UNIT 15

APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

     

In this unit I learnt that an approach is a way of looking at teaching and learning, it means how a language can be learnt. In addition, an approach gives methods and ways of teaching something, classroom activities or techniques to help learners learn. I am going to list some examples bellow:

The first one is Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP)

The point of view of this approach is that teacher present or demonstrates language. Then, students practice the language through activities (drills= repeating after the teacher, situational presentations= role-plays & miming). Finally, students produce the language by questions orally or doing written exercises. To sum up, this approach is focused on grammatical structure and a function due to it is guided by the teacher.  

Second, Lexical Approach’ perspective is that vocabulary is the most important characteristic of language which involves collocations, chunks, idioms, slangs, etc. In this approach teacher’s syllabus focuses on lexis (tasks which contains chunks or idioms), so learner will notice what is the meaning of any lexis.

Third, Communicative Approach’ standpoint is that fluency is the most important dimension, because learners learn a language through interaction. Also, communication means communicate making use of functions, vocabulary, grammar and skills. Here the teacher will present authentic materials (newspaper, stories, menus, TV programs, etc.) to provide learners become active users of language. Finally, as learning is a process, errors are accepted and they are corrected by the teacher.

Fourth, Total Physical Response Approach is based on (silent period) understanding spoken language before developing the speaking skill. The teacher gives instructions and students physically carry out the instructions by applying grammar or vocabulary inside any activity.

As a conclusion, each approach has its own view of language, learning and classroom activities. And as future teacher I will prefer to use the mix of approaches which is called eclectic approach. This approach let to apply different tasks like (Simon says, mime role-plays, experiments, group works, etc.) depending on the aims of the lesson and the learners style. Everything is on teacher’s hand. 

Check these links to find extra information:

Jack_C._Richards_and_Theodore_S._Rodgers_Approaches_and_Methods_in_Language_Teaching/ http://www.academia.edu/5666615

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mk6RRf4kKs