Unit 3. Language Teaching Methodology

Online Delta Course
Delta Module One
Unit 3
Study Topic Discussion Task 3
Study Guide 3: Language Teaching
Methodology
Exam Practice Question 3
04/09/2009 Bell Delta Online - Module One: Unit 3 Page 1 of 21

Contents
Study Topic Discussion Task 3.............................................................................. 3
Study Guide 3 .......................................................................................................... 5
Worksheet 1: Approaches, methods, procedures and techniques ...................... 6
An overview of the concepts of approach, method, procedure and technique .... 7
Worksheet 2: Popular ELT approaches and methods......................................... 8
The big six (W)h-questions................................................................................. 9
A quick overview of popular ELT approaches and methods ............................... 9
Reading List: Language Teaching Methodologies and Approaches ................... 9
Worksheet 3: Method, or no method? ................................................................ 9
A quick overview of the method, anti-method and post-method debate.............. 9
Module One Exam Practice Questions .................................................................. 9
Paper 2 Task 4 (Lucky Dip)

Module One DELTA Online Preparation Course
Follow the same procedure as for Study Topic Discussion 1.
(You are preparing an answer on your own this time – not in a pair / group)
• Download, print out and read the Study Guide to this week's topic. (NB
You do not need to submit any answers from worksheets.)
• Seek out the books and internet links listed in the Reading List and read
as much as you can before writing your responses.
• Write an answer to Study Topic Discussion Task 3 (below) using a word
processor.
• Find the Section on the Moodle labelled “Study Topic Discussion”. Post
answers to the tasks.
• After making your own post, read other people's posts. Comment on other
people’s answers and get a discussion going.
The task is on the next page

(3.1) Evaluation of methods / approaches
Choose any two methods / approaches (mainstream or alternative). Give a

brief personal evaluation of each one by identifying its plusses, minuses, and
any interesting points from your personal perspective.
Note: You do not need to describe the history or practices of the methods /
approaches; we are mainly interested in your evaluation and thoughts. Feel
free to state your emotional reactions (e.g. “I hate this idea because …”) as
well as your more sober reflections.
(3.2) Approaches underpinning materials design and your own practice
(3.2.A)
Choose one unit from a course book you are currently using with your EFL
class – or which you have used in the recent past.
Look critically at some of the activities and sequences of activities in it. To

what extent does it exemplify any of the methods/approaches discussed in
this study guide?
(3.2.B)
Reflect on your own practice:
• To what extent can you identify your own “Method”?
• Can you link techniques you use to specific methods/approach(es)?
• Do you think that your practice reflects a range of methods/approaches
– or are you mainly influenced by one or two?
• To what extent does your “method” have an underpinning rationale that
you are aware of?

Study Guide 3
Language Teaching Methodology
Introduction
Many EFL teachers are able to plan on the spot and pull together whatever is at hand
to make their lessons work, sometimes ‘picking and mixing’ seemingly disparate
approaches, methods, techniques and activities. However, for this ‘eclectic fusion’ to
be effective, (rather than random and confused) it needs to be underpinned by a
clear and sound understanding of the principles behind the practices. Recent
research (Baynham et al, 2007) seems to confirm this: the most experienced and
effective teachers tend to use what might be called a ‘principled eclecticism’, based
on their own critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of established
approaches.
ELT professionals draw on a wealth of different frameworks, approaches, methods,

procedures and techniques that have been developed throughout the history of
language teaching and continue to evolve to this day. Practitioners’ perceptions of
the value of these models, approaches and methods – and indeed, of the very
concept of method - have also evolved, in line with paradigm shifts in generic teacher
education and in the social sciences.
Using this Study Guide
a) Approaches, methods, procedures and techniques

(1) Work through Worksheet 1 (on the next page) to help clarify your own ideas.
(You do not need to submit any answers)
(2) Read the text “A Quick Overview of Approaches, Methods, Procedures and
Techniques” that follows.
b) Popular ELT approaches and methods

(1) Work through Worksheet 2 then read the “quick overview of the concepts of
approach, method, procedure and technique”.
(2) Use the book list and internet links to start reading elsewhere around the topic.
(3) Use the “Key Concepts, Areas, People and Terms to Study” as search terms for
further research.
c) Method, anti-method and post-method

(1) Work through the worksheet on the first page.
(2) Read the text “A Quick Overview of the method, anti-method and post-method
debate ” that follows.
(3) Use the “Key Concepts, Areas, People and Terms to Study” as search terms for
further research.

