Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching

TEACHINGTECHNIQUESIN ENGLISHAS A SECONDLANGUAGE

SERIES EDITORS

Russell N. Campbell

William E. Rutherford

nd PrincipleLanguage

eachingDiane Larsen-Freeman

OXPORD SECOND EDITION

Techniquesand Principlesin LanguageTeachingDIANE LARSEN-FREEMAN

Second Edition

OXFORDUNIVERSITY PRESS

OXPORDUNIVERSITY PRESSGreat Clarendon Strecr, Oxford oxi 6DP

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Series Editors' Preface

It is always a feeling of great pride for general editors of a pedagogicalseries when the resounding success of one of its books leads to thedemand for publication of a second, expanded edition. We are thereforeextremely pleased that Diane Larsen-Freeman has undertaken to con-tribute to the field of language-teaching professionals a newly revised,updated, and enlarged version of her original and immensely valuableTechniques and Principles in Language Teaching. The ways in which thesecond edition differs from the firstfrom the addition of new methods,through more attention to the learning process, to a little self-indulgencein methodological choiceare amply documented in Diane's own mes-sage 'To the Teacher Educator', and these are departures that are bothappropriate and illuminating. What has not changed, howeverandmodesty would prevent her from saying soare the intangible qualitiesthat made the first edition so special: enlightenment without condescen-sion, comprehensiveness without tedium, engagement without oversim-plification. Still evident as before is Diane's gift for being able gently tolead one to examine one's own professional behavior for possible incon-gruities between one's view of language and the way one teaches it. Andstill there, even intensified, is evidence of her serious and deeply personalthought devoted to complex pedagogical issues and her incomparableability to make these matters come alive with great clarity for the widestprofessional readership. It is no mean accomplishment.

Russell N.CampbellWilliam E.Rutherford

Contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Acknowledgments

To the Teacher Educator

Introduction

The Grammar-Translation Method

The Direct Method

The Audio-Lingual Method

The Silent Way

Desuggestopedia

Community Language Learning

Total Physical Response

Communicative Language Teaching

Content-based, Task-based, and ParticipatoryApproaches

Learning Strategy Training, Cooperative Learning,and Multiple Intelligences

Conclusion

Appendix

vii

ix

1

11

23

35

53

73

S9

107

121

137

159

177

191

Acknowledgments

I must begin by thanking the readers of the first edition of this book. Yourreceptiveness has enabled me to publish this updated second edition. Inaddition, it has been a joy to interact with you.

The approach I have used in this book is based on my experience inteaching the methods/approaches course at the School for InternationalTraining. This book would not have been written in the first place if itwere not for the influence of my colleagues and students there. I am verygrateful to them all. In particular, for this second edition, I must single outCarolyn Nims, who went out of her way to give me comments basedupon her experience in using the book in a teacher education program.Debra Blake and Bill Conley were also kind enough to read portions ofthis manuscript and offer comments.

This book has also benefitted from the fact that leading methodologistshave generously responded to my request for feedback on portions of thismanuscript. I am indebted to Earl Stevick (To the Teacher Educator),Shakti Gattegno of Educational Solutions Inc. (Silent Way), GeorgiLozanov, Alison Miller, and Tetsuo Nishizawa (DesuggestopediaI, Jenny-belle Rardin and Pat Tirone of Counseling-Learning Institutes (Commu-nity Language Learning), James Asher (Total Physical Response),Marjorie Wesche (content-based instruction), and Elsa Auerbach (partic-ipatory approach). Their comments made me feel more confident that Ihave interpreted the methodologists' intent. I am also grateful for thecomments of Ruth Wajnryb of LARA Consultancy in Australia, andJoann Crandall. Any remaining errors of interpretation are, of course,fully my responsibility.

For the initial faith they showed and for their continued encourage-ment and helpful suggestions, I acknowledge with gratitude the editors ofthis series, Russell Campbell and William Rurherford.

It has also been a pleasure working with the editors at Oxford Univer-sity Press, first Anne Conybeare and then Julia Sallabank.

Finally, I must express my deep appreciation to my spouse, Elliott, whohas, as always, given me his support throughout this project.

Diane Larsen-Freeman

To the Teacher Educator

ON LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS AND THEIR USEIN TEACHER EDUCATION

A study of methods is invaluable in teacher education in at least five ways:

1 Methods serve as a foil for reflection that can aid teachers in bringingto conscious awareness the thinking that underlies their actions. Weknow that teachers come to teacher training with ideas about thereaching/learning process formed from the years they have spent as stu-dents themselves {Lortie 1975). A major purpose of teacher educationis to help teachers make the tacit explicit (Shulman 1987; Freeman199 1). When teachers are exposed to methods and asked to reflect ontheir principles and actively engage with their techniques, they canbecome clearer about why they do what they do. They become awareof their own fundamental assumptions, values, and beliefs.

2 By becoming clear on where they stand, teachers can choose to teachdifferently from the way they were taught. They are able to see whythey are attracted to certain methods and repelled by others. They areable to make choices that are informed, not conditioned. They may beable to resist, or at least argue against, the imposition of a particularmethod by authorities. In other situations, where a method is notimposed, methods offer teachers alternatives to what they currentlythink and do. It does not necessarily follow that teachers will choose tomodify their current practice. The point is that they will have theunderstanding to do so, if they are able to and want to.

3 A knowledge of methods is part of the knowledge base of teaching.With it, teachers join a community of practice (Freeman 1992). Being acommunity member entails learning the professional discourse that com-munity members use so that professional dialog can take place. Beingpart of a discourse community confers a professional identity and con-nects teachers with others so they are not so isolated in their practice.

4 A professional discourse community may also challenge teachers' con-ceptions of how teaching leads to learning. Interacting with others'

x To the Teacher Educator

conceptions of practice helps keep reachers' teaching alivehelps pre-vent it from becoming stale and overly routinized (Prabhu 1990).

5 A knowledge of methods helps expand a teacher's repertoire of tech-niques. This in itself provides an additional avenue for professionalgrowth, as some teachers find their way to new philosophical posi-tions, not by first entertaining new principles, but rather by trying outnew techniques. Moreover, effective teachers who are more experi-enced and expert have a large, diverse repertoire of best practices(Arends 1998), which presumably helps them deal more effectivelywith the unique qualities and idiosyncrasies of their students.

Despite these potential gains from a study of methods, it is important toacknowledge that since the publication of the first edition of this book in1986, a number of writers in our field have criticized the concept of lan-guage teaching methods. Some say that methods are prescriptions forclassroom behavior, and thar teachers are encouraged by textbook pub-lishers and academics to implement them whether or nor the methods areappropriate for a particular conrext (Pennycook 1989; Richards 1990;Holliday 1994). Others have noted thar the search for the best method isill-advised (Prabhu 1990; Bartolome 1994), that teachers do not thinkabout methods when planning their lessons (Long 1991), and thatmethodological labels tell us little about what really occurs in classrooms(Allwright 1988; Karz 1996).

These criticisms have made me srop and rhink. I suppose it is true, Ithought, that a particular method can be imposed on teachers by others.However, these others are likely to be disappointed if they hope that man-dating a particular method will lead to standardizarion. For we knowthat teaching is more than following a recipe. Any method is going to beshaped by a teacher's own understanding, beliefs, style, and level of expe-rience. Teachers are not mere conveyor belts delivering language throughinflexible prescribed and proscribed behaviors (Larsen-Freeman 1991);they are professionals who can, in the best of all worlds, make their owndecisions. They are informed by their own experience, the findings fromresearch, and the wisdom of practice accumulated by the profession (see,for example, Kumaravadivelu 1994).

Furthermore, a method is deconrextualized. How a method is imple-mented in the classroom is going to be affected not only by who theteacher is, but also by who the students are, their and the teacher's expec-tations of appropriate social roles, the institutional constraints anddemands, and factors connected to the wider sociocultural context inwhich rhe insrrnction takes place. Even the 'right' method will not com-

To the Teacher Educator xi

pensatc for inadequate conditions of learning or overcome sociopoliticalinequities. In addition, decisions that teachers make are often affected byexigencies in the classroom rather than by methodological considera-tions. Saying that a particular method is practiced certainly does not giveus the whole picture of what is happening in the classroom. Then, too,since a method is more abstract than a teaching activity, it is not surpris-ing that teachers think in terms of activities rather than methodologicalchoices when they plan their lessons.

