LANGUAGE THEORIES AND

PEDAGOGY
ENGLISH 316
MYCAH-AMELITA C. CHAVEZ
 LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY

• The structural view treats language as a system of structurally

related elements to code meaning.
• The functional view sees language as a vehicle to express or
accomplish a certain function.
• The interactive view sees language as a vehicle for the creation
and maintenance of social relations.
 TERMINOLOGIES

• An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the

nature of language and the nature of language teaching and
learning.
• A method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language
material. No part of the method evolved contradicts the principles of
the approach on which it is based.
• A technique represents the actual implementation of a method in the
classroom. It is the particular way of doing things to accomplish an
immediate objective. (Anthony, 1963)
STRUCTURAL THEORIES AND
PEDAGOGY
 TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR

• Traditional grammar refers to the grammar theories originated in

ancient Greece and Rome.
• It values the old language model, emphasizes written language, and
neglects oral language.
• Prescriptive grammar
 GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD
• The ultimate purpose of foreign language teaching is to read
materials written in the foreign language with emphasis on grammar.
• Literary classics are the source materials used because they are the
models of good writing and correct grammar.
• Teachers are the absolute authorities in the class and correct students’
errors.
• Students are absorbers of knowledge and are expected to learn from
their errors.
• Mother tongue is the medium of instruction.
 GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

• The content of texts are usually neglected.

• The whole process of foreign language teaching is mechanical, out of
the touch of real language environment, and no practical meaning.
• It ignores contextualized learning and fails to expose learners to
authentic varieties in a functional context.
• The student may not be able to use the language in oral
communication.
 STRUCTURALISM

• Structuralism is an approach to linguistics which stresses the

importance of language as a system.
• The fundamental ideology of structuralism is that the phenomena of
human life, whether language or media, are not comprehensible
except through their association of relationships, producing the sign
and the system (or structure) in which the sign is embedded.
• A sign finds its meaning only in relation to or in contrast with other
signs in a system of signs.
 EUROPEAN STRUCTURALISM
• Saussure claimed that words are arbitrary symbols having nothing to do with
the nature of things and are linked to each other through an agreement that a
word or a linguistic sign is composed of a phone and a conceptual image.
• They are distinguished as signifier and signified, and together make up the
sign set.
• Saussure focuses on what he calls language as ‘a system of signs that
expresses ideas’ that is made up of two components:
o Parole is the individual acts of speech and putting into practice the system of
a language.
o Langue is a system of differences between signs. It refers to the abstract
system of language that is internalized by a given speech community.
 AMERICAN STRUCTURALISM

• Bloomfield recognized experience as the unique source of language.

• Grammar has to do with the way English is spoken, and not with how it
should be spoken.
• Descriptive Grammar
• Immediate Constituent Analysis (IC Analysis) is a system of
grammatical analysis that divides sentences into successive layers, or
constituents, until, in the final layer, each constituent consists of only a
word or meaningful part of a word.
 CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS
• Lado (1957) proposed the contrastive study of languages that involved describing
the languages, comparing them, and predicting learning difficulties.
• He claimed that "those elements which are similar to [the learner's] native
language will be simple for him, and those elements that are different will be
difficult".
• The contrastive analysis hypothesis claimed that all the errors made in learning the
L2 could be attributed to 'interference' by the L1.
• Studies showed that many errors predicted by Contrastive Analysis were
inexplicably not observed in learners' language, and some uniform errors were
made by learners irrespective of their L1.
 CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS
• Despite CA's limitation in the prediction of L2 learners' errors, it
provides insights to at least some of the major mistakes that are
frequently made by L2 learners irrespective of their L1.
• Awareness raising is the major contribution of CA in second language
learning for its ability to explain observed errors and to outline the
differences between two languages.
• Contrastive analysis, along with behaviorism and structuralism,
influenced SLA curriculum design and language teacher education,
and provided the theoretical pillars of the audio-lingual method.
 AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
• The emphasis was not on the understanding of the words but on the
acquisition of structures and patterns in common everyday dialogues.
• The teaching of the oral skills with accurate pronunciation, grammar and
the ability to respond quickly and accurately is the main objective of
audio-lingual method. (Richard and Rodgers, 1986).
• Drilling is a central technique.
• The teacher is the authority in the classroom.
• The student is a receiver of linguistic input.
• The medium of instruction is the target language.
 AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

• The students become better and better at pattern practice, but are
unable to use the patterns fluently in a spontaneous and natural way.
• The teacher must either be a native speaker or a proficient user of
the target language in order to provide good models of correct
grammar and pronunciation.
• Teachers tend to use the audio-visual materials as the method itself,
instead of using them as a teaching aids.
 TRANSFORMATIONAL-GENERATIVE GRAMMAR
• Chomsky theorized that language competence is innate, and that
children are born with a language acquisition device (LAD).
• The LAD is supposed to consist of three elements: a hypothesis-maker,
linguistic universal, and an evaluation procedure.
• Chomsky proposed generative grammar, a system of rules that in
some explicit and well-defined way, assigns structural descriptions to
sentences.
• Transformational grammar assigns a “deep structure” and a “surface
structure” to show the relationship of such sentences.
 TRANSFORMATIONAL-GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

• Chomsky made a distinction between competence and performance.