Worksheet 1: Approaches, methods, procedures and

techniques
When looking at how theory has been realised in methodological practice,

people use the terms approach, method, procedure and technique, among
others.
Use the diagram below to graphically show the relationship between the terms
approaches, methods, procedures and techniques. In which concentric
circle would you place each of the four words? Why? (Note that the terms
here have been arranged in alphabetical order)
1.
2.
3.
4.

A quick overview of the concepts of approach, method,

procedure and technique
Approach
This term refers to theories about the nature of language, (i.e. What does language
consist of? What are its key aspects?) as well as theories about the nature of
language learning (i.e. How do people learn languages? What are the necessary
conditions under which successful language learning takes place?) These theoretical
principles inform and underpin actual classroom practice.
Method
A method is the concrete realisation of an approach in practice. It includes various

procedures and techniques, and it prescribes:
• A model of syllabus organisation (i.e. What should be included in the
syllabus? In what order? What skills/systems should be given priority? etc.)
• The types of activities that should be used: (e.g. drills, role-plays, tasks, etc.)
• The roles that teachers and learners should adopt to foster learning (e.g.
teachers as ‘conductors’ or ‘facilitators,’ learners as ‘translators’ or ‘problem-solvers’)
• The types of materials that best support language learning (e.g. bilingual
dictionaries, authentic texts, coursebooks, etc.)
Procedure
A procedure is a sequence of techniques (i.e. it sets out what should be done first,
next, etc.) For example, a typical procedure for a listening skills lesson is:
1. Before listening: The teacher creates interest in the topic, activates the students’
knowledge of the topic of the text, and activates related language.
2. Listening: Students listen for gist and details, while doing comprehension tasks.
3. After listening: Students do follow-up tasks that focus on the development of an
alternative skill (e.g. discuss in pairs how they feel about what they have just heard,
or write a letter of complaint to the radio station) or system (e.g. do a discovery
activity on the features of connected speech, or underline collocations used in the
text, etc)
Technique
A technique is a specific action that the teacher does to facilitate learning. Examples
of techniques are delayed correction (when the teacher allows learners to speak
without interrupting them to correct inaccurate language, and focuses on a selection
of the errors made after the students have finished the speaking activity), and back-
chaining, (when the teacher models a difficult word by starting with the last sound,
which the learners repeat, and then gradually builds up the word or phrase by going
'back' to the beginning).

Worksheet 2: Popular ELT approaches and methods
Activating schemata…
Try to answer the ‘big six’ (W)h-questions about each of the

approaches and methods listed below without recourse to any
books, notes, etc (and without undue pause or hesitation! ☺)
The questions:
1. Where did this approach/method originate?

2. When was it developed?
3. Who was/were the main proponent(s) of this
approach/method?
4. Why did it emerge?
5. What are its main tenets?
6. How are the principles of this approach/method realised into
actual classroom practice?
The approaches/methods:
a) Grammar-Translation
b) The Direct Method
c) Audio-lingualism
d) Situational Language Teaching /PPP
e) The Communicative Approach
f) Task-Based Learning
g) The Lexical Approach
Note:
If your most frequent answer is ‘No idea!’ despair not! The idea is that these
questions might awaken in you the desire to find out more about these approaches
and methods as you work through the next few pages.

Optional Note taking framework:
The big six (W)h-questions
You could use the following graphic organiser to summarise the key
points of each approach
Who?
When Where?
Why?
What?
Approach:
How?