Thus, while I understand the ctiticisms, I do not believe that a study oflanguage teaching methods should be excluded from language teachereducation. It is not methods, but how they are used that is at issue. Astudy of methods need not lead to the de-skilling of teachers but rathercan serve a variety of useful functions when used appropriately in teachereducation. It can help teachers articulate, and perhaps transform, theirunderstanding of the teaching/learning process. Methods can serve asmodels of the integration of theory (the principles) and practice (the tech-niques). Their study can encourage continuing education in the lifelongprocess of learning to teach (Larsen-Freeman 1998). Teachers andteacher educators should not be blinded by the criticisms of methods andthus fail to see their invaluable contribution to teacher education andcontinuing development. Key to doing so, though, is moving beyondideology to inquiry, a movement to which I hope this book will con-tribute.

CHANGES IN THE SECOND EDITION

In addition to some modest updating of all the methods presented in thefirst edition, Chapter 6 has undergone a substantial revision to reflect theevolution of Suggestopedia (first edition) to Desuggestopedia in this edi-tion. Further, the Introduction (Chapter 1) has been expanded. Contraryto those who fear that a method will be imposed on practitioners, myexperience as a teacher educator is that the challenge lies in getting reach-ers to leave behind teaching as they were taught and become aware of,and open to, alternatives. I therefore welcome the opportunity that theexpanded chapter has given me to elaborate on one way that opennesscan be encouraged.

Another change is the inclusion of methods that have come into promi-nence since the first edition of this book. In order to keep this book frombecoming too long, I have grouped a number of methods in two chapters.In addition to considerations of length, I have justified this decisionbecause it seems these methods have in common the views that first,

xii To the Teacher Educator

language can best be learned when it is taught through communication,rather than for it (Chapter 10, on content-based, task-based, and partici-patory approaches], and second, that language acquisition can beenhanced by working not only on language, but also on the process oflearning (Chapter 11, on learning strategies, cooperative learning, andmultiple intelligences).

A further substantial modification is that the epilogue of the first edi-tion has grown into a full chapter of its own (Chapter 12) in this secondedition. Readers of the first edition have told me that they wished that Ihad concluded with a more explicit evaluation and comparison of themethods. I chose not to do so in the first edition of this book, as I am notof the opinion that the purpose of learning about methods is so one canadopt the right one, or that I could choose for others which one thatwould be. However, in this second edition, I have responded to readers'requests by providing a summary chart of the methods discussed in thisbook, and by so doing, highlighting their major differences. 1 have alsoused the opportunity that a full final chapter presents to indulge myself insharing with readers my views on making informed methodologicalchoices.

A word about nomenclature is also in order. I am using the term'method1 here not to mean a formulaic prescription, but rather a coherentset of links between principles and certain techniques and procedures.Anthony (1963) has made the case for a tripartite hierarchy. As he put it:1 ... techniques carry out a method which is consistent with an approach1

(p. 64). Following Anthony, in certain of the chapters, I will inttoduce aparticular method by showing how it is an example of a more generalapproach to language teaching. However, not all methods discussed inthis book conveniently follow from a general approach. They all do,though, have both a conceptual and an operational component, fittingthe definition in Richards etai. (1992): Dictionary of Language Teaching& Applied Linguistics (a method is 'a way of teaching a language whichis based on systematic principles and procedures1), and justifying my useof the term. Admittedly, I sometimes have found it difficult to use the term'method' with more recent innovations, such as content-based instruc-tion and coopetative learning. At times, I have resorted to the term'methodological innovations.'

Even so, some language educators might object to the inclusion of con-tent-based, task-based, and participatory approaches in a methods book,for they might be more comfortable calling these syllabus types. Never-theless, others feel that a method designation is very appropriate. Snow(1991), for instance, characterizes content-based instruction as a 'method

To the' Teacher Educator xiii

with many faces1 both to make the case for content-based instruction as amethod of language teaching, and to capture the great variety of formsand settings in which it takes place. Kumaravadivelu (1993) observes thatthe term 'task' is often used with reference to both content and methodol-ogy of language teaching. Indeed, wirhin the strong version of a commu-nicative approach (Howatt 1984), the traditional separation of syllabusdesign and methodology is blurred. If students learn to communicate bycommunicating (Breen 1984), then the destination and the route becomeone and the same (Nunan 1989). Finally, if we apply the definition of amethod we are using in this book, 'A method is a coherent set of thoughr-in-action links,' then the three rightfully belong.

Some might also question whether the three are distinctive enough tobe. treated separately. For example, Skehan (1998) makes the point thatone could regard much content-based instruction (as welt as projectwork, which we will also briefly consider in Chapter 10) as particularexamples of a task-based approach. And others have suggested that task-based and participatory approaches are a form of content-based instruc-tion. In any case, although it should be acknowledged that these methodsare unified by the assumption that students learn to communicate bycommunicating, their scope and their particular foci seem distinctiveenough to warrant independent treatment.

Finally, although I have made every effort toward a faithful renderingof each method and methodological innovation, there will undoubtedlybe those who would not totally accept my rendition. This is understand-able and probably inevitable. My description is, as it must be, a productof my own experience.

It is my sincere hope that this book will both inform and stimulate itsreaders and that it will encourage them to reflect, inquire, and experi-ment. If it meets these goals, then it may help to restore faith in the appro-priate use of teaching methods in language teacher education.

Brattlehuro, Vermont Diane Larsen-Freeman

REFERENCES

Allwright, Dick. 1988. Observation in the Classroom. London: Long-man.

Anthony, Edward. 1963. 'Approach, method, and technique.' EnglishLanguage Teaching journal 17: 63-7 reprinted in Allen, H. and R.Campbell (eds.): Teaching English as a Second Language. (2nd edn.)1972. New York: McGraw-Hill.

xiv To the Teacher Educator

Arends, Richard. 1998. Learning to Teach. (4th edn.) New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bartolome, Lilia. 1994. 'Beyond the methods fetish: Toward a humaniz-ing pedagogy.' Harvard Educational Review 64/2:173-94.

Brccn, Michael. 1984. 'Process syllabuses for the language classroom' inBrumfir, C. (ed.): General English Syllabus DesignCurriculum andSyllabus Design for the General English Classroom (EFL Documents118). Oxford: Pergamon Press for the British Council.

Freeman, Donald. 1991. To make the tacit explicit: Teacher education,emerging discourse and conceptions of teaching.' Teaching andTeacher Education 7: 439-54.

Freeman, Donald. 1992. 'Language teacher education, emerging dis-course, and change in classroom practice' in Flowerdcw, J., M. Brock,and S. Hsia (eds.): Perspectives on Second Language Teacher Educa-tion. Hong Kong: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.

Holliday, Adrian. 1994. Appropriate Methodology and Social Context.New York: Cambridge University Press.

Howatt, A. P. R. 1984. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Katz,Anne. 1996. 'Teaching style: a way to understand instruction in lan-guage classrooms' in Bailey, K. and D. Nunan (eds.): Voices from theLanguage Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kumaravadivelu, B. 1993. 'The name of the task and the task of naming:Methodological aspects of task-based pedagogy' in Crookes, G. and S.Ciass (eds.}: Tasks in a Pedagogical Context. Clevedom MultilingualMatters.

Kumaravadivelu, B. 1994. 'The postmethod condition: (E)merging strate-gies for second/foreign language teaching.' TESOL Quarterly 28/1:2 7 ^ 8 .

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 1991. 'Research on language teaching method-ologies: A review of the past and an agenda for the future' in de Bot, K.,R. B. Ginsberg, and C. Kramsch (eds.): Eoreign Language Research inCross-cultural Perspective. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John BenjaminsPublishing.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 1998. 'Learning teaching is a lifelong process.'Perspectives XXIV/2: 5-] 1.

Long, Michael. 1 991. 'Focus on form: A design feature in language teach-ing methodology' in de Bot, K., R. B. Ginsberg, and C. Kramsch (eds.):Foreign Language Research in Cross-cultural Perspective. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.

To the Teacher Educator xv

Lortie.Dan. 197'5. Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. Chicago: Univer-sity of Chicago Press.

