An introduction into ELT

Approaches and
Methods
History of language teaching
 Main menu
 A brief history of language teaching
 The methods era (1920s-1980s)
 The Audiolingual Method
 Suggestopedia
 The Silent Way
 Community Language Learning
 Total Physical Response
 Communicative Language Teaching
 The post methods era(1990s till now)
 Competency-Based Language Teaching
 Standards-Based Language Instruction
 Why do we need to know the
history of language teaching?

 Key to the understanding of the

way things are and why they are
that way.
 teachers may better comprehend
the forces that influence their
profession
Classical period
(17th,18th,19th) centuries

EDUCATION AS AN ARM OF THEOCRACY

Purpose of education to teach religious
orthodoxy and good moral character

FOREİGN LANGUAGE LEARNİNG ASSOCIATED

WITH THE LEARNİNG OF GREEK AND LATİN
purpose of learning a foreign language to
promote speakers’ intellectuality

1850’s: Classical method came to be known as

Grammar Translation Method
1850s to 1950s: Grammar
Translation Method
 Emphasis on learning how to read and write.
 Emphasis on structures, rote memorization of
voc. and translation of literary texts

 Voc. is taught in the form of lists of isolated

words.
 Focus on grammatical rules, syntactic and Long
elaborate explanations of grammar are given

 Medium of instruction was the mother tongue

 No provision for the oral use of language
 Speaking and listening were mediated via
“conversation classes”, add-ons to the main
course
Early Mid 20th
Century(1920s)
 The Reform Movement
 Demand for ability to speak a foreign
language
 Reformers reconsidering the nature of
language and learning
 Three Reformers (the way children
learned languages was relevant to how
adults learned languages)
 C. Marcel
 F. Gouin
 T. Pendergast
Early Mid 20th Century

 Marcel
 Emphasized the importance of
understanding meaning in language
learning
 Pendergast
 Proposed the first structural syllabus
(arranging grammatical structures
so that the easiest was taught first)
F Gouin(French teacher of
Latin)
 Painful experience in learning
German
 Tried to memorize a German grammar book and a list of
248 irregular German verbs

 Observed his three-year old nephew

 Came up with the following insights
 Children use language to represent their conceptions.
 Language is a means of thinking, of representing the
world to oneself.
 Berlitz (The Direct Method)

 Posited by Charles Berlitz

Second language learning is similar
to first language learning
Emphasis on
- oral interaction
- spontaneous use of language
- no translation
- little if any analysis of
grammatical rules and structures
Direct Method

 The features of the Direct Method

 Classroom instruction was conducted in
the target language
 There was an inductive approach to
grammar
 Only everyday vocabulary was taught
 Concrete vocabulary was taught through
pictures and objects
 Abstract vocabulary was taught by
association of ideas
Direct Method

 New teaching points were introduced

orally
 Communication skills were organized
around question-answer exchanges
btw. teachers and students
 Speech and listening comprehension
were taught
 Correct pronounciation and grammar
were emphasized
Critiques of the Direct Method

 Successful in private language schools

(small classes, individual attention and
intensive study)

 Overemphasized the similarites btw FLL

and SLL.

 Required native speakers as teachers

 Its success dependeds on teacher’s

skill and personality more than on the
methodology itself
The Audiolingual Method
(1950s)
Outbreak of the World War II
 Heightened the need to become
orally proficient
 “the Army Method” (an oral-based
approach to langauge learning)
 Charles Fries and Leonard
Bloomfield (structural linguist)

 İdentify the grammatical structures and the basic

sentence patterns
 Practice these patterns by systematic attention to
pronounciation and intensive oral drilling
Features of ALM

 There is dependency on mimicry,

memorization of set phrases, and overlearning.
 There is little or no grammatical explanation.
Grammar is taught inductively.
 Great importance is attached to pronunciation.
 Very little use of the mother tongue by
teachers is permitted.
 Successful responses reinforced
 New material is presented in dialog form
 There is great effort to get students to produce
error-free utterances.
How is ALM different from
DM?
ALM- grammar or structure is the starting
point. Language was identified with speech
and speech was approached through
language

DM- No basis in applied linguistics learners

are exposed to the language, use it and
gradually absorb its grammatical structures

ALM differs from the Direct Method in that

vocabulary and grammar are carefully
selected and graded, and it’s based on
behaviorist habit-formation theory.
 The Designer Method of
the 1970s

Chomsky- drew the attention to the

“deep structure” of language

Earl Stevick- has taken into account the

affective and interpersonal nature of
language learning and teaching
Cognitive-Code Learning
Theory(Cognitive Approach)
 A reaction to the behaviorist features
of the Audio-lingual method
Influenced by cognitive psychology
(Neisser 1967) and Chomskyan
linguistics (Chomsky 1959, 1965);
 Instruction is often individualized;
learners are responsible
 Language learning is viewed as rule
acquisition, not habit formation
C Cognitive-code learning
Theory (Cognitive Approach)

 Vocabulary instruction is once again

important, especially at intermediate
and advanced levels;
 Errors are seen as inevitable,to be
used constructively in the learning
process
 The teacher is expected to have a
good proficiency level in the English
language
Cognitive-Code Learning
Theory (Cognitive Approach)
 Grammar must be taught deductively
(rules first; practice later) and/or
inductively (rules can either be stated
after practice or left as implicit
information for the learners to
process on their own);
 Pronunciation is de-emphasized;
perfection is viewed as unrealistic and
unattainable;
 Reading and writing are once again
important as listening and speaking;
Affective-Humanistic Approaches
of the 1970’s-1980’s

