Methods in Learning English

Composed by Aziza Restu Febrianto

 

What is the best teaching method for learning English?

According to academic research, linguists have demonstrated that there is not one single best method for everyone in all contexts, and that no one teaching method is inherently superior to the others.
Also, it is not always possible – or appropriate – to apply the same methodology to all learners, who have different objectives, environments and learning needs.

Applying the most appropriate method for that learner’s specific objectives, learning style and context.

An experienced professional language teacher always adopts the Principled Eclecticism approach, deciding on the most suitable techniques and applying the most appropriate methodology for that learner’s specific objectives, learning style and context.
Methods of teaching English have developed rapidly, especially in the previous 40 years. As a language learner, training manager, or teacher, it is important to understand the various methods and techniques so that you are able to navigate the market, make educated choices, and boost your enjoyment of learning a language.

An Overview

Each teaching method is based on a particular vision of understanding the language or the learning process, often using specific techniques and materials used in a set sequence.
The main methodologies are listed below in the chronological order of their development:

• Grammar Translation – the classical method
• Direct Method – discovering the importance of speaking
• Audio-lingualism – the first modern methodology
• Humanistic Approaches – a range of holistic methods applied to language learning
• Communicative Language Teaching – the modern standard method
• Principled Eclecticism – fitting the method to the learner, not the learner to the method

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What are the Differences?

Each method has a different focus or priority, so let’s look at what this means in practical terms in the classroom.
The more common methods have a link to a separate page with more details and an explanation of how they work, including the most common method currently used – Communicative Language Teaching:

Method	Focus	Characteristics
Grammar Translation	Written literary texts	Translate from English into your native language
Direct Method (also called Natural Method)	Everyday spoken language	Student learns by associating meaning directly in English
Audio-Lingual Method	Sentence and sound patterns	Listening and speaking drills and pattern practice only in English
Cognitive Code Approach	Grammar rules	English grammar rules deduced and then understood in context
Humanistic Approaches – 4 popular examples:
– The Silent Way	Student interaction rather than teacher	Teacher is silent to allow student awareness of how English works
– Suggestopedia	Meaningful texts and vocabulary	Relaxed atmosphere, with music; encourages subliminal learning of English
– Community Language Learning	Student interaction	Understanding of English through active student interaction
– Comprehension Approach (Natural Approach, the Learnables, and Total Physical Response)	Listening comprehension	English speaking delayed until students are ready; meaning clarified through actions and visuals
Communicative Language Teaching	Interaction, authentic communication and negotiating meaning	Understanding of English through active student interaction; role play, games, information gaps
Content-based, Task-based, and Participatory Approaches	What is being communicated, not structure of English	Content based on relevance to students’ lives: topics, tasks, problem-solving
Learning Strategy Training, Cooperative Learning, and Multiple Intelligences	How to learn	Teach learning strategies, cooperation; activities vary according to different intelligences

Based on Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Oxford University Press)

Modern Teaching Methods

As mentioned above, the modern language teacher doesn’t follow one rigid method, but applies the Principled Eclecticism approach – fitting the method to the learner, not vice versa.
This means choosing the techniques and activities that are appropriate for each particular task, context and learner, with a focus on motivation and helping learners become independent and inspired to learn more.
The explanation of Principled Eclecticism also includes a useful ten-point guide for teachers and language students on the best teaching and learning techniques.

By Alex Taylor

London, 27 September 2016

Class Meeting 1:Module: Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory

Introduction to Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Composed by Aziza Restu Febrianto

Backgrounds:

Sociolinguistic Toolkit

1.       All language events consist of a piece of language in a social language.

2.       Every different social context determines that particular form of language.

3.       The language used in particular situations determines the nature of that social event.

Variables in Sociolinguistics

There are two types of variable in social investigation. The social variable is the factor that determines a variation in language. Possible social factors include gender, geography, age and occupation, and so on, as discussed throughout section A below.

What is Linguistic Competence?

• This refers to ‘knowledge of the grammar of a language as a formal abstraction and distinct from the behaviour of actual use, i.e. performance’ (Widdowson, 1996: 126)

Widdowson, H. G. (1996)  Linguistics. Oxford: OUP

What is Communicative Competence?

•          Adding ‘communicative’ element (knowing how to use language in everyday life) to Chomsky’s notion of linguistic ‘competence’ (knowledge of language system in the mind) ¨
•          Adding ‘culture’ = language in use in a particular context ¨
•         When to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner’ (Hymes, 1972, 277) ¨ Hymes, D. (1972) ‘On communicative competence’ in Pride, J. B. and J. Holmes (eds) Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

What is Grammatical competence?