Nunan, David. 1989. Designing Tasks for the Communicative Class-room. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pennycook, Alastair. 1989. 'The concept of method, interested knowl-edge, and the politics of language teaching.' TESOL Quarterly 23/4:591-615.

Prabhu, N. S. 1990. 'There is no best methodwhy?' TESOL Quarterly24/2:161-76.

Richards, Jack. 1990. The Language Teaching Matrix. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press.

Shulman, Lee. 1987. 'Knowledge-base and teaching: Foundations of thenew reform.' Harvard Educational Review 57/1:1-22.

Skehan, Peter. 1998. 'Task-based instruction.' Annual Review of AppliedLinguistics: Foundations of Second Language Teaching. Volume 18.

Snow, Marguerite Ann. 1991. 'Content-based instruction: A methodwith many faces' in Alatis, J. E. (ed.). Georgetown University RoundTable on Languages and Linguistics. Washington, DC: GeorgetownUniversity Press.

1 IntroductionGOALS OF THIS BOOK

One of the goals of this book is for you co learn about many different lan-guage teaching methods. I will use the term 'language teaching method'to mean a coherent set of links between actions and thoughts in languageteaching. The actions are the techniques and the thoughts are the princi-ples in the title of this book: Techniques and Principles in LanguageTeaching.

A second goal is to help you uncover the thoughts that guide your ownactions as a teacher. They may not be ones of which you are aware.Seeking to determine which principles of the methods you read abouthere are most [dis]harmonious with your own thinking will help you touncover some of your implicit thoughts and beliefs about reaching.

A third goal is to introduce you to a variety of techniques, some ofwhich will be new. Although certain techniques may require further train-ing, others can he immediately implemented. Feel free to experiment andadapt those techniques to your teaching context.

THOUGHT-IN-ACTION LINKS

It is important to recognize that methods link thoughts and actionsbecause teaching is not entirely about one or the other. Of course this is astrue about your own teaching as it is about any method you will readabout in this book. As a teacher of language, you have thoughts' aboutyour subject matterwhat language is, what culture isand about yourstudentswho they are as learners and how it is they learn. You also havethoughts about yourself as a teacher and what you can do to help yourstudents learn. It is very important for you to become aware of thethoughts that guide your actions in the classroom. With this awareness,you will be able to examine why you do what you do and perhaps chooseto think about or do things differently.

' I will use the term thoughts for the sake of simplicity; hoivei er. I mean for thoughts ro includebeliefs, attitudes, values, and awareness as well.

2 Introduction

As an example, let me relate an anecdote about a teacher with whom Iwas working a few years ago. I will call her Heather, although that is nother real name. From her study of methods in Stevick (1980), Heatherbecame very interested in how to work with teacher control and studentinitiative in her teaching. Heather determined that during her studentteaching internship she would exercise less control of the lesson in orderto encourage her students to take more initiative. She decided to narrowthe goal down to having students take initiative in posing the questions inthe classroom, recognizing that so often it is the teacher who asks all thequestions, not the students.

I was Heather's teaching supervisor. When I came to observe her, shewas very discouraged. She felt that the students were not taking the ini-tiative that she was trying to get them to take, but she did not know whatwas wrong.

When I visited her class, I observed the following:

HEATHER Juan, ask Anna what she is wearing.JUAN What are you wearing?ANNA lam wearing a dress.HEATHER Anna, ask Muriel what she is writing.ANNA What are you writing?MURIEL lam writing a letter.

This pattern continued for some time. It was clear to see that Heatherhad successfully avoided the common problem of the teacher asking allthe questions in the class. The teacher did not ask the questionsthe stu-dents did. However, Heather had not realized her aspiration of encourag-ing student initiative since it was she who took the initiative by promptingthe students to ask the questions. Heather and I discussed the matter inthe post-observation conference.

Heather came to see that if she truly wanted students to take more ini-tiative, then she would have to set up the situation in a way that her par-ticipation in an activity was not essential. We talked about several waysof her doing this. During this discussion, Hcarher came to another impor-tant awareness. She realized that since she was a fairly inexperiencedteacher, she felt insecure about having the students make the decisionsabout who says what to whom when. What if the students were to ask hermany questions that she could not answer? While having students takeinitiative in the classroom was consonant with her values, Heather real-ized that she should think further about the level of student initiative withwhich she could be comfortable at this point in her career as a teacher. Wetalked about other options she could pursue as well. The point was that it

Introduction 3

was not necessarily simply a matter of Heather improving her technique;she could see that that was one possibility. Another was to rethink theway in which she thought about her teaching (Larsen-Freeman 1993).

The links between thought and action were very important inHeather's teaching. She came to realize that when something was notgoing as she had intended, she could change one or she could change theother. Heather had an idea of what she wanted to accomplishbut theaction she chose to carry out her idea did not accomplish her purpose.When she examined her intentions more clearly, she saw that she was notyet ready to have her students1 take complete initiative in the lesson.

A COHERENT SET

Returning to the methods in this hook, we will see that it is the linkbetween thoughts and actions that is common to them all. But there isanother way in which links are made in methods, and that is the connec-tion between one thought-in-action link and another. A method is acoherent set of such links in the sense that there should be some theoreti-cal or philosophical compatibility among the links. If a teacher believesthat language is made up of a set of fixed patterns, it makes little sense forhim or her to use techniques which help learners discover the abstractrules underlying a language to enable them to create novel patterns.

To say there is a coherence among the links does not mean, however,that the techniques of one method cannot he used with another. The tech-niques may look very different in practice though, if the thoughts behindthem differ. For example, Srevick (1993) has shown that the simple tech-nique of teaching students a dialog using a picture to provide a contextcan lead to very different conclusions about teaching and learningdepending on how the technique is managed. If the students first look atthe picture, close their eyes while the teacher reads the dialog, and thenrepeat the dialog bit by bit after the teacher, repeating until they havelearned it fluently and flawlessly, the students could infer that it is theteacher who is the provider of all language and its meaning in the class-room. They could further infer that they should use that 'pan of theirbrains that copies but not the part that creates' (1993: 432).

If, on the other hand, before they listen to or read the dialog, they lookat the picture and describe it using words and phrases they can supply,and then they guess what the people in the picture might be saying to eachother before they hear the dialog, they might infer that their initiative iswelcomed, and that it is all right to be wrong. If they then practice the dia-log in pairs without striving for perfect recall, they might also infer that

4 Introduction

they should 'use the part of their brains that creates' and that guessingand approximation are acceptable (1993: 432). We can see from thisexample how a particular technique might look very different (and mightlead students to very different conclusions about their learning), depend-ing on how it is managed. This may, in turn, be a product of the thoughtsand beliefs of the teacher who is putting the technique into practice.

It is not my purpose to have you sift through the methods presentedhere in order to choose the one with which you feel the most philosophi-cally in tune. Instead, I hope that you will use what is here as a foil tomake explicit your own beliefs about the teaching/learning process,beliefs based upon your experience and your professional training, theresearch you know about, and even your social values. It is not a questionof choosing between intact methods; nor should the presence of anymethod in this book be construed as an endorsement by me. Further, thisbook is not a substitute for actual training in a particular method, andspecific training is advised for some of them. Finally, I did not set out to becomprehensive and deal with all language teaching methods. The meth-ods2 included in this book represent methods which are practiced todayand which reflect a diversity of views on the teaching and learningprocesses. By confronting such diversity, and by viewing the thought-in-action links that others have made, I hope that you will arrive at yourown personal conceptualizations of how thoughts lead to actions in yourteaching and how, in turn, your teaching leads to learning in your stu-dents (Prabhu 1992). Ultimately, the choice among techniques and prin-ciples depends on learning outcomes, a theme to which I will return in thefinal chapter of this book.

DOUBTING GAME AND BELIEVING GAME

Some of what you encounter here will no doubt confirm what you do orbelieve already; other things you read about may challenge your notions.When our fundamental beliefs are challenged, we are often quick to dis-miss the idea. It is too threatening to our well-established beliefs.

I will never forget one of the first times I heard Caleb Gattegno discussthe Silent Way, a method presented in this book (see Chapter 5). It was ata language teaching convention in New York City in 1976. Several thingsGattegno talked about that day were contrary to my own beliefs at the

1 It should he acknowledged rliat not all of the originators of the methods presented in this bookwould call their contribution a 'method' because they note that the term is sometimes associatedwith formulaic practice. I hope that I have nude it dear that for me a method is a way of con-necting particnlar principles with particular techniques into a coherent package, not a formica.