 The teacher should be proficient in the

target language and the student’s
native language since translation may
be used heavily in the initial stages to
help students feel at ease; later it is
gradually phased out.
Suggestopedia (Lazanov)

 Used relaxation as means of

retaining knowledge and material
 Music plays a pivotal role (Baroque
music with its 60 beats per minute
and its specific rythm created
“relaxed concentration” which led to
“superlearning)
The Silent Way (Caleb
Gattegno)
 Characterized by a problem-solving
approach.
 Develops independence and autonomy and
encourages students to cooperate with each
other.
 Learning is facilitated if the learner
discovers or creates rather than
remembers and repeats what is to be
learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying
physical objects.
 Learning is facilitated by problem solving
the material to be learned.
Community Language Teaching
(Charles A. Curran)

 Applies psychological counseling techniques to

learning

 Learners in a classroom were not regarded as a

“class” but as a “group” in need of certain
therapy and counseling.

 Basic procedures of CLL derives from counselor-

client relationship

 Open interpersonal communication and the role

of supportive community was emphasized

CLL can also be linked to language alternation

used in bilingual education (lesson presented
first in NL and again in the SL)
Comprehension-Based
Approaches

 An outgrowth of research in first

language acquisition that led some
language methodologists to assume
that second or foreign language
learning is very similar to first
language acquisition; e.g., Postovsky
1974; Winitz 1981; Krashen and Terrell
1983)
Comprehension-Based
Approach
 Listening comprehension is very
important and is viewed as the basic
skill that will allow speaking, reading,
and writing to develop spontaneously
over time, given the right conditions.
 Learners should begin by listening to
meaningful speech and by responding
nonverbally in meaningful ways before
they produce any language
themselves.
Total Physical Response
(James Asher)
 Adult second language learning as a
parallel process to child first language
acquisition
 Undemanding in terms of linguistic
production
 Attempts to teach language through
physical motor activity (by the use of
imperatives)
 1980’s Interactive views of
language teaching
 Communicative Language Teaching
 Learners learn a language through
using it to communicate
 Authentic and meaningful
communication should be the goal
of classroom activities
 Fluency is an important dimension
of communication
 Communication involves the
integration of different langauge
skills
 Learning is a process of creative
construction and involves
hypothesis testing
Spin-off approaches of
CLT
 These approaches share the same
basic set of principles of CLT, but which
spell out philosophical details or
envision instructioanl practices in
somewhat different ways
 The Natural Approach
 Cooperative Language Teaching
 Content- Based Language Teaching
 Task-Based Language Teaching
Module 1
Approaches and
Methods in ELT
Part two: Language Teaching Methodology
Language Teaching
Methodology(Richards & Rodgers,
(2001)
Language
Teaching
Methodology

Theories of Observed
Instructional
Language Teaching
Design Features
and Learning Practices

Objectives
Syllabus
Activities
Roles of Teachers
Roles of Learners
Materials
Elements and Subelements of
Method
1. METHOD a) The level that links theory to
practice and which includes
objectives, content selection
and organization, types of
learning activities, roles of
teachers and learners and
roles of instructional materials;
2. APPROACH b) The level of
conceptuatization and
organization which
encompasses the actual
moment to moment
techniques, behaviours and
practices that operate in
language.
3. DESIGN c) The level at which a specific
instructional design is
determined according to a
particular theory of language
and language learning

4. PROCEDURE d) The level at which

assumptions and beliefs about
language and language
learning are specified.
 Elements and Subelements of
Method

 Approach  A method is
 Assumptions and
beliefs about language theoretically
teaching and learning related to an
 Design approach, is
 Objectives
organizationally
 Syllabus

determined by a
Activities
 Roles of Teachers
design, and is
 Roles of Learners practically
 Materials realized in
 Procedure procedure
 Implementational
Phase
 Your understanding of what
language is and how the
learner learns will determine to
a large extent, your philosophy of
education, and how you teach
English: your teaching style, your
approach, methods and
classroom techniques.
Then, what is language and
how poeple learn/acquire it?
 Video viewing: First and second
language learning/acquisition
theories

 TASK: watch the following video

and answer the question on the
task sheet.
 Therefore, what are some of the
main roles that you have to play
as a foreign language teacher?

 It is very important for you to

become aware of the thoughts
that guide your actions in the
classroom.
 Everyone knows that being a
good teacher means giving
positive feedback to students
and being concerned about their
affective side on their feelings.
 Learning to listen to themselves
is part of lessening their reliance
on the teacher. The teacher will
not always be there. Also, they
will be encouraged to form
criteria for correcting their
mistakes—for monitoring their
own progress.
 Observing a class will give you a
greater understanding of a
particular method and will give
you more of an opportunity to
reflect on your own practice than
if you were to simply read a
description of it.
Fourteen questions
 1.What is the theory of language and
learning of the method or approach?
 2. What are the principles of
teachers who use this method or
approach?
 3.What are the their goals?
 4. What is the role of the
teacher? What is the role of the
students?
 5. What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?
 6.What is the nature of student-
teacher interaction? What is the
nature of student-student
interaction?
 7. How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 8. How is language viewed? How
is culture viewed?
 9. What areas of language are
emphasized? What language
skills are emphasized?
 10. What is the role of the
students’ native language?
 11. How is evaluation
accomplished?
 12. How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 13. What is the role of the
teaching materials?
 14.What are the advantages and
drawbacks of the method or
approach?
 The Audio-Lingual Method

