A Comprehensive Guide to Language Teaching Methods and Concepts
A Lesson Plan
A lesson plan is a document that maps out the teacher’s intentions for the lesson. It reflects the teacher’s planning decisions as well as the teacher’s understanding of the principles of lesson design.
The different parts are: Aims, timetable fit, assumptions, anticipated problems, materials, class profile, development aims, procedure, and assessment.
Historical Overview of Language Teaching
Berlaimont
During the 15th and 16th centuries, a new social class emerged: the bourgeoisie. With the diffusion of the printing press, the bourgeoisie, working as traders from different parts of Europe (Belgium and Holland), created a demand for learning foreign languages. Berlaimont responded to this need by creating vocabulary lists, which grew over time. These popular manuals, containing words and phrases for commerce, facilitated economic transactions but were not designed for comprehensive language learning. These manuals are considered precursors to the communicative method.
Antonio de Nebrija
Antonio de Nebrija, a Spanish grammarian, wrote the first grammar of a vernacular language in Europe, Gramática Española, published in 1492. He was the first author to dedicate a part of a book solely to foreign language students. Nebrija’s model grammar, based on the classical mode, aimed to help translate texts from Latin to the vernacular language, primarily for understanding classical texts.
Johan Amos Comenios
Johan Amos Comenios, born in the Czech Republic in 1592, is best known for his work “Orbis Pictus” (1658). He was the first to incorporate pictures into grammar books, although he did not introduce the English language.
Key Concepts in Language Teaching
Activity vs. Task
“Activity” and “task” are not synonymous. “Task” is a general term describing what learners are required to do, encouraging them to use their own language resources. Classroom activities, however, focus on communicative meaning. Activities are components of a task.
Realia
Realia are real-life objects used in classroom instruction to enhance students’ understanding of other cultures and real-life situations. They connect learners with the lesson’s focal point by providing a tactile and multidimensional link between the material and the object of the lesson. Realia can be brought from home, transported as photos, or permanently displayed in the classroom as posters, photos, or cardboard projects.
European Portfolio: The ELP
The ELP is a document where language learners can record and reflect on their language learning and intercultural experiences.
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL)
The CEFRL is a guideline used to describe the achievements of foreign language learners across Europe and increasingly in other countries.
Transfer
Transfer is the effect one language has on another. It can occur at all levels: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse. Currently, transfer is considered one of many factors influencing a learner’s interlanguage.
Applied Linguistics
Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to real-life language-related problems. It intersects with fields like education, psychology, communication research, anthropology, and sociology.
Competence and Performance
Competence refers to the innate knowledge of a language, categorized into different levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). Performance is the ability to speak a language, reflecting how well one can use the language in practice.
Authenticity
A classroom text is considered authentic if it was originally written for a non-classroom audience. The concept of authenticity distinguishes between artificially simplified texts and unmodified real texts. With the rise of the communicative approach, inauthentic texts were deemed inadequate.
Method vs. Methodology
A method is a system for teaching language based on a particular theory of language or learning, or both. It should not be confused with methodology, a general term describing classroom practices, such as classroom management, regardless of the specific method used.
Language Teaching Methods
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a psychological theory that views learning as habit formation. Habits are formed when learners’ responses to external stimuli are positively reinforced. The language teaching method associated with behaviorism is audiolingualism.
Structuralism
Structuralism is a theory that aims to explain general subjects. The structural approach to language divides it into several components that interact to form the rules of the language. Structuralist approaches help students learn through context, enabling them to piece together parts of the language for a more complete understanding.
Humanism
Humanism emerged as a reaction to the dehumanizing psychology of behaviorism. In language teaching, it is associated with methods like The Silent Way, focusing on personal growth, human values, and affect. Anxiety and stress are minimized, and learners are encouraged to take responsibility and actively participate in their learning.
Branches of Linguistics
Phonetics (Sounds)
Phonetics studies sound description and articulation. For example, a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language with its own meaning, like the difference between “cat” and “cut”.
Morphology
Morphology, a part of grammar, deals with word formation, including prefixes, suffixes, and other types. A morpheme is not always a syllable and can be a whole word. For example, “UN(prefix)HAPPI(root)NESS(suffix)”.
Semantics
Semantics studies the meaning of words, including antonyms, synonyms, polysemic words, etc. For example, “old” and “young” are antonyms.
Syntax
: It is about how to combine the different words of a language to form sentences. For example: I like tea vs like tea I