Section B: Background to language

teaching methodology

In this section we look at some of the background issues which language teachers need
to think about when they plan how they want to teach and what kind of lessons they
want to offer their students. For example, we look at what people have said about how
we learn languages and we list some of the most prominent learning and teaching
methodologies that people have used.

We consider student mistakes and errors as part of the learning process, rather than
something terrible that they do wrong!

We look at various differences in language learning. For example, learning takes place
in many different situations. But whatever the situation, learners are not all the same: a
lot depends on what l evel they are at, how old they are and what kind of learners they are
(because different individuals are, well, different). We discuss how to deal with
these differences.

We emphasise the importance of student engagement and consider how students can
take responsibility for their l earning - and we look at the crucial issue of student
motivation.

35 How people learn languages 1

36 How people learn languages 2
37 Students make mistakes
38 Learning at different ages
39 Student-centred teaching
40 Learner characteristics
41 Different contexts, different levels
42 Large and mixed-ability classes
43 Motivation

81
 Acquisition and learning
Unless some physical or mental condition gets in d1e way, all of us speak and understand
at least one language well. We got d1at language from our parents and from od1er people
around us. As far as any of us can remember, we didn't have to think about the process of
How people learn getting that language; it just happene d . All we had was a lot of EXPOSURE to the language
(we heard it all the time, especially when people talked to us) and opportunities to use it
languages 1 as much and as often as possible. In od1er words, this kind of LANGUAGE ACQUISITION is a
subconscious process.

• Many children acquire more d1an one language in childhood. Indeed, in many
countries and societies it is unusual for people to be MONOLINGUAL (able to speak only
one language).

• Age seems to be an important factor in l anguage acquisition -+38. Children often

acquire (and forget) l anguages easily, partly because they get such a l ot of exposure
to d1em, and partly because of their DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES -+91 and the lives tl1ey are
leading. TEENAGERS and ADULTS don't seem to acquire l anguages so automatically.
However, they may, in fact, be more efficient learners, in part because tl1eir
circumstances and developmental stages are different.

• If acquisition is a subconscious process, LEARNING, by contrast, is sometlung we do

consciously - for example, when we study how to use the PRESENT PERFECT -+6, d1ink
carefull y about what order ADJECTIVES go in -+15, or concentrate on which part of a
word we should STRESS -+26.

Why does the difference between acquisition

and learning matter?
In classrooms all over the world, students leam langiiages. They are taught GRAMMAR,
FUNCTIONS and VOCABULARY. But perhaps that's the wrong way to do it. Perhaps we should
only give students a lot of exposure to the l anguage, toged1er wid1 opporttmities to use
it - just as we do witl1 cluldren.

• In a theory that he called tl1e INPUT HYPOTHESIS, the linguist Stephen Krashen
suggested that people acquire language if they get COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT. This means
that they are exposed to langiiage that is just above their own LEVEL-+41 but wluch
they more or less understand. He suggested that this is all they need.
• Krashen also suggested tl1at d1e langiiage d1at we learn consciously is different from
the language we acquire through comprehensible input. We can use 'learnt'
l anguage to check (or MONITOR) our conversation (or writing), but these checks may
stop us being fluent because we are worrying about whether we are speaking
correctly. In the 1980s, Krashen said that learnt language could not become
acquired l anguage.
• Many researchers questioned [Link]'s Input Hypotl1esis. They said it was difficult to
test because people cannot usually say if their language was acquired or learnt, and if
you can't say which it was, then the tl1eory cannot be proved or disproved.

• Many people suggest that exposure to comprehensible input is not, in itself, enough
for people to know and be able to speak a l anguage. There has to be an element of
conscious attention to the actual l anguage that is being used in the input. Trus is
especially important for learners who have reached (or gone through) puberty
-+38-39 - i.e. teenagers and adults.

82
Which way is best?
Perhaps the best way to get a n ew l a n guage would be to go and live in a country where
the language is spoken. There would be both exposure to the l anguage and opportunities
to use i t. But wou l d that be enough for children or adults?

• Most people learn languages in classrooms. They don't have the opportunity to live in
a foreign country, and they don't get the same amount of exposure to the l anguage
that children do when they learn their first language.