• Competence is an idealized capacity that is located as a
psychological or mental property or function.
• Performance is the production of actual utterances.
 COMPETENCE

• Competence is a person’s underlying (subconscious) linguistic ability to

create and understand sentences, including sentences he/she has
never heard before.
• Linguistic competence is an ideal linguistic system or knowledge set of
grammatical rules and is different from the actual linguistic activities.
• Linguistic competence includes components such as phonetics,
phonology, syntax, semantics, and morphology.
 PERFORMANCE
• Performance is the real world linguistic output.
• Performance may accurately reflect competence, but it also may include
speech errors.
• Performance may be flawed because of memory limitations, distractions,
shifts of attention and interest, and errors (random or characteristic) or
other psychological factors.
• Performance is never equal to competence, because there are always
interferences with language processing.
TRANSFORMATIONAL-GENERATIVE GRAMMAR IN THE
CLASSROOM

• Transformational-generative grammar provides relevant data which

enables textbook writers to base their material on the most adequate
description.
• TG focuses on linguistic competence.
• The teaching of TG may help improve metalinguistic awareness TL.
• The teaching on TG may improve performance in the TL.
TRANSFORMATIONAL-GENERATIVE GRAMMAR IN THE
CLASSROOM
• TG is far too complex to be readily adapted to the needs of language
learners.
• Teachers of English as a second language assume that generative grammar
is not applicable to language teaching.
• Teacher training colleges educate their students to be teachers, not to be
linguists. (Silalahi, 1993)
• Chomsky himself admits that his work is not about teaching language has no
immediate relevance to language pedagogy. (Stahlke, 2006)
FUNCTIONAL THEORIES AND
PEDAGOGY
 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Hymes argues that communicative competence includes:

• Probability - whether or not communicative competence can be in accordance with
grammar rules, whether or not communicative competence can be realized in the
level of language form.
• Practicability - whether or not a language can be used for communication and to
what degree it can be involved in communication.
• Accuracy - whether or not a speech is appropriate in a certain context and to
what degree it is appropriate.
• Effectiveness - whether or not a speech has been made and to what degree it has
been made. (Wen, 1999)
 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
Canale and Swain’s communicative competence includes four aspects:
• Linguistic competence is the innate grammar of a speaker which helps to generate
correct sentence, as same as what Chomsky refers to.
• Sociolinguistic competence is the ability of a speaker to understand the speech of
others and make use speech appropriately in certain situations.
• Discourse competence is the ability of a speaker to generate meaning out of
disordered language data. It includes two aspects named cohesion and
coherence.
• Strategic competence is the ability of a speaker to use different kinds of
communication strategies according to different discourse for the purpose of
achieving successful communication.
 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Bachman and Palmer categorized strategic competence as follows:

• Assessment - a speaker assesses which communicative goals are possibly to be
achieved and what linguistic sources are needed.
• Goal-setting - a speaker identifies the specific tasks to be performed.
• Planning - a speaker retrieves the relevant items from his realm of language
knowledge and plans their use.
• Execution - a speaker implements the plan.
 SYSTEMIC-FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS

• Halliday formulated systemic-functional linguistics as a new approach in linguistics

that regards language as foundation for the building of human experience.
• Halliday stresses that language cannot be disassociated and disconnected from
meaning.
• Systemic-functional linguistics considers communicative function and semantics as
the basis of human language and communicative activity.
• SFL-oriented linguists privilege an analysis within social context to find out how
language reflects, and is controlled and influenced by, this social context.
 SYSTEMIC-FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS IN THE
CLASSROOM
• It allows the teachers to relate to the needs of their students in terms of
social purpose--what kinds of genres do these students need to
manage (Martin, 1999).
• It provides EFL teachers with some practical ideas for teaching the genres
and grammar of writing across curriculum (Feng, 2013).
• It can help students master English grammar from a semantic perspective
and apply it to language tasks to realize meanings in various structures
(Jing, 2010).
• It can facilitate EFL students’ success in academic registers (Feng, 2013).
 SYSTEMIC-FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS IN THE
CLASSROOM

• Teaching will be more successful when functional grammar is used to

teach intermediate and advanced literacy (Feng, 2013).
• Functional grammar has a close relevance to the success of EFL
students in school contexts (Schleppegrell, 2004)
 STRUCTURAL-ORAL-SITUATIONAL APPROACH