A quick overview of popular ELT approaches and methods
This is only a basic introduction to a fascinating topic. As you read through it, it is
worth bearing the following in mind:
• The history of English language teaching is an important part of our identity: it

is what happened to us as a professional community from the very beginning up to
the present moment. It helps us understand who we are as EFL teachers and why
we do what we do when we teach.
• The approaches and methods summarised below are not the work of inspired
individuals working in decontextualised isolation. Rather, they are the product of
professionals working during a specific time in a particular socio-political and cultural
context, influenced (consciously or unconsciously) by certain ideologies, with vested
interests.
Grammar-translation method(s)
This nineteenth century method (or series of methods) originated as a result of the
inclusion of foreign languages in the school curriculum. Its key features were:
• A deductive approach to grammar instruction: the teaching of a grammar
point started with an explanation of the rule(s), and was followed by example
sentences illustrating the rule(s).
• Practice consisting of sentence translation from FL to the learners’ L1, and
vice-versa.
• The sentence as the model and unit of analysis.
• The use of the students’ mother tongue as the medium of instruction.
• A focus on accuracy.
• Written rather than oral production encouraged.
Direct method
A late nineteenth century reaction to the limitations of Grammar translation, the Direct
method retained the focus on accuracy and the primacy of the sentence as the object
of study, but abandoned both the use of the students’ L1 as the language of
instruction and the use of translation as a practice activity. Instead, it emphasised the
importance of using the target language only, and it focused on the development of
speaking. The meaning of the taught grammar was made clear through the use of
concrete visual aids, such as pictures and objects.
Audio-lingual method
This method, rooted in behaviourist views of language learning, was developed in the
United States during World War II as a result of the need for people to learn foreign
languages rapidly for military purposes. Its key principles were:
• Language learning is a process of habit formation (i.e. The more often
something is repeated, the stronger the habit and the greater the learning.)
• Positive reinforcement helps the students develop good habits.

• Errors should be eradicated, as they lead to the formation of bad habits.
When they do occur, they should be corrected immediately by the teacher.
• Teaching should focus on the acquisition of structural patterns, and on
accuracy.
The practices endorsed by this method included:
• The use of TL as the language of instruction
• Drilling to ensure ‘over learning’ (i.e. learning to answer automatically without
stopping to think or to understand grammar rules),
• Memorisation of long ‘artificial’ dialogues (i.e. dialogues not set in real-life
contexts) through imitation and repetition.
Situational Language Teaching and the PPP Procedure
The PPP procedure, a variation on the Audio-lingual method, grew out of Situational
Language Teaching (a grammar-based method developed in Britain between 1940
and 1960, whose most influential innovation was to present and practise new target
structures through situational contexts so that their meaning would be clear).
PPP is a three-stage model of lesson design that involves:

1. Presentation: The teacher introduces a real-life situation which contextualises
the language to be taught, usually a grammar item. (E.g. the present simple
affirmative is introduced with a text about a typical day in the life of a celebrity). This
is followed by an explanation or elicitation of the rules of form and use of the target
structure.
2. Practice: Students repeat isolated sentences chorally and individually, and
engage in drills using the taught structure. Here the emphasis is on accuracy. There
is little freedom for students to use language creatively at this stage.
3. Production: Students use the new language in sentences of their own or in
activities, such as role-plays. The aim is to encourage free use of the grammar item
in context, with a focus on fluency.
This model has prevailed in ELT methodology for the last fifty years, and even
though it came under attack in the 1990s, most published EFL course books and
other materials still follow the PPP sequence.
Communicative Language Teaching
Also known as the Communicative Approach, this is a general term that refers to
developments in syllabus design and ELT methodology that occurred in Europe in
the 1970s. The most significant of these was a shift in emphasis away from focus
on form and the teaching of lexis and grammar in isolation to focus on meaning and
on teaching how these systems are used in real communication (i.e. from linguistic
competence to communicative competence), and from usage (i.e. teaching the
rules of language) to use.
CLT focused on communication as the primary goal of language teaching and

learning. It highlighted the functions of language - what people want to do or what
they want to accomplish through speech and writing (e.g. inviting, apologising, giving
directions, leave-taking, etc) as well as notions of when and how it is appropriate to
say or write certain things within a given social context. Wilkins’ notional syllabus
(1976) was the first attempt to move away from organising language as a sequence
of grammatical structures. Other important principles were:

