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B. Background To Language Teaching Methodology: 35. How People Learn Languages 1
B. Background To Language Teaching Methodology: 35. How People Learn Languages 1
Adrian's story
At his English secondary school Adrian learnt French up to lower-intermediate level with grammar
translation. He had to translate sentences such as My uncle's garden is bigger than my aunt's pen into
French and he had to learn the rules of French grammar. When he went to France at the age of 17, he
could say very little for a few days, but then suddenly he started to be able to communicate and he
became more and more fluent over the next three weeks.
became unpopular because students translated written sentences rather than spoken
conversation, and because they didn't do enough speaking.
2.AUDIO-LINGUAL METHODOLOGY (A-L) gave students a lot of speaking practice by
using habit-formation DRILLS. Students repeated sentences again and again until they were
memorised. A-L metl1odology is connected to the theory of BEHAVIOURISM .
• A-L methodology uses a STIMULUS-RESPONSE-REINFORCEMENT approach to
language learning. A stimulus (a teacher's prompt) provokes a student response (a sentence),
and this response is reinforced by the reward of, for example, teacher PRAISE and student
satisfaction.
If you repeat this procedure often enough, some people suggested, the language will be
learnt.
3.THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH/COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
(CLT) focuses on the idea that people get language if they have opportunities to use it, and
that if students have a desire to communicate and a purpose for communicating (rather than
just practising a grammar item), then language learning will 'take care of itself'.
students do many speaking and writing tasks, trying to use any and all of the language that
they can. CLT focuses more on CONTENT than on FORM;
it concentrates on how successfully students can conznzunicate, rather than on whether they
are speaking or writing correctly. CORRECTION often takes place after the students have
tried to speak or write communicatively
4 .TASK-BASED LEARNING (TEL) is an approach where teachers set their students larger
tasks, such as writing a newspaper article, giving an oral presentation, creating an online
film reviews page or arranging a meeting, rather than conceno.·ating only on the language.
The students may STUDY language, too, of course, but only if this will help them do the
task; it is the planning and the completion of the task that is most important.
A TEL approach would base its SYLLABUS on tasks rather than lists of grammar items.
How people learn; how people teach
Most teachers don't follow any one method, but use elements of many different approaches.
This ECLECTICISM seems to be the best response to different claims about how different
students learn.
Seminar 4: Instructions
Everything will depend on the balance of exercises and activities -how we get students
ENGAGED, how we get them to study and the opportunities we provide for them to
ACTIVATE their knowledge.
36. Exercises:
1 For questions 1–9, match the descriptions with the terms A–I.
A Audio-lingual methodology B Behaviourism C Comprehensible input D Grammar
translation E Eclecticism F Scaffolding G Task-based learning H The communicative approach
I Target language
1 A method which is sentence-based and where students compare two languages. D
2 Teaching is not organised around grammar and vocabulary, but instead on things that the
teacher asks the students to do. G
3 A teaching approach that relied on behaviourism – and so was based on repetition. A
4 Students are given chances to use the language in the classroom. Their success is judged on
how well they achieve their objectives using the language. H
5 A psychological theory which suggested that learning is based on habit formation (and that
habits are formed through our responses to certain stimuli). B
6 The support that teachers can give to students to help them learn. F
7 The language that the students are studying.I
8 When teachers use techniques etc. from a number of different approaches and methods. E
9 Spoken or written language which students can understand even if it is above their own
language production level. C
Reflect
3 Imagine you are going to learn a new language and you can choose one teacher from a list of
four (see below). Which one would you choose and why?
1 Ms Grammar Translation , because it is important to make connections between your mother
tongue and the language you want to learn.
2 Ms Audio Lingual
3 Mr Communicative Approach
4 Mr Task-based Learning, while practicising you are more likely to end up speaking more
fluently. Repetition is the mother of learning.
When students are learning a second language, they often make INTERFERENCE errors.
These happen because they are (consciously or unconsciously) trying to use their •
Researchers talk about a language learner's INTERLANGUAGE - that is their own
version of the language they are learning at a certain stage in their language development.
There is a danger that if mistakes are left uncorrected for too long - or if the learner is
unaware of them -they may become FOSSILISED. What kind of mistakes do students
make?
Students make several different kinds of mistakes.
SLIPS. We can think of these as the result of tiredness or because the students are
speaking quickly and are careless.
ERRORS. These suggest that they either don't know something, that they have learnt
something incorrectly, or that their knowledge of the language has been affected by
developmental or interference factors.
ATTEMPTS to say things which are beyond their language knowledge and so they have
a go and make a bit of a mess of it.