Introduction 5

time. I found myself listening to him and at the same time hearing thisdoubtful voice in my head saying 'Wait a minute ... .'

Gattegno said that day that a teacher should never praise a student, noteven say 'Good' or smile. 'Wait a minute,' I heard the voice in my headechoing, 'Everyone knows that being a good teacher means giving posi-tive feedback to students and being concerned about their affective sideor their feelings. Besides, how will the students know when they are rightif the teacher doesn't tell them so?'

Later, though, I found myself thinking, 'On the other hand, Gattegno, 1can see why you are reluctant to give feedback. You have made me thinkabout the power of silence. Without having the teacher to rely on, stu-dents have to assume responsibility for the workjust as you so oftensay, "only the learner can do the learning." I can see how this silence is inkeeping with your belief that the students must do without the overtapproval of the teacher. They must concentrate on developing and thensatisfying their own "inner criteria." Learning to listen to themselvesis part of lessening their reliance on the teacher. The teacher will notalways be there. Also, they will be encouraged to form criteria forcorrecting their own mistakesfor monitoring their own progress. I alsosee how you think that if the teacher makes a big deal out of students' suc-cess, he implies that what the student is doing is out of the ordinaryandthat the job of learning a language must be difficult. Also, I see that inyour view students' security is provided for by their just being acceptedwithout regard for any linguistic successes or difficulties they might behaving.'

What are the differences between the two voices 1 heard in my headbetween the 'Wait a minute' and the 'On the other hand' responses? Well,perhaps it would be clearer if we reflected for a moment on what itrequires to uphold each position. What I have attempted to do is play twogames described in an article, 'The Doubting Game and the Believing(..line,' which appears in an appendix to a book authored by Peter Elbow(1973). Elbow believes that doubting and believing are games because[hey are rule-governed, ritualized processes, which are not real life. Thedoubting game. Elbow says, requires logic and evidence. 'It emphasizes amodel of knowing as an act of discrimination: putting something on triallo see whether it is wanting or not' (Larsen-Freeman 1983: 15). 1 think itspractice is something far more common to the academic world than itscounterpartthe believing game. 'Our contemporary education, then,indoctrinates us in the glorification of doubt, has created in fact whatcould almost be called a religion or theology of doubt, in which to be seenl be intelligent we have to be seen to doubt everything, to always point

6 Introduction

to what's wrong and rarely to ask what is right or good ... ' (Rinpoche1993: 1234). Many of us are very good at playing the doubting gamethen, but we do so at a cost. We may find fault with a new idea before giv-ing it a proper chance.

What docs playing the believing game require, then? The believinggame 'emphasizes a model of knowing as an act of constructing, an act ofinvestment, an act of involvement' (Elbow 1973: 163). It is not just thewithholding of doubt. Rather, it asks us to put on the eyeglasses ofanother personto adopt his or her perspectiveto see the method asthe originator sees it. Further, it requires a willingness to explore what isnew.

While it may appear that the traits attributed to the believing game aremore desirable to possess, Elbow is not arguing that we should allow thedoubting muscle to atrophy, nor am 1.1 am not advocating an abandon-ment of the doubting game, but rather that you attempt to understandfirst before you judge. Therefore, do not be quick to dismiss a principle ortechnique simply because, at first glance, it appears to be at odds withyour own beliefs or impossible to apply in your own situation, Forinstance, in one of the methods we will consider, the students themselvesdecide what they want to say and the teacher then translates it into thetarget language (the language that they are studying). If you reject thistechnique as impractical because you do not know your students' nativelanguage or because your students speak a number of different native lan-guages, then you may be missing out on something valuable. You shouldfirst ask what the purpose of translating is: Is there a principle behind itsuse in which you believe? If so, can you apply it another way, say by invit-ing a bilingual speaker to come to your class now and again or by havingyour students act out or paraphrase what they want to be able to say inthe language they are studying?

LAYOUT OF CHAPTERS

We will learn about the methods by entering a classroom where eachmethod is being practiced. In most chapters in this book, one languageteaching method is presented. However, in a few chapters, a more generalapproach to language teaching is described, and what are depicted in thechapter are one or more methods that are examples of the approach.31have assumed that observing a class will give you a greater understanding

1 Following Anthony's (1961) use of the term approach to mean a set of assumptionswith the nature of language, (earning, and teaching.

Introduction 7

of a particular method and will give you more of an opportunity to reflecton your own practice than if you were to simply read a description of it. Itshould be acknowledged, however, that these classroom encounters areidealized. Anyone who is or has been, a language teacher or student, willimmediately recognize that lessons seldom go so smoothly as the onesyou will see here. In the real world students do not always catch onquickly and teachers have to contend with many other social and class-room management matters than what are depicted here. As I have alreadyacknowledged, a method does not reflect everything that is transpiring inthe classroom.

We will observe the techniques the teacher is using and his or herbehavior. In the even-numbered chapters, the teacher is female; in theodd-numbered chapters, the teacher is male. After observing a lesson, wewill infer the principles on which the teacher's behavior and techniquesare based. Although in most cases, we will observe only the one beginningor intermediate-level class for each method, once the principles are clear,they can be applied to other situations. To illustrate the application of theprinciples at more than one level of proficiency, in two instances, with theSilent Way and Desuggestopedia, we will first visit a beginning-level classand then later briefly visit a class at a high-intermediate level. It should benoted that when learners are at the advanced level, the distinctive tech-niques associated with a method may be less visible because advancedlearners may have special, well-defined needs, such as learning how toread and write academic texts. However, as we have seen with Stevick'sexample of teaching a dialog, the way teachers think about languageteaching and learning will still shape how they work at all levels.

After we have identified the principles, we will answer the followingten questions:

1 What are the goals of teachers who use this method?

2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?

3 What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

4 What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the natureof studentstudent interaction?

5 How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

6 How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

7 What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills areemphasized?

8 What is the role of the students' native language?

H tntrodut tni

9 I low is evaluation accomplished?10 I low does the teacher respond to student errors?

The answers to these questions will add to our understanding of eachmethod and allow us to see some salient differences among the methodspresented here. Before reading the answers to these questions in the book,you might try to answer them first yourself after going through the firstpart of the chapter. This might increase your understanding of a methodand give you practice with reflecting on an experience.

Following these questions, we will review the techniques we observedin the lesson. In some cases the techniques will he expanded so that youcan try to put them into practice if you wish. Indeed, as we mentioned ear-lier, another purpose of this book is to present a variety of techniques,some of which may be new to you, and to encourage you to experimentwith them. We know that the more experienced teachers are, the broadertheir repertoire of techniques is (Arends 1998). Presumably, such versatil-ity allows teachers to deal more effectively with the unique constellationof students with whom they are working at any one time.

In the conclusion to each chapter, you will he asked to think about howall of this information can be of use to you in your teaching. It is you whohave to view these methods through the filter of your own beliefs, needs,knowledge, and experience. By playing the believing game, it is my hopethat no matter what your assessment of a particular method, you will nothave reached it without first, so to speak, getting inside the method andlooking out.

At the end of each chapter are two types of exercises. The first typeallows you to check your initial understanding of the method presented.The second type of exercise asks you to make the connection betweenwhat you understand about a method and your own teaching situation.Wherever possible, I encourage you to work with someone else as youconsider these. Teaching can be a solitary act, but collaborating withOther teachers can help enrich our experience and nurture our growth.

REFERENCES AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Anthony, Edward. 1963. 'Approach, method, and technique.' EnglishLanguage Teaching Journal 17: 6.3-7 reprinted in Allen, H. and R.l iimphell (eds.): Teaching English as a Second Language. (2nd edn.)I" '.'. New York: McGraw-Hill.

krtndl, Richard. 1998. Learning to Teach. (4th edn.) New York:Mi i iraw I Ml.

Introduction 9

Elbow, Peter. 1973. Writing without Teachers. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.

Lars en-Freeman, Diane. 1983. 'Second language acquisition: Getting thewhole picture' in Bailey, K., M. Long, and S. Peck (eds.): SecondLanguage Acquisition Studies. Rowley, MA: Newbury HousePublishers.

