THE ORAL APPROACH

AND SITUATIONAL
LANGUAGE TEACHING
1930s to 1960s
Introduction
Few language teachers in the 1990s are
familiar with the terms Oral Approach or
Situational Language Teaching, which refer
to an approach to language teaching
developed by British applied linguists from
the1930s to the 1960s.
Even though neither term is commonly used
today, the impact of the Oral Approach has
been long lasting, and it has shaped the
design of many widely used EFUESL
textbooks and courses, including many still
being used today.
Background
The origins of this approach began with the
work of British applied Linguists Harold
Palmer and A. S. Hornby, in the 1920s and
1930s.
Both were familiar with the Direct Method.
What they attempted was to develop a more
scientific foundation for an oral approach to
teaching English than was evidenced in the
Direct Method.
Background
The result was a systematic study of the
principles and procedures that could be
applied to the selection and organization of
the content of a language.
Background
Vocabulary control
One of the first aspects of method design to
receive attention was the role of vocabulary.
First, there was a general consensus among
language teaching specialists, such as
Palmer, that vocabulary was one of the most
important aspects of foreign language
learning.
Second, was the emphasis on reading skills
as the goal of foreign language study in
some countries (Coleman Report).
Vocabulary was seen as an essential
component of reading proficiency.
Background
Vocabulary control
This led to the development of principles of
vocabulary control, which were to have a
major practical impact on the teaching of
English in the following decades.
Frequency counts showed that a core of
2,000 or so words occurred frequently in
written texts and that a knowledge of these
words would greatly assist in reading a
foreign language.
Harold Palmer, Michael West, and others
produced a guide to the English vocabulary
Background
Grammar control
Parallel to the vocabulary control, was a
focus on the grammatical content of a
language course.
Palmer in his writings had emphasized the
problems of grammar for the foreign learner.
Much of his work in Japan, where he
directed the Institute for Research in English
Teaching from 1922 until World War II, was
directed toward developing classroom
procedures suited to teaching basic
grammatical patterns through an oral
approach.
Background
Grammar control
Parallel to the vocabulary control, was a
focus on the grammatical content of a
language course.
Palmer in his writings had emphasized the
problems of grammar for the foreign learner.
Much of his was directed toward developing
classroom procedures suited to teaching
basic grammatical patterns through an oral
approach.
Background
Grammar control
His view of grammar was very different from
the abstract model or grammar seen in the
Grammar-Translation Method, where the
teachers responsability was to show how
each grammar structure was expressed in
the target language.

Background
Grammar control
Palmer viewed grammar as the underlying
sentence patterns of the spoken language.
Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied
linguists analyzed English and classified its
major grammatical structures into sentence
patterns which could be used to help
internalize the rules of English sentence
structure.
Background
Grammar control
With the development of systematic
approaches to the lexical and grammatical
content of a language course and with the
efforts of such specialists as Palmer, West,
and Hornby in using these resources as part
of a comprehensive methodological
framework for the teaching of English as a
foreign language, the foundations
for the British approach in TEFL/TESL - the
Oral Approach were firmly established.
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied
developed an approach to methodology that
involved systematic principles of:
Selection (the procedures by which lexical
and grammatical content was chosen ),
Gradation (principles by which the
organization and sequencing of content
were determined),
Presentation (techniques used for
presentation and practice of items in a
course) .
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
This was not to be confused with the Direct
Method , which although it used oral
procedures, lacked a systematic basis in
applied linguistics.
According to Palmer and Hornby, the Direct
Method meant that the learner was struck
by a flow of ungraded speech, suffering all
the difficulties he would have encountered in
picking up the language in its normal
environment, and losing most of the
compensating benefits of better
contextualization in those circumstances.
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
The main characteristics of the approach
were as follows:
1. Language teaching begins with the spoken
language. Material is taught orally before it
is presented in written form.
2. The target language is the language of the
classroom.
3. New language points are introduced and
practiced situationally
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
4. Vocabulary selection procedures are
followed to ensure that an essential general
service vocabulary is covered.
5. Items of grammar are graded following the
principle that simple forms should be taught
before complex ones.
6. Reading and writing are introduced once a
sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is
established.
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
It was the third principle (New language
points are introduced and practiced
situationally) that became a key feature of
the approach in the sixties and it was then
that the term situational was used
Increasingly in referring to the Oral
Approach.
To avoid further confusion we will use the
tcrm Situational Language Teaching (SL T)
to include the StructuraI Situational and Oral
approaches.
The Oral Approach and
Situational Language
Teaching
How can Situational Language Teaching be
characterized at the levels of approach,
design, and procedure?
Approach
Theory of language
A type of British "structuralism

