4.1 Language in Theory:
Language can be taught in many ways. I am going to explain five of them:
1. The Grammar Translation Method/ The Classical Method
Teachers believe that grammar is the most important part of a language, so they started teaching this. The grammar translation method was influenced by classical languages, both Latin and Greek, so those languages were taught at the same time. Being able to write the language was the most important thing, so speaking was not important. Foreign languages were hardly used in class and no language communication skills were developed. The Grammar Translation Method was exactly how the teachers first taught a language.
Direct Method
Communication is the keyword for this method. The purpose of teaching to your students was for them to learn to speak it. Through visual teaching students learnt ‘everyday vocabulary’. This was a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. When students spoke together in that language they were learning, so they became more aware of the (grammar)rules. It was all about oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language and no translation.
Audio-lingual & Structural Situational Method
For this method pronunciation is really important. The vocabulary and grammar were not explicitly taught, but was learnt in context. The teacher talked and the students listened. Also videos and tapes were used for this method.
Cognitive Code
Creativity is a necessary aspect for this method. This is also more a thought than a method, it is about bringing grammar back to the classroom. Teaching this by practising with role-play and other creative activities. Teachers had all freedom to teach instead of teaching with the Audio-lingual Method.
The Silent Way
This method is focussed on ‘the problem solving mind’. If students had trouble with something, they had to figure it out themselves. This was really good for them to train their brains and to become more autonomic. The teacher was supposed not to explain everything, like the name of the method says: the silent way.
Sources
http://www.philseflsupport.com/efl_history.htm
https://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/history-english-language-teaching.htm
4.2 Personal Experience:
I have had several English teachers during secondary school. Good ones in my opinion and also really bad ones. I had one teacher in particularly who was really good at making the lessons interesting. She always used lots of visual things, like for instance short films about England or some episode of a programme on BBC.
We didn’t focus on our oral skills, but mainly on the grammar and vocabulary aspects. Every year we had to give at least one presentation, but practising our pronunciation was not the case. My favourite teacher spoke always English, this was really helpful to improve my language skills. The other teachers only spoke Dutch.
‘Round up’ and ‘Follow up’ were books with lots of vocabulary lists. Every six week when there was a test week, we had to learn those by heart. We also had to read a lot of books published by Lijsters.
Grammar was the most important thing during the lessons. So the Grammar Translation Method really fits my teachers’ way of teaching. Every lesson there was another aspect of grammar taught and exercises made from the books. Some were good at explaining them, some even didn’t explain the grammar rules.
I have also done the Cambridge Course to improve my English. These lessons were almost the same, because the teacher who wasn’t really motivated to teach use in the regular lessons, was also my teacher for the Cambridge Course. This was really frustrating. He just turned the television on, let us watch ‘Steven Fry’ and made us write an essay about each episode. We also had to do a lot of speaking during these lessons. If you sum up the teachingmethods my teacher used in the course, then I think that he used a lot of the Audio-lingual Method and a bit of the Cognitive Code.
So he did a better job if he applied the methods from the Cambridge Cours in his regular lessons. I think some teachers were more focused on their view on language they wanted to teach us and some just didn’t care enough to make us aware of the language.
5.1 Teaching Language:
My methods for teaching will be very creative, because I like to vary in ways of teaching. Grammar and vocabulary can also be explained in an interesting way, but I will still emphasise the importance of these language aspects.
I will speak most of the time English, so they are triggered to improve their own language skills. If I ask them something, I will encourage them to answer in English, even if they don’t know the right words. Errors are there so you can learn from them, so I will never give them the idea that making mistakes is a bad thing.
Through poems, stories, myths, articles and other texts I will try to make the aware of the language. I will also provide the students with a clear purpose to all reading, and especially writing assignments. The students will know why the quality of their writing matters: because there will be a real audience for their published work. For example if they are writing an article for the school newspaper, parents and other pupils will be there audience.
As a teacher I need to be able to use body gestures and signs effectively. Many students find that they learn a new language better when they are forced to speak only English in the classroom. If I refuse them to use their native language, I will force them to learn English by first using your body language and gestures. This is a better method than using rote memorization of English words.
My main goal during my lessons will be making my students more aware of the language and also making them comfortable with speaking English.
