EL 103

EL 103

MODULE 7
EL103 Principles and Theories of Language
Learning and Acquisition

Bohol Island State University

College of Teacher Education
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Approaches and Methods to Second Language Teaching

This module provides a description of the basic principles and procedures of the most
recognized and commonly used approaches and methods for teaching a second or foreign language.
Each approach or method has an articulated theoretical orientation and a collection of strategies and
learning activities designed to reach the specified goals and achieve the learning outcomes of the
teaching and learning processes.

Theoretical Orientations to L2 Methods and Approaches

There are four general orientations among modern second-language methods and approaches:

1. STRUCTURAL/LINGUISTIC: Based on beliefs about the structure of language and descriptive or

contrastive linguistics. Involves isolation of grammatical and syntactic elements of L2 taught either
deductively or inductively in a predetermined sequence. Often involves much meta-linguistic content
or “learning about the language” in order to learn the language.

2. COGNITIVE: Based on theories of learning applied specifically to second language learning. Focus is
on the learning strategies that are compatible with the learners own style. L2 content is selected
according to concepts and techniques that facilitate generalizations about the language,
memorization and “competence” leading to “performance”.

3. AFFECTIVE/INTERPERSONAL: Focuses on the psychological and affective pre-dispositions of the

learner that enhance or inhibit learning. Emphasizes interaction among and between teacher and
students and the atmosphere of the learning situation as well as students’ motivation for learning.
Based on concepts adapted from counseling and social psychology.

4. FUNCTIONAL/COMMUNICATIVE: Based on theories of language acquisition, often referred to as the

“natural” approach, and on the use of language for communication. Encompasses multiple aspects
of the communicative act, with language structures selected according to their utility in achieving a
communicative purpose. Instruction is concerned with the input students receive, comprehension of
the “message” of language and student involvement at the students’ level of competence.

Approaches and Methods:

1. The Grammar-Translation Approach

This approach was historically used in teaching Greek and Latin. The approach was generalized
to teaching modern languages.

Classes are taught in the students’ mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word lists. Elaborate explanations of grammar are
always provided. Grammar instruction provides the rules for putting words together; instruction
often focuses on the form and inflection of words. Reading of difficult texts is begun early in the
course of study. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in
grammatical analysis. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences
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from the target language into the mother tongue, and vice versa. Little or no attention is given
to pronunciation.

2. Direct Approach
This approach was developed initially as a reaction to the grammar-translation approach in an
attempt to integrate more use of the target language in instruction.

Lessons begin with a dialogue using a modern conversational style in the target language.
Material is first presented orally with actions or pictures. The mother tongue is NEVER, NEVER
used. There is no translation. The preferred type of exercise is a series of questions in the target
language based on the dialogue or an anecdotal narrative. Questions are answered in the target
language. Grammar is taught inductively–rules are generalized from the practice and experience
with the target language. Verbs are used first and systematically conjugated only much later after
some oral mastery of the target language. Advanced students read literature for comprehension
and pleasure. Literary texts are not analyzed grammatically. The culture associated with the
target language is also taught inductively. Culture is considered an important aspect of learning
the language.

3. The Reading Approach

This approach is selected for practical and academic reasons. For specific uses of the language in
graduate or scientific studies. The approach is for people who do not travel abroad for whom
reading is the one usable skill in a foreign language.

The priority in studying the target language is first, reading ability and second, current and/or
historical knowledge of the country where the target language is spoken. Only the grammar
necessary for reading comprehension and fluency is taught. Minimal attention is paid to
pronunciation or gaining conversational skills in the target language. From the beginning, a great
amount of reading is done in L2, both in and out of class. The vocabulary of the early reading
passages and texts is strictly controlled for difficulty. Vocabulary is expanded as quickly as
possible since the acquisition of vocabulary is considered more important that grammatical skill.
Translation reappears in this approach as a respectable classroom procedure related to
comprehension of the written text.

4. The Audiolingual Method

This method is based on the principles of behavior psychology. It adapted many of the principles
and procedures of the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of speaking skills of the
Reading Approach.

New material is presented in the form of a dialogue. Based on the principle that language learning
is habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and
over-learning. Structures are sequenced and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught
using repetitive drills. Little or no grammatical explanations are provided; grammar is taught
inductively. Skills are sequenced: Listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed in order.
Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context. Teaching points are determined by
contrastive analysis between L1 and L2. There is abundant use of language laboratories, tapes
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and visual aids. There is an extended pre-reading period at the beginning of the course. Great
importance is given to precise native-like pronunciation. Use of the mother tongue by the teacher
is permitted, but discouraged among and by the students. Successful responses are reinforced;
great care is taken to prevent learner errors. There is a tendency to focus on manipulation of the
target language and to disregard content and meaning.