 The Audio-Lingual Method, like

the Direct Method, is also an oral-
based approach. However, it is
very different in that the Audio-
Lingual Method drills students in
the use of grammatical sentence
patterns.
 Theory of language and
learning

 It also,unlike the Direct Method,

has a strong theoretical base in
linguistics and psychology. It has
principles from behavioral
psychology (Skinner, 1957).
It was thought that the way to
acquire the sentence patterns of
the target language was through
conditioning—helping learners to
respond correctly to stimuli through
shaping and reinforcement.
 Learners could overcome the
habits of their native language
and from the new habits required
to be target language speakers.
 It was thought that the way to acquire
the sentence patterns of the target
language was through conditioning—
helping learners to respond correctly
to stimuli through shaping and
reinforcement. Learners could
overcome the habits of their native
language and form the new habits
required to be target language
speakers.
Principles
 1. “Language is speech, not
writing”.
 2. “A language is a set of habits”.
 3. “Teach the language, not about
the language”.
 4. “A language is what its speakers
say, not what some one thinks
they ought to say”.
 5. “Languages are different”.
W. Moulton ( cited in
Richards & Rodgers, 2001,p: 55)
Goals of language learning

 The purpose of language

learning is to learn how to use
the language to communicate
as a long term goal; however, in
the short term goal accuracy
prevails over fluency.
 Role of the students’
language

 The native language and the

target language have separate
linguistic systems. They should
be kept apart so that the
students’ native language
interferes as little as possible
with the students’ attempts to
acquire the target language.
Role of the teacher and
students
 One of the language teacher’s
major roles is that of a model of
the target language. Teachers
should provide students with a
good model. By listening to how
it is supposed to sound, students
should be able to mimic the
model.
 The teacher should be like an
orchestra leader—conducting,
guiding, and controlling the
students’ behavior in the target
language.
 It is important to prevent learners
from making errors. Errors lead
to the formation of bad habits.
When errors do occur, they
should be immediately corrected
by the teacher.
Teaching/ Learning
process

 The major objective of language

teaching should be for students
to acquire the structural
patterns; students will learn
vocabulary afterward.
 Language learning is a process of
habit formation. The more often
something is repeated, the
stronger the habit and the
greater the learning.
 Particular parts of speech occupy
particular ‘slots’ in sentences. In
order to create new sentences,
students must learn which part of
speech occupies which slot.
 Positive reinforcement helps the
students to develop correct
habits.
 Students should learn how to
respond to both verbal and non
verbal stimuli.
 Pattern practice helps students to
form habits and which enable
them to use the patterns.
 Students should “overlearn” to
answer automatically without
stopping to think.
 The learning of a foreign
language should be the same as
the acquisition of the native
language. The rules necessary to
use the target language will be
figured out or induced from
examples.
 The major challenge of foreign
language teaching is getting
students to overcome the habits
of their native language.
 Speech is more basic to language
than the written form. The
‘natural order’ –the order children
follow when learning their native
language—of skill acquisition is:
listening, speaking, reading, and
writing.
The nature of student-
teacher interaction
 Most of the interactions is
between teacher and students
and is initiated by the teacher.
View of language and
culture
 Everyday speech is emphasized
in the Audio-lingual Method. The
level of complexity of the speech
is graded, so that beginning
students are presented with only
simple patterns. Culture consists
of the everyday behavior and
lifestyle of the target language
speakers.
 Language cannot be separated
from culture. Culture is not only
literature and the arts, but also
the everyday behavior of the
people who use the target
language. One of the teacher’s
responsibilities is to present
information about that culture.
Areas of language and
skills emphasized
 Vocabulary is kept to a minimum
while the students are mastering
the sound system and
grammatical patterns.
 The oral/aural skills receive most
of the attention. Pronunciation is
taught from the beginning, often
by students working in language
laboratories on discriminating
between members of minimal
pairs.
The role of the students’
native language
 The target language is used in
the classroom, not the students’
native language.
How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Students might be asked to
distinguish between words in a
minimal pair, for example, or to
supply an appropriate verb form
in a sentence , using a discrete-
point approach to testing.
How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 Student errors are to be avoided
if at all possible through the
teacher’s awareness of where the
students will have difficulty and
restriction of what they are
taught to say.
The role of instructional
materials
 Instructional materials in the
Audiolingual Method assist the
teacher to develop language
mastery in the learner. They are
primary teacher-oriented.
 Tape recorders and audiovisual
equipment often have central
roles in an audiolingual course.
 Video viewing:
Task: Watch the following video about ALM and
a) identify the steps techniques of the lesson
b) say which features of the method you liked or
disliked. Say why.
The decline of
Audioligualism
 Audiolingualism reached its
period of most widespread use in
the 1960s and was applied both
to the teaching of foreign
language in the United States
and to the teaching of English as
a second or foreign language.
 Audiolingualism stresses the
mechanistic aspects of language
learning and language use.
 Focuses much on form
 Errors are not tolerated
 No transfer of skills for
communication purposes
 ALM is teacher –centered
 Yet, students are motivated in earlier stages
 Grading is used as a main principle
 No translation is used
Total Physical Response
(TPR)
 TPR is a language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action; it attempts to
teach language through physical motor activity.
Developed by James Asher, a professor of
psychology at San Jose State University, California.
Theory of language and
learning
 TPR reflects a grammar-based view of language.
 The use of the imperative to teach vocabulary and
structures is central to the method. Why?
 He claims that speech directed to young children
consists primarily of commands, which children
respond to physically before they begin to produce
verbal responses.
 Asher shares with the school of humanistic
psychology a concern for the role of affective factors
in language learning.
 Asher has elaborated an account of what he feels
facilitates or inhibits foreign language learning. For
this dimension of his learning theory he draws on
three influential learning hypotheses:
 1. There exists a specific innate bio-program for
language learning which defines an optimal path for
first and second language development.
 2. Brain lateralization defines different learning
functions in the left-and-right brain hemispheres.
 3. Stress intervenes between the act of learning and
what is to be learned; the lower the stress, the
greater the learning.
 Listening should be accompanied by physical
movement. Speech and other productive skills
should come later.
 Asher sees TPR as directed to right-brain learning,
whereas most second language teaching methods
are directed to left-brain learning. Asher hold that
the child language learner acquires language
through motor movement.
 Similarly, the adult should proceed to language
mastery through right hemisphere motor activities,
while the left hemisphere watches and learns.
The objective of TPR