Speech was regarded as the basis of
language, and structure was viewed as
being at the heart of speaking ability.

The British theoreticians, had a special
focus to their version of structuralism - the
notion of "situation."
Theory of language
Pittman said "Our principal classroom
activity in the teaching of English structure
will be the oral practice of structures. This
oral practice of controlled sentence patterns
should be given in situations designed to
give the greatest amount of practice in
English speech to the pupil
The theory that knowledge of structures
must be linked to situations in which they
could be used gave Situational Language
Teaching one of its distinctive features.
Theory of language
Many British linguists had emphasized the
close relationship between the structure of
language and the context and situations in
which language is used.
In contrast to American structuralist views
on language, language was viewed a
purposeful activity related to goals and
situations in the real world. "The language
which a person originates ... is always
expressed for a purpose"
Theory of language
Many British linguists had emphasized the
close relationship between the structure of
language and the context and situations in
which language is used.
In contrast to American structuralist views
on language, language was viewed a
purposeful activity related to goals and
situations in the real world. "The language
which a person originates ... is always
expressed for a purpose"
Theory of learning
A type of behaviorist habit-learning theory.

It addresses primarily the processes rather
than the conditions of learning:

there are three processes in learning a
language - receiving the knowledge or
materials, fixing it in the memory by
repetition, and using it in actual practice until
it becomes a personal skill (Palmer).
Theory of learning
French likewise saw language learning as
habit formation:

The fundamental is correct speech habits ....
The pupils should be able to put the words,
without hesitation and almost without
thought, into sentence patterns which are
correct. Such speech habits can be cultivated
by blind imitative drill
Theory of learning
Like the Direct Method, Situational Language
Teaching adopts an inductive approach to the
teaching of grammar.
The meaning of words or structures is not to
be given through explanation but is to be
induced from the way the form is used in a
situation.
"If we give the meaning of a new word, either by
translation into the home language or by an
equivalent in the same language, as soon as we
introduce it, we weaken the impression which
the word makes on the mind" (Billows)
Theory of learning
Explanation is therefore discouraged.

The learner is expected to deduce the
meaning of a particular structure or
vocabulary item from the situation in which
it is presented.
Theory of learning
Extending structures and vocabulary to new
situations takes place by generalization:
The learner is expected to apply the
language learned in a classroom to
situations outside the classroom.
This is how child language learning is
believed to take place, and the same
processes are thought to occur in second
and foreign language learning, according to
practitioners of Situational Language
Teaching.
Design
Objectives
The objectives of the Situational Language
Teaching method are to teach the mastery
of the four basic skills of language, goals it
shares with most methods of language
teaching.
But the skills are approached through
structure.
Accuracy in both pronunciation and
grammar is regarded as crucial, and errors
are to be avoided at all costs.
Objectives
Automatic control of basic structures and
sentence patterns is fundamental to
reading and writing skills, and this is
achieved through speech work:

"Before our pupils read new structures and
new vocabulary, we should teach orally both
the new structures and the new vocabulary
(Pittman)
Objectives
Writing also derives from speech:

Only when the teacher is reasonably certain
that learners can speak fairly correctly within
the limits of their knowledge of sentence
structure and vocabulary may he allow them
free choice in sentence patterns and
vocabulary. (Pittman)
Syllabus
Basic to the teaching of English in
Situational Language Teaching is a
structural syllabus and a word list.
A structural syllabus is a list of the basic
structures and sentence patterns of
English, arranged according to their order
of presentation.
Syllabus
In Situational Language Teaching,
structures are always taught within
sentences, and vocabulary is chosen
according to how well it enables sentence
patterns to be taught.
"Our course will consist of a list of sentence
patterns [statement patterns, question
patterns, and request or command patterns]
... will include as many structural words as
possible, and sufficient content words to
provide us with material upon which to base
our language practice (Frisby)
Syllabus
Frisby gives an example of the typical
structural syllabus around which situational
teaching was based:

Syllabus
The syllabus was not therefore a situational
syllabus in the sense that this term is
sometimes used (i.e., a list of situations and
the language associated with them).

