Key concepts in ELT

Deductive vs. inductivelanguage learningDeductive reasoning applies a general rule toparticular instances while inductive reasoninginvolves inference from the particular to thegeneral. Language learning is most clearlydeductive when a teacher gives an explicitstatement of the rule, which the students thenapply to examples. The term 'inductive' mostobviously applies when a child learns its firstlanguage by inducing the rules from exposure tothe language in use. A deductive approach is mostclosely associated with the grammar-translationmethod of teaching languages, while an inductiveapproach is considered characteristic ofaudiolingualism, where meaning and grammarwere not explicitly explained but induced fromcarefully graded exposure to and practice withexamples in situations and substitution tables.

In the grammar-translation method, the focuson rules was conscious and explicit. Inaudiolingualism, learning of the rules could beeither conscious or unconscious (depending onwhat the learner was thinking about) but theywere not explicitly formulated. In between thesetwo approaches, there is a range of techniques,commonly called 'discovery' or 'guided discovery'techniques, in which explicit focus is combinedwith inference from examples. These techniquesvary according to whether explanation of the rulestakes place before or after practice and accordingto the degree of guidance the students are given inworking out the rules.

Frequently, in the presentation stage, the teacherestablishes a context or situation and elicitsappropriate language, asking concept questionsto check understanding of form, meaning, and use.Or he or she might put two contrasting items onthe board and elicit the difference in meaningbetween them. The procedure is direct andteacher-fronted, but by eliciting the rule ratherthan telling the students, the teacher introduces anelement of discovery learning, albeit heavilyguided. At other times the students may workmore independently of the teacher in pairs orgroups, engaged in a problem-solving approach tonew language. They might be asked to find all thedifferent ways of referring to the future in a text,or to work out the differences in form andmeaning between sets of contrasting sentences.

After 'discovering' a rule for themselves in thisway, they can be asked to formulate it for theclass.

Such procedures, though involving inference fromexamples, have been labelled 'modified deductive'because there is explicit formulation of the rulebefore practice. Where the rule is explicitlyformulated, either by the teacher or the students,after the students have been guided to work it outthrough practice, the label 'modified inductive'has been used to distinguish this from a purelyinductive approach in which the rule is leftimplicit. The common denominator with thisrange of techniques is the fact that the studentsare actively engaged mentally, which is not onlymotivating but is believed to lead to morethorough learning.

From one lesson to another, and throughout thesame lesson, a teacher may switch approach.Feedback on errors, for example, could take theform of either telling the student the rule orguiding him to work it out himself. Students arelikely to understand and remember better whatthey have worked out for themselves; on the otherhand, when time is short or it is difficult for thestudents to work out the rule themselves, adeductive approach may be more appropriate.

Jacqueline Gollin, University of Edinburgh

Further readingFortune, A. 1992. 'Self-study grammar practice'.

ELT Journal 46/2: 160-71.Howatt, A. P. R. 1984. A History of English

Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

Krashen, S. D. and H. W. Seliger. 1975. 'Theessential contributions of formal instruction inadult second language learning'. TESOLQuarterly 9/2: 173-83.

Larsen-Freeman, D. 1991. 'Teaching grammar' inM. Celce-Murcia (ed.): Teaching English as aSecond or Foreign Language (2nd edn.). NewYork: Newbury House/Harper and Row.

Stem, H. H. 1983. Fundamental Concepts ofLanguage Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

Stern, H. H. 1992. Issues and Options in LanguageTeaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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The author South East Asia. She has taught in Europe,Jacqueline Gollin is a teaching fellow at the Thailand, Japan, and New Zealand. She isInstitute for Applied Language Studies, Univer- interested in teacher development, the teachingsity of Edinburgh, where she is involved with of grammar, and the analysis of lexicogrammaticalteacher training courses, and is co-ordinator of features of written discourse,courses for contract groups from the Far East and

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