Lar sen-Free man, Diane. 1993. 'Foreign language teaching methodologyand language teacher education.' Plenary address delivered at theInternational Congress of Applied Linguistics 1993, Amsterdam.

Prabhu, N. S. 1992. 'The dynamics of the language lesson.' TESOLQuarterly 26/2:225-41.

Richards, jack, John Platt, and Heidi Platt. 1992. Dictionary ofLanguage Teaching and Applied Linguistics (second edition). London:Longman.

Rinpoche, Sogyal. 1993. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. NewYork: HarperCollins.

Stevick, Earl W. 1980. Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Rowley,MA: Newbury House.

Stevick, Earl W. 1993. 'Social meanings for how we teach1 in Alatis, J.(ed.). Georgetown University Round Table on Languages andLinguistics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Stevick, Earl W. 1998. Working wtth Teaching Methods: What's at Stake?(Revised version of Stevick 1980.) Boston, MA: Heinle Sc Heinle.

2 The Grammar-TranslationMethodINTRODUCTION

The Grammar-Translation Method is not new. It has had different names,hut it has been used by language teachers for many years. At one time itwas called the Classical Method since it was first used in the teaching ofthe classical languages, Latin and Greek (Chastain 1988). Earlier in thiscentury, this method was used for the purpose of helping students readand appreciate foreign language literature. It was also hoped that, throughthe study of the grammar of the target language, students would becomemore familiar with the grammar of their native language and that thisfamiliarity would help them speak and write their native language better.Finally, it was thought that foreign language learning would help studentsgrow intellectually; it was recognized that students would probably neveruse the target language, but the mental exercise of learning it would bebeneficial anyway.

Let us try to understand the Grammar-Translation Method by observ-ing a class where the teacher is using it. The class is a high-intermediatelevel English class at a university in Colombia. There are forty-two stu-dents in the class. Two-hour classes are conducted three times a week.

EXPERIENCE

As we enter the classroom, the class is in the middle of reading a passagein their textbook. The passage is an excerpt entitled 'The Boys' Ambition'from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. Each student is called on toread a few lines from the passage. After they have finished reading, theyare asked to translate into Spanish the few lines they have just read. Theteacher helps them with new vocabulary items. When the students havefinished reading and translating the passage, the teacher asks them inSpanish if they have any questions. One girl raises her hand and says,'What is paddle wheel?' The teacher replies, 's una rueda de paletas.1

Then she continues in Spanish to explain how it looked and worked onthe steamboats which moved up and down the Mississippi River during

12 The Grammar-Translation Method

Mark Twain's childhood. Another student says, 'No understand "gor-geous."' The teacher translates, 'Primoroso.'

Since the students have no more questions, the teacher asks them towrite the answers to the comprehension questions which appear at theend of the excerpt. The questions are in English, and the students areinstructed to write the answers to them in English as well. They do thefirst one together as an example. A student reads out loud, 'When didMark Twain live?'Another student replies, 'Mark Twain lived from 1835to 1910.' 'Bueno,' says the teacher, and the students begin working qui-etly by themselves.

Tn addition to questions that ask for information contained within thereading passage, the students answer two other types of questions. Forthe first type, they have to make inferences based on their understandingof the passage. For example, one question is: 'Do you think the boy wasambitious? Why or why not?'The other type of question requires the stu-dents to relate the passage to their own experience. For example, one ofthe questions based on this excerpt asks them, 'Have you ever thoughtabout running away from home?'

After one-half hour, the teacher, speaking in Spanish, asks the studentsto stop and check their work. One by one each student reads a questionand then reads his or her response. If it is correct, the teacher calls onanother student to read the next question. If the answer is incorrect, theteacher selects a different student to supply the correct answer, or theteacher herself gives the right answer.

Announcing the next activity, the teacher asks the students to turn thepage in their text. There is a list of words there. The introduction to theexercise tells the students that these are words taken from the passagethey have just read. The students see the words 'ambition,' 'career,''wharf,' 'tranquil,' 'gorgeous,' 'loathe,' 'envy,' and 'humbly.' They aretold that some of these are review words and that others are new to them.The students are instructed to give the Spanish word for each of them.This exercise the class does together. If no one knows the Spanish equiva-lent, the teacher gives it. In Part 2 of this exercise, the students are givenEnglish words like 'love,' 'noisy,' 'ugly,' and 'proudly,' and are directed tofind the opposites of these words in the passage.

When they have finished this exercise, the teacher reminds them thatEnglish words that look like Spanish words are called 'cognates.' TheEnglish '-ty,' she says for example, often corresponds to the Spanish end-ings -dad and -tad. She calls the students' attention to the word 'possibil-ity' in the passage and tells them that this word is the same as the Spanishposibiiidad. The teacher asks the students to find other examples in the

The Grammar-Translation Method 13

Exercise 2A

These words are taken from the passage you have justread. Some of them are review words and others arc new.Give the Spanishrefer back to the

ambitioncareerwharftranquil

Exercise 2B

These words all

translation for each of them. You mayreading passage.

gorgeousloatheenvyhumbly

have antonyms in the reading passage.Find the antonym for each:

lovenoisy

uglyproudly

excerpt. Hands go up; a boy answers, 'Obscurity.' 'Bien,' says the teacher.When all of these cognates from the passage have been identified, the stu-dents are told to turn to the next exercise in the chapter and to answer thequestion, 'What do these cognates mean?' There is a long list of F_nglishwords ('curiosity,' 'opportunity,' 'liberty,' etc.), which the students trans-late into Spanish.

The next section of the chapter deals with grammar. The students fol-low in their books as the teacher reads a description of two-word orphrasal verbs. This is a review for them as they have encountered phrasalverbs before. Nevertheless, there are some new two-word verbs in thepassage the students haven't learned yet. These are listed following thedescription, and the students are asked to translate them into Spanish. Thenthey are given the rule for use of a direct object with two-word verbs:

If the two-word verb is separable, the direct object may come betweenthe verb and its particle. However, separation is necessary when thedirect object is a pronoun. If the verb is inseparable, then there is noseparation of the verb and particle by the object. For example:

John put away his book.orJohn put his book away/John put it away.


but notJohn put away it.(because 'put away' is a separable two-word verb)

The teacher went over the homework.but notThe teacher went the homewotk over.(because 'go over' is an inseparable two-word verb).

After reading over the rule and the examples, the students are asked to tellwhich of the following two-word verbs, taken from the passage, are sep-rable and which inseparable. They refer to the passage for clues. If theycannot tell from the passage, they use their dictionaries or ask their11 11 her.

take innun upinn awayto away

wake upfade outbreak down

get onlay upturn back

I 11 i.illy, they are asked to put one of these phrasal verbs in the blank ofi ,1111 ui [lie ten sentences they are given. They do the first two together.

because his parents wouldn't let him

and discharge freight at each port on the

I Mark Twain decided togel .1 job on the river.I he steamboatmenMississippi River.

rt In n the students are finished with this exercise, they read their answersllniiil,

At the end of the chapter there is a list of vocabulary items thatin" .netI in the passage. The list is divided into two parts: the first con-

" i 'ills, and the second, idioms like 'to give someone the cold shoul- li i ' Nrst to each is a Spanish word or phrase. For homework, the

In i ,isks the students to memorize the Spanish translation for the first \ wi irds and to write a sentence in English using each word.

in ihc two remaining lessons this week, the students will be asked to:

I Write out the translation of the reading passage into Spanish.

il< i In- rule for the use of a direct object with two-word verbs, andippl) n in other phrasal verbs.

I I in the remaining exercises in the chapter that include practice withid i>l irregular past participle forms. The students will be asked to

llorizc the present tense, past tense, and past participle forms of thisIrn I-.MI.M paradigm:


drinksingswimtingbegin

dranksangswamrangbegan

drunksungswumrungbegun

4 Write a composition in the target language about an ambition they have.

5 Memorize the remaining vocabulary items and write sentences foreach.

6 Take a quiz on the grammar and vocabulary of this chapter. They willbe asked to translate a Spanish paragraph about steamboats intoEnglish.

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

This has been just a brief introduction to the Grammar-TranslationMethod, but it is probably true that this method is not new to many ofyou. You may have studied a language in this way, or you may be teach-ing with this method right now. Whether this is true or not, let us see whatwe have learned about the Grammar-Translation Method. We are able tomake a number of observations about the class we attended. Our obser-vations will he listed in the left column; from them we will try to identifythe principles of the Grammar-Translation Method. The principles willbe listed in the right column. We will make our observations in order, fol-lowing the lesson plan of the class we observed.