• Most educationalists believe that children are not ready to learn language - to STUDY
grammar, etc. - because of their age -+38. For them, acquisition-like activiti es may
be the best.

• Some students seem to acquire a new language without too much effort. Many
others, however, like, need and want to examine and understand what they are being
exposed to.

• Most language-learning lessons today include a mixture of activities, some more

focused on acquisition and some more focused on learning.

• Many teaching methods have focused more on learning than acquisition. Teachers
following these methods have offered their students individual grammar and
vocabulary items one by one. \i\Te look at these methods in more deta i l i n -+44-48.
• Some teaching m ethods have concentrated more on acquisition than l earni ng.
Teachers have involved their students in communication and encouraged them to
think more about the CONTENT of what they say or do than the FORM of the language
they are using.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. .

How Fernando learnt

English
Fernando Torres, a footballer from
Spain who has played in the U K,
says that he learnt English there
by listening to the radio a lot and
(while he was doing it) trying to
concentrate on what he was
hearing. He also looked at big
advertisements at the side of the
road and tried to see - to NOTICE -
what they said and what the
meaning was. When he had noticed
the words in the advertisements
(= concentrated on the words
so that he could recognise them
again), then he could learn them.
In other words, he had exposure to
the language, but then he thought
consciously about what he was
seeing and hearing .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

83
 Four methods
Although there have been many attempts to find the perfect language-learning method,
no one has yet come up with the 'best' one. This is partly because different students
learn differently (we discuss DIFFERENTIATION in �42), and partly because teaching
How [Link] learn metl1ods often change as society itself changes. However, some methods are worth
discussing because they are either a) widely used, b) talked about a lot or c) still h ave
languages 2 influence in modern teaching practice. Methods 1 and 2 below are more LEARNING-based,
whereas methods 3 and 4 are sig1lificantly more ACQUISITION-like �35.

1 Grammar-translation
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION was the most common way of learning languages for hundreds of
years. S tudents studied the grammar of sentences in tl1e TARGET LANGUAGE (tl1e language they
wanted to learn). They translated them into their own language - or the other way round.

Adrian's story
At his English secondary school Adrian learnt French up to lower-intermediate level with
grammar translation. He had to translate sentences such as My uncle's garden is bigger than
my aunt's pen into French and he had to learn the rules of French grammar. When he went to
France at the age of 1 7, he could say very little for a few days, but then suddenly he started to
be able to communicate and he became more and more fluent over the next three weeks.

Many people learnt (and continue to learn) languages in ways that are similar to this.

Grammar-translation became unpopular because students translated written sentences

rather than spoken conversation, and because they didn't do enough speaking. However,
it is clear tl1at asking students to translate into and out of their language and English can
teach them a lot about the similarities and differences between the two languages.

2 Audio-lingual methodology
AUDIO-LINGUAL METHODOLOGY (A-L) gave students a lot of speaking practice by using
habit-formation DRILLS. Students repeated sentences again and again until they were
memorised. A-L metl1odology is connected to the theory of BEHAVIOURISM .

........ • ............ ......... . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .
. .
·

· Pavlov's dogs
Perhaps the most famous example of early Behaviourist
theory is the story of Pavlov's experim ents with dogs.
The dogs responded to a stimulus (a ringing bell) by
salivating. This is because they had been conditioned to
expect a reward (food) when they heard the sound of
the bell. Every time they heard the bell, they salivated
and this response was reinforced, in their minds, when
food arrived.

• A-L methodology uses a STIMULUS-RESPONSE-REINFORCEMENT approach to language

learning. A stimulus (a teacher's prompt) provokes a student response (a sentence),
and this response is reinforced by the reward of, for example, teacher PRAISE and

84
 student satisfaction. If you repeat this procedure often enough, some people
suggested, the language will be learnt.
• Eehavourist theories of language learning were heavily criticised. It was argued that if
all language was the result of stimulus-response-reinforcement, how come we can all
say new things that we have never said before? These new things can't be the result of
Eehavourist conditioning, surely! One of the results of this was that teachers stopped
using only A-L methodology.
• However, one the main ingredients of audio-lingualism (language drilling -+47) is
still used in many lessons because we believe that frequent repetition is a key to
successful learning. One of the most popular ways of teaching new language, PPP
(PRESENTATION, PRACTICE AND PRODUCTION -+44), mixes drilling with contextualised
explanation and opportunities for language use.
In -+73 we discuss a method called the SILENT WAY.

