The approach of teaching English language

Ismailova Feruza Valikhonovna

Резюме

Это статья рассмотривается методы обучения английского языка и его виды, и дает обяснения каждому из них.

Түйіндеме

Бұл мақала ағылшын тілін оқыту әдістерін және оның бір неше түрлерін қарастырады, оларға әр қайсысына түсінік береді.

Every few years, new foreign language teaching methods arrive on the scene. New textbooks appear far more frequently. They are usually proclaimed to be more effective than those that have gone before, and, in many cases, these methods or textbooks are promoted or even prescribed for immediate use. New methods and textbooks may reflect current developments in applied linguistic theory or recent pedagogical trends.

Foreign language teaching methods and approaches have been controversial and changed over times in accordance with state needs and social-economic development. A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used for instruction. Commonly used teaching methods may include class participation, demonstration, recitation, memorization, or combinations of these. The choice of teaching method or methods to be used depends largely on the information or skill that is being taught, and it may also be influenced by the aptitude and enthusiasm of the students. A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used for instruction.

There are several methods of teaching English to students who are learning the language for the first time, each with their own unique pros and cons. Depending on the teaching situation, setting, and resources available, any one of these English teaching methods could be right for you and your students.

In this guide, we’ll go over the basics of each method and determine what kind of English language student it would work best on. If you or someone you know are trying to learn English for the first time, or improve a current English speaking skill level.

1. Grammatical Approach

A focus on grammar rules is one of the most popular English teaching methods in traditional academic settings, perhaps due to the focus on grammar in native language courses. Teaching English as a second language, according to this approach, should not stray from the model.

This approach can only work if the instructor speaks the first language of the students in addition to English, because much of it is based on the teacher’s ability to translate. English grammar rules should be taught conceptually in the student’s native language, with examples provided in simple English sentences that the teacher can translate back to the native tongue so that a solid parallel can be drawn. These grammar rules should be strictly enforced, and students should be allowed to practice proper structure and syntax through the use of examples and quizzes.

Also important to this method is vocabulary, as students need a large knowledge bank of English words in order to interpret and form their own English grammar examples. Grammar and vocabulary quizzes fuel this approach, and should be at the forefront of instruction. The English language is examined in terms of grammar rules.

In this method, students strictly follow the textbook and translate sentences word for word in order to memorize abstract grammatical rules and exceptions and long bilingual vocabulary lists:

- The teacher translates from the foreign language into the mother tongue and the students from their mother tongue into the foreign language.

- Grammar points are presented contextually in the textbook and explained by the teacher.

- The only exercised skill was reading but only in the context of translation.

Disadvantages of the grammar-translation method

Because of these limited objectives, language professionals found more disadvantages in this method than advantages.

Who is this best for?

This approach is best for students who natively speak a language with a dramatically different set of grammar rules from English. The instructor must have a strong grasp of the English language themselves, and the grammar rules of their classroom’s native tongue, meaning it’s best if all students are coming at English from the same first language.

2. Aural Approach

The aural English teaching method focuses on the most natural way to learn a language, which is by hearing it. Children who are raised to speak English learn it first by hearing it from their parents and others around them, long before they ever learn how to read or write. The aural approach is similar, meaning it’s strictly audio-based and should not focus on the reading or writing until long after the students can grasp the language on a speaking level.

The actual method involves dialogue. In the beginning, the students will mostly be spoken to. The teacher might use visual cues such as objects to give the students something to associate the words they’re hearing with. Then, they will be instructed to speak the words themselves, coming to grasp vocabulary and basic grammar through hearing and speaking, rather than advanced instruction or writing. Teachers should not write the words they’re saying, and let the bulk of the instruction exist in dialogue.

For note taking purposes, students should be allowed to write words they’ve learned phonetically, in their native language, if applicable.

Who is this best for?

The aural English teaching method is an approach best used for younger students, as it most closely relates to the way they’ve been used to learning language. It’s also great for students whose first language is of a writing system dissimilar to English.

This way, the students can focus on learning the language in its purest, aural form, rather than be distracted and possibly confused by learning the written word as well. That segment of the instruction can come once the students have a firm grasp on the spoken language. Proper pronunciation is a huge part of this method.

3. English-Only Approach

The English only method is one of the most direct approaches to teaching the language. For this method, neither the teacher nor the student should speak their native tongue at all during instruction. All instruction should be done in English only.