Observations

The class is reading an excerptfrom Mark Twain's Life on theMississippi.

2 Students translate the passagefrom English to Spanish.

Principles

A fundamental purpose oflearning a foreign language is to beable to read literature written in it.Literary language is superior tospoken language. Students' studyof the target culture is limited to itsliterature and fine arts.

An important goal is for studentsto be able to translate eachlanguage into the other. If studentscan translate from one languageinto another, they are consideredsuccessful language learners.

- Translation MethodK. IhfCr,

Observations

* I In- teacher asks students intheir native language if theyhave any questions. A studentasks one and is answered inher native language.

4 Students write out the answersto reading comprehensionquestions.

5 The teacher decides whetheran answer is correct or not. Ifthe answer is incorrect, theteacher selects a differentstudent to supply the correctanswer or the teacher herselfgives the right answer.

6 Students translate new wordsfrom English into Spanish.

7 Students learn that English'-ty' corresponds to -dad and-tad in Spanish.

8 Students are given a grammarrule for the use of a directobject with two-word verbs.

9 Students apply a rule toexamples they are given.

10 Students memorizevocabulary.

Principles

The ability to communicate in thetarget language is not a goal offoreign language instruction.

The primary skills to be developedare reading and writing. Littleattention is given to speaking andlistening, and almost none topronunciation.

The teacher is the authority in theclassroom. It is very importantthat students get the correctanswer.

It is possible to find nativelanguage equivalents for all targetlanguage words.

Learning is facilitated throughattention to similarities betweenthe target language and the nativelanguage.

It is important for students tolearn about the form of the targetlanguage.

Deductive application of anexplicit grammar rule is a usefulpedagogical technique.

Language learning provides goodmental exercise.


Observations

11 The teacher asks students tostate the grammar rule.

12 Students memorize presenttense, past tense, and pastparticiple forms of one set ofirregular verbs.

Principles

Students should be conscious ofthe grammatical rules of the targetlanguage.

Wherever possible, verbconjugations and othergrammatical paradigms should becommitted to memory.

There were other activities planned for the remainder of the week, but inthis book we will follow the practice of not listing an observation unless itleads to our discovering a different principle of the method.

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES

The principles of the Grammar-Translation Method are organized belowby answering the ten questions posed in Chapter 1 (pages 7-8). Not allthe questions are addressed by the Grammar-Translation Method; wewill list all the questions, however, so that a comparison among the meth-ods we will study will be easier for you to make.

1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Grammar-TranslationMethod?

According to the teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method,a fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be ableto read literature written in the target language. To do this, studentsneed to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the targetlanguage. In addition, it is believed that studying a foreign languageprovides students with good mental exercise which helps develop theirminds.


The roles are very traditional. The teacher is the authority in the class-room. The students do as she says so they can learn what she knows.


Students are taught to translate from one language to another. Oftenwhat they translate are readings in the target language about some


aspect of the culture of the target language community. Students studygrammar deductively; that is, they are given the grammar rules andexamples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply therules to other examples. They also learn grammatical paradigms suchas verb conjugations. They memorize native-language equivalents fortarget-language vocabulary words.

4 What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the natureof student-student interaction?

Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the stu-dents. There is little student initiation and little student-student inter-action.


There are no principles of the method which relate to this area.

6 How is the language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Literary language is considered superior to spoken language and istherefore the language that students study. Culture is viewed as con-sisting of literature and the fine arts.


Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading and writing arc theprimary skills that the students work on. There is much less attentiongiven to speaking and listening. Pronunciation receives little, if any,attention.

8 What is the role of the students' native language?

The meaning of the target language is made clear by translating it intothe students' native language. The language that is used in class ismostly the students' native language.

9 How is evaluation accomplished?

Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their nativelanguage to the target language or vice versa are often used. Questionsabout the target culture or questions that ask students to apply gram-mar rules are also common.


10 How does the teacher respond to student errors?

Having the students get the correct answer is considered very impor-tant. If students make errors or do not know an answer, the teachersupplies them with the correct answer.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES

Ask yourself if any of the answers to the above questions make sense toyou. If so, you may choose to try sonic of the techniques of the Grammar-Translation Method from the review that follows. On the other hand,you may find that you agree very little with the answers to these ques-tions, but that there are still some useful techniques associated with theGrammar-Translation Method. Below is an expanded description ofsome of these techniques.

Translation of a literary passage

Students translate a reading passage from the target language into theirnative language. The reading passage then provides the focus for severalclasses: vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are studiedin subsequent lessons. The passage may be excerpted from some workfrom the target language literature, or a teacher may write a passage care-fully designed to include particular grammar rules and vocabulary. Thetranslation may be written or spoken or both. Students should not trans-late idioms and the like literally, but rather in a way that shows that theyunderstand their meaning.

Reading comprehension questions

Students answer questions in the target language based on their under-standing of the reading passage. Often the questions are sequenced so thatthe first group of questions asks for information contained within the read-ing passage. In order to answer the second group of questions, students willhave to make inferences based on their understanding of the passage. Thismeans they will have to answer questions about the passage even thoughthe answers are not contained in the passage itself. The third group ofquestions requires students to relate the passage to their own experience.

Antonyms/synonyms

Students are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in thereading passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to


find synonyms for a particular set of words. Or students might be askedto define a set of words based on their understanding of them as theyoccur in the reading passage. Other exercises that ask students to workwith the vocabulary of the passage are also possible.

Cognates

Students are taught to recognize cognates by learning the spelling orsound patterns that correspond between the languages. Students are alsoasked to memorize words that look like cognates but have meanings inthe target language that are different from those in the native language.This technique, of course, would only be useful in languages that sharecognates.

Deductive application of rule

Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule arealso noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it tosome different examples.

Fill-in-the-blanks

Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill inthe blanks with new vocabulary items or with items of a particular gram-mar type, such as prepositions or verbs with different tenses.

Memorization

Students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and theirnative language equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Studentsare also required to memorize grammatical rules and grammatical para-digms such as verb conjugations.

Use words in sentences

In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a newvocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.

Composition

The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target lan-guage. The topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of thelesson. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are askedto prepare a precis of the reading passage.


CONCLUSION

You have now had an opportunity to examine the principles and some ofthe techniques of the Grammar-Translation Method. Try to make a con-nection between what you have understood and your own teaching situ-ation and beliefs.

Do you believe that a fundamental reason for learning a foreign lan-guage is to be able to read the literature written in the target language? Doyou think it is important to learn about the target language? Should cul-ture be viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts? Do you agreewith any of the other principles underlying the Grammar-TranslationMethod? Which ones?

Is translation a valuable exercise? Is answering reading comprehensionquestions of the type described here helpful? Should grammar be pre-sented deductively? Are these or any of the other techniques of theGrammar-Translation Method ones which will be useful to you in yourown teaching? Which ones?

ACTIVITIES

A Check your understanding of the Grammar-Translation Method.

1 It has been said that the Grammar-Translation Method teaches stu-dents about the target language, but not how to use it. Explain the dif-ference in your own words.

2 What are the clues that this method had its origin in the teaching of theclassical languages, Latin and Greek?

B Apply what you have understood about the Grammar-TranslationMethod.

1 Think of a particular group of students you have recently taught or arecurrently teaching. Choose a reading passage from a literary work or atextbook or write one yourself. Make sure it is at a level your studentscan understand, yet not at a level that would be too simple for them.Try translating it yourself as a test of its difficulty. Identify the vocabu-lary you would choose to work on. Plan vocabulary exercises youwould use to help your students associate the new words with theirnative language equivalents.

2 Pick a grammatical point or two contained in the same passage.Provide the explicit grammar rule that relates to each one and give


some examples. Design exercises that require your students to applythe rule to some different examples.


Chastain, Kenneth. 1988. Developing Second Language Skills. (3rdedn.)San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Coleman, A. 1929. The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages in theUnited States. Vol. 12. American and Canadian Committees onModern Languages.

Howatt, A. P. R. 1984. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Kelly, Louis G. 1969. Twenty-five Centuries of Language Teaching.Rowley, MA: Newhury House.