• ‘Authentic language’ (i.e. language as it is used in a real context) should be
presented to learners.
• Students should work with language at discourse level (i.e. beyond the
sentence) and should therefore learn about cohesion and coherence.
• Communicative activities carried out by students in pairs or small groups give
learners appropriate practice (e.g., information-gap activities, games, role-plays,
problem-solving tasks), because there is a genuine communicative purpose to the
interaction they generate. For example, if Student A needs to go from the library to
the post office but doesn’t know how to get there, and Student B has a map of the
town, then it makes sense for A to ask B for directions, and for B to give A directions)
• Students’ success is measured by their fluency as well as by their accuracy.
• Errors should be tolerated, especially when they do not interfere with the
meaning of what is being said or written (i.e. when they do not cause a breakdown in
communication).
• It is desirable to use authentic materials.
Task-Based Learning
This framework, developed in the mid-nineteen eighties as an attempt to deal with

the limitations of the PPP model, makes the task the basic unit for planning and
teaching lessons. Within TBL a task is defined as ‘a goal-orientated activity in which
learners use language to achieve a real outcome.’ (Willis, 1996) The task-based
approach is informed by the belief – originated in CLT – that students learn a
language by using it.
The TBL cycle differs from PPP mainly in that the focus on language form comes at
the end. Learners begin by doing a communication task (e.g. making plans about
how they’re going to spend the weekend together), using language they have learnt
previously. After this task has been completed, the teacher focuses on the language
that was used, for example by getting the students to listen to a recording of other
people doing the same task. This can be followed by a focus on specific features of
language form (i.e. the features that occur naturally in the recording the students
have heard).
The most popular TBL model, proposed by Jane Willis, consists of:
1. Pre-Task stage: the teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights
useful lexis, helps students understand task instructions and prepare to carry
out the task.
2. Task cycle: This stage involves:
a. The task: the students do the task in pairs or small groups.
b. Planning: the students prepare to report to the class how they did the
task, or its outcome.
c. Report: pairs or groups present their reports to the class.
3. Language focus: this comprises:
a. Analysis: students examine specific features of language.
b. Practice: students practise the new language.
TBL has been more influential at the theoretical level than in actual classroom
practice.

The Lexical Approach
Michael Lewis (1993, 1997) summarises his view of language as consisting of

‘grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar,’ i.e. consisting not of traditional
grammar and vocabulary, but mainly of pre-fabricated chunks (multi-word units). The
lexical approach emphasises vocabulary as the primary focus of syllabus design and
lesson delivery. This primacy of vocabulary over grammar is underpinned by
research into collocation (how words co-occur together) and word frequency, both
made possible by the advent of corpus linguistics.
Lewis proposes that teachers implementing this approach should direct students’
attention to noticing and observing chunks and ‘prototypical examples’, rather than
excessively analysing language. For example, instead of presenting ‘must’ as a
modal verb among others that convey degrees of certainty and possibility, teachers
implementing the Lexical Approach will direct learners’ attention to its use in a series
of utterances, such as, ‘That must be exciting/terrifying/good fun,’ ‘ That must have
been awful/interesting.’
Lexical activities tend to unify the teaching of grammar, lexis and pronunciation. This
means that a given chunk may be taught as a lexical item, a phonological unit and as
grammatical input.
The lexical approach also implies increased emphasis on listening, extensive

reading, and on exposing students to examples of spoken language.
‘Alternative’ approaches and methods
This term is normally used to refer to methods developed outside of mainstream

language teaching. Examples of these include 1970’s ‘humanistic’ methods such as
Total Physical Response, Silent Way, Community Language Learning and
Suggestopaedia, as well as the more recent Whole Language, Neurolinguistic
Programming (NLP) Multiple Intelligencies (MI). These methods are not underpinned
by theories of language, but rather, they have been developed around theories of
learners and learning.