3 T he communicative approach/communicative language teaching

• THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH/COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) focuses on the
idea that people get language if they have opportunities to use it, and that if students
have a desire to communicate and a purpose for communicating (rather than just
practising a grammar item), then language learning will 'take care of itself'.
• In CLT, students do many speaking and writing tasks, [Link] to use any and all of the
language that they can. CLT focuses more on CONTENT than on FORM ; it concentrates
on how successfully students can conznzunicate, rather than on whether they are
speaking or writing correctly. CORRECTION often takes place after the students have tried
to speak or write communicatively -+74.
We look at examples of communicative speaking activities in -+52-53 and
communicative writing activities in -+58-59 .

4 Task-based learning (T BL)

• TASK-BASED LEARNING (TEL) is an approach where teachers set their students larger
tasks, such as writing a newspaper article, giving an oral presentation, creating an
online film reviews page or arranging a meeting, rather than conceno.·ating only on
the language. The students may STUDY language, too, of course, but only if this will
help them do the task; it is the planning and the completion of the task that is most
important. A TEL approach would base its SYLLABUS -+80 on tasks rather than lists of
grammar items. In some versions of TEL, language study comes after the task - to
deal with any mistakes tl1at occurred during the task.
• In a task-based sequence we might get INTERMEDIATE or UPPER-INTERMEDIATE students to
plan a trip to a city in a foreign couno.y by looking for information on tl1e INTERNET
and then writing an itinerary; we might ask the students to design a questionnaire
which they can then use for video or audio interviews in tl1e so.·eet.

How people learn; how people teach

Most teachers don't follow any one method, but use elements of many different
approaches. This ECLECTICISM seems to be the best response to different claims about how
different students learn. Everything will d epend on the balance of exercises and activities
- how we get students ENGAGED, how we get them to study and the opportunities we
provide for them to ACTIVATE their knowledge -+80 .
A lot depends, too, on tl1e role of the teacher. Should we transmit knowledge as
lecturers do, SCAFFOLD learning (provide guidance and support) by helping students to do
what they want to achieve or facilitate learning by providing tl1e right kind of activities?
We look at the ROLES OF THE TEACHER in -+65 .

85
 Students make
mistakes

We all make mistakes

When people are learning a language, they never get it right first time: they make
MISTAKES. This is a normal part of learning a first, or any other, language. Native speakers
of a language make mistakes, too, especially in informal conversation.

Why do learners make mistakes?

• When people are learning a second language, they make DEVELOPMENTAL ERRORS.
These happen· as a natural part o f l anguage learning because (either consciously or
subconsciously) the learners are trying to work out how the language system works.
• �Then children are learning English as their first language, they often learn early on
how to say past tense forms such as went, came, ran, etc. However, later, when they
become aware of regular PAST TENSE endings, they start saying g&ed, wmed, � etc.
'
We call this OVER-GENERALISATION because the child is using the new 'rule' too widely.
I n the same way, learners of English as a second language often say things like Hemust
to-go, because they appear to be over-generalising to + INFINITIVE, which they have
become aware of in sentences like He has to go.
• When students are learning a second language, they often make INTERFERENCE errors.
These happen because they are (consciously or unconsciously) trying to use their first­
language knowledge to speak the new language. For example, Japanese speakers may make
sentences such as Skiing is very interesting (because the Japanese word which they would
use in this sentence, onzoshiroi, means both great ftm and interesting), Spanish speakers
may get their word order wrong and say She isa'l:BfJ'l'l�anbeautifal (because in Spanish
the sentence would be Es una mzger bonita), Arabic speakers may say 14ZbenIamseeyeu.'
(because in Arabic there is no subject-verb inversion for questions) and Turkish students
might say I-happy (because in Turkish Ben mutluyum doesn 't contain an overt verb).
• Researchers talk about a language learner's INTERLANGUAGE - that is their own version
of the language they are learning at a certain stage in their language development.
• There is a danger that if mistakes are left uncorrected for too long - or if the learner is
unaware of them - they may become FOSSILISED. They are then more difficult to put right.

