APPROACHES AND

METHODS IN FOREIGN
LANGUAGE TEACHING
Unit 2
General considerations 1.1.
 APPROACHES AND METHODS

Approach Method
Theories about the nature of The practical realisation of an
the language and language approach. The originators of a
learning that serve as the method have arrived at decisions
about types of activities, roles of
source of practices and teachers and learners, the kinds of
principles in language teaching. material which will be helpful, and
some mode of syllabus organisation.
 Traditional methods

Traditional Structural methods

classification
Communication-oriented methods
of language
learning Humanistic methods

methods
Lexical methods
Traditional
methods

Grammar-
translation method

Direct method
Structural
methods
Audiolingual method

Situational method

Structural global
audiovisual method
Communication-
oriented methods

Communicative method

Natural method

Task-based method

Content-based method
Humanistic
methods

Suggestopedia method

Total physical response

Silent way

Community method

Multiple intelligences
Lexical methods

Lexical
method
(1000 words)
The most frequent methods in
pre-primary education 1.2.
AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD
AUDIO-LINGUALISM

Audio-lingual methodology owed its existence to the Behaviourist models of learning. Using the
Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement model, it attempted, through a continuous process of such
positive reinforcement, to engender good habits in language learners.

Audio-lingualism relied heavily on drills to form these habits; substitution is built

into these drills so that, in small steps, the student is constantly learning.

Negative aspect of this method: the language is de-contextualised and carries a

little communicative function.
• Teacher: There’s a cup on the
table… repeat
Students: There’s a cup on the
table
• Teacher: spoon
Students: There’s a spoon on
the table
• Teacher: book
Students: There’s a book on the
table
• Teacher: On the chair
Students: There’s a book on the
table
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
Common European
Framework of
Reference for
Languages
Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)
(coe.int)
The communicative language teaching

A set of principles about goals of

Previous methods used to focus
language teaching, how learners
on linguistic patterns and
learn a language, the kinds of
vocabulary. However, the
classroom activities that best
communicative method use
facilitate learning, and the roles
communicative activities such as
of teachers and learners in the
dialogues, role games, drills, etc.
classroom (Richards, 2008).
THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

What to teach How to teach

This approach stressed the significance of Plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty
language functions rather than focusing only on of opportunities to use it are vitally important for
grammar and vocabulary. a student’s development of knowledge and skill.
A guiding principle was to train students to use
these language forms appropriately in a variety
of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
 Activities in the Communicative Method
Activities in CM typically involve students in real or realistic communication, where the accuracy of the
language they use is less important than successful achievement of the task they are performing.

Role-play and simulation have become very popular in CM: students simulate a television programme, a
scene at an airport or they construct a story together.

What matters in these activities is that students should have a desire to communicate something: they
should have a purpose for communicating. They should be focused on the content of what they are saying
or writing rather than on a particular language form. The teacher will not intervene to stop the activity
and such activities should attempt to replicate real communication. Interaction is vital.
TThe communicativeAPPROACH
HE COMMUNICATIVE approach
Activities in the Communicative Approach

Non-communicative activities Communicative activities

• No communicative desire • A desire to communicate
• No communicative purpose • A communicative approach
• Form not content • Content not form
• One language item only • Variety of language
• Teacher intervention • No teacher intervention
• Materials control • No materials control
 You are going to watch a video in which professor Jack Richards
Jack C. Richards on talks about the main ideas that sustain the communicative
method. Then, you have to answer the following questions:
Communicative
• According to Jack Richards, why the communicative method
Language Teaching arouse?
- YouTube • Which are the main characteristics of this method?
• Which are the three examples of evolution that professor
Richards refers to?
ROLE PLAY
Language Teaching You are going to watch a video of a model
Methods: communicative class. Identify the main characteristics
Communicative of the method and thick about which techniques could
Approach - YouTube be used in the pre-school classroom.
TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING
 • Based on the communicative
approach.
• In this method, the central axis is
TASK-BASED a task that students must
resolve. This task has a
LANGUAGE communicative purpose.
LEARNING • According to Jane Willis (1996),
lessons based on the TBLL must
follow a fixed structure: pre-task,
task, and language focus.
Pre-task
• We introduce the task to the students. It is the shortest stage and L1
could be allowed as instructions are very important, so we must be
sure that our students know what they are going to do and what they
are going to work on.
• Pre-task activities which rehearse topic language in a stimulating way:

Classifying words and Matching phrases to

Odd one out
phrases pictures

Teacher recounting a
Memory challenge Brainstorming
similar experience
Task
• The students do the task this stage is a vital opportunity for all learners to use
the language they know, working simultaneously in pairs or small groups to
achieve the goals of the task.
• Example 1: You are going to plan a story…
• Example 2: You are going to find out how many girls and boys your partner’s family has…

• Then, they present, whether oral or written, what they have found out
• Example 1: You are now going to tell the class the story you’ve planned. Everyone should
listen and at the end of each story I’ll give you a minute to write the thing about it you
remember best.
• Example 2: You’ve all found out how many girls/women and boys/men your partner’s family
has. You are not going to tell the lass. Everyone should listen to each report and write down
the numbers for each family. We can help then add up the totals to do a class survey.