Key Concepts, Areas, People and Terms to Study
Grammar-translation method(s)
• Deductive approach
• Johann Valentin Meidinger
• Johann Christian Fick
• Franz Ahn
• H.G. Ollendorff
Direct method
• Inductive approach
• Realia
• Maximilian Berlitz
• Henry Sweet
Audio-lingual method
• Aural-oral approach
• ASTP (Army Specialised Training Programme) or ‘Army Method’
• Structuralism or Structural Linguistics
• Behaviourism
• Drilling
• Contrastive analysis
• Charles Fries
• Nelson Brooks
Situational Language Teaching and the PPP Procedure
• Selection
• Gradation
• Presentation
• Practice: controlled or restricted practice, free practice
• Production
• Oral Approach
• Structuralism
• Harold Palmer
• A.S. Hornby
• George Pittman
Communicative Language Teaching
• Notional-functional approach
• Functions
• Notions
• Communicative competence
• Pre-communicative activities: structural and quasi-communicative
• Communicative activities

• The Threshold Level Specifications (van Ek and Alexander)
• D.A. Wilkins
• M.A.K Halliday
• Dell Hymes
• Henry G. Widdowson
• Christopher Candlin
• Christopher Brumfit
• Keith Johnson
Task-Based Learning
• Task
• Exposure, use, motivation and instruction
• Spontaneous and planned language
• Task Cycle: pre-task, task, planning, report, language focus: analysis and
practice
• Consciousness-raising (C-R) activities or noticing activities
• Topic Task-Based Approach (J Zanón & Sheila Estaire)
• Jane Willis
• Dave Willis
• David Nunan
• N.S. Prabhu – the Bangalore Project
• Peter Skehan
The Lexical Approach
• Collocations
• Collocational competence
• lexical phrases or polywords
• Fixed expressions
• Semi-fixed expressions
• Sentence heads
• Probable and possible English
• Observe-Hypothesise- Experiment
• Metaphor patterns
• Pedagogical chunking
• Collocate search
• Dave Willis
• Michael Lewis
Total Physical Response
• James Asher
• Natural Method
Silent Way
• Caleb Gattegno
• Colour-coded charts
• Cuisenaire rods

•
Community Language Learning
• Charles A Curran
• SARD
• Translation
• Recording
• Transcription
• Reflection and observation
• Free conversation
•
Suggestopedia
• Desuggestopedia
• Georgi Lozanov
• Infantilization
• Intonation, rhythm and concert-pseudo passiveness
Whole Language
• Language as a ‘whole’
• Writing for pleasure
• Constructivism
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
• John Grinder and Richard Bandler

• Non-verbal cues
• Modelling
• Need for rapport
• VAKOG
Multiple Intelligencies (MI)
• Howard Gardner
• Project Zero
• Linguistic intelligence
• Logical-mathematical intelligence
• Spatial intelligence
• Musical intelligence
• Interpersonal intelligence
• Intrapersonal intelligence
• Naturalist intelligence

Reading List: Language Teaching Methodologies and

Approaches
Key References (Read at least one if you can)

A History of English Language 1984
Howatt, A.P.R. OUP
Teaching
Techniques and Principles in 2000
Larsen-Freeman, D OUP
Language Teaching
Richards, J & Approaches and Methods in 2001
CUP
Rodgers Language Teaching
Interesting background reading – * recommended *

1993 LTP /
Lewis, M. The Lexical Approach
Heinle
Teaching Languages: A Way and 2001 Harper and
Stevick, E.
Ways Row
1997 LTP /
Lewis, M. Implementing the Lexical Approach
Heinle
Willis, J. & Willis, D. Challenge and Change in 1996 Macmillan-
(Eds.) Language Teaching Heinemann
Other resources
The Practice of English Language 2007 Pearson
Harmer, J.
Teaching Longman
Method, antimethod, postmethod In IATEFL
Pulverness, A (Ed) IATEFL 2002
Kumaravadivelu, B 2002.
York Conference Selections
Richards, J & Longman Dictionary of Language Pearson

