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20/08/2017

What is the best teaching method for learning English?

According to academic research, linguists have demonstrated that there is not one single best method for everyone in all contexts, and that no one teaching method is inherently superior to the others.


Also, it is not always possible – or appropriate – to apply the same methodology to all learners, who have different objectives, environments and learning needs.

The main methodologies are listed below in the chronological order of their development:

Grammar Translation – the classical method

Direct Method – discovering the importance of speaking

Audio-lingualism – the first modern methodology

Humanistic Approaches – a range of holistic methods applied to language learning

Communicative Language Teaching – the modern standard method

Principled Eclecticism – fitting the method to the learner, not the learner to the method

What are the Differences?

Each method has a different focus or priority, so let’s look at what this means in practical terms in the classroom.
The more common methods have a link to a separate page with more details and an explanation of how they work, including the most common method currently used – Communicative Language Teaching:

MethodFocusCharacteristics
Grammar Translation
Written literary texts
Translate from English into your native language
Direct Method (also called Natural Method)
Everyday spoken language
Student learns by associating meaning directly in English
Audio-Lingual Method
Sentence and sound patterns
Listening and speaking drills and pattern practice only in English
Cognitive Code Approach
Grammar rules
English grammar rules deduced and then understood in context
Humanistic Approaches – 4 popular examples:
– The Silent Way
Student interaction rather than teacher
Teacher is silent to allow student awareness of how English works
– Suggestopedia
Meaningful texts and vocabulary
Relaxed atmosphere, with music; encourages subliminal learning of English
– Community Language Learning
Student interaction
Understanding of English through active student interaction
– Comprehension Approach (Natural Approach, the Learnables, and Total Physical Response)
Listening comprehension
English speaking delayed until students are ready; meaning clarified through actions and visuals
Communicative Language Teaching
Interaction, authentic communication and negotiating meaning
Understanding of English through active student interaction; role play, games, information gaps
Content-based, Task-based, and Participatory Approaches
What is being communicated, not structure of English
Content based on relevance to students’ lives: topics, tasks, problem-solving
Learning Strategy Training, Cooperative Learning, and Multiple Intelligences
How to learn
Teach learning strategies, cooperation; activities vary according to different intelligences
Based on Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Oxford University Press)


See more at:
http://blog.tjtaylor.net/teaching-methods/