English Teaching Methodology

English Teaching Methodology
Lesson 1
What you should know about English
teaching?
Reference Books
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Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Diane
Larsen-Freeman, Oxford University Press.
Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, H. Douglas
Brown, Prentice Hall Regents.
Teaching by Principles, H. Douglas Brown, Prentice Hall Regents.
Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Jack C.
Richards & Theordore S. Rodgers, Cambridge University Press.
An introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research.
Diane Larsen-Freeman & Michael H. Long.
The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer,
Longman, Ltd.
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.
Celce-Murcia, M. H&H
Second Language Teaching & Learning. David Nunan. (1995).
H& H.
I. A Framework of TESOL
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English language teaching and learning:
language, education, psychology
Theoretical Underpinning: First
language education, second language
acquisition
Research methodology
Linguistics
II. Important terms in TESOL
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TESOL, TEFL, TESL
TESOL—an acronym for teaching English to speakers of
other languages, used, particularly in the USA, to describe
the teaching of English in situations where it is either a
second language or a foreign language.
TEFL—an acronym for teaching English as a foreign
language, used to describe the teaching of English in
situations where it is a foreign language.
TESL—an acronym for teaching English as a second
language, used either to describe the teaching of English in
situations where it is a second language or to refer to any
situation where English is taught to speakers of other
languages.
ESL & EFL
ESL—an abbreviation for English as a
second language
EFL— an abbreviation for English as a
foreign language
* ph.D: pizza-hut delivery
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Deductive learning of grammar— is an approach
to language learning in which learners are taught
rules and given specific information about a
language. They then apply these rules when they
use the language. For example, in the grammar
translation method, specific grammar rules are
given to learners and practice subsequently follows
to familiarize students with the rule. The features of
it are time-saving and suitable for adult learners
who can afford abstract thinking. Besides it is
widely used in EFL contexts where exposure to the
target language is limited and the length of
instruction time is short. (e.g. GTM, adult learners,
FI/analytic learners, EFL contexts)
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Inductive learning— is an approach to language
learning in which learners are not taught grammatical
or other types of rules directly but are left to discover
or induce rules from their experience of using the
language. Language teaching methods which
emphasize use of the language rather than
presentation of information about the language
include the direct method, the communicative
approach and counseling learning. The features of it
are time-consuming and applicable to young learners
in natural settings such as ESL contexts.
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performance and competence
Performance-- a person’s actual use of language;
how a person uses his knowledge of a language in
producing and understanding sentences.
Competence-- a person’s knowledge of a language
People may have the competence to produce a long
sentence but when they actually try to use this
knowledge, there are reasons why they restrict it. For
example, they may run out of breath or their listeners
forget what has been said if the sentence is too long.
Due to performance factors such as fatigue, lack of
attention, nervousness or excitement, their actual use
of language may not reflect their competence. The
errors they make are described as examples of
performance.
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Acquisition vs. learning
Acquisition--the processes by which
people naturally develop proficiency in
a language
Learning-- the processes by which
people formally develop language
proficiency.
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bottom-up processing v.s. top-down
processing
Top-down processing—a way in which
humans analyze and process language as
part of the process of comprehension and
learning by making use of previous
knowledge (higher-level knowledge) in
analyzing and processing information which is
received such as one’s expectations,
experience, schemata in reading the text.
Bottom-up processing— a way making use
principally of information which is already
present in the data (words, sentences, etc.)
such as understanding a text mainly by
analyzing the words and sentences in the text
itself.
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Teacher-centered v.s. learner-centered teaching
Teacher-centered (fronted) teaching— a
teaching style in which instruction is closely
managed and controlled by the teacher, where
students often respond in unison to teacher
questions, and where whole-class instruction is
preferred to other methods.
Learner-centered teaching— methods of
teaching which emphasizes the active role of
students in learning, tries to give learners more
control over what and how they learn and
encourages learners to take more responsibility for
their own learning. It is encouraged by many
current teaching approaches.
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Target language v.s. native language
Target language—the language which a person is
learning
Native language— a first language or mother
tongue/motherese which is acquired first.
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Form v.s. function
Form— the physical characteristics of a
thing-> in language use, a linguistic form is
like the imperative
Function— a linguistic form can perform a
variety of different functions:
Come here for a drink-> invitation
Watch out-> warning
Turn left at the corner-> direction
Pass the salt-> request
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CALL-- computer-assisted language
learning
CAI: computer-assisted instruction
3 P- a traditional classroom teaching
procedure derived from the Situational
Approach of presentation, practice and
production
III. Research findings on SLA
(a) Adults and adolescents can acquire a L2
(b) The learners creates a systematic IL with the same systematic
errors as the child learning the L1
(c) There are predictable sequences in acquisition
(d) Practice doesn’t make perfect
(e) Knowing a linguistic rule doesn’t mean knowing how to use it
(f) Isolated explicit error correction is usually ineffective
(g) More adult learners fossilize
(h) One cannot achieve nativelike command of a L2
in one hour a day
(i) The learners’ task is enormous since language is complex
A meaningful context is paramount.
IV. Language Learning
Principles
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Principles of Language Learning
Language learning principles are generally
sorted into three sub-groupings: Cognitive
Principles, Affective Principals and Linguistic
Principles. Principles are seen as theory
derived from research, to which teachers
need to match classroom practices. Here are
some brief summaries of the principles that
fall into each grouping:
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Cognitive Principles
-> Automaticity: Subconcious processing of language
with peripheral attention to language forms;
-> Meaningful Learning: This can be contrasted to
Rote Learning, and is thought to lead to better long
term retention;
-> Anticipation of Rewards: Learners are driven to
act by the anticipation of rewards, tangible or
intangible;
-> Intrinsic Motivation: The most potent learning
"rewards" are intrinsically motivated within the
learner;
-> Strategic Investment: The time and learning
strategies learners invest into the language learning
process.
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Affective Principles
-> Language Ego: Learning a new language
involves developing a new mode of thinking a new language "ego";
-> Self-Confidence: Success in learning
something can be equated to the belief in
learners that they can learn it;
-> Risk-Taking: Taking risks and
experimenting "beyond" what is certain
creates better long-term retention;
-> Language-Culture Connection: Learning a
language also involves learning about cultural
values and thinking.
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Linguistic Principles
-> Native Language Effect: A learner's native
language creates both facilitating and
interfering effects on learning;
-> Interlanguage: At least some of the
learner's development in a new language can
be seen as systematic;
-> Communicative Competence: Fluency and
use are just as important as accuracy and
usage - instruction needs to be aimed at
organizational, pragmatic and strategic
competence as well as psychomotor skills.
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Affective Principles
-> Language Ego: Learning a new language involves developing a new mode of
thinking - a new language "ego";
-> Self-Confidence: Success in learning something can be equated to the belief
in learners that they can learn it;
-> Risk-Taking: Taking risks and experimenting "beyond" what is certain creates
better long-term retention;
-> Language-Culture Connection: Learning a language also involves learning
about cultural values and thinking.
Linguistic Principles
-> Native Language Effect: A learner's native language creates both facilitating
and interfering effects on learning;
-> Interlanguage: At least some of the learner's development in a new language
can be seen as systematic;
-> Communicative Competence: Fluency and use are just as important as
accuracy and usage - instruction needs to be aimed at organizational, pragmatic
and strategic competence as well as psychomotor skills.