical repetition through the use of oral drills leads also to a complete negligence of creative use of language and cognition.

d) Too much emphasis is put on speech at the expense of other language skills. However, there is no reason why all language skills should not be taught simultaneoulsy instead of being introduced in a certain order, i.e., listening, speaking, reading and writing.


2.4. The Situational Approach
This approach emerged and dominated the language teaching field in Britain during the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. It includes aspects of the Direct Method and of the emerging field of language pedagogy. This method was used in Algeria through L.G. Alexander's Practice and Progress (1967). This textbook was used for the three secondary school years.

The characteristics of the Situational Approach are summarized as follows:
The spoken language is primary.
All language material is practiced orally before being presented in written form (reading and writing are taught only after an oral base in lexical and grammatical forms has been established.
Only the target language should be used in the classroom.
Efforts are made to ensure that the most general and useful lexical items are presented.
Grammatical structures are graded from simple to complex.
New items (lexical and grammatical) are introduced and practiced situationally (e.g. at the post-office, at the bank, at the dinner table…)

Another important feature of this method is the presentation of sentences in association with actions, mime, realia and visual aids (like the Direct Method). So the structres of the language are presented and practiced by the use of physical demonstration of notions and objects. Utterances are illustrated by simulation of actions, pictures and other real objects.

In this method, the teacher occupies a central role, for he takes on the responsibility for varying drills and tasks and choosing the appropriate situations to practice structures. Moreover, he acts as a model to be imitated by the pupils who are required to listen and repeat. Active verbal interaction between the teacher and the pupils is of vital importance in this method. In fact language learning is seen to be the direct result of this interaction.
Shortcomings
a) The situations that are created are pedagogic, bearing little resemblance to natural language use.

b) Learners are not shown how the use of a sructure in a particular situation can be generalized to another situation.

c) The situations are not graded, but selected at random to serve the purpose of the structures on which they are based.

d) It is not possible to enumerate all the situations that the learners are likely to meet in reality.

2.5. The Communicative Approach
It is generally referred to as the Functional-Notional Approach. It emerged in the early 1970's as a result of the work of the Council of Europe experts. The approach was primarly designed to meet the needs of adult learners, tourists or people engaged in academic, cultural, technical or economic activities. However, it can be traced back to the work of Chomsky in the 1960's when he advanced the two notions of 'competence' and 'performance' as a reaction to the prevalent audio-lingual method and its view on language learning. These two concepts were later developed by Hymes into a 'communicative competence' which refers to the psychological, cultural and social rules which discipline the use of speech.

The new concept of 'communicative competence' has been expanded by many writers. 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 bahaviour, expressing personal feelings and intracting socially. Under each of these categories there are many notions. Other categories have also been identified to facilitate interaction between speakers from the first lesson of leanrning the foreign language.

Principles and characteristics
The basic principles underlying the communicative approach are as follows:
a) Language aquisition 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 implies knowledge of the grammatical system of the language as well as performance. Such competence includes both the usage and use of the language. Therefore, the approach does not deny the importance of mastring grammatical forms, so long as they are taught as a means of carrying out meaningful communication. That is, grammar is taught as a language tool rather than a language aim.

c) Unlike the audio-lingual method, the communicative approach gives priority to the semantic content of language learning. That is, pupils learn the grammatical form through meaning, and not the other way round.

d) One aspect of communication is the interaction between speakers. This approach provides communicative functions (uses) and notions (semantic themes and language items). These functions reflect more closely real life use of the language as they are usually connected with real life situations and with pupils' needs and interests.

e) The approach sets realistic learning tasks and activities that create situations in which questions must be asked, information recorded, knowledge exchanged, emotions and attitudes expressed, in which the student plays the roles of both participant and observer.

f) Such procedures and techniques will help pupils, who become the centre of the learning process, to develop their communicative competence as they provide them with the potential ability and motivation to discover the answers for themselves in groups, pairs and individually.

g) Since the primary aim of the approach is to prepare learners for meaningful communication, errors are tolerated.

h) The teacher is no more the centre of the classroom activities. Instead, the focus is shifted to the pupils and their interests, abilities and everyday life concens. In other words, communicative methodology is learner- centered.

