Methodological Principles for Language Teaching Firstly I want to reflect that we must design our own methodology and

we must adopt an active role in the classroom. Then, instead of an eclectic way of teaching, I will introduce a constant analysis and interpretation of what is happening in the classroom. I will also take the best of every method within a coherent communicative approach (Holistic approach).

Language is above all a communicative system, an instrument of communication, not simply a system of grammar rules, structures and words, but a system for social interaction. It is therefore necessary to learn how to communicate properly (first orally, then writing). The final aim of Foreign Language instruction is development the students communicative competence Constructivism is the predominant learning theory. Previous knowledge is used by learners to elaborate and internalize the new knowledge of the target language. When designing the activities and tasks, we will take this previous knowledge into account. We must promote the acquisition of the Foreign Language through unconscious and spontaneous process, leading to implicit knowledge and, on the other hand, foster the learning of English as a Foreign Language through a conscious process and formal instruction in the class leading to explicit knowledge. Due to the active role of learners in the constructivists point of view, it is very important for teachers to place the learners at the center of the learning process. That is to say, all the activities should be student-centered. In the oral English class, students play a key role and much freedom is left to them. The observations and the results of the questionnaires show that in the traditional classroom, students do not have many chances to speak. Even in discussions, only a small part of the students are involved and the others would lose interest. Thus it is very hard for them to take their initiative. However, nearly all the activities such as debating, shopping, interviewing, banking, seeing a doctor, etc. are student-centered. This is a much highly organized technique and keeps the whole class involved. In such activities each of the students plays a role. They work in pairs or in groups most of the time. This makes students feel secure and can especially help shy students who would never say anything in a whole-class activity. The teacher serves as an organizer and instructor. He adopts effective ways intentionally and consciously to motivate students internal initiative. At the same time, the teacher assigns different roles to different students in terms of their personalities. For example, while performing a drama, creative students are allowed to change the lines or to write plays by themselves. The teacher does not necessarily ask the students to obey him every time, but students are not allowed to invent plays with the basic principles being violated. In this way, students initiative is motivated, their skills are displayed and their interest in English is aroused.

Some topics allow us to integrate English with other subjects of the curriculum in a global approach to learning, interdisciplinarity. In some traditional methods, audiolingualism, the foreign Language elements were presented in isolation; but in the communicative approach, activities present the language contextualized, in more realistic and natural situation. Pragmatics and Discourse focus on language use as a result of acts of communication (speech acts). Harmer held that variety and flexibility are the two overriding principles behind good lesson planning (Harmer, 1983, p. 220). Variety means involving students in a number of different types of activities so that learning is always interesting and never monotonous. Flexibility means the ability to use a number of different techniques and not be a slave to one methodology. The class activities must be varied, flexible and full of fun. In traditional classroom teaching, the activities are usually routine-based and appear to be dull and uninteresting for students. While students are sitting in their fixed seats and listening to the teacher carefully, they may feel a bit nervous and their attitude towards English study is not very active. But in the activities made in groups, students can conduct various interesting activities and have various experiences there, such as debate, interview, shopping, banking, ordering, seeing a doctor, etc. They can play various games such as tongue twisters, guess game, music and songs, riddles, quizzes, noughts and crosses, story construction, describing and identifying, etc. These entertaining activities are informative and instructive as well. They can help to motivate students initiative and enable them to learn in light and cheerful atmosphere. A task is a piece of work or an activity, usually with a specific objective, undertaken as part of an educational course, at work, or used to elicit data for research (Crookes, 1986). Task-based language teaching focuses on the construction, sequencing, and evaluation of particular goal-related action complexes that learners carry out either by themselves or jointly (Candlin & Murphy, 1987; Nunan, 1989). A task-based approach sees the language process as one of learning through doingit is primarily engaging in meaning that the learners system is encouraged to develop. It aims at providing opportunities for the learners to experiment with and explore both spoken and written language through learning activities which are designed to engage learners in the authentic, practical and functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Task-based approach observes the following principles: (1) The authenticity principle The linguistic data that learners work with are authentic. (2) The task dependency principle A series of tasks in a lesson or unit of work forms a kind of pedagogical ladder, each task representing a rung on the ladder, enabling the learner to reach higher and higher levels of communicative performance. (3) Learning by doing Learning by doing motivates students to fulfill their potential. Learners master the language by using it communicatively in the classroom, although they still have to learn grammar and memorize vocabulary. In the oral English class at English Practice Center, nearly all the activities are taskbased in an authentic environment. Students can do a lot of things with the language,

such as conducting an interview, borrowing a book from the library, opening a bank account, making an airline reservation, ordering drinks, solving problems in life and study and so on. While conducting the communicative tasks, students comprehend, manipulate, produce or interact in the target language. Teaching should not be approached following a particular method as a set of prescriptions, but on the contrary as a dynamic and reflective process, which means a permanent interaction among the curriculum, teachers, students, activities, methodology and instructional materials. Pupils must gradually be aware of their learning styles and try to develop learning strategies in order to become more effective autonomous learners. Another important type of strategies is communicative strategies: using linguistic and non-linguistic strategies to enable pupils to maintain communication in English. A great emphasis is put on collaborative or cooperative learning. Pair work and group work are used to encourage social interaction with proficient users of English and peer learning. We must promote communication and interaction activities in the classroom. For this reason, the classroom will be sometimes organized in groups to carry out activities such as role plays, communicative games, etc. When establishing groups, we will follow criteria which are acceptable to the learners. For example the groups will be composed of stronger and weaker students. According to the constructionist view, learning takes places in a social context through interaction with other people. Interaction can increase the amount of students language input, create authentic communicative situation, encourage and develop thinking and problem-solving skills, nurture problem-solving through reasoning and discussion among peers, develop and enhance self-confidence, and enable students to use language creatively. The role of the teacher is defined as a cognitive coach. Individual work is sometimes necessary, particularly while reading and writing. The lesson should usually be taught in English from the very beginning. This means that we must prepare familiar situations for the student in order to facilitate the acquisition of the foreign language. The techniques that our pupils have used to learn their mother language are still very fresh in them and they will apply them unconsciously to the new language. Anyway, the mother tongue can be used in some situations (clarifications for example). Communication should be contextualized, simulating real situations, so that children can understand and use English in meaningful situations. .

It is good to use in the class all kind of real objects and visual aids, concrete referents, that is, elements and events that cannot be seen, heard and manipulated, to facilitate learners association of meanings and words. This will help students to develop their operational thinking. We can even suggest creating an English corner Children must collaborate in the production of didactic materials, as they will involve in their own learning process and some of them will have an opportunity to show their abilities in other areas and feel that they are important in the class. MOTIVATION Motivation has a fundamental importance in effective language learning. In our curriculum plannings we have to take into consideration some of the main elements of pupils interests: A natural desire to communicate, still present after mother tongue acquisition. Pleasure taking in playing with a new language, from phonological and semantic perspective. Pleasure derived from understanding the meanings and the way the new language functions. Pleasure derived from discovering aspects of the other culture contained in the new language (songs, rhymes, stories, etc.) which I will address right from the first lesson planning.

The design of learning tasks is inspired by the fundamental idea that children learn best when they are motivated: by being interested in the activity. by achieving an outcome. by being involved in activities.