 The objective of TPR is to teach oral proficiency at a

beginning level. Comprehension is a means to an
end. The ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking
skills. TPR requires initial attention to meaning
rather than to the form of items. Grammar is thus
taught inductively.
Teacher and students’s
roles

 Learners in TPR have the primary roles of listener and

performer. They listen attentively and respond
physically to commands given by the teacher.
Learners are also expected to recognize and respond
to novel combinations of previously taught items.
 Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress.
They are encouraged to speak when they feel ready
to speak—that is, when a sufficient basis in the
language has been internalized. The teacher plays
an active and direct role in TPR.
Characteristics of the T/ L
process
 Lessons begin with commands by the teacher;
students demonstrate their understanding by
responding physically.
 Activities later on include games and skits.
Teacher and students
interaction
 Teacher interacts with individual students and with
the group.
 In the beginning, the teacher initiates all actions.
 Later on, this is reversed. Students issue commands
to teacher and other students (role reversal).
Dealing with feelings

 The method was developped principally to reduce

the stress associated with language learning.
 Studends are not forced to speak untill they atre
ready.
 Learning in made as enjoyable as possible.
View of language and
culture
 Oral modality is primary.
 Culture is the lifestyle of native speakers of the
target language.
Areas of language/ skills
emphasized
 Grammatical structures and vocabulary are
emphasized, imbedded in the imperative.
 Understanding precedes production.
 Spoken language precedes the written word.
Role of students’ native
language
 The method is introduced in students’ native
language, but rarely used later on.
 Meaning is made clear through actions, gestures
and teacher’s voice.
Role of materials
 Generally, no textbook is used in TPR.
 Materials and realia play an important and
increasing role.
 Classroom objects are used in earlier stages of
learning; pictures, realia, slides, word charts and
skits are used later on.
Response to students’
errors
 Students are expected to make errors once they
begin speaking.
 Teacher corrects only major errors. « Fine-tuning »
occurs later.
Means of evaluation

 Teacher can evaluate students through simple

observation of their actions.
 Formal evaluation is achieved by commaning a
student to perform a series of actions.
 Evaluation of the method

 Advantages:
 Providing comprehensible input via actions
minimizes stress for students.
 Creating a supportive classroom environment may
enhance language learning and memory retention.
 Drawbacks:
 Beyond beginner level, activities involving
commands may become repetitious and boring for
learners.
 Learning structures is basically restricted to a single
form.
 Moving from listening to the speaking phase may be
problematic for large groups.
Total Phycical Response

 Video viewing:
Task: Watch the following video about TPRand
a) identify the steps techniques of the lesson
b) say which features of the method you liked or
disliked. Say why.
The Silent Way

 The Silent Way is the name of a method of a

language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno.
 It is based on the premise that the teacher should
be silent as much as possible in the classroom but
the learner should be encouraged to produce as
much language as possible.
 Elements of the Silent Way, particularly the use of
color charts and the colored Cuisenaire rods, grew
out of Gattegno’s previous experience as an
educational designer of reading and mathematics
programs.
Theory of language and
learning
 The sentence is the basic unit of teaching, and the
teacher focuses on propositional meaning, rather
than communicative value. Students are presented
with the structural patterns of the target language
and learn the grammatical rules of the language
through largely inductive processes.
Learning hypotheses

 1. Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or

creates rather than remembers and repeats what is
to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical
objects.
 3. Learning is facilitated by problem solving
involving the material to be learned.
 Gattegno sees vocabulary as a central dimension of
language learning and the choice of vocabulary as
crucial.
 Gattegno looked at language learning from the
perspective of the learner by studying the way
babies and young children learn.
Principles

 The teacher should start with something the

students already know and build from that to the
unknown. Languages share a number of features,
sounds being the most basic.
 Language learners are intelligent and bring with
them the experience of already learning a language.
The teacher should give only what help is
necessary.
 Language is not learned by repeating after a model.
Students need to develop their own ‘inner criteria’
for correctness—to trust and to be responsible for
their own production in the target language.
 Students’ actions can tell the teacher whether or
not they have learned.
 The teacher makes use of what students already
know. The more the teacher does for the students
what they can do for themselves, the less they will
do for themselves.
 Learning involves transferring what one knows to
new contexts.
 Reading is worked on from the beginning but follows
from what students have learned to say.
 Silence is a tool. It helps to foster autonomy, or the
exercise of initiative. It also removes the teacher
from the center of attention so he can listen to and
work with students. The teacher speaks, but only
when necessary.
 Meaning is made clear by focusing students’
perceptions, not through translation.
 Students can learn from one another. The teacher’s
silence encourages group cooperation.
 Student attention is a key to learning.
 Students should engage in a great deal of
meaningful practice without repetition.
 Language is for self-expression.
 The teacher can gain valuable information from
student feedback.
What are the goals of teachers
who use the Silent Way?
 Students should be able to use the language for
self-expression—to express their thought,
perception, and feelings.
What is the role of teacher?

