Effective Language Teaching Methods: A Comprehensive Analysis
Community Language Learning
Community Language Learning is a classic example of an affectively based method, based on Charles Curran’s (1972) Counseling-Learning model of education. Learners in a classroom are regarded not as a class but as a group in need of therapy and counseling. Success depends on the translation expertise of the counselor. However, the counselor-teacher could become too non-directive. Supportive but assertive direction from the counselor could strengthen the method.
- Theory of Learning: Learning involves the whole person and is a social process.
- Theory of Language: Language is more than a system of communication; it involves the whole person, culture, and educational, developmental, and communicative processes.
- Teacher Role: The teacher acts as a counselor, providing a safe environment, analogous to a parent.
- Learner Role: Learners are members of a community, and learning is seen as a collaborative effort.
Suggestopedia
Suggestopedia was derived from the work of Bulgarian psychologist Georgi Lozanov (1979). He posited that the human brain could process great quantities of material under the right conditions, such as a state of relaxation and surrendering control to the teacher. He also stated that people are capable of learning much more than they believe. Music, specifically Baroque music, was central to this method. Readings are translated into the learner’s native language.
The Silent Way
Caleb Gattegno (1972) believed that learners should develop independence, autonomy, and responsibility. Learners had to cooperate with each other in solving language problems. The teacher remained silent much of the time and maintained a distance. Typically, materials such as Cuisenaire rods (small colored rods of varying lengths) and a series of colorful wall charts were used. The teacher provided single-word stimuli once or twice, and then the students refined their understanding and pronunciation among themselves with minimal corrective feedback from the teacher.
Total Physical Response
James Asher (1977) noted that children appear to do a lot of listening before they speak, and their listening is accompanied by physical responses. This method uses the imperative mood, employing commands to get learners to move about and loosen up (e.g., “Open the window,” “Close the door”). More complex syntax could be incorporated into the imperative (e.g., “Draw a square on the whiteboard”). Humor is easy to introduce (e.g., “Walk slowly to the door and jump”). Interrogatives were also easily dealt with (e.g., “Where is the book?”). This method seemed to be especially effective in the beginning levels of language learning but less so for advanced learners.
The Natural Approach
The Natural Approach, developed by Krashen and Terrell (1983), was aimed at the goal of basic personal communication skills in everyday language situations (e.g., conversations, shopping, listening to the radio).
- The production stage involves the development of listening comprehension skills.
- The early production stage is usually marked with errors as the student struggles with the language. The teacher focuses on meaning and refrains from correcting errors during this stage.
- The final stage extends production into longer stretches of discourse, involving more complex games, discussions, and group work to promote fluency. Teachers are asked to be very sparse in their correction of errors.
Communicative Language Teaching
- Theory of Language: Language is a system for the expression of meaning, with the primary function being interaction and communication.
- Theory of Learning: Activities involving real communication, carrying out meaningful tasks, and using language that is meaningful to the learner promote learning.
- Teacher Role: The teacher is a facilitator of the communication process.
- Learner Role: The learner is a negotiator and interactor, both giving and taking.