We need to be aware of what kind of mistake is being made so that we can CORRECT it
appropriately.
Attempt mistakes are perfect oppornmities for teaching new language because it is
language that the students clearly want.
What do mistakes look like?
Language learners may make pronunciation mistakes, many of which are caused by L1
interference.
Students may use wrong or inappropriate vocabulary; they may select the wrong word in
COLLOCATIONS, saying childish crime instead of juvenile crime, for example.
Do mistakes matter?
When students speak, they may have an accent which is influenced by their first or
second language.
We will need to concentrate on STRESS and INTONATION, especially, since when
mistakes are made with these, they can affect meaning-.
Mistakes matter in writing. This is partly because writing doesn't flash past like
conversation, but stays there for us to look at again and again.
In lessons we often make a difference between language activities which concentrate on
ACCURACY (the students' accurate and correct use oflanguage) and activities which
concentrate on FLUENCY (the students' ability to communicate effectively and
spontaneously).
When we are working on the students' accuracy, we are helping them to study language
(that is, to understand the construction of GRAMMAR, a LEXICAL PHRASE,a
LANGUAGE FUNCTION, etc.).
Because of this, we will probably correct mistakes when they occur and try to help the
students to say or write things correctly.
37. Exercises:
1 For questions 1–6, choose the best option (A, B or C) to complete each statement.
Seminar 4: Instructions
1 When language learners make mistakes because of their first language, we call these mistakes
… A developmental errors. B overgeneralisation. C interference errors.
2 When language learners take a rule they have learnt and use it with everything – and make
mistakes because of this – we call it … A developmental errors. B overgeneralisation. C
interference errors.
3 When students make mistakes because they are trying to say something they have never tried
to say before, we call these mistakes … A slips. B attempts. C errors.
4 When we correct all the mistakes that students make because we want them to concentrate on
language form, we call this … A slips. B fluency work. C accuracy work.
5 When students make mistakes because they are not thinking carefully enough, we call these
mistakes … A slips. B attempts. C errors.
6 When students make a mistake by putting the wrong word with the wrong word, we call the
mistake … A a word order error. B a collocation error. C a word formation error.
Reflect
3 If you were learning a foreign language, which would be more important for you: to be a fluent
speaker or to be an accurate speaker? And what about writing? How important would that be for
you?
It depends on the reason you are learning that language. If I want to leave , say in England, I
would like to be fluent in order to speak like them and live there. If I was choosing to be a
teacher in my country or get a job that involved say, English I would like to be an accurate
speaker.
Adolescents
Many adolescent students become passionate about the things that interest them.
Many adolescent students have a large amount of energy. This is sometimes a good and
creative thing, but sometimes, if we don't channel it correctly, it can lead to more or less
serious DISCIPLINE problems.
Adolescents usually have not chosen to come to our English lessons. They are there because
they have to be there. They may not see any good reason for learning English.
Many adolescents want and need PEER APPROVAL (the good opinion of their classmates)
far more than they want and need the approval of the teacher .
Tips for teaching teenagers
Encourage teenagers to have opinions and to think critically and questioningly about
what they are learning. Use the students' own knowledge and experience as much as
possible.
Treat the students like adults but remember they are still children.
Encourage the students to have AGENCY (take responsibility for their own learning).
Be super-organised I Teenagers like to know what they are doing and why.
Be consistent when there are discipline problems. Criticise the behaviour, not the student.
38. Exercises:
1 For questions 1–12, decide whether the following advice to new teachers would be especially
appropriate for teaching adults (A), teenagers (T) or young learners (YL). There may be more
than one possible answer.
Seminar 4: Instructions
Reflect
3 Think about when you were at school (both primary and secondary). 1 How much control
(agency) did you have over your own learning – either in small ways or in big ways? 2 How
concerned were your teachers with the students’ (you and your classmates) self esteem? How did
you know they were? How did you know they weren’t?
1. When I was at school I had my cousins that ”pushed” me to learn more by myself and so I
did. At school I want it more but we had to keep everything according to the curriculum and
not try anything new. That made me try to learn by myself.
Seminar 4: Instructions
2. Some of them were but some did not care at all. They just said their theories and what they
had to do after their papers and that was it.
3. I knew they were because they tried to make us feel more comfortable even though we did not
know the answer. They smiled and nodded which was a sign for us for understanding and
compassion. On the other hand, there were others that enjoyed your lack of information and
were cruel and sarcastic saying things like: „”Why should I bother asking you? I know you
don’t know anything anyway.”