 The teacher is a technician or engineer.

 The teacher should respect the autonomy of the
learners in their attempts at relating and interacting
with the new challenges.
What is the role of the
students?
 The role of the students is to make use of what they
know, to free themselves of any obstacles that
would interfere with giving their utmost attention to
the learning task.
What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?

 Students begin their study of the language through

its basic building blocks, its sounds.
 This provides valuable information for the teacher
and encourages students to take responsibility for
their own learning.
What is the nature of
student-teacher
interaction?
 For much of the student-teacher interaction, the
teacher is silent.
 Student-student verbal interaction is desirable
(students can learn from one another) and is
therefore encouraged.
How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 The teacher constantly observes the students.
When their feelings interfere, the teacher tries to
find ways for the students to overcome them.
How is language viewed?

 Languages of the world share a number of features.

However, each language also has its own unique
reality since it is the expression of a particular group
of people.
How is culture viewed?

 Their culture, as reflected in their own unique world

view, is inseparable from their language.
What areas of language are
emphasized?
 Since the sounds are basic to any language,
pronunciation is worked on from the beginning.
 Specialized teaching
materials

 Cuisenaire rods
Fidel (spelling charts)
Sound/color rectangles chart
What language skills are
emphasized?
 All four skills are worked on from the beginning of
the course, although there is a sequence in that
students learn to read and write what they already
produced orally.
What is the role of the
students’ native language?
 Meaning is made clear by focusing the students’
perceptions, not by translation.
What is the role of
materials ?
 The materials are manipulated both by the students
and the teacher independently and cooperatively.
 The main role of these materials is to promote
language learning by direct association.
How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Assessment is continual.
 The teacher’s silence frees him to attend to his
students and to be aware of these needs.
 The teacher observes student’s ability to transfer
what they have learnt to new contexts.
 Students are expected to learn at different rates,
and to make progress, not necessarily speak
perfectly in the beginning.
How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 Student errors are seen as a natural, indispensable
part of the learning process. Errors are inevitable
since the students are encouraged to explore the
language.
Evaluation of the method

 Advantages:
 Teacher talking time is minimized in the classroom.
 Learners are made responsible for their own
learning and are required to test their hypotheses
about how the target language system works.
 Drawbacks:
 Method may not suit all types of learners (use of
inductive learning only).
 Difficult to use beyond the basics of the language.
 Real communication among students is rarely
achieved (lack of motivation)
 Video viewing:
Task: Watch the following video about the Silent Way
and
a) identify the steps techniques of the lesson
b) say which features of the method you liked or
disliked. Say why.
Suggestopedia

 In order to make better use of our reserved

capacity, the limitations we think we have need to
be ‘desuggested.’
 Desuggestopedia, the application of the study of
suggestion to pedagogy, has been developed to
help students
 eliminate the feeling that they cannot be successful
or the negative association they may have toward
studying and, thus, to help them overcome the
barriers to learning.
Theory of language /
learning
 Lozanov does not articulate a theory of language,
nor does it seem that he is concerned with how
language elements are organized.
 However, « suggestion » is a crucial notion of the
theory of learning underlying Suggestopedia.
Principles

 Learning is facilitated in a cheerful environment.

The classroom is bright and colorful.
 Students can learn from what is present in the
environment, even if their attention is not directed
to it (‘Peripheral learning).
 If students trust and respect the teacher’s authority,
they will accept and retain information better. (The
teacher speaks confidently.)
 The teacher gives the students the impression that
learning the target language will be easy and
enjoyable.
 The students choose new names and identities and
feel less inhibited since their performance is really
that of a different person.
 The dialogue that students learn contains language
they can use immediately. Songs are useful for
‘freeing the speech muscles’ and evoking positive
emotions.
 Fine art provides positive suggestions for students.
 One way that meaning is made clear is through
native language translation.
 Communication takes place on ‘two planes’: on one
the linguistic message is encoded; and on the other
are factors which influence the linguistic message.
On the conscious plane, the learner attends to the
language; on the subconscious plane, the music
suggests that learning is easy and pleasant.
 When there is a unity between conscious and
subconscious, learning is enhanced.
 A calm state, such as one experiences when
listening to a concert, is ideal for overcoming
psychological barriers and for taking advantage of
learning potential.
 The fine arts (music, art, and drama) enable
suggestions to reach the subconscious. The arts
should, therefore, be integrated as much as possible
into the teaching process.
 The teacher should help the students ‘activate’ the
material to which they have been exposed. Novelty
aids acquisition.
 Music and movement reinforce the linguistic
material. If they trust the teacher, they will reach
this state more easily.
 In an atmosphere of play, the conscious attention of
the learner does not focus on linguistic forms, but
rather on using the language. Learning can be fun.
 Errors are corrected gently, not in a direct,
confrontational manner.
What are the goals of teachers
who use suggestopedia?
 Teachers hope to accelerate the process by which
students learn to use a foreign language for
everyday communication. In order to do this, more
of the students’ mental powers must be tapped.
What is the role of teacher
and learners?
 The teacher is the authority in the classroom. In
order for the method to be successful, the students
must trust and respect him or her. Once the
students trust the teacher, they can feel more
secure. If they feel secure, they can be more
spontaneous and less inhibited.
 The learners must maintain a pseudo-passive state
and be highly receptive to the materials used.
 They must immerse themselves in the procedures of
the method regain self-confidence, spontaneity and
receptivity of a child.
What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?