What kind of mistakes do students make?

Students make several different kinds of mistakes.
• Sometimes they make SLIPS. We can think of these as the result of tiredness or because
the students are speaking quickly and are careless. In other words, they know how to
use the language correctly, but it just comes out wrong.

86
• Sometimes students make ERRORS. These suggest that they either don't know
something, that they have learnt something incorrectly, or that their knowledge of
the language has been affected by developmental or interference factors.
• Sometimes students make ATTEMPTS to say things which are beyond their language
knowledge and so they have a go and make a bit of a mess of it�
• We need to be aware of what kind of mistake is being made so that we can CORRECT it
appropriately -+73. Students can often self-correct slips, but may need more help and
explanation if they have made an error. Attempt mistakes are perfect oppornmities for
teaching new language because it is language tl1at the sn1dents clearly want.

What do mistakes look like?

• Language learners may make pronunciation mistakes, many of which are caused by
L1 interference. For example, Chinese speakers might say I /fi:wrw/ instead of I feel ill.
• Learners may make grammatical mistakes, such as word order problems (Jlike VC1)'
'fflfttf3h..-#), tl1e omission of ARTICLES (Sheisteaclm-) or the addition of words tlut are not
necessary (They'Flttt5ttehelpus) .
• They may make mistakes in word formation, such as cooker instead of cook, or misuse
grammatical categories, such as I am interesting (PRESENT PARTICIPLE) instead of I am
interested (PAST PARTICIPLE) .
• Students may use wrong or inappropriate vocabulary; they may select the wrong word
in COLLOCATIONS, saying childish crime instead ofjuvenile crime, for example.

Do mistakes matter?
We all know people who speak fairly 'broken' English (or another language), and yet
they can make tl1emselves understood perfectly well and no one worries too much about
the errors they make. However, in certain circumstances, both inside and outside the
classroom, mistakes do matter.
• When students speak, they may have an accent which is influenced by their first or
second language. There is nothing wrong with this unless what tl1ey are saying is
UNINTELLIGIBLE. PRONUNCIATION teaching -+28-29 is all about making sure tlut tl1e
students are as intelligible as possible to as many people as possible. We will need to
concentrate on STRESS -+26 and INTONATION-+27, especially, since when mistakes are
made witl1 tl1ese, they can affect meaning-.
• Mistakes matter in writing. This is partly because writing doesn't flash past like
conversation, but stays there for us to look at again and again. People can tl1ink that
someone's English (or other language) is worse than it is if they see spelling mistakes,
bad handwriting and poor vocabulary use - whereas if they heard the same person
speak, tl1ey might have a better impression.
• In lessons we often make a difference between language activities which concentrate
on ACCURACY (the students' accurate and correct use of language) and activities which
concentrate on FLUENCY (the students' ability to commtmicate effectively and
spontaneously) -+73.
• When we are working on the students' accuracy, we are helping tl1em to study
language (that is, to understand the construction of GRAMMAR, a LEXICAL PHRASE, a -
LANGUAGE FUNCTION , etc.). Because of this, we will probably correct mistakes when they
occur and try to help tl1e students to say or write things correctly.
• When we are trying to encourage fluency, we probably won't correct quite so
immediately since the sn1dents are learning how to communicate.

87
 You ng learners
.Many people think that children are better language learners than other age groups
�35. As a result, English is taught to young and very young children in many countries
around the world.
Learnin_g at • Children need a lot of good exposure if they are to acquire a language. One or two
hours a week is usually not enough for successful ACQUISITION, though it may a) give
different ages students a taste of the new language, b) make them feel very positive about l anguages
other than their own and c) be a lot of fun.
• Children take in information from everything around them, not just what is being
taught. They learn from things they see, hear, touch and interact with. This is often
just as important as more formal explanations.
• Children are usually curious about the world and like learning.
• Children often find abstract concepts (such as grammar rules) difficult to understand.
Ho-wever, this depends on what DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE they have reached. We look at
developmental stages in more detail in �91.
• Many chil dren are happy to talk about themselves, and like learning experiences
which involve and relate to their own lives.
• Children are pleased to have the teacher's approval.
• Children often find it difficult to concentrate on the same thing for a long time.
• The Russian educational psychologist Vygotsky (1 896-1934) said that children learn best
when they are in the ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD): when they are ready for the
next bit of learning. Later experts have suggested that teachers should SCAFFOLD �91
students' learning (provide guidance and support) w1til the students can do it for themselves.
• 'i\Te need to remember, however, that children develop at different rates and that there
is a clear difference between a child of five, for example, and a child of ten .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . .
. .
. .