• S-O-S approach is the proposition and practice of diligently taken grammatical

structures of English in successful, relevant situations.
• Language is considered as structural elements for sending meaningful messages.
• S-O-S approach is based on the conviction that language is primarily speech.
• L2 is taught in the same way as the learners picked up their L1.
INTERACTIONAL THEORIES AND
PEDAGOGY
 INTERACTIONIST THEORY
• According to Vygotsky (1978) social interaction plays a fundamental role in the
process of cognitive development.
• Interactionist theory recognizes that both environmental and biological factors are
important in language development.
• At the interpsychological level the child interacts with a More Knowledgeable
Other (MKO) who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the
learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept.
• The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) stretches the child’s ability at solving a
problem independently and moves the child to perform a task under adult
guidance and/or with peer collaboration.
 SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES
• The Acquisition-Learning distinction states that adults have two distinct and independent ways of
developing competence in a second language: Language acquisition and language learning.
• The natural order hypothesis suggests that acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a
predictable order.
• The Monitor hypothesis posits that acquisition and learning are used in very specific ways and
implies that formal rules, or conscious learning, play only a limited role in second language
performance.
• The Input Hypothesis claims that A necessary (but not sufficient) condition to move from stage i to
stage i + 1 is that the acquirer understand input that contains i + 1.
• The Affective Filter Hypothesis states how affective factors such as motivation, self- confidence,
and anxiety relate to the second language acquisition process.
 APPLICATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
• THE STUDENT SHOULD NOT BE PUT ON THE DEFENSIVE.
o Error correction is not the basic mechanism for improving second language performance.
o When the goal is learning, errors should indeed be corrected.
o There should be no error correction in free conversation, but it is applicable to written work
and grammar exercises.
o Comprehensible input may reduce the affective filter.
• THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR PROVIDE TOOLS TO HELP STUDENTS OBTAIN MORE INPUT
o The teaching of grammar can be used with some profit as a Monitor.
o Grammar is useful only when it does not interfere with communication.
o The place for Monitor use is when the performer has time, as in writing and in prepared
speech.
 COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
• In the communicative approach to language teaching, what matters most is that the desire to
communicate something must be aroused in the students by supplying them with a purpose for
communicating.
• They should use a variety of language structures rather than just a single language structure.
• The multiple roles a teacher plays include planner, participant, diagnostician, provider,
manager, and organizer etc.
• The teaching syllabus of communicative language teaching will generally include:
o The social situations that allow students to use a foreign language
o The topics they are likely to address
o The language functions they need to use
o The vocabulary and grammar structures needed for these functions
o The communicative skills required in typical social situations
 COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
• Advantages
o It is student-orientated, because it is based on students’ needs and interests.
o There is increase of fluency in the target language.
o it leads to gains in communicative competence through interaction.
o the use of authentic resources makes learning more interesting and motivating for children.
• Disadvantages
o It is difficult for the teacher alone to check the language use of every student, especially in a
big class.
o It is not clear how a syllabus designer should choose which language functions to teach.
o In actual practice it’s challenging to emphasize both language ability and communicative
competence.
o How motivating or boring the lesson will be is dependent on the teacher.
 DIRECT METHOD

• The target language is the medium of instruction, including the language of the
exercises and teacher talk used for classroom management.
• The method focuses on inductive teaching of grammar.
• The goal of the instruction is for the students to guess, or work out, the rules of the
language.
• To aid in induction, the teacher asks questions that are hopefully interesting and
meaningful, and the students' response is then used to provide an example of the
target structure.
 DIRECT METHOD
• Advantages
o It gives the students a real command of the English language.
o This method makes the study of English interesting and lively.
o It facilitates speaking in the target language.
o This method is psychologically sound.
• Disadvantages
o This method does not consider all aspects of language.
o Emphasis is on aural-oral appeal.
o There may be lack of suitable teachers.
o There is difficulty in explanation.
o It ignores human nature and student’s nature.
 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

• Developed by James J. Asher in the 1960s, Total Physical Response (TPR), is conducted
with the teacher giving the students instructions and the students following the instructions
by using whole body responses. (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
• TPR is based on the premise that the human brain has a biological program for acquiring
any natural language on earth including the sign language of the deaf (Asher, 1977),
• TPR is most useful for beginners.
• TPR is also used for teaching students with dyslexia or related learning disabilities.
 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
• Advantages
o It is fun and easy.
o It does not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher.
o It is a good tool for learning vocabulary.
o Class size does not need to be a problem.
o There is no age barrier.
• Disadvantages
o It is not a very creative method.
o It is may be hard to overuse TP.
o It is limited.
o It must be combined with other approaches.
 SILENT WAY
• Silent way is the method of language teaching which was proposed by Caleb Gattegno.
• This method is based on the view that the teachers should be silent in the classroom as much as
possible but the teacher must encourage the students to speak and use the language.
• The most important aspect of this method is its elements that are used for language teaching i.e.
colored charts and colored rods (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
• This method focuses on the learners to discover on their own rather than remember or memorize
something.
• The learners are facilitated in learning by giving them some problem to solve which involves the
materials that are needed to be learned.
 SILENT WAY