 The posters are changed every few weeks to create

a sense of novelty in the environment. Students
select target language names and choose new
occupations. During the course they create whole
biographies to go along with their new identities.
What is the nature of
student-teacher
interaction?
 The teacher initiates interactions with the whole
group of students and with individuals right from the
beginning of a language course.
How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 If students are relaxed and confident, they will not
need to try hard to learn the language. It will just
come naturally and easily.
How is language viewed?

 Language is the first two planes in the two-plane

process of communication. In the second plane are
the factors which influence linguistic message.
How is culture viewed?

 The culture which students learn concerns the

everyday life of people who speak the language.
The use of fine arts is also important in
Desuggestopedic classes.
What areas of language are
emphasized?
 Vocabulary is emphasized. Grammar is dealt with
explicitly but minimally.
What language skills are
emphasized?
 Speaking communicatively is emphasized. Students
also read in the target language (for example,
dialogs) and write (for example, imaginative
compositions).
What is the role of the
students’ native language?
 Native-language translation is used to make the
meaning of the dialog clear. The teacher also uses
the native language in class when necessary.
How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Evaluation usually is conducted on students’ normal
in-class performance and not often through formal
tests, which would threaten the relaxed atmosphere
considered essential for accelerated learning.
How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 Errors are corrected gently, with the teacher using a
soft voice.
What is the role of
materials?
 The main role of the materials( texts, lenghty
dialogues, music, posters, classroom furniture…) is
to allow the process of memorization in Learning to
accelerated by up to 25 times over that in
conventional methods (super-learning).
What are the advantages and
drawbacks of the method?

 Advantages: The use of music, a comfortable

environment and the positive relationship between
the teacher and students would make the learner
more receptive and, in turn, stimulate learning via
the power of positive suggestion.
 Drawbacks: There is little evidence to support the
extravaguant claims of sucess.
 Many people will find classical music irritating than
stimulating.
 The lenght of the the dialogues and the logistics
used will probably be beyond the means of most
educational institutions.
Community Language
Learning Method (CLL)
 It takes its principles from more general Counseling-
Learning approach developed by Charles A. Curran.
 Curran believed that a way to deal with the fears of
students is for teachers to become ‘language
counselors.’
 By understanding students’ fears and being
sensitive to them, he can help students overcome
their negative feelings and turn them into positive
energy to further their learning.
What is the theory of language/
learning of the method?

 The language theory on which CLL is based reflects

a social – process view of language in which
comunication is seen as an exchage between
participants.
 For learning theory, CLL is an application of
Counseling learning techniques in which
 the whole person( feelings and emotions as well as
linguistic and behavioural skills) is involved.
Principles

 The two most basic principles

which underlie the kind of
learning that can take place in the
CLL Method are summed up in the
following phrases: (1) ‘Learning is
persons,’ which means that
whole-person learning of another
language takes place best in a
relationship of trust, support, and
cooperation between teacher and
students and among students.
 (2)‘Learning is dynamic and creative,’ which means
that learning is a living and developmental process.
 Building a relationship with and among students is
very important.
 Any new learning experience can be threatening.
When students have an idea of what will happen in
each activity, they often feel more secure.
 Language is for communication.
 The superior knowledge and power of the teacher
can be threatening. If the teacher does not remain
in the front of the classroom, the threat is reduced
and the students’ learning is facilitated.
 The teacher should be sensitive to students’ level of
confidence and give them just what they need to be
successful.
 Students feel more secure when they know the
limits of an activity.
 Teacher and students are whole persons. Sharing
about their learning experience allows learners to
get to know one another and to build community.
 Guided by the knowledge that each learner is
unique, the teacher creates an accepting
atmosphere. Learners feel free to lower their
defenses and the learning experience becomes less
threatening.
 The teacher understands what the students say.
 The students’ native language is used to make the
meaning clear and to build a bridge from the known
to the unknown. Students feel more secure when
they understand everything.
 The teacher asks the students to form a semicircle
in front of the blackboard so they can see easily.
 Learning at the beginning stages is facilitated if
students attend to one task at a time.
 The teacher encourages student initiative and
independence, but does not let student flounder in
uncomfortable silences.
 Students need quiet reflection time in order to learn.
 In groups, students can begin to feel a sense of
community and can learn from each other as well as
the teacher. Cooperation, not competition, is
encouraged.
 The teacher should work in a non-threatening way
with what the learner has produced.
 Developing a community among the class members
builds trust and can help to reduce the threat of the
new learning situation.
 Retention will best take place somewhere in
between novelty and familiarity.
What are the goals of teachers
who use CLL Methods?
 Teachers who use the Community language
Learning Method want their students to learn how to
use the target language communicatively.
What is the role of the
teacher?
 The teacher’s initial role is primarily that of a
counselor. Rather, it means that the teacher
recognizes how threatening a new learning situation
can be for adult learners.
What is the role of the
students?
 Initially the learners are very
dependent upon the teacher. It is
recognized that as the learners
continue to study, they become
increasingly independent. CLT
methodologists have identified five
stages in this movement from
dependency to mutual
interdependency with the teacher.
 It should be noted that accuracy is always a focus
even in the first three stages; however, it is
subordinated to fluency.
What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?

