CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL ASPECT OF METHODS IN TEACHING. 1. 1. TRADITIONAL METHODS AND THEIR USAGE. In the given theoretical part of work it is necessary to pay attention on those basic statements in which the most essential parts of activity are reflected and generalized. It appears to us that the wisest course of action under present circumstances is to concern ourselves less with theory and more with finding out what techniques succeed best with our students. What we have in mind is nothing so formal as a method or so well developed as an approach. It might be more accurate to think of it simply as an attitude toward language teaching. The chief purpose of my research work is to try to spell out some of the possible implications of such an attitude. For the sake of clarity , I would like to tell that teaching is more of an art than a science. Language teaching has always been , and remains , more of an art than a science. That is to say , it is largely intuitive and dependent on the personal abilities and convictions of the teacher. It appears that most of the teachers success is the result of such qualities as enthusiasm, intelligence and love for students. The present may well be one of the most unusual periods the twentieth century has seen in the development of methods of language instruction. It is probably the time when there is least agreement as to what method should be preferred. One method has succeeded another
Grammar- translation method
Direct method
Audio-lingual method
The structural approach
Suggestopedia
Total Physical Response
Communicative language teaching
The silent way
Community Language Learning
Task-based language learning
The natural approach
The lexical syllabus
In the direct method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not allowed to use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good pronounciation.
In grammar-translation method learning is largely by translation to and from the target language. Grammar rules are to be memorized and long lists of vocabulary learned by heart. There is little or no emphasis placed on developing oral ability.
The audio-lingual method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form.
The structural approach method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb “to be” is introduced and practiced before the present continuous tense which uses “to be” as an auxiliary.
Suggestopedia method is that a language can be acquired only when the learner is receptive and has no mental blocks. By various methods it is suggested to the student that the language is easy – and in this way the mental blocks to learning removed.
Total physical response works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as “Close your book” , “Go to the window”. The method stresses the importance of aural comprehension.
Communicative language learning method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in the various situations she would be likely to find herself in. The content of this method courses are functions such as inviting , suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expressions of time, quantity, location.
The silent way method is so called because the aim of the teacher is to say as little as possible in order that the learner can be in control of what he wants to say. No use I made of the mother tongue.
Community language learning method attempts are made to build strong personal links between the teacher and student so that there are no blocks to learning. There is much talk in the mother tongue which is translated by the teacher for repetition by the student.
Task- based language learning method is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little correction of errors.
The natural approach , propounded by Professor S. Krashen, stresses the similiarities between learning the first and second languages. There is no correction of mistakes. Learning takes place by the students being exposed to languages that is comprehensible or made comprehensible to them.
Lexical syllabus method is based on a computer analysis of language which identifies the most common words in the language and their various uses. The syllabus teaches these words in broadly the order of their frequency, and great emphasis is placed on the use of authentic materials.
In the past , when a widely accepted method has been challenged , those who did the challenging usually had a new method that they felt confident was superior to the old one. What is different about the present state of affairs is that no one has as yet proposed a new method , fully formulated, coherent, and sufficiently in harmony with generative-transformational linguistics and cognitive psychology to win wide acceptance.
The traditional methodology teaches the written language as the highest priority in learning a foreign language. However , it presents writing in a very unpleasant way. This forms a significant contradiction in the student’s attitude to the foreign language itself: writing the language is essential and it is highly appreciated, if one can write in the language he is considered to have reached the goal: yet on the other hand, the same activity is a form of punishing students. For the students , this approach can be highly demotivating. To sum up the above mentioned ideas, we can say the traditional language teaching is based on a traditional approach to the target language, which regards the language as a body of grammatical rules and an enormous number of words that are combined according to the rules. Traditional methodology that focuses on grammatical structures and isolated items of vocabulary. 2 Jim Scrivener adds that “the teacher spends quite a lot of class time using the board and explaining things –as if “ transmitting” the knowledge. Students are expected to learn the rules and the items of lexis, and it is supposed that they will be able to use the language. However, students mostly explore only narrow avenue of the language, because, according to Broughton and Scrivener , the syllabuses are grammatical and the language is grouped by purpose. The primary skills, such as reading and writing, listening and speaking , are generally taught at an insufficient level. Never the less this method, with all its potential disadvantages, has been used very often inschools world-wide,”and is still the predominant classroom method in some culture”.