2002
Schmidt, R. teaching and Applied Linguistics
Richards, J. The Context of Language Teaching 1985 CUP
Thornbury, S. The A-Z of ELT 2006 Macmillan
A Framework for Task-Based Longman
Willis, J.
Learning -Pearson
Willis, J. & Willis, D. Doing Task-based Teaching 2007 OUP
Internet Links
Here are some links to videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8KxoYc_Uw and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clFaR46cDmg&feature=related
A Suggestopedia lesson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikZY6XpB214&feature=related
TPR and Language Acquisition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41a-nq2MlK8&feature=related and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PK_5TtTS-E&feature=related
Silent Way
Wikipedia is good on methods!
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki
The British Council website’s knowledge wiki.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?sectionType=listsummary&catid=59442&docid=1
46495
Part of onestopenglish.com, a section called ‘Teaching approaches’ that focuses on different
methodologies and approaches to teaching
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/BlankTemplate.aspx?id=37646
An extract from An A-Z of ELT that discusses the Direct Method
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/a-task-based-approach
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/lexical-approach-1-what-does-lexical-
approach-look
Articles from the British Council website
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm
An introduction to MI
http://www.infed.org/biblio/nlp_and_education.htm
An introduction to NLP

Worksheet 3: Method, or no method?
That is the question!
a) How do you feel about the following statements? Put a cross on

the continuum to reflect your opinion
1. What seems to be a new method is more often than not a variant of existing
methods presented with ‘the fresh paint of a new terminology that camouflages their
fundamental similarity.’ (Rivers, 1991)
strongly strongly
agree disagree
2. ‘There never was and probably never will be a method for all.’ (Nunan, 1991)
strongly strongly
agree disagree
3 ‘It is quite common to hear teachers say that they do not subscribe to any particular
approach or method in their teaching, but are “eclectic.” If by eclecticism is meant the
random and expedient use of whatever technique comes most readily to hand, then it
has no merit whatever.’ (Widdowson, 1990)
strongly strongly
agree disagree
4. ‘The weakness of the eclectic position is that it offers no criteria according to which
we can determine which is the best theory. […]The choice is left to the individual’s
intuitive judgement, and is, therefore, too broad and too vague to be satisfactory as a
theory in its own right.’ (Stern, 1992)
strongly strongly
agree disagree
5. ‘Caught up in the whirlwind of fashion, methods tend to drift wildly from one
theoretical extreme to the other. […] Certain aspects of learning/teaching (such as
grammar or meaning) get overtly emphasised, while certain others are utterly
ignored, depending on which way the wind blows.’ (Kumaravadivelu, 2002)
strongly strongly
agree disagree
b) Choose one of the statements in ‘a’ above, and write a

paragraph explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Post your
opinion on the discussion board, and comment on two opinions
posted by other candidates.

A quick overview of the method, anti-method and post-

method debate
Over the last few years, as Jane and Dave Willis, and Michael Lewis were
popularising their approaches (TBL and the Lexical Approach respectively) a few
dissatisfied teacher educators were making more radical suggestions - namely, that
ELT has reached a ‘post-method era.’ Why are they saying this?
The quest for the method panacea
Much of the history of language teaching has been concerned with the search for the
right method which would be effective for all students in all contexts. It was hoped
that, once found, this method would solve all the problems that teachers and learners
were faced with in the EFL classroom. As a result, the concept of method guided,
and often dictated, every aspect of language teaching, from syllabus design to lesson
planning, delivery and evaluation.
The anti-method stance
By the end of the twentieth century, the increasing realisation of the inadequacy of
the ‘one-size-fits-all’ method led to the emergence of anti-method sentiments.
Several authors expressed their disillusion with the method concept, among others
Swaffar, Arens and Morgan, Nunan, and Kumaravadivelu. Simultaneously, many
teachers, dissatisfied with established approaches, and relying more on their intuition
and experience, did not seem to confine themselves to one method, but were
responding more sensitively to the contingencies and idiosyncrasies of their learners
and their contexts by using techniques and procedures not necessarily associated
with any of the popular methods.
The post-method era
The disillusionment with the notion of method led to the search for an alternative to
method, rather than alternative methods. Kumaravadivelu (2002) proposed a post-
method pedagogy consisting of three parameters: particularity (i.e. pedagogic
practice should be sensitive to the local individual, institutional, social and cultural
contexts in which teaching and learning take place), practicality (i.e. teachers should
generate their own theories of practice through practice itself) and possibility (i.e.
pedagogic practice should critically consider the broader social, economic and
political factors that affect teaching and learning.
And so… the radical suggestion that purports to pronounce the method concept dead
is the new PPP!
Key Concepts, Areas, People and Terms to Study