5. The Silent Way

The Silent Way is one method that has been gaining popularity in recent years. This method is
based on the belief that learners acquire language best when they are actively engaged in the
learning process and when they are not bombarded with too much information at once.

The Silent Way is a teaching method developed by renowned linguist Dr. Caleb Gattegno in the
1970s that emphasizes student involvement and discovery. It is based on the belief that learning
is an active process and that students are more likely to learn if they are involved in the process.

The Silent Way also incorporates the use of props, pictures, and gestures to help students
understand new concepts. The Silent Way puts a great emphasis on correct pronunciation from
the very beginning. In this method, the teacher is more of a facilitator than a lecturer, and he or
she uses various techniques to help students internalize the new language.

One such technique is called "echoing", where the teacher repeats what the student has just
said but with the correct pronunciation. This allows the student to hear how the words should
be pronounced and to self-correct if necessary.

Another common technique used in The Silent Way is called "teacher talk" This is when the
teacher asks questions or gives brief explanations in English, but does not provide any
translation into the target language. This forces students to listen carefully and try to figure out
what is being said.

6. The Communicative Approach

Communicative competence is the progressive acquisition of the ability to use a language to

achieve one’s communicative purpose. This involves the negotiation of meaning between
meaning between two or more persons sharing the same symbolic system. this applies to both
spoken and written language.

Communicative competence is context specific based on the situation, the role of the participants
and the appropriate choices of register and style. For example: The variation of language used
by persons in different jobs or professions can be either formal or informal. The use of jargon or
slang may or may not be appropriate.

Communicative competence represents a shift in focus from the grammatical to the

communicative properties of the language; i.e. the functions of language and the process of
discourse.
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Communicative competence requires the mastery of the production and comprehension of
communicative acts or speech acts that are relevant to the needs of the L2 learner.

Characteristics of the Communicative Classroom

• The classroom is devoted primarily to activities that foster acquisition of L2.

Learning activities involving practice and drill are assigned as homework.
• The instructor does not correct speech errors directly.
• Students are allowed to respond in the target language, their native language, or
a mixture of the two.
• The focus of all learning and speaking activities is on the interchange of a message
that the acquirer understands and wishes to transmit, i.e. meaningful
communication.
• The students receive comprehensible input in a low-anxiety environment and are
personally involved in class activities. Comprehensible input has the following
major components:
a. a context
b. gestures and other body language cues
c. a message to be comprehended
d. a knowledge of the meaning of key lexical items in the utterance

7. Functional-Notional Approach
A functional-notional syllabus is primarily based not on a linguistic analysis but on an analysis of
learners’ social and/or vocational communicative needs. This approach holds that the classification
of skill levels should be based on what people want to do with the language (functions) or in terms
of what meanings people want to convey (notions). As such, this approach is based on the following
concepts:

(1) Communication is meaningful behavior in a social and cultural context that requires creative
language use rather than synthetic sentence building

(2) language is constructed around language functions and notions; functions such as evaluating,
persuading, arguing, informing, agreeing, questioning, requesting, expressing emotions and
semantic-grammatical notions such as time, quantity, space, location, and motion. The aim of
this approach was to transfer these functions to acts of communication.

Explanation of specific terms:

Notions are meaning elements that may be expressed through nouns, pronouns, verbs,
prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs. A notion is a concept, or idea: it may be quite
specific, in which case it is virtually the same as vocabulary (dog, house, for example); or it may
be very general – time, size, emotion, movement – in which case it often overlaps with the
concept of “topics”. A notion may be “time past”; this may include past tenses, phrases like a
month ago, in 1990, last week, and utterances using temporal clauses beginning with when…..,
before…., after…. and so on;
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A function is some kind of communicative act: it is the use of language to achieve a purpose,
usually involving interaction at least between two people. Examples would be suggesting,
promising, apologizing, greeting, inviting.

“Inviting” may include phrases like “Would you like to….? I suggest…., How about…? Please…

A situation may affect variations of language such as the use of dialects, the formality or
informality of the language and the mode of expression. Situation includes the following
elements:

A. The persons taking part in the speech act

B. The place where the conversation occurs

C. The time the speech act is taking place

D. The topic or activity that is being discussed

Exponents are the language utterances or statements that stem from the function, the situation
and the topic.