Plotz, Karl. 1887. Elementarbuch der Franzosischen Sprache. Berlin: F.A. Herbig.

Stern, H. H. 1983. Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Thomas, C. (ed.|. 1901. Report of the Committee of Twelve of theModern Language Association of America. Boston: D. C. Heath.

3 The Direct MethodINTRODUCTIONAs with the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method is notnew. Its principles have been applied by language teachers for manyyears. Most recently, it was revived as a method when the goal of instruc-tion became learning how to use a foreign language to communicate.Since the Grammar-Translation Method was not very effective in prepar-ing students to use the target language communicatively, the DirectMethod became popular.

The Direct Method has one very basic rule: No translation is allowed.In fact, the Direct Method receives its name from the fact that meaning isto be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of demon-stration and visual aids, with no recourse to the students' native language(Diller 1978).

We will now try to come to an understanding of the Direct Method byobserving an English teacher using it in a scuota media (lower secondaryschool) class in Italy. The class has thirty students who attend Englishclass for one hour, three times a week. The class we observe is at the endof its first year of English language instruction in a scuola media.

EXPERIENCE

The teacher is calling the class to order as we find seats toward the back ofthe room. He has placed a big map of the United States in the front of theclassroom. He asks the students to open their books to a certain pagenumber. The lesson is entitled 'Looking at a Map.' As the students arecalled on one by one, they read a sentence from the reading passage at thebeginning of the lesson. The teacher points to the part of the map the sen-tence describes after each has read his sentence. The passage begins:

We are looking at a map of the United States. Canada is the country tothe north of the United States, and Mexico is the country to the southof the United States. Between Canada and the United States are theGreat Lakes. Between Mexico and the United States is the Rio Grande

24 The Direct Method

River. On the East Coast is the Atlantic Ocean, and on the West Coastis the Pacific Ocean. In the East is a mountain range called theAppalachian Mountains. In the West are the Rocky Mountains.

After the students finish reading the passage, they are asked if they haveany questions. A student asks what a mountain range is. The teacherturns to the blackboard and draws a series of inverted cones to illustrate amountain range.

The student nods and says, 'I understand.' Another student asks what'between' means. The teacher replies, 'You are sitting between Maria Piaand Giovanni. Paolo is sitting between Gabriella and Cettina. Now doyou understand the meaning of "between"?' The student answers, 'Yes, Iunderstand.'

After all of the questions have been answered, the teacher asks some ofhis own. 'Class, are we looking at a map of Italy?'

The class replies in chorus, 'No!'The teacher reminds the class to answer in a full sentence.'No, we aren't looking at a map of Italy,' they respond.The teacher asks, 'Are we looking at a map of the United States?''Yes. We are looking at a map of the United States.'

The Direct Method 25

'Is Canada the country to the south of the United States?''No. Canada isn't the country south of the United States.''Are the Great Lakes in the North of the United States?''Yes. The Great Lakes are in the North.''Is the Rio Grande a river or a lake?''The Rio Grande is a river.''It's a river. Where is it?''It's between Mexico and the United States.''What color is the Rio Grande on the map?''It's blue.''Point to a mountain range in the West. What mountains are they?''They are the Rocky Mountains.'The question and answer session continues for a few more minutes.

Finally, the teacher invites the students to ask questions. Hands go up,and the teacher calls on students to pose questions one at a time to whichthe class replies. After several questions have been posed, one girl asks,'Where are the Appalachian Mountains?' Before the class has a chance torespond, the teacher works with the student on the pronunciation of'Appalachian.' Then he includes the rest of the class in this practice aswell, expecting that they will have the same problem with this long word.After insuring that the students' pronunciation is correct, the teacherallows the class to answer the question.

Later another student asks, 'What is the ocean in the West Coast?' Theteacher again interrupts before the class has a chance to reply, saying,'What is the ocean in the West Coast? ... or on the West Coast?' The stu-dent hesitates, then says, 'On the West Coast.'

'Correct,' says the teacher. 'Now, repeat your question.''What is the ocean on the West Coast?'The class replies in chorus, 'The ocean on the West Coast is the Pacific.'After the students have asked about ten questions, the teacher begins

asking questions and making statements again. This time, however, thequestions and statements are about the students in the classroom, andcontain one of the prepositions 'on,' 'at,' 'to,' 'in,' or 'between,' such as,'Antonella, is your book on your desk?' 'Antonio, who is sitting betweenl.uisa and Teresa?' 'Emanuela, point to the clock.' The students thenmake up their own questions and statements and direct them to other stu-dents.

The teacher next instructs the students to turn to an exercise in the les-son which asks them to fill in the blanks. They read a sentence out loudand supply the missing word as they are reading, for example:


The Atlantic Ocean is.The Rio Grande is

the East Coast.

Edoardo is looking.Mexico and the United States.

_ the map.

Finally, the teacher asks the students to take out their notebooks, andhe gives them a dictation. The passage he dictates is one paragraph longand is about the geography of the United States.

During the remaining two classes this week, the class will:

1 Review the features of United States geography.

2 Following the teacher's directions, label blank maps with these geo-graphical features. After this, the students will give directions to theteacher, who will complete a map on the blackboard.

3 Practice the pronunciation of 'river,1 paying particular attention to theN in the first syllable (and contrasting it with /iy/) and to the pronunci-ation of/r/.

4 Write a paragraph about the major geographical features of the UnitedStates.

5 Discuss the proverb 'Time is money.' Students will talk about this is inorder to understand that people in the United States value punctuality.They will compare this attitude with their own view of time.

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

Let us make some observations on our experience. These will be inthe column on the left. The principles of the Direct Method that canbe inferred from our observations will be listed in the column on theright.

Observations

1 The students read aloud apassage about United Statesgeography.

Principles

Reading in the target languageshould be taught from thebeginning of language instruction;however, the reading skill will bedeveloped through practice withspeaking. Language is primarilyspeech. Culture consists of morethan the fine arts (e.g. the studentsstudy geography and culturalattitudes).


Observations

2 The teacher points to a part ofthe map after each sentence isread.

3 The teacher uses the targetlanguage to ask the students ifthey have a question. Thestudents use the targetlanguage to ask theirquestions.

4 The teacher answers thestudents' questions by drawingon the blackboard or givingexamples.

5 The teacher asks questionsabout the map in the targetlanguage, to which thestudents reply in a completesentence in the targetlanguage.

6 Students ask questions aboutthe map.

7 The teacher works with thestudents on the pronunciationof'Appalachian/

8 The teacher corrects agrammar error by asking thestudents to make a choice.

Principles

Objects (e.g. realia or pictures)present in the immediateclassroom environment should beused to help students understandthe meaning.

The native language should not beused in the classroom.

The teacher should demonstrate,not explain or translate. It isdesirable that students make adirect association between thetarget language and meaning.

Students should learn to think inthe target language as soon aspossible. Vocabulary is acquiredmore naturally if students use it infull sentences, rather thanmemorizing word lists.

The purpose of language learningis communication (thereforestudents need to learn how toask questions as well as answerthem).

Pronunciation should be workedon right from the beginning oflanguage instruction.

Self-correction facilitates languagelearning.


Observations

9 The teacher asks questionsabout the students; studentsask each other questions.

10 The students fill in blanks withprepositions practiced in thelesson.

11 The teacher dictates aparagraph about United Statesgeography.

12 All of the lessons of the weekinvolve United Statesgeography.

13 A proverb is used to discusshow people in the U.S. viewpunctuality.

Principles

Lessons should contain someconversational activitysomeopportunity for students to uselanguage in real contexts. Studentsshould be encouraged to speak asmuch as possible.

Grammar should be taughtinductively. There may never be anexplicit grammar rule given.

Writing is an important skill, to bedeveloped from the beginning oflanguage instruction.

The syllabus is based on situationsor topics, not usually on linguisticstructures.

Learning another language alsoinvolves learning how speakers ofthat language live.

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES

Now let us consider the principles of the Direct Method as they arearranged in answer to the ten questions posed earlier:

1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Direct Method?

Teachers who use the Direct Method intend that students learn howto communicate in the target language. Tn order to do this success-fully, students should learn to think in the target language.


Although the teacher directs the class activities, the student role isli ss passive than in the Grammar-Translation Method. The teacherand the students are more like partners in the teaching/learningprocess.