·         Linguistic competence (Chomsky) or what is “formally possible” (Hymes)

Sociolinguistic [pragmatic] competence = shared understanding of context of communication, role relationships, shared information, communicative purposes

Discourse competence = language above the sentence (text) and language in use (context): what makes a text cohesive and coherent internally and in its context of use

Strategic competence = coping strategies for starting, stopping, maintaining, repairing and redirecting spoken interaction.

Canale, M & Swain, M. (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1: 1-47.

What is Sociolinguistics?

·       The branch of linguistics which studies the relation between language and society [...] Sociolinguistics may be usefully defined as the study of variation in language, or more precisely of variation within speech communities ...’ (p. 282-3). ¨ Trask, R. L. (1999). Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.

·       Sociolinguistics is in many ways a blend of sociology and linguistics. It is sometimes referred to as the‘sociology of language’, although that label suggests a greater concern with sociology rather than linguistic explanations, whereas sociolinguists are principally concerned with language; or to be more precise, with what Dell Hymes crucially calls ‘socially constituted’ language (Coupland and Jaworski, 1997, p. 14): with the way language is constructed by, and in turn helps to construct, society’ (p. 193). ¨ Finch, G. (2000) Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

What do Linguists study?

1. Variation (syntactic, lexical and phonological)
2. Standard and non-standard language ¨
3. Status of different dialects 
4. Power and status 
5. Language ideology 
6. Language and identity 
7. Endangered languages 
8. Language rights

References to consider:

• ·         For how to put communicative competence into practice e.g. Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 46-56. 
•      For a critique Leung, C. (2005) Convivial communication: recontextualizing communicative competence. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 15 (2): 119-144

Sociolinguistics and Sociocultural Theory (SCT) Hypothesis

‘In SCT, all human-made objects (material and symbolic) are artifacts … But not all artifacts are mediating means; that is, they do not by virtue of their existence act as shapers of our interaction with the world. They have the potential to become mediating means, but until used as such, they offer only affordances and constraints to an individual … When used as a mediational means (tool), we need to consider the artifact itself and the where, why, when and how of its use’ (Swain et al., 2010: 2). 

SCT hypothesis: learning happens “outside in”

‘Learning is seen as first social, then individual. Consciousness and conceptual development are seen firstly as inter-mental phenomena, shared between individuals; later, individuals develop their own consciousness, which becomes an intra-mental phenomenon. For the human race, and also for the individual infant, language is the prime symbolic mediating tool for the development of consciousness’ (Mitchell & Myles 2004: 198)

The influence of the “social” (SCT) on view of the language classroom

·         The classroom as: ¨ A community of practice

·         Socially located in a particular cultural context

What is sociocultural theory?

·         A theory of mind based on Vygotksy’s seminal work

·         Put simply sociocultural theory examines the role of the social in learning & development.

What do sociocultural theorists study?

The task of sociocultural analysis is to understand how mental functioning is related to cultural, institutional, and historical context (Wertsch, 1998: 3).

Wertsch, J. 1998. Mind as Action, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• ·         Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) 
• ·         Scaffolding 
• ·         Collaborative dialogue 
• ·         Private speech 
• ·         Affect/ Cognition 
• ·         Mediational means 
• ·         Communities of practice 
• ·         Personal narratives [history of the individual – ‘genesis’] ... And so on …

From SCT perspective, language learning

·         starts in the social world of the learner before it is internalised by the learner

·         is mediated in self-directed, individual and social activities that the learner participates in

·         is co-constructed in interactions with others ¨

·         Is attractive to educators as it purports that teachers can make successful interventions in learning

·        BIG Assumption: social relationships in the learning environment are collaborative and cooperative & facilitate learning:

·         How cooperative and collaborative are social relations where you work?

·         Who can facilitate whose learning in the language classroom?

·         What is the role of the teacher and students?

·         What interventions can teachers make to foster the ideal conditions for learning in the classroom?

Watch Vygotsky – Sociocultural Theory (part 1 Vygotsky’s Basic Theory) presented by Dr Andrew Johnson from Minnesota State University on the URL link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvX90sWmV_g

My First Journey in the UK

When it comes to seeking knowledge, it's neither about college where we study and receive a degree nor the new different places where we visit and live in...It's not even about how many books, articles and journals we read and write..or any other tasks we deal with... Life mainly offers a huge number of choices to make... Above all, what we need is simply meet and catch up with new people, touching different atmospheres and trying a wide range of various new tastes and patterns never seen before to grabbing any views to perfecting our own perspectives... 

And it's all gonna start from here..

University College London

Institute of Education

MA TESOL Program

London, September 25, 2016

Class Meeting 1: Module: The Fundamental of Second and Foreign Language Teaching

Characteristics of Human Language

First meeting: Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Composed by Aziza Restu Febrianto

What is language?

• Language is the ability to acquire and use complex system of communication, particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of such a system (Wikipedia).
• Language is a system of communication consisting of sounds, words, and grammar, or the system of communication used by people in a particular country or type of work (Cambridge Dictionary).