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English Teaching MethodologyAn Introduction

August, 2012

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A Framework for TESOL

• English language teaching and learning: LanguageEducationPsychology

• Theoretical Underpinning: First language education (L1)Second language acquisition (SLA) (L2)

• Research methodology• Linguistics

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English as a global language

• the place of English: as a lingua franca• the number of English speakers: 600-700 million speak

English; in Asia alone, 100 million children are learning English.

• How English got there: a colonial history, economics (globalization), travel, information exchange (academic discourse; the Internet), popular culture (music, movies)

• Varieties of English: inner circle, outer circle, and expanding circle; for specific or general purposes

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Reasons of learning a 2nd/foreign language

• Academic: to pursue degrees or certificates • Non-academic:

(a) to survive in Target Language community e.g. talking to neighbors, helping children at school, or

carrying out daily functions effectively(b) English for specific purpose (ESP): learning the language as to apply at work(c) Culture: to know about the target community

• Miscellaneous: to learn for pleasure, for integrating into a culture

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Some Research findings on SLA

a) Adults and adolescents can acquire a L2b) The learners create a systematic IL with the same systematic

errors as the child learning the L1c) There are predictable sequences in acquisitiond) Practice doesn’t make perfecte) Knowing a linguistic rule doesn’t mean knowing how to use itf) Isolated explicit error correction is usually ineffectiveg) More adult learners fossilizeh) One cannot achieve native like command of a L2 in one hour

a dayi) The learners’ task is enormous since language is complex

A meaningful context is paramount.

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Advantages of children when learning a foreign language:

• Children’s greater potential for developing accurate pronunciation, accent and fluency before puberty

• Children’s favorable attitude towards a language and its culture

• Children’s minor mental barriers of learning than adults

• Children’s learning two languages simultaneously without suffering from inter-lingual interference

• Listening & speaking, a preliminary and preferable role in the natural order of language acquisition for children

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What is a good English learner?

Someone…• Willing to experiment• Willing to listen• Willing to ask questions• Willing to think about how to learn• Independent/responsible

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What is a good English teacher?According to Brown (2001), someone who has:

i) Technical knowledge -- understanding linguistics; grasping basic principles of language learning and teaching; language proficiency in speaking, reading, writing and listening; knowledge about language learning process through one’s own experience; understanding the relationship between culture and language and knowledge of latest development of language teaching and learning.

ii) Pedagogical skills -- well-informed language teaching approaches; teaching techniques; ability in lesson plan design and other classroom behavior management skills.

iii) Interpersonal skills. iv) Personal qualities.

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TESOL terminologyTESOL, TEFL, TESL:• TESOL—an acronym for teaching English to speakers of other

languages, used, particularly in the USA, to describe the teaching of English in situations where it is either a second language or a foreign language.

• TEFL—an acronym for teaching English as a foreign language, used to describe the teaching of English in situations where it is a foreign language.

• TESL—an acronym for teaching English as a second language, used either to describe the teaching of English in situations where it is a second language or to refer to any situation where English is taught to speakers of other languages.

ESL & EFL:• ESL—an abbreviation for English as a second language such as in

Singapore• EFL— an abbreviation for English as a foreign language such as Japan

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• Deductive learning of grammar— an approach to language learning in which learners are taught rules and given specific information about a language. They then apply these rules when they use the language. For example, in the grammar translation method, specific grammar rules are given to learners and practice subsequently follows to familiarize students with the rule. The features of it are time-saving and suitable for adult learners who can afford abstract thinking. Besides it is widely used in EFL contexts where exposure to the target language is limited and the length of instruction time is short.

• Inductive learning— an approach to language learning in which learners are not taught grammatical or other types of rules directly but are left to discover or induce rules from their experience of using the language. Language teaching methods which emphasize use of the language rather than presentation of information about the language include the direct method, the communicative approach and counseling learning. The features of it are time-consuming and applicable to young learners in natural settings such as ESL contexts.

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Performance and competence:

Performance-- a person’s actual use of language; how a person uses his knowledge of a language in producing and understanding sentences.

Competence-- a person’s knowledge of a languagePeople may have the competence to produce a long sentence but when they actually try to use this knowledge, there are reasons why they restrict it. For example, they may run out of breath or their listeners forget what has been said if the sentence is too long. Due to performance factors such as fatigue, lack of attention, nervousness or excitement, their actual use of language may not reflect their competence. The errors they make are described as examples of performance.

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Acquisition vs. learning:

Acquisition--the processes by which people naturally develop proficiency in a language.

Learning-- the processes by which people formally develop language proficiency.

the Acquisition-learning hypothesis by Stephen Krashen-(1941-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Krashen

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Bottom-up processing vs. top-down processing

Top-down processing—a way in which humans analyze and process language as part of the process of comprehension and learning by making use of previous knowledge (higher-level knowledge) in analyzing and processing information which is received such as one’s expectations, experience, schemata in reading the text.Bottom-up processing— a way making use principally of information which is already present in the data (words, sentences, etc.) such as understanding a text mainly by analyzing the words and sentences in the text itself.

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Teacher-centered vs. learner-centered teaching

Teacher-centered (fronted) teaching— a teaching style in which instruction is closely managed and controlled by the teacher, where students often respond in unison to teacher questions, and where whole-class instruction is preferred to other methods.Learner-centered teaching— methods of teaching which emphasizes the active role of students in learning, tries to give learners more control over what and how they learn and encourages learners to take more responsibility for their own learning. It is encouraged by many current teaching approaches.

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Target language vs. native language

Target language—the language which a person is learningNative language—a first language or mother tongue/motherese which is acquired first.

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Form vs. function

• Form— the physical characteristics of a thing-> in language use, a linguistic form is like the imperative

• Function— a linguistic form can perform a variety of different functions:Come here for a drink-> invitationWatch out-> warningTurn left at the corner-> directionPass the salt-> request

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• CALL-- computer-assisted language learning• CAI-- computer-assisted instruction• 3 P-- a traditional classroom teaching procedure

derived from the Situational Approach of presentation, practice and production

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Some Reference Books• Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Diane Larsen-Freeman,

Oxford University Press.• Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, H. Douglas Brown,

Prentice Hall Regents. • Teaching by Principles, H. Douglas Brown, Prentice Hall Regents.• Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Jack C. Richards &

Theordore S. Rodgers, Cambridge University Press.• An introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. Diane Larsen-

Freeman & Michael H. Long.• The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer, Longman,

Ltd. • Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Celce-Murcia, M. H&H • Second Language Teaching & Learning. David Nunan. (1995). H& H.