• Method, anti-method and post-method
• The macrostrategic framework
• Exploratory practice
• J. Swaffar, K. Arens and M. Morgan (1982)
• David Nunan (1987)
• B. Kumaravadivelu (1996)
• R.L. Allwright (2003)

Module One Exam Practice Questions
Paper 2 Task 4 (Lucky Dip)
(35 minutes)
Read the following quotes from presenters at a teaching conference about the role of
teacher input when teaching grammar:
Presenter 1:
‘I don’t believe you can teach students grammar. A learner simply has to acquire the
language’
Presenter 2:
‘The process of adult language learning is completely different from that of children.
Adults need and expect a teacher to explain new grammar and to offer carefully
structured practice, for example through information gap speaking activities and
written gap-fill exercises ’
a Outline the beliefs that inform attitudes such as those expressed by the
presenters in the quotes above.
b Describe the difference in roles and procedures presenters 1 and 2 might need
to adopt in order to plan their scheme of work and/or teach their courses.
c Which viewpoint is closer to your own beliefs? Explain how your beliefs about
how students learn grammar affects what you do in your own grammar lessons.

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Online Delta Course

Delta Module One

04/09/2009 Bell Delta Online - Module One: Unit 3 Page 1 of 21

Study Topic Discussion Task 3.............................................................................. 3

Study Guide 3 .......................................................................................................... 5

Worksheet 1: Approaches, methods, procedures and techniques ...................... 6

An overview of the concepts of approach, method, procedure and technique .... 7

Worksheet 2: Popular ELT approaches and methods......................................... 8

The big six (W)h-questions................................................................................. 9

A quick overview of popular ELT approaches and methods ............................... 9

Reading List: Language Teaching Methodologies and Approaches ................... 9

Worksheet 3: Method, or no method? ................................................................ 9

A quick overview of the method, anti-method and post-method debate.............. 9

Module One Exam Practice Questions .................................................................. 9

Paper 2 Task 4 (Lucky Dip)

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Study Topic Discussion Task 3

Follow the same procedure as for Study Topic Discussion 1.

You do not need to submit any answers from worksheets.)

as much as you can before writing your responses.

• Write an answer to Study Topic Discussion Task 3 (below) using a word

answers to the tasks.

people’s answers and get a discussion going.

The task is on the next page

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Study Topic Discussion Task 3

(3.1) Evaluation of methods / approaches

Choose any two methods / approaches (mainstream or alternative). Give a

(3.2) Approaches underpinning materials design and your own practice

Look critically at some of the activities and sequences of activities in it. To

Reflect on your own practice:

• To what extent can you identify your own “Method”?

• Can you link techniques you use to specific methods/approach(es)?

• Do you think that your practice reflects a range of methods/approaches

– or are you mainly influenced by one or two?

• To what extent does your “method” have an underpinning rationale that

you are aware of?

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Language Teaching Methodology

ELT professionals draw on a wealth of different frameworks, approaches, methods,

Using this Study Guide

a) Approaches, methods, procedures and techniques

b) Popular ELT approaches and methods

c) Method, anti-method and post-method

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Worksheet 1: Approaches, methods, procedures and

When looking at how theory has been realised in methodological practice,

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A quick overview of the concepts of approach, method,

A method is the concrete realisation of an approach in practice. It includes various

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Worksheet 2: Popular ELT approaches and methods

Try to answer the ‘big six’ (W)h-questions about each of the

1. Where did this approach/method originate?

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Optional Note taking framework:

The big six (W)h-questions

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A quick overview of popular ELT approaches and methods

• The history of English language teaching is an important part of our identity: it

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Situational Language Teaching and the PPP Procedure

PPP is a three-stage model of lesson design that involves:

Communicative Language Teaching