T ips for teaching young learners

Change activities frequently.
•
Combine learning and play.
•
Use a ppropriate activities (incl uding songs, puzzles, games, art, physical movement, etc.)
for different kinds of student.
•
Make the classroom an attractive, light and convenient learning environment.
•
Pay special attention to your own English pronunciation - children are good i m itators I
. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . .

We discuss YOUNG LEARNERS i n more detail in �91-1 01 .

Adult and older learners

How are adult learners different from children?

• Adults can think in abstract ways and so there is, perhaps, less need for them to
engage in activities such as games and songs in order to understand things.
• vVe can introduce a wide range of topics into adult classrooms and expect that the
students will have some lmowledge of what we are talking about.
• Nlany adult learners have strong opinions about how learning should take place, often
based on their own schooldays. They sometimes dislike teaching methods that are
either different from those they are used to or which remind them of earlier learning.

88
 Learning at different ages
. . . ..
.. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .

• Although some adults have good memories of learning success, others have experience
of learning failure and are worried that they will fail agai n.
• Adults usually (but n ot always) behave well in class - at least better than some other
age groups.
• Many adults (but not all) understand what they want and why they are learning. This
means that even when they are a little bored, they can still keep working.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. .

T ips for teaching adults ·

Find out what interests different student individuals in order to plan the most
a ppropriate lessons.
•
Be prepared to explain things (such as grammar rules). But remember that many adults
learn by doing things, too.
Discuss the best ways of learning with your students so that everyone is happy with
your lessons.
•
Provide clear short-term goa l s so that the students can achieve success at each stage.
. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We discuss teaching adults in more detail i n 739.

Adolescents
For many teachers, ADOLESCENT students are the most exciting - but also the most
challenging - people to have in classrooms.
• Depending on their stage of development, teenagers can start to think in abstract
terms. In other words, they can talk about ideas and concepts in a way that yotrnger
children probably cannot.
• Many adolescent students become passionate about the things that interest them.
• Many adolescent students have a large amount of energy. This is sometimes a good
and creative thing, but sometimes, if we don't channel it correctly, it can lead to more
or less serious DISCIPLINE problems 771 .
• Many adolescents are extremely conscious o f their age and find it irritating when adults
continue to teach them as children - even though, in many ways, they still are children.
• Adolescents usually have not chosen to come to our English lessons. They are there
because they have to be tl1ere. They may not see any good reason for learning English.
• Many adolescents want and need PEER APPROVAL (the good opinion of their classmates)
far more than they want and need the approval of the teacher.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .

Tips for teaching teenagers

Encourage teenagers to have opinions and to think critically and questioningly about what
they are learning.
Use the students' own knowledge and experience as much as possible.
Treat the students like adults but remember they are still children.
E ncourage the students to have AGENCY 739 (take responsibility for their own learning).
•
Be super-organised I Teenagers like to know what they are doing and why.
•
Be con sistent when there are discipline problems. Criticise the behaviour, not the student.

We discuss teaching adolescents in more detail in 7 39.

89
 The right priorities
The most important thing in a classroom is not how the teacher teaches, but whether
(and how) the students learn.