Code is the shared language of a community of speakers.

Code-switching is a change or switch in code during the speech act, which many theorists believe
is purposeful behaviour to convey bonding, language prestige or other elements of interpersonal
relations between the speakers.

The essential components found in functional-notional syllabi are as follows:

1. The situations in which the foreign language will be used. A situation will always include
the following: the participants, the place, & the time.

2. Topics, and what the learner will be able to do with these, for example, everyday
interactions, such as buying food, giving directions, are offering advice, etc.

3. The language activities in which the learner will engage.

4. The language functions which the learner will perform. For example:

a. Personal = expressing one’s thoughts or feelings (e.g., love, joy, pleasure,

happiness) and the everyday feelings (e.g., hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleepiness, etc.)
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b. Interpersonal = Enabling us to establish and maintain desirable social and
working relationships (e.g., greetings and leave takings, introducing people to
others, expressing joy at another’s success, extending – accepting – declining
invitations, apologizing, interrupting another speaker politely, etc.)

c. Directive = Attempting to influence the actions of others (e.g., discouraging

someone from pursuing a course of action, persuading someone to change his
point of view, warning someone, etc.)

d. Referential = talking or reporting about things, actions, events, or people in the

environment in the past or in the future; talking about language (what is termed
the metalinguistic function (e.g., identifying items or people in the classroom, the
school the home, or paraphrasing, summarizing, or translating (L1 to L2 or vice
versa), etc.)

e. Imaginative = Discussions involving elements of creativity and artistic

expression (e.g., discussing a poem, a story, a piece of music, a play, a painting, a
film, a TV program or creating rhymes, poetry, stories or plays, etc.)

5. The general notions which the learner will be able to handle. Notions are the interaction
of categories of meaning and grammatical form. Examples of notions are time (time
relation: past tense, present tense; duration: until, since), quantity (countable,
uncountable), space (dimensions locations, motion) and so on.

6. The specific (topic related) notions which the learner will be able to handle.

7. The language forms the learner will be able to use. These forms are usually referred to
as exponents which are the language utterances or statements that stem from the
function, the situation and the topic.

8. The degree of skill the learner will be required to display.

8. Total Physical Response

James J. Asher defines the Total Physical Response (TPR) method as one that combines information
and skills through the use of the kinesthetic sensory system (makes use of body movements with the
acquisition of the new language). This combination of skills allows the student to assimilate
information and skills at a rapid rate. As a result, this success leads to a high degree of motivation.

A new learner finds it extremely difficult to understand leave alone to respond in a foreign language.
This is because the teacher is only speaking in the foreign language that the learner hasn't mastered
yet. For a young learner just starting to learn a language, it all seems like gibberish. Hence, Dr. James
J. Asher, Ph.D. the creator of the Total Physical Response method suggests that the right hemisphere
of the brain, which is responsible for motor skills, imagination, and listening skills, among many
others, be engaged before the left hemisphere that is responsible for language learning.
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One of the greatest benefits of TPR is stress reduction. In fact, Dr. James Asher calls it the stress-free
method. That's because the students are not expected to speak. Hence, there is no pressure at all.
The silent period is greatly encouraged because it is here that the learner is building their own
understanding of the language. It also makes the process extremely enjoyable.

TPR can be applied to any level of proficiency. Be it high or low levels of proficiency, the learners
need not feel embarrassed about their levels for not being able to comprehend or respond. If a
learner is unable to comprehend on the first attempt, they can watch and imitate their teacher again.

This also puts the focus on listening. The learner has to constantly listen to the teacher who'd be
modeling the pronunciation of the words or vocabulary items. This enhances their listening
capabilities and there's a surge in these skills over a period of time.

With no focus on speaking and a lot on mimicking what the teacher does and repeating what the
teacher speaks, the learner gradually gains confidence in constructing their own language skills. This
also makes the process very gratifying, both for the teacher and surely the learner.

REFERENCES:

https://moramodules.com/second-language-teaching-methods
https://eduedify.com/language-teaching-methods-silent-
way/#:~:text=The%20silent%20way%20is%20a%20language%20teaching%20method%20developed%20by,hel
p%20students%20understand%20new%20concepts.
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-subject/c/communicative-
approach#:~:text=The%20communicative%20approach%20is%20based,learn%20to%20use%20the%20langua
ge.
https://professorarce.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/9/0/13906478/functional_notional_approach.pdf
https://novaekasari09.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/functional-notional-approach/