Rather, situation refers to the manner of
presenting and practicing sentence
patterns, as we shall see later.
Types of learning and
teaching activities
Situational language Teaching employs a
situational approach to presenting new
sentence patterns and a drill-based
manner of practicing them.
Our method will be situational. The situation
will be controlled carefully to teach the new
language material in such a way that there
can not be a doubt in the learner's mind of
the meaning of what he hears. Almost all the
vocabulary and structures taught in the first 4
or 5 can be placed in situations in which the
meaning is quite clear. (Pittman)
By situation Pittman means the use of
concrete objects, pictures, and realia, which
together with actions and gestures can be
used to demonstrate the meanings of new
language items.
Types of learning and
teaching activities
The form of new words and sentence
patterns is demonstrated with examples and
not through grammatical explanation or
description.
The meaning of new words and sentence
patterns is not conveyed through
translation. It is made clear visually (with
objects, pictures, action and mime).
Wherever possible model sentences are
related and taken from a single situation.
Types of learning and
teaching activities
The practice techniques employed generally
consist of guided repetition and substitution
activities, including chorus repetition,
dictation, drills, and controlled oral-based
reading and writing tasks.
Other oral-practice techniques are
sometimes used, including pair practice and
group work.
Types of learning and
teaching activities
Learner roles
In the initial stages of learning, the learner is
required simply to listen and repeat what
the teacher says and to respond to
questions and commands.
The learner has no control over the content
of learning and is often regarded as likely to
succumb to undesirable behaviors unless
skillfully manipulated by the teacher.
Learner roles
For example, the learner might lapse into
faulty grammar or pronunciation, forget
what has been taught, or fail to respond
quickly enough ; incorrect habits are to be
avoided at all costs.
Later, more active participation is
encouraged.
This includes learners initiating responses
and asking each other questions, although
teacher-controlled introduction and practice
of new language is stressed throughout
Teacher roles
The teacher's functions are 3.
In the presentation stage of the lesson, the
teacher serves as a model, setting up
situations in which the need for the target
structure is created and then modeling the
new structure for students to repeat.
Then the teacher "becomes more like the
skillful conductor of an orchestra, drawing
the music out of the performers".
Teacher roles
The teacher is required to be a skillful
manipulator, using questions, commands,
and other cues to elicit correct sentences
from the learners. Lessons are hence
teacher directed, and the teacher sets the
pace.
The role of instructional
materials
Situational Language Teaching is
dependent upon both a textbook and visual
aids.
The textbook contains tightly organized
lessons planned around different
grammatical structures.
In principle, however, the textbook should
be used "only as a guide to the learning
process. The teacher is expected to be the
master of his textbook (Pittman)
Procedure
Procedure
Classroom procedures in Situational
Language Teaching vary according to the
level of the class, but procedures at any
level aim to move from controlled to freer
practice of structures and from oral use of
sentence patterns to their automatic use in
speech, reading, and writing.
Procedure
Pittman gives an example of a typical lesson
which according to him consists of 5 parts:
1) Pronunciation
2) Revision (to prepare for new work if
necessary)
3) Presentation of new structure or vocabulary
4) Oral practice (drilling)
5) Reading of material on the new structure,
or written exercise.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Procedures associated with Situational
Language Teaching in the 50s and 60s
are an extension and further development
of well-established techniques advocated
by proponents of the earlier Oral Approach
in the British school of language teaching.
Conclusion
Because the principles of Situational
Language Teaching, with its strong
emphasis on oral practice, grammar, and
sentence patterns, conform to the
intuitions of many practically oriented
classroom teachers, it continues to be
widely used.
References
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T.S.
(2001). Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.