Language can be taught in many ways. I am going to explain five of them:
1. The Grammar Translation Method/ The Classical Method
Teachers believe that grammar is the most important part of a language, so they started teaching this. The grammar translation method was influenced by classical languages, both Latin and Greek, so those languages were taught at the same time. Being able to write the language was the most important thing, so speaking was not important. Foreign languages were hardly used in class and no language communication skills were developed. The Grammar Translation Method was exactly how the teachers first taught a language.
Direct Method
Communication is the keyword for this method. The purpose of teaching to your students was for them to learn to speak it. Through visual teaching students learnt ‘everyday vocabulary’. This was a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. When students spoke together in that language they were learning, so they became more aware of the (grammar)rules. It was all about oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language and no translation.
Audio-lingual & Structural Situational Method
For this method pronunciation is really important. The vocabulary and grammar were not explicitly taught, but was learnt in context. The teacher talked and the students listened. Also videos and tapes were used for this method.
Cognitive Code
Creativity is a necessary aspect for this method. This is also more a thought than a method, it is about bringing grammar back to the classroom. Teaching this by practising with role-play and other creative activities. Teachers had all freedom to teach instead of teaching with the Audio-lingual Method.
The Silent Way
This method is focussed on ‘the problem solving mind’. If students had trouble with something, they had to figure it out themselves. This was really good for them to train their brains and to become more autonomic. The teacher was supposed not to explain everything, like the name of the method says: the silent way.
Sources
http://www.philseflsupport.com/efl_history.htm
https://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/history-english-language-teaching.htm
4.2 Personal Experience:
I have had several English teachers during secondary school. Good ones in my opinion and also really bad ones. I had one teacher in particularly who was really good at making the lessons interesting. She always used lots of visual things, like for instance short films about England or some episode of a programme on BBC.
We didn’t focus on our oral skills, but mainly on the grammar and vocabulary aspects. Every year we had to give at least one presentation, but practising our pronunciation was not the case. My favourite teacher spoke always English, this was really helpful to improve my language skills. The other teachers only spoke Dutch.
‘Round up’ and ‘Follow up’ were books with lots of vocabulary lists. Every six week when there was a test week, we had to learn those by heart. We also had to read a lot of books published by Lijsters.
Grammar was the most important thing during the lessons. So the Grammar Translation Method really fits my teachers’ way of teaching. Every lesson there was another aspect of grammar taught and exercises made from the books. Some were good at explaining them, some even didn’t explain the grammar rules.
I have also done the Cambridge Course to improve my English. These lessons were almost the same, because the teacher who wasn’t really motivated to teach use in the regular lessons, was also my teacher for the Cambridge Course. This was really frustrating. He just turned the television on, let us watch ‘Steven Fry’ and made us write an essay about each episode. We also had to do a lot of speaking during these lessons. If you sum up the teachingmethods my teacher used in the course, then I think that he used a lot of the Audio-lingual Method and a bit of the Cognitive Code.
So he did a better job if he applied the methods from the Cambridge Cours in his regular lessons. I think some teachers were more focused on their view on language they wanted to teach us and some just didn’t care enough to make us aware of the language.
5.1 Teaching Language:
My methods for teaching will be very creative, because I like to vary in ways of teaching. Grammar and vocabulary can also be explained in an interesting way, but I will still emphasise the importance of these language aspects.
I will speak most of the time English, so they are triggered to improve their own language skills. If I ask them something, I will encourage them to answer in English, even if they don’t know the right words. Errors are there so you can learn from them, so I will never give them the idea that making mistakes is a bad thing.
Through poems, stories, myths, articles and other texts I will try to make the aware of the language. I will also provide the students with a clear purpose to all reading, and especially writing assignments. The students will know why the quality of their writing matters: because there will be a real audience for their published work. For example if they are writing an article for the school newspaper, parents and other pupils will be there audience.
As a teacher I need to be able to use body gestures and signs effectively. Many students find that they learn a new language better when they are forced to speak only English in the classroom. If I refuse them to use their native language, I will force them to learn English by first using your body language and gestures. This is a better method than using rote memorization of English words.
My main goal during my lessons will be making my students more aware of the language and also making them comfortable with speaking English.