• Advantages
o It enables a very high degree of interaction between the teacher and the students as
well as between the students themselves.
o The self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning.
o It respects the individual and shows an awareness of the individual’s cognitive ability.
• Disadvantages
o The Silent Way is a very abstract way of learning a language.
o It will be difficult to use in large classes.
o The use of rods may seem irrelevant to the students and involves silence and
concentration (Celce-Murcia 1979).
 NATURAL APPROACH

• In 1977, Tracey Terrell proposed the natural approach of language teaching, which was
influenced by Stephen Krashen’s theory of language acquisition.
• The natural approach was actually based on the observation and understanding of the
acquisition of the first and the second language in informal settings (Richards and
Rodgers, 2001).
• The natural approach focuses on communication as the major function of language.
• In this approach, language is considered as the vehicle or means of conveying a message
and information.
 NATURAL APPROACH
• Advantages
o Students are not pressured to produce language until they are ready.
o It focuses on vocabulary, particularly everyday language.
o It employs engaging activities.
o It emphasizes the importance of input for language learning.
• Disadvantages
o It is best for beginner learners but doesn't seem as effective for more advanced
students.
o It is time consuming.
o Not all teachers are proficient enough in the foreign language.
 COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING

• The community language learning (CLL) is a method proposed by Charles A.

Curran during the 1970s based on the counseling approach in which the teacher is seen
as a counselor.
• It emphasizes the sense of community in the learning group, encourages interaction as a
vital aspect of learning, and it considers as a priority the students' feelings and the
recognition of struggles in language acquisition.
• There is no syllabus or textbook to follow and it is the students themselves who determine
the content of the lesson.
• it incorporates translation and recording techniques.
 COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING
• Advantages
o It helps students overcome some of the threatening affective factors in second language learning.
o The counselor allows the learner to determine the type of conversation and to analyze the foreign
language inductively.
o The teacher can also become a client at times.
o The student-centered nature of the method can provide extrinsic motivation and capitalize on intrinsic
motivation.

• Disadvantages
o The counselor-teacher can become too non-directive.
o It relies upon an inductive strategy of learning.
o It depends largely on the translation expertise of the counselor.
 TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

• Task- based language teaching is an approach that is based on the assumption

that tasks are the major unit of language learning.
• This approach is based on the problem solving view that the learners should be
given some tasks to be solved.
• These tasks are related to the language structures that are required to be learnt.
• The learners interact and communicate with each other during solving these
problems (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
 TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

• Advantages
o Task-based teaching offers the opportunity for ‘natural’ learning inside the classroom.
o It emphasizes meaning over form but can also cater for learning form.
o It is motivating for learners.
o It is compatible with a learner-centered educational philosophy
• Disadvantages
o It is not easy to prepare a task which is suitable to the learners' level.
o Moreover, teachers may feel unsure about how much input to give at the pre-task phase.
o It is difficult to find out materials so teachers should adapt their available materials.
o It may be irrelevant to beginner levels.
 CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION
• The focus of a CBI lesson is on the topic or subject matter.
• Students are focused on learning about something.
• They learn about this subject using the target language, rather than their native
language.
• The students are responsible for their learning.
• The teacher is a facilitator of learning.
• It is thought to be a more natural way of developing language ability and one
that corresponds more to the way we originally learn our first language.
 CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION
• Advantages
o Students can develop a much wider knowledge of the world.
o It can make learning a language more interesting and motivating.
o It helps students to develop study skills such as note taking, summarizing and extracting key
information from texts.
o It help students to develop their collaborative skills, which can have great social value.
o Learners are exposed to a considerable amount of language content.
• Disadvantages
o Students may feel confused or may even feel that they aren’t improving their language skills.
o The overuse of the students’ native language during parts of the lesson can be a problem.
o It can be hard to find information sources and texts that lower levels can understand.
 COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

• Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is the general term for the
range of processes and activities that employ computers in the teaching
and learning of a new language.
• The history of CALL is often divided into three phases:
o Structural CALL
o Communicative CALL
o Integrative CALL
 COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

• Advantages of CALL
o Individualized
o Interactive
• Disadvantages of call
o Reduced or no human interaction
o Technical issues
o Access to technology
THANK YOU.