 In a beginning class, which is what we

observed, students typically have a
conversation using their native
language. The teacher helps them
express what they want to say by
giving them the target language
translation in chunks. These chunks
are recorded, and when they are
replayed, it sounds like a fairly fluid
conversation.
 During the course of the lesson, students are invited
to say how they feel, and in return the teacher
understands them.
 According to Curran, there are six elements
necessary for non-defensive learning: security,
aggression, attention, reflection, and retention.
What is the nature of
student-teacher
interaction?
 The Community Language Learning Method is
neither student-centered, nor teacher-centered, but
rather teacher-student-centered. Teacher-student-
centered, with both being decision-makers in the
class.
How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 Responding to the students’ feelings is considered
very important in Counseling-Learning. The teacher
listens and responds to each comment carefully.
While security is a basic element of the learning
process, the way in which it is provided will change
depending upon the stage of learner.
How is language viewed?

 Language is for communication. Curran writes that

‘learning is persons, meaning that both teacher and
students work at building trust in one another and
the learning process.
How is culture viewed?

 Curran believes that in this kind of supportive

learning process, language becomes the means for
developing creative and critical thinking. Culture is
an integral part of language learning.
What areas of language are
emphasized?
 The most important skills are understanding and
speaking the language at the beginning, with the
reinforcement through reading and writing.
What is the role of the
students’ native language?
 Where possible, literal native language equivalents
are given to the target language words that have
been transcribed.
How is evaluation
accomplished?
 Although no particular mode of
evaluation is prescribed in the CLL
Method, whatever evaluation is
conducted should be in keeping with
the principles of the method. Finally,
it is likely that teachers would
encourage their students to self-
evaluate—to look at their own
learning and to become aware of their
own progress.
How does the teacher respond to
student errors?

 Teachers should work with what the learner has

produced in a non-threatening way. One way of
doing this is for the teacher to repeat correctly what
the student has said incorrectly.
What are the advantages/
limitations of the method?
 Advantages:
 The learners are responsible for their own learning.
 The learners are supposed to become independent
and autonomous.
 The learning environment provides support and
security for the students.
 Drawbacks:
 CLL can be done only with small number of
students.
 Students have to shatre a single mother tongue.
 Undertaking CLL requires some counselling training.
Communicative Language
Teaching
 It became clear that communication
required that students perform certain
functions as well, such as promising,
inviting, and declining invitations
within a social context (Wilkins, 1976).
In short, being able to communicate
required more than linguistic
competence; it required
communicative competence (Hymes,
1971)—knowing when and how to say
what to whom.
What is the theory of language
and learning of CLT?

 Such observations contributed to a shift in the field

in the late 1970s and early 1980s from a linguistic
structure-centered approach to a Communicative
Approach (Widdowson, 1990).
 CLT aims broadly to apply the theoretical
perspective of the Communicative Approach by
making communicative competence the goal of
language teaching and by acknowledging the
interdependence of language and communication.
 CLT was mainly influenced by the work of British
functional linguists(e.g.,Firth and Halliday), American
sociolinguists(e.g.,Hymes and Labov), and the work in
philosophy of language(e.g.,Austin and Searle)
 Concerning learning theory, little has been written
about it.
 Yet, recent accounts of CLT have tried to describe
theories of language learning theories that are
compatible with the communicative approach.
 Savignon(1983) emphasized the role of linguistic,
social, cognitive,and individual variables in
language acquisition.
 Krashen et al. stressed that language learning is
achieved via using language
communicatively(language use).
Principles

 Authenticity

 The task principle

 The meaningfulness principle

Principles

 Whenever possible, ‘authentic language’ –language

as it is used in a real context—should be introduced.
 Being able to figure out the speaker’s or writer’s
intentions is part of being communicatively
competent.
 The target language is a vehicle for
classroom communication, not just
the object of study.
 One function can have many different
linguistic forms. Since the focus of
the course is on real language use, a
variety of linguistic forms are
presented together. The emphasis is
on the process of communication
rather than just mastery of language
forms.
 Students should work with language at the
discourse or suprasentential (above the sentence)
level. They must learn about cohesion and
coherence, those properties of language which bind
the sentences together.
 Games are important because they have certain
features in common with real communicative events
—there is a purpose to the exchange. Also, the
speaker receives immediate feedback from the
listener on whether or not he or she has successfully
communicated.
 Students should be given an
opportunity to express their ideas and
opinions.
 Errors are tolerated and seen as a
natural outcome of the development
of communication skills. Since this
activity was working on fluency, the
teacher did not correct the student,
but simply noted the error, which he
will return to at a later point.
 One pf the teacher’s major responsibilities is to
establish situations likely to promote
communication.
 Communicative interaction encourages cooperative
relationships among students. It gives students an
opportunity to work on negotiating meaning.
 The social context of the communicative event is
essential in giving meaning to the utterances.
 Learning to use language forms appropriately is an
important part of communicative competence.
 The teacher acts as a facilitator in setting up
communicative activities and as an advisor during
the activities.
 In communicating, a speaker has a choice not only
about what to say, but also how to say it.
 The grammar and vocabulary that the students
learn follow from the function, situational context,
and the roles of the interlocutors.
 Students should be given opportunities to listen to
language as it is used in authentic communication.
They may be coached on strategies for how to
improve their comprehension.
What are the goals of
teachers who use CLT?
 The goal is to enable students to communicate in
the target language. To do this students need
knowledge of linguistic forms, meanings, and
functions. Communication is a process; knowledge
of the forms of language is insufficient.
What is the role of the
teacher?
 The teacher facilitates communication
in the classroom. In this role, one of his
major responsibilities is to establish
situations likely to promote
communication. During the activities
he acts as an adviser, answering
students’ questions and monitoring
their performance. He might make
note of their errors to be worked on at a
later time during more accuracy-based
activities. At other times he might be
 A ‘co-communicator’ engaging in the
communicative activity along with students
(Littlewood, 1981).
What is the role of the
students?
 Students are, above all,
communicators. They are actively
engaged in negotiating meaning—in
trying to make themselves
understood and in understanding
others.
 Since the teacher’s role is less
dominant than in a teacher-centered
method, students are seen as more
 Responsible managers of their own learning.
What are some characteristics of
the teaching/learning process?

