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7.1.3. Theory of Language Teaching
In accordance with their theory of L2 development, learning-centered
pedagogists assert that “language is best taught when it is being used to
transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning”
(Krashen & Terrell, 1983, p. 55). Accordingly, their pedagogic agenda cen-
ters around what the teacher can do in order to keep the learners’ atten-
tion on informational content rather than on the linguistic form. Their the-
ory of language teaching is predominantly teacher-fronted, and therefore
best characterized in terms of teacher activity in the classroom:
1. The teacher follows meaning-focused activities.
2. The teacher provides comprehensible input.
3. The teacher integrates language skills.
4. The teacher makes incidental correction.
Let us briefly outline each of the four.
The teacher follows meaning-focused activities.
In keeping with the principle
of incidental learning, learning-centered pedagogy advocates meaning-
focused activities where the learner’s attention is focused on communica-
tive activities and problem-solving tasks, and not on grammatical exer-
cises. Instruction is seen as an instrument to promote the learner’s ability
to understand and say something. Interaction is seen as a meaning-focused
activity directed by the teacher. Language use is contingent upon task
completion and the meaning exchange required for such a purpose. Any
attention to language forms as such is necessarily incidental to communi-
cation. In the absence of any explicit focus on grammar, vocabulary gains
importance because with more vocabulary, there will be more compre-
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hension and with more comprehension, there will be, hopefully, more
language development.
The teacher provides comprehensible input.
In order to carry out meaning-
focused activities, it is the responsibility of the teacher to provide compre-
hensible input that, according to Krashen, is
i
+ 1 where
i
represents the
learner’s current level of knowledge/ability and
i
+ 1, the next higher level.
Because it is the stated goal of instruction to provide comprehensible input,
and move the learner along a developmental path, “all the teacher need to
do is make sure the students understand what is being said or what they are
reading. When this happens, when the input is understood, if there is
enough of input,
i
+ 1 will usually be covered automatically” (Krashen &
Terrell, 1983, p. 33). Prabhu uses the term,
reasonable challenge
, to refer to a
similar concept. In order then to provide reasonably challenging compre-
hensible input, the teacher has to exercise language control, which is done
not in any systematic way, but naturally, incidentally by regulating the cog-
nitive and communicative complexity of activities and tasks. Regulation of
reasonable challenge should then be based on ongoing feedback. Being
the primary provider of comprehensible input, the teacher determines the
topic, the task, and the challenge level.
The teacher integrates language skills.
The principle of comprehension-
before-production assumes that, at least at the initial level of L2 develop-
ment, the focus is mainly on listening and reading. Therefore, learning-
centered pedagogists do not believe in teaching language skills—listening,
speaking, reading and writing—either in isolation or in strict sequence, as
advocated by language-centered pedagogists. The teacher is expected to in-
tegrate language skills wherever possible. In fact, the communicative activi-
ties and problem-solving tasks create a condition where the learners have to
draw, not just from language skills, but from other forms of language use,
including gestures and mimes.
The teacher makes incidental correction.
The learning-centered pedagogy is
designed to encourage initial speech production in single words or short
phrases thereby minimizing learner errors. The learners will not be forced
to communicate before they are able, ready, and willing. However, they are
bound to make errors particularly because of the conditions that are cre-
ated for them to use their limited linguistic repertoire. In such a case, the
learning-centered pedagogy attempts to avoid overt error correction. Any
correction that takes place should be incidental and not systematic. Accord-
ing to Prabhu (1987, pp. 62–63), incidental correction, in contrast to sys-
tematic correction, is (a) confined to particular tokens (i.e. the error itself
is corrected, but there is no generalization to the type of error it repre-
sents); (b) only responsive (i.e., not leading to any preventive or preemp-
tive action); (c) facilitative (i.e. regarded by learners as a part of getting ob-
jective and not being more important than other aspects of the activity);
LEARNING-CENTERED METHODS
143
and (d) transitory (i.e., drawing attention to itself only for a moment—not
for as long as systematic correction does).
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