Historical Overview of Methodologies in ESL

Key Terms

Approach

a well informed set of assumptions and beliefs about the nature of teaching and learning

Method

a generalized set of rules that should be followed when teaching language

primarily concerned with the teacher and the students’ roles as opposed to subject-matter objectives

Technique

specific activities manifested in the classroom

consistent with a method and therefore in harmony with an approach as well

Curriculum/syllabus

a design for carrying out a particular language program

consists of specification of linguistic and subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials to meet the needs of a designated group of learners in a defined context

Methodology

a theoretical framework

pedagogical practices in general and considerations involved in “how to teach”

based on an epistemological stance (how do we learn)

Overview of Methods

The Grammar Translation Method

Vocabulary is taught in the form of lists or isolation

Long explanations of grammar rules

Readings of classical difficult texts

Grammatical analysis

Little or no attention to pronunciation

The Direct Method

Classroom instruction exclusively in the target language

Grammar was taught inductively (teacher is a facilitator)

New teaching points were taught through modeling and practice

Both speech and listening comprehension were taught

Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized

The Audiolingual Method

New material is presented in dialogue form

Memorization

Set phrases

Drills

Tapes, language lab, visual aids

Successful responses immediately reinforced

Cognitive code learning

Deep structure of language

Chomsky LAD (language acquisition device)

Deductive

Conscious awareness of rules

Generative transformational grammar

“Designer” Methods of the Spirited 1970s

Separation of ESL and linguistics as a field of study

Language acquisition studies based on language learning inside and outside of the classroom

Innovative methods were conceived

Community Language Learning

Language learning was visualized as a counseling session

Rogers’s views on language learning

Avoids threatening environment

Deductive learning (when A then B, knowledge is “transferred” from the teacher to the learner, information according to established knowledge)

Suggestopedia

Language learning occurs under the right conditions

Students are asked to be “child like”

Business enterprise

The Silent Way

Learning is facilitated by physical objects

Problem solving involving the material to be learned

Rods to introduce vocabulary

Charts to introduce pronunciation models, grammatical paradigms

Total Physical Response

Commands are given

Listening and acting

No verbal response is necessary

Krashen

Acquisition Learning Hypothesis (learning vs. acquisition)

The Natural Order (grammatical rules are learned in a predictable way)

The Monitor Hypothesis (checks and monitor output of what has been learned)

The Input Hypothesis (I + 1) a little beyond the comprehension level

The Affective Filter Hypothesis (motivation)

The Post-method Era

The Pull of Methods

Teachers want to believe that if they just do X their students will learn language.

Students also want to believe that there is some magic pill that if the teacher would just give it to them, they would learn.

Positivist vs. critical perspective

Postivist (or scientist) orientation: empirical-analytic approach, claims of objectivity, how we teach is based on knowledge derived through experimental research

Critical theory: all knowledge is social, cultural, and political; produced in a particular economic, historical context; claims to knowledge represent the interests of certain individuals or groups

But…

Researchers still do not know exactly how we learn a second language

Human learning can’t be reliably studied with experimental research designs

So…we cannot produce the “magic bullet”!

Discussion

What is Prabhu’s problem with people saying “There is no best method”?

What does Pennycook mean when her says that “all education is political” and that “all knowledge is ‘interested’” (p. 590)? Use the example of English education in Puerto Rico (or language education in another context that you know well) to illustrate his two claims.

What is Pennycook’s problem with the concept of Methos as published by different scholars? (see pp. 599-606)

Pennycook argues that the concept of Method is patriarchal (it imposes ideas developed by mostly male linguists on the mostly female workforce of ESL teachers) and imperialistic (it assumes that Methods, developed in the West, are the best way to teach ESL across the world). Do you agree with Pennycook? Why or why not?

What do you think is the relationship between method and what teachers actually are doing (and have been doing) in the classroom?

Prabhu

Best method varies from context to context Still left with search to find the best method for a

particular context.

There is truth in every method But which parts are true?

Objective method evaluation is impossible