Aapproaches and Methods in Language Teaching

1. The post-method era

2. C
O
N
T
E
N
T
•The post-method era
(Nesrin Demirbaş)
•The «top down» criticism
•The role of contextual factors
(Ercan AKSOY)
•The need for curriculum development processes
•Lack of research basis
•Similarity of classroom practices
(Hülya ÖZGER)
•Beyond approaches and methods
•Looking forward
(Elham COŞKUN)

3. Recent explorations in L2 pedagogy signal a shift away from
the conventiional and traditional concept of method toward
a post method condition so that the teachers are empowered
to devise for themselves a systematic, coherent and relevant
alternative to method.
The post-methods era

4. It also signifies a search for an alternative to method rather than
an alternative method. It also signifies teacher autonomy.
It is different from eclecticism which has long been advocated
to overcome the limitations of any given method.

5. •The Grammar Translation Method (19th century)
•Direct Method (end of 19th century)
•The Audiolingual Method (in the 1950s)
•Silent Way
•TPR
•Suggestopedia
•Communicative Language Teaching (in the 1980s)

6. • Communivative Language Teaching
• Competency-Based Language Teaching
• Content-Based Instruction
• Cooperative Learning
• Lexical Approaches
• Multiple Intelligences
• The Naturalistic Approach
• Neurolinguistic Programming
• Task-Based Language Teaching
• Whole Language

7. • A method refers to a specific instructional design
or system based on a particular theory of language
and of language learning. It contains detailed
specifications of content, roles of teachers and
learners, and teaching procedures and techniques.
It is relatively fixed in time and there is generally
little scope for individual interpretation. Methods
are learned through training. The teacher’s role is
to follow the method and apply it precisely
according to rules. The following are examples of
methods in this sense:
• Audiolingualism
• Counseling-Learning
• Situational Language Teaching
• The Silent Way
• Suggestopedia
• Total Physical Response

8. To sum up
There is often no clear right or wrong way of
teaching according to an approach and no
prescribed body of practice. Methods solve many
of problems beginning teachers have to struggle
with because many of the basis decisions about
what to teach and how to teach it have already
been made for them.

9. The “top-down” criticism
The post-methods era

10. Approaches tend to allow for varying interpretations in
practice, methods typically prescribe for teachers what
and how to teach.
Approaches
Methods

11. Teacher have to
accept the claims or theory underlying the method
and appy them to their own practice.
Good Teaching
regarded as
• Correct use of method
• its prescribed principles
and techniques

12. The role of teacher is marginalized
His role or her role is to understand the method
and apply its principles correctly.
Learners are sometimes viewed as
the passive recipients of the method.
They must submit themselves to its regime of
exercises and activities.

13. In other words,
• Learners bring different learning styles and
preferences to the learning process, that they
should be consulted in the process of developing
a teaching program, and that teaching methods
must be flexible and adaptive to learners’ need
and interest.

14. Role of contextual factors
The post-methods era

15. Both approach and methods are often promoted
as all-purpose solutions to teaching problems
In trying to apply approaches or
methods, teachers sometimes ignore what is the
starting point in language program
design, namely, a careful consideration of the
context.
Teaching and
learning occurs
The cultural
context
The political
context
The local
institutional
context
The context
constituted by T
and learners

16. CLT and cultural imperialism nearly is same thing
according to their educational traditions.
• In this respect, CLT is used in Britain and United
States, other speaking countries. And so, this
situation is related to target culture and the
assumptions of CLT.
• Similarly, Counseling-learning and cooperative
learning and their assumption about the roles of
teachers and learners are not necessarily
culturally universal.

17. THE NEED FOR CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
The post-methods era

18. These traditionally involve:
• The careful examination, drawing on all
available sources of knowledge and informed
judgement, of the teaching objectives.
• The development and trial use in schools of
those methods and materials which are judged
most likely to achieve the objectives which
teachers agreed upon.

19. • The assessment of the extend to which the
development work has in fact achieved its
objectives.
• The final element is therefore the feedback of all
the experience gained, to provide a starting
point for further study.

20. LACK OF RESEARCH BASIS
Approaches and methods are often
based on the assumption that the
process of second language
learning are fully understood.

21. SIMILARITY OF CLASSROOM
PRACTICES
Brown (1997:3) makes similar point:
Generally, methods are quite
distinctive at the early, beginning
stages of a language course, and rather
indistinguishable from each other at a
later stage.

22. Beyond approaches and methods
 to learn how to use different approaches and methods and understand
when they might be useful
 to understand some of the issues and controversies that characterize the
history of language teaching
 to participate in language learning experiences based on different
approaches and methods as a basis for reflection and comparison
 to be aware of the rich set of activity resources available to the
imaginative teacher
 to appreciate how theory and practice can be linked from a variety of
different perspectives

23. Looking Forward
• Responses to technology; The potential of the internet , the World
Wide Web, and other computer interfaces and technological
innovations is likely to capture the imagination of the teaching
profession in the future as it has in the past and will influence both
the content and the form of instructional delivery in the language
teaching.
• Learner-based innovations; Learner-based focuses recur in
laguage teaching and other fields in approximately 10-year
cycles, as we have seen with individualized instruction, the learner-
centred curriculum, learner training, learner strategies, and Multiple
Intelligences. We can anticipate continuation of this trend.