 The most obvious characteristics of CLT is that

almost everything that is done is done with a
communicative intent. Students use the language a
great deal through communicative activities such as
games, role plays, and problem-solving tasks.
 According to Morrow (in Johnson and Morrow, 1981),
activities that are truly communicative have four
features in common: purpose, information gap,
choice, and feedback.
 In communicative, the speaker has a choice of what
she will say and how she will say it. True
communication is purposeful. A speaker can thus
evaluate whether or not his purpose has been
achieved based upon the information she receives
from his listener.
 Another characteristic of CLT is the use of authentic
materials. It is considered desirable to give students
an opportunity to develop strategies for
understanding language as it is actually used.
 Finally, we noted that activities in CLT are often
carried out by students in small groups. Small
numbers of students interacting are favored in order
to maximize the time allotted to each student for
communicating.
The communication
continuum
Non-communication Communication
activities
activities

A desire to communicate
No communicative desire A communicative purpose
No communicative purpose Content not form
Form not content Variety of language
One language item only No teacher intervention
No materials control
Teacher intervention
Materials control
What is the nature of
student-teacher
interaction?
 The teacher may present some part of the lesson,
such as when working with linguistic accuracy. At
other times, he is the facilitator of the activities, but
he does not always himself interact with the
students.
 Students interact a great deal with one another.
They do this in various configurations: pairs, triads,
small groups, and whole group.
How are the feelings of the
students dealt with?
 One of the basic assumptions of CLT is that by
learning to communicate students will be more
motivated to study a foreign language since they
will feel they are learning to do something useful
with the language.
How is language viewed?

 Language is for communication. Linguistic

competence, the knowledge of forms and their
meanings, is just one part of communicative
competence. Another aspect of communicative
competence is knowledge of the functions language
is used for.
 Thus, learners need knowledge of forms and
meanings and functions. However, they must also
use this knowledge and take into consideration the
social situation in order to convey their intended
meaning appropriately.
How is culture viewed?

 Culture is the everyday lifestyle of people who use

the language. There are certain aspects of it that
are especially important to communication—the use
of nonverbal behavior which might receive greater
attention in CLT.
What areas of language are
emphasized?
 Language functions might be
emphasized over forms. Typically, a
functional syllabus is used. A variety
of forms are introduced for each
function. Only the simpler forms
would be presented at first, but as
students get more proficient in the
target language, the functions are
reintroduced and more complex forms
are learned.
What language skills are
emphasized?

 Students work on all four skills from the beginning.

Just as oral communication is seen to take place
through negotiation between speaker and listener,
so too is meaning thought to be derived from the
written word through an interaction between the
reader and the writer.
What is the role of the
students’ native language?
 Judicious use of the students’ native language is
permitted in CLT. However, whenever possible, the
target language should be used not only during
communicative activities, but also for explaining the
activities to the students or in assigning homework.
How is evaluation
accomplished?
 A teacher evaluates not only the students’ accuracy,
but also their fluency.
 A teacher can informally evaluate his students’
performance in his role as an adviser or co-
communicator.
How does the teacher
respond to student errors?
 Errors of form are tolerated during fluency-based
activities and are seen as a natural outcome of the
development of communication skills.
What is the role of
materials?
 There are two types of materials:
 Text-Based Materials
 Task-Based Materials
The major role of these materials is to promote
communication.
What are the advantages
and limitations of CLT?
 Advantages:
 CLT methodology has enabled classroom practice to
become more learner-centered.
 Language skills are no longer used for
renforcement(ALM) but they are integrated.
 Limitations:
 Negotiation of meaning is extremely threatening for
some teachers(change in the classroom power
structure).
 CLT requires efficient learning strategies and learner
training strategies to enable learners to reflect on
their own learning.
 CLT makes greater demands on the
teachers(inappropriate class management skills,
time consraints and lack of support resources).
 Some students are reluctant to work cooperatively
in class.
Rounding off the « methods
era »
 Discussion:
In concluding the chapter about «Language Teaching
Methods:A Critical Analysis », Nunan(1991 mentions
two major shortcomings of the « methods
approaches to language teaching. Identify these
drawbacks ans say whether you agree or disagree
with them.
The post methods era