Vocabulary should be taught first, as it is the easiest to grasp because it can be demonstrated with a visual aid. As the student builds vocabulary, the instructor can begin introducing abstract words and elements of the language, but without explaining or focusing on the actual grammatical structure. The complexities of the language will be learned inherently, with the student picking up on its patterns through practice and application only.

At the end of each class period, there can be an optional question and answer session where students are allowed to ask the teacher about that day’s lesson. Here, clarifications may be made and confusion may be cleared up, but again, this is entirely optional. Sometimes, the best way to learn the language through this method is to just tough it out and let it come naturally.

Who is this best for?

This method works best for situations where the instructor does not speak the native language of the students they’re instructing. (Of course, this would make the optional question answer sessions an impossibility.) It is also an ideal method for situations where there is a diverse set of students who don’t share the same native language, all trying to learn English. This way, the barriers and constraints brought in by an inability to communicate natively can be dismissed, and a stronger focus on the language at hand can be made.

4. Translative Approach

The translative approach is a bit like the grammatical approach, only with a broader focus on the English language’s structure in comparison to the native language of the students. This approach must be taught by an instructor who speaks the same language as their students, and all the students must also share a fluency in the same language.

English will be taught as a subject like any other, with different elements of the language such as vocabulary, grammar, syntax, speaking, reading, and writing focused on every day. This method will make strong use of notecards, where students can write English vocabulary and grammar concepts on one side, and then translate the word or idea on the back in their native language.

Quizzes and exams should be given, first asking questions in the native language of the students, and eventually moving into English-only in the later duration of the course. Lecturing will be the primary method of instruction during the class, with student questions allowed and encouraged.

Who is this best for?

This method is best for students learning the English language because of an academic interest in it as a language, and not just an interest or need to know how to speak it. Speaking, reading, and writing the language will be given equal priority, and grammar rules and concepts will not be avoided for a more “natural” approach. It will be taught academically, as any other subject, and is best for students who are interested in this kind of rigorous approach.

5. Immersive Approach

The immersive approach is one of the best ways to learn the language for older students who are able to travel for their education. Someone who wants to learn English doesn’t even need to be enrolled in an English language course to use this method – all they need are the resources involved in travel.

For students wanting to learn British English, a trip to the United Kingdom is recommended. For students wanting to learn American English, a trip to the United States is recommended. If the student wants an academic-heavy approach, there are foreign exchange programs they can enroll in through colleges, or other academic programs that allow prolonged travel.

Again, an academic program is not required for this method. Staying in a new country and learning the language through pure immersion and necessity is one of the best ways to learn it quickly. Students will be surrounded by media in that language, and people who speak that language. It is a great way to break off from the distractions of your native tongue, and learn how to think in the English language as well as speak it.

Who is this best for?

Teachers and students who are able to travel and stay in another country long enough to develop a strong grasp on the English language.

This module provides a description of the basic principles and procedures of the most recognized and commonly used approaches and methods for teaching a second or foreign language. Each approach or method has an articulated theoretical orientation and a collection of strategies and learning activities designed to reach the specified goals and achieve the learning outcomes of the teaching and learning processes.

Teaching through problem solving is not always easy since many of us were taught by remembering facts whether or not they were related to each other, whether or not we were interested in the subject, and in some instances we were taught by rote. In fact, many teachers may say that problem solving in their particular subject area is not possible, not helpful, or only possible in limited parts of the subject matter.

However, everything that can be taught may be taught from a problem solving point of reference. The rest of this article is dedicated to this idea.

Steps in the Problem Solving Process

1. Provide the basis for the solving of the problem

The student is often stymied by the lack of a basis from which to even begin the problem solving process.

List the possible presumptions to be overcome in solving the problem.

Identify tools and references needed to help in arriving at a solution.

Give basic knowledge needed to begin searching for solutions.

Support off-the-wall suggestions which may have some validity or

may lead to other possibilities which are valid.

Breakdown the problem into manageable component parts.

2. Discover the interest of the students. Many students are not interested in a particular subject. It is the teacher's challenge to illuminate the connection between the topic to be taught and the students interests.

3. Enter the world of the student. See the material to be learned from the student's viewpoint of what the student wants to do, know, experience.

4. Allow the student to create a project of personal interest which uses the material to be learned.

5. Multi-explanations or solutions. There is always more than one explanation for a phenomenon (some have been proven false long ago but were held to be true by the best minds of each preceding age). Alternatively, there is more than one way to interpret what we know, or more than one way to derive a solution. The differences should be brought up and discussed and the students given the task of defending different positions or of deriving the solution from different angles.