• Teacher works as a guide that controls the students work.

Language

• The students examine and

discuss specific language features
of any listening or reading text
(spoken or written language)
which they have looked at for the
task.
• The teacher may conduct some
form of practice of specific
language features which arouse
during the task.
 Teaching principles in the TBLL method

Willis (1996) offers an adaptation of the method for very young

learners and this adaptation is focused on manipulative tasks that
encourage oral interaction (although silent periods must be respected).

1 2 3 4 5 6
Use the language Build the task with Maintain a relaxed Remember that at Do not correct Do not prohibit
in the classroom what they already and cooperative initial stages them all the the L1, but
as much as know and they can environment in students do not time paraphrase encourage them
possible do the classroom produce long using the correct to use the L2/LE
sentences in the structure
L2/LE
Willis - TBLL Read the following extract and make a summary about
activities.pdf the TBLL activities you can use with young learners.
 You are going to watch a video in which professor Jack Richards talks
about the main ideas that sustain the Task-based Language Learning
Jack C. Richards on method. Then, you have to answer the following questions:
Task Based • According to Jack Richards, which is the main principle of the TBLL
methodology?
Language Learning • Which is the TBLL classroom procedure and which are the
- YouTube differences with other traditional methodologies such as PPP
(Presentation-Practice-Production)?
• Which are the main difficulties that can arise when implementing
this method?
 TASK-BASED LEARNING SEQUENCE

• Students work with a photo on the subject of litter in

cities. They work in pairs on a preparatory
Pre-task questionnaire and key vocabulary is elicited and out on
the board as a class language resource.

• Small groups carry out the target task of making a five-

point plan for eradicating litter from the cities. The
Task cycle group prepares the spokesperson who then reports
their conclusions to the whole group.

Language • Students compare their findings to an audio recording

and script
focus • Grammar and vocabulary are addressed now.
SUGGESTOPEDIA
SUGGESTOPEDIA

Developed by Lozanov in the 1970s.

It has to do with the affective filter: we need to reduce this affective

filter to its lowest possible value (and this happens in the womb)

We try to recreate the conditions of feeling safe (like in the womb)

we’ll be most receptive to learning at that point.
SUGGESTOPEDIA

• A suggestopedia lesson has three main parts:

Oral review section (previously learnt material

1 is used for discussion)

Presentation and discussion of new dialogue

2 material

Concert session: (Baroque) music is used to

3 put our brain in a receptive and relaxed mood
SUGGESTOPEDIA

Reducing the affective filter, it Too different to anything we

makes the lessons more are used to.
comfortable for our students.

Clear psychological theory Not easy to create the ideal

affective filter: we are more conditions. There are not
receptive when this filter is at too many schools which
its lowest value have the facilities to
produce all of these
conditions.
SUGGESTOPEDIA
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)
 Created by James Asher in 1965.
 Asher looked at the way in which we learn our native language he started to have a look at the
ideas of how to use the whole of our brain in language learning and the way that we do when we
are very young:

When we are young, what we tend to do in the

way in which we learn the language is to use the
whole of our brain. His idea was to try to
introduce movement into the process of learning
a language so that we are using the whole of our
brain and therefore doubling the capacity of our
learning. By bringing those things together it was
shown that it would actually enhance the learning
process.
 TPR – Teaching principles

Instructions must be short and simple

Comprehension appears first and production comes after it.

Understanding is easier thanks to the psychomotor activity

It creates a relaxed environment where anxiety is reduced

Teacher acts as a facilitator and she/he helps with the instructions

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)

Very good for young learners: It is not very recommendable

if you can get the young for professional learners or
learners to be moving around for high levels.
whilst they are actually
learning, then it will enhance
the process of learning and
they will enjoy it.
Long silent period: it is part
of the TPR method and
It is said to give much long therefore we don’t get
terms retention of those immediate results.
particular vocabulary words.
CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING
 • In Spanish it is known as AICLE (Aprendizaje
Content and integrado de contenidos y lengua).
• Foreign language is used to teach non linguistic
language contents.
• According to Marsh & Frigols-Martín (2013), “it is a
integrated dual-focused educational approach in which an
additional language is used for the learning and

learning teaching of both content and language. CLIL

involves the use of language-supportive
methodologies leading to authentic learning where
(CLIL) attention is given to both the topic and language
of instruction” (p.1).
 Consideración de la experiencia previa de los estudiantes para posibilitar los vínculos
con los conocimientos previos.
Selección de contenidos comprensibles.

Potenciar el uso creativo del lenguaje.

Falta de penalización de las formas lingüísticas y no lingüísticas por parte del

profesorado.

CLIL Uso de metodologías lingüísticas y no lingüísticas por parte del profesorado.

principles
Incentivación de las habilidades orales del estudiantado.

Búsqueda de objetivos particulares contextualizados.

Importancia de la teoría y la práctica.

Uso de recursos complementarios.

Participación activa.

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

https://www.youtube.c
Watch the following video and identify the Content
om/watch?v=OWF1djK
CY3M and Language Integrated Learning principles.
 How to teach kids - English for children

•Which content/words are being taught in

the lesson? Try to organize them by lexical
sets.
•Which method(s) is being used by the
teacher?