Shortcomings
In spite of the merits which characterize the Comunicative Approach, it has been subjected to many criticisms such as the following:
a) The approach relies extensively on the Functional-Notional syllabus which places heavy demmands on the pupils. This is especially true at the first stages because of their lack of speaking rules and cultural insights.

b) The various categories of language functions are overlapping and not systematically graded like the structures of the language. This creates some confusion and makes it difficult to teach the functions properly.

c) A major principle underlying the communicative approach is its emphasis on pupils' needs and interests. This implies that every teacher should modify the syllabus to correspond to the needs of his pupils. This is not possible to implement as it requires the teacher to write a separate syllabus for each pupil in the class. Such a goal is very ambitious and impossible to realise.

d) A major requirement for the successful application of the approach is the availability of a classroom that can allow for group work activities or for pupil-pupil interaction and for teaching aids and materials. Such a classroom is desirable but unfortunately not available in most schools.


2.6. The Eclectic Method
In spite of the prolifiration of the theories of language teaching, no language teacher applies exclusively any of the known teaching theories. Teachers often incorporate features of different approaches in their particular methodology. Thus their teaching may be based on the comminicative theory, but supplimented with a 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 eclectic method is therefore a framework involving procedures and techniques 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:

a) Each one of the well known methods has its own features. There is no one method which is comprehensive enough to meet the requirements of effective teaching and learning. All methods have some strenghts and some weaknesses. Experienced teachers are very snestive to the limitations of different methods, so they reject the weak points of each approach and retain only those aspects that are applicable in the particular situations in which they find themselves.

b) The frequent shifts of methodology have made teachers feel that it is better to have a combination of elements from all of them. Methods may suplement one another especially when there is no one method which can fulfil all language goals and programme objectives.
A major principle of eclecticism is that the teaching process should serve the pupils, not a particular method. Hence teachers should choose the techniques or procedures that best fit the pupils' needs and the teaching-learning situation.

Thanks Hush! I hope it's helpful.

Please mates, if you have something about the Competency-Based Aproach DO SHARE IT! 4th of Nov

check this Ezinma

CBT

I'm always grateful, and I do appreciate that!

u r both the sun (hush) and the moon (Ezinma) of the forum
u really helped me a lot I'm so grateful .

Have a look in here : Click .

The link above takes you to Google books, you can view only some parts of the book but if you're interested the book is available in the Library of the Faculty (B8)

This might help too: Click here

The competency-Based Approach is one of the most important approaches in teaching English for EFL students . Algerian Ministry of Education adopted this approach for teaching process in the Middle Schools and the Secondary Schools .
From this book u'll know how this approach comes and what is its major characterstics . But if u want to know " is it suitable 4 Algerian pupils or not u have to wait 4 my dissertation

I'm terribly sorry 4 the previous link . Thnk U angel 4 the note
Here we go :
http://www.mediafire.com/?nlzyqikgikj

interesting book! thanks Londonhbb

Gr8 job watcha doin mate!!...

books r unda my skin!!!... luv them soo...


thnx a lot m8!!...

read u soon!!

CBA!

you are the best EZINMA ....SAHA AIDAK wish you all best.

thinks god rewarded you ezinma

Well! This is the first time I am on this forum; hopefully, I try to answer all your questions and reply your inquiries.
In this forum, I attempt to refer to my experience as a teacher of Anglish as a foreign language and my knowledge background. I shall never back up my answers with references or prior scientific authorities.
Before tackling this approach, I would like to inform forum users that the concepts explained in this area can be found in "Highlights of Linguistics" USIA. Moreover, Prof. Mohamed Moumeni? "University of Senia, Oran has clustered his lecture in a publication ' OPU holding the title ' Introduction to Applied Linguistics".
Let me first, ask the following questions:
1. What is competence?
2. is/are there one/many Competence/ies?
3. What is the main objective of CBA?
4. Is CBA a follow up to previous Approaches or genuine/original one?
5. What are the distinctive features of competency based approach?
6. What is the demarcation line between CBA and Communicative approach?
7. How to bridge the gap between them?
8. Can any teacher demonstrate CBA through practical examples?
9....and more other questions.
To answer these questions, I leave you thinking about them...and next time I shall answer your inquiries smoothly and in didactic and pedagogical way.