There are some problems for which students know the strategy to solve as soon as they examine the problems. However, for particularly hard problems, they do not know right-away how they can solve the problem. The progress on such problems often comes from heuristics or 'rules of thumb' that are likely to be useful, but are not guaranteed to solve problems. As a result, the progress on a problem takes the form of multiple explorations or search of different ideas. Progress on a typical problem would involve a student trying out a lot of different leads using such heuristics. Work on the problem solving may go through different phases such as trying to understand the problem, working on a specific approach, getting stuck and trying to get unstuck, critically examining solutions or communicating. The work may involve going back and forth between these different phases of work. On this site, we would now be providing a variety of different suggestions for attacking the problem. Many of these are rules of thumb or heuristics. These heuristics can be described in the form of condition, action form where conditions describe problem situations in which these should be applied and actions describe what should be done.

The teacher or the textbook provides the topic, but the project writers themselves decide what they write and how they present it. This learner-centred characteristic of project work is vital, as we shall see when we turn now to consider the merits of project work. It is not always easy to introduce a new methodology, so we need to be sure that the effort is worthwhile. Students do not feel that English is a chore, but it is a means of communication and enjoyment. They can experiment with the language as something real, not as something that only appears in books. Project work captures better than any other activity the three principal elements of a communicative approach.

These are:

a) a concern for motivation, that is, how the learners relate to the task.

b) a concern for relevance, that is, how the learners relate to the language.

c) a concern for educational values, that is, how the language curriculum relates to the general educational development of the learner.

Type of student work	Benefits	Challenges	When it is suitable	Connections to theory
Individual	Students work at their own pace, they are confident about what they know and what they need to send more time on, they can use their preferred learning styles and strategies	Students don’t get the benefit of learning from and working with their peers	Giving it, Getting it, final tasks/assign-ment	Deductive Learning, Learning Styles & Strategies, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Pair	Students have the chance to work with and learn from their peers; struggling students can learn from more capable peers; it is especially useful for students who prefer interpersonal learning settings	If students are not matched up well (i.e. low students together, high students together, a higher student with a low student but they don’t work well together) pair work won’t be useful; the ability of the students to work in this way needs to be taken into consideration	Giving it and Getting it activities, Inductive learning activities	Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Inductive Learning
Group	Group work provides more opportunity for practice, an increased variety of activities is possible, increased student creativity, the Zone of Proximal Development increases	As with pair work, the groups must be carefully selected to ensure students can work productively; not all students are able to work to their full potential in this situation; assessment of student progress can be challenging	Giving it and Getting it activities	Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Assessment for/of learning

During the investigation of project method in teaching we founded types of project method.

I guess it is very effective to use at school in the process of the lesson.

On the basis of the literary sources studied we can come to the following conclusions that project work has advantages like the increased motivation when learners become personally involved in the project, all four skills, writing, listening, and speaking, are integrated; autonomous learning is promoted as learners become more responsible for their own learning. The disadvantages of project work are the noise which is made during the class, also projects are time-consuming and the students use their mother tongue too much, the weaker students are lost and not able to cope with the task and the assessment of projects is very difficult.

However, every type of project can be held without any difficulties and so with every advantage possible. A student who starts studying methods will be puzzled by the variety of “methods” he or she may come across in books and journals and, of course there good grounds for this. At different periods, depending on the aims of teaching and learning a foreign language, new methods sprang up. In each case the method received a certain name; sometimes its name denoted logical categories, for example the synthetic method, analytic method the deductive method, the inductive method, sometimes the method was named after the aspect of the language upon which attention was focused as in the cases of the grammar method, the lexical method, the phonetic method. A third set of methods received their names from the skill which was the main object of teaching. Among these are the translation methods, the oral method. Sometimes the method got its name from the psychology of language learning: in this, category the following names occur: the intuitive method, the conscious method, the direct method, the project method. Finally the method was sometimes named after its inventor.

References

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2. Harner Jeremy. The practice of English language teaching. L. - New York,
1991.-296p.

3. Potter Mike. International issues. Teacher's book. L., 1991.- 125p.

4. Rogova G. Methods of teaching English. Leningrad, 1975.- 312p.

5. Бугаев Н.И. Обучение – это общение.// Народное образование Якутии- 1992 №2 с.37-49

6. Загвязинский В.И. Методология и методика дидактических исследований.- М: Педагогика, 1982