18 November 2013

Emre Özmen

English Teaching Method

In this essay I intend to present a method of teaching English that I feel is the most beneficial to its students and to its teachers. For this I have researched several different existing teaching methodologies as part of my TEFL course, the method of teaching I am about to present to you is the result of this research.

Teaching and Learning Goals

As indicated in the table above, listening and speaking are the two most important skills that this method intends to develop. Reading and writing are of secondary importance within this framework of teaching, this is done under the general assumption that one who can speak will also be able to write or read, or at the very least be able to understand written text and able to produce structurally sound texts .

The purpose of language leaning within this framework is first and foremost communication. By communication the writer refers to the ability to speak and listen, or in other words hold a conversation in L2. To achieve this, the students need to be able to think in L2, for this reason L2 is the only vehicular language in the classroom, with no referencing or anchoring being made to the students’ mother tongue. Pronunciation is taught from the beginning and oral skills are fundamental. Furthermore a substantial amount of vocabulary will be part of the teaching framework, vocabulary is favored over grammar structures, however grammar structures are not completely irrelevant, the writer will elaborate on this later in this text.

One might see similarities between the “Direct Method (Berlitz)” and the goals of the method presented in this text, for good reason, as large parts of the Direct Method are part of the writer method as well.  There are differences however. The Direct Method gives equal attention to all four skills related to language learning; Listening, speaking, reading and writing. Whereas the “no name” method, which is what the writer decided to name his method just now, gives attention primarily to Speaking and Listening. The no name method believes that by giving more attention to these skills its students will pick up the L2 faster than they would when attention would be split equally between all four skills. Hence the balance between receptive and productive skills is more or less equal within the no name method. This is especially the case when it comes to the Listening and Speaking skills, and to a lesser extent the case between the Reading and Writing Skills.

The most significant difference between the no name and direct method is the approach to teaching grammar. Whereas the direct method intends to do this inductively through introducing functions and never explicitly mentioning rules or structures, the no name method goes one step further. As with the direct method, the first introduction to any grammar structure or rule will be inductive as well within the no name method, however, the no name method allows for moments of reflection within its curriculum where a deductive approach to teaching grammar will be used. More details of how this will be done can be found later in this text, in the lesson plan section. The basic idea is that at the end of every class, a predetermined amount of time will be taken to reflect on some of the more complex structures of grammar that would have been introduced to the students earlier in the same class inductively. This style of teaching combines the benefits of introducing grammar inductively with that of doing it deductively. We seek to create a so called “Magic Moment” for students, this is a moment at which students having studied a couple of new functions earlier in the class finally get to see some rules linked to that function.  After having given their brains a substantial amount of time to try to comprehend the structures inductively, and having thus gotten them to the right state of mind, we introduce the actual rules of the functions dealt with in class. This is the moment where their minds go “click”, a moment in which all comes together.

Of course, these reflective moments need not be taken every class because not all functions are as complicated and require a deductive way of explaining. For that reason it is down to the teachers professional judgment as to whether a moment as such is taken at all, taken for certain functions, or taken for all functions.

Syllabus Organization

The syllabus is based upon context related structures and vocabulary. This means that students will learn according to certain situations they might find themselves in and the appropriate vocabulary and structures that are relevant to that situation. In many ways it is very similar to a syllabus as used by the direct method, in that structures and vocabulary introduced through certain contexts or situations. However as explained earlier, the no name method has a deductive part similar to that of the GTR method, and for this reason each section of the syllabus will also contain a section with grammatical points explicitly taught to be used at the teachers discretion.

Lesson Plan

The following is an illustration of what an average class is to look like within the No Name method.

Teacher and Student Roles

The teacher directs the class and need be is the initiator of communication. Ideally the teacher only functions as a facilitator. Student-to-student communication is cherished and of importance in the learning process. The Teacher is also the primary assessor of language used by students whereas the peers act as a secondary assessor. When, however, the teacher decides to take a moment of reflection for some deductive teaching, it is expected from the teacher to be more of a model and maintain a healthy level of authority as well; this is to ensure that the message comes across clearly. One could call this style of teaching a largely Berlitz type of teaching with a hint of GTR teacher roles. The teacher in general is to have a motivating attitude towards the students, praises are part of the classroom and a relaxed and easy going way of correction is maintained at all time.

Class Materials

Teachers are expected to create their own materials for the different classes that they teach, with the syllabus serving as a guideline for the different topics. No textbooks will be used. As the classes are mostly context based, such as “we are at the bank” or “we are doing grocery shopping”, there a several possibilities for introducing such context. As students have different preferences as to how they learn a language, for instance some students need more visual stimuli whereas others thrive on audio; the no name method intends to incorporate as many different ways of introducing context as possible within its structure.  The basic guideline is to at least use to different formers of introducing context in every class. This may be a video, a text, an audio tape or any other viable channel available to the teachers. Having introduced the context the teacher will intend to teach through dialog. Only exemption being the reflection moments where the deductive approach is used, within these moments the transaction of information flows more from teacher to students instead of a dialog.

Affective Factors

As there may be affective factors that limit or block a students learning process, it is of great importance to analyze these factors as thorough as any one teacher can. Within the framework of the no name method, teachers are instructed to have a round of questions when they start teaching a class for the first time. Guidelines as to what type of questions to ask will be incorporated within the syllabus, however, however for the most part it will come down to the teachers ability and experience. Once affective factors are identified, teachers have enough freedom in the sources they may use to anticipate these affective factors.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are to be monitored by teachers at all times. Teacher are to rely on their experience in assessing whether or not a student is up to par with what he or she is supposed to know. This is largely an informal process, giving teachers substantial responsibilities.

Next to this there will also be a formal assessment structure in place. These are moments within the curriculum a regular class will be substituted by a so called “review” class. In these classes, which take place at the end of every level, students will be tested for their knowledge of the English language through small exams and teacher dialog.

Adjusted Approaches

When teaching complete beginners teachers are allowed to deviate slightly from the framework of this method. Key areas in which teachers will get more freedom are; referring back to mother tongue and the freedom to omit grammar reflection points. Teachers are allowed to reinforce the students understanding by using mother tongue vocabulary whenever absolutely necessary. Furthermore they are allowed to omit any grammar reflection point if they feel like it will confuse the beginners.

If students of the course are younger than 13 years old the lesson plan is to be adjusted to them. More activities will be done where each takes a shorter amount of time instead of the two larger activities. This is to keep the students interested and anticipate their shorter attention span. Furthermore interactive material is to be incorporated in class, relying more on audio-visual material than written material.

Consistency

I believe my method is fairly consistent with what I have learned so far at Oxbridge. The method’s main aim is to get students to communicate, in which speaking and listening are very important factors. It is teaching a language through using it. This is the method that most contemporary language institutes including Oxbridge use.