Teachers who use the Direct Method believe students need to associ-ate meaning and the target language directly. In order to do this, whenthe teacher introduces a new target language word or phrase, hedemonstrates its meaning through the use of realia, pictures, or pan-tomime; he never translates it into the students' native language.Students speak in the target language a great deal and communicateas if they were in real situations. In fact, the syllabus used in the DirectMethod is based upon situations (for example, one unit would consistof language that people would use at a bank, another of the languagethat they use when going shopping) or topics (such as geography,money, or the weather). Grammar is taught inductively; that is, thestudents are presented with examples and they figure out the rule orgeneralization from the examples. An explicit grammar rule maynever be given. Students practice vocabulary by using new words incomplete sentences.

4 What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the natureof student-student interaction?

The initiation of the interaction goes both ways, from teacher to stu-dents and from student to teacher, although the latter is often teacher-directed. Students converse with one another as well.


There are no principles of the method which relate to this area.

6 How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is primarily spoken, not written. Therefore, students studycommon, everyday speech in the target language. They also study cul-ture consisting of the history of the people who speak the target lan-guage, the geography of the country or countries where the languageis spoken, and information about the daily lives of the speakers of thelanguage.


Vocabulary is emphasized over grammar. Although work on all fourskills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) occurs from the start,


oral communication is seen as basic. Thus the reading and writingexercises are based upon what the students practice orally first.Pronunciation also receives attention right from the beginning of acourse.

8 What is the rote of the students' native language?

The students' native language should not be used in the classroom.

9 How is evaluation accomplished?

We did not actually see any formal evaluation in the class weobserved; however, in the Direct Method, students are asked to usethe language, not to demonstrate their knowledge about the lan-guage. They are asked to do so using both oral and written skills. Forexample, the students might be interviewed orally by the teacher ormight be asked to write a paragraph about something they have stud-ied.

10 How does the teacher respond to student errors?

The teacher, employing various techniques, tries to get students toself-correct whenever possible.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES

Are there answers to the ten questions with which you agreed? Then thefollowing techniques may also be useful. Of course, even if you did notagree with all the answers, there may be some techniques of the DirectMethod you can adapt to your own approach to teaching. The followingexpanded review of techniques provides you with some details which willhelp you do this.

Reading aloud

Students take turns reading sections of a passage, play, or dialog out loud.At the end of each student's turn, the teacher uses gestures, pictures,realia, examples, or other means to make the meaning of the section clear.

Question and answer exercise

This exercise is conducted only in the target language. Students are askedquestions and answer in full sentences so that they practice new words


and grammatical structures. They have the opportunity to ask questionsas well as answer them.

Getting students to self-correct

The teacher of this class has the students self-correct by asking them tomake a choice between what they said and an alternative answer he sup-plied. There are, however, other ways of getting students to self-correct.For example, a teacher might simply repeat what a student has just said,using a questioning voice to signal to the student that something waswrong with it. Another possibility is for the teacher to repeat what thestudent said, stopping just before the error. The student knows that thenext word was wrong.

Conversation practice

The teacher asks students a number of questions in the target language,which the students have to understand to be able to answer correctly. Inthe class observed, the teacher asked individual students questions aboutthemselves. The questions contained a particular grammar structure.Later, the students were able to ask each other their own questions usingthe same grammatical structure.

Fill-in-the-blank exercise

This technique has already been discussed in the Grammar-TranslationMethod, but differs in its application in the Direct Method. All the items arein the target language; furthermore, no explicit grammar rule would beapplied. The students would have induced the grammar rule they need tofill in the blanks from examples and practice with earlier parts of the lesson.

Dictation

The teacher reads the passage three times. The first time the teacher readsit at a normal speed, while the students just listen. The second time hereads the passage phrase by phrase, pausing long enough to allow stu-dents to write down what they have heard. The last time the teacher againreads at a normal speed, and students check their work.

Map drawing

I lif class included one example of a technique used to give students lis-tening comprehension practice. The students were given a map with the


geographical features unnamed. Then the teacher gave the students direc-tions such as the following, 'Find the mountain range in the West. Writethe words "Rocky Mountains" across the mountain range.' He gaveinstructions for all the geographical features of the United States so thatstudents would have a completely labeled map if they followed hisinstructions correctly. The students then instructed the teacher to do thesame thing with a map he had drawn on the blackboard. Each studentcould have a turn giving the teacher instructions for finding and labelingone geographical feature.

Paragraph writing

The teacher in this class asked the students to write a paragraph in theirown words on the major geographical features of the United States. Theycould have done this from memory, or they could have used the readingpassage in the lesson as a model.

CONCLUSION

Now that you have considered the principles and the techniques of theDirect Method somewhat, see what you can find of use for your ownteaching situation.

Do you agree that the goal of target language instruction should he toteach students how to communicate in the target language? Does it makesense to you that the students' native language should not be used to givemeaning to the target language? Do you agree that the culture that istaught should be about people's daily lives in addition to the fine arts?Should students be encouraged to self-correct? Are there any other prin-ciples of the Direct Method which you believe in? Which ones?

Is dictation a worthwhile activity? Have you used question-and-answerexercises and conversation practice as described here before? If not,should you? Is paragraph writing a useful thing to ask students to do?Should grammar be presented inductively? Are there any other techniquesof the Direct Method which you would consider adopting? Which ones?

ACTIVITIES

A Check your understanding of the Direct Method.

I In the previous chapter on the Grammar-Translation Method, welearned that grammar was treated deductively. In the Direct Method,


grammar is treated inductively. Can you explain the differencebetween deductive and inductive treatments of grammar?

2 What are some of the characteristics of the Direct Method that make itso distinctive from the Grammar-Translation Method?

3 It has been said that it may be advantageous to a teacher using theDirect Method not to know his students' native language. Do youagree? Why?

B Apply what you have understood about the Direct Method.

1 Choose a particular situation (such as at the bank, at the railroad sta-tion, or at the doctor's office) or a particular topic (such as articles ofclothing, holidays, or the weather) and write a short passage or a dia-log on the theme you have chosen. Now think about how you will con-vey its meaning to students without using their native language.

2 Select a grammar point from the passage. Plan how you will get stu-dents to practice the grammar point. What examples can you providethem with so that they can induce the rule themselves?

3 Practice writing and giving a dictation as it is described in this chapter.


Berlitz, M. D. 1887. Methode Berlitz. New York: Berlitz.de Sauze, Emil B. 1929. The Cleveland Plan for the Teaching of Modern

Languages with Special Reference to French, (rev. edn.) 1959.Philadelphia: Winston.

Dillcr, Karl C. 1978. The Language Teaching Controversy. Rowley, MA:Newbury House.

Gatenby,E. V. 1958. A Direct Method English Course. (3rd edn.) London:Longman.

Gouin, Francois. 1880. The Art of Teaching and Studying Languages.Translated by Swan, H. and V. Betts. 1892. London: Philip.

Krause, Carl A. 1916. The Direct Method in Modern Languages. NewYork: Charles Scribner.

i The Audio-Lingual Method

INTRODUCTIONThe Audio-Lingual Method, like the Direct Method we have just exam-ined, is also an oral-based approach. However, it is very different in thatrather than emphasizing vocabulary acquisition through exposure to itsuse in situations, the Audio-Lingual Method drills students in the use ofgrammatical sentence patterns. It also, unlike the Direct Method, has astrong theoretical base in linguistics and psychology. Charles Fries (1945)of the University of Michigan led the way in applying principles fromstructural linguistics in developing the method, and for this reason, it hassometimes been referred to as the 'Michigan Method.' Later in its devel-opment, principles from behavioral psychology (Skinner 1957) wereincorporated. It was thought that the way to acquire the sentence pat-terns of the target language was through conditioninghelping learnersto respond correctly to stimuli through shaping and reinforcement.Learners could overcome the habits of their native language and form thenew habits required to be target language speakers.

In order to come to an understanding of this method, let us now enter aclassroom where the Audio-Lingual Method is being used. We will sit inon a beginning level English class in Mali. There are thirty-four students,thirteen to fifteen years of age. The class meets for one hour a day, fivedays a week.

EXPERIENCE

As we enter the classroom, the first thing we notice is that the students areattentively listening as the teacher is presenting a new dialog, a conversa-tion between two people. The students know they will be