Student-centred Personalisation, agency and learner training

teaching
There are things we can do to help our students have some control over their own
learning.
• PERSONALISATION is one of the most important stages of any learning [Link]. When
students use new language to talk about themselves, or to say things that matter to
them (for example in the PRODUCTION phase of the PPP procedure -?44), they have to
think about the right l anguage to use to express their own ideas and to talk about
their own lives and what interests them.
• When learners have some responsibility for their own learning, they are more
likely to be engaged than if they are just doing what the teacher tells them to.
In other words, if students are sometimes 'in the driving seat', they have some
AGENCY some conu·ol over what is happening in their learning. They might decide
-

such things as which words from a list they wan t to focus on, what topic they want
to discuss, what activity they want to do next, or what HOMEWORK -? 76 they think
would be most useful to them. We might discuss with them how and why they want to
be CORRECTED -? 73-75.
• Many students find it extremely useful to think about how they l earn and we can help
them by providing LEARNER TRAI NING. This means getting them to think of the best
ways of doing things, such as writing words down to remember them, what to do in
conversation when you don't know a word, or how to take notes.

Talking about adults

Adult students bring a lot of previous learning experience to the classroom and they
bring their own ideas about what good learning looks and feels like.
• Some adults are not keen on COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHI NG -?36, for example,
because it is not like the way they were taught at school . As a result, we need to explain
why we use PAIRWORK and GROUPWORK -?67: to help the smdents to ACTIVATE their
language knowledge because we think activation helps them to process the language
they have ACQUIRED and LEARNT -?35.
• We need to listen (where possible) to our students' own l earning preferences. For
example, they may want to TRANSLATE every word of a reading text into their own
language (or have every word explained), but we want them to read for GIST -?54.
We can make a bargain, where they agree to uy to do what we want (read for gist) and
we agree, when they have done this, to work with individual word meaning.
• Some older learners have (or appear to have) more problems with memory than
younger students. We need to RECYCLE and REVISE what we have done constantly, and
we should back up what they STUDY with visual and other resources.
• v\Then we teach middle-aged and older adults, we should find out how they like to be
addressed (not everyone likes to be called by their first name) and take care that what
we show and tell them is both clearly visible and audibl e.

90
 Student-centred teaching

Talking about teenagers

Although teenagers often learn faster than children or adults, there are other issues we
need to take account of.

• Teenagers don't always see (or want to see) why we are aslcing them to do the things
we are suggesting. It is important, therefore, to explain what benefit they will get
from an activity or a lesson. They need to understand the LESSON OUTCOMES '79
we expect for them.

• Because some teenagers have unresolved problems with SELF-ESTEEM, we need to be

sure that we don't do anything that wil l make them fee l vulnerable or embarrassed in
front of their PEERS. For example, instead of malcing them READ ALOUD from a text they
h ave never seen before (and therefore risk them not reading very well), we may let
them choose what they want to read and give them a chance to practise reading it so
that when they do, they can have some confidence that they will be successful '29.

• Teenage students can be incredibly creative - offering i deas, energy and enthusiasm.
We need to direct that creativity, pointing them in the right direction and helping
them to focus on how to make TASKS manageable.

• Students at this age are far more likely to enjoy (and be engaged with) lessons if they
can see the relevance of what they are doing to their own lives and interests. For
example, instead of malcing our students work with music that we like (although there
is nothing wrong with that), we may tty to get them to talk about music that they like.
Instead of usi ng the STORIES of famous historical people, for example, we may h ave the
students work with stories of their contemporaries, people in the school or characters
from TV shows that they watch or online games that they play. However, it is worth
remembering that teenage students do not necessarily want to share their world with
adult teachers, so we have to be careful about how much we become involved with
their interests.

• Teenage students want to know and see that their teacher is interested in their
progress and their wellbeing and that, above a l l , the teacher is fair and treats all
students the same. This is especially i m portant so that DISCIPLINE does not become
a problem '71 .

91
 Getting to know our students
If we want to know how to teach our students, we need to know what the students are
like. How are they different? How are they the same?

Learner The good learner

characteristics
Many studies have tried to identify the characteristics of GOOD LEARNERS . There are
variations in the conclusions that are reached, but most people say that good learners:
• try to guess when they don 't know something - and often succeed;
• try to get their message across even if their knowledge of the language isn't very good;
• are prepared to make mistakes;
• try to figure out how language works;
• practise whenever they can;
• analyse the way they and others talk;
• have a good self-image and confidence.
\i\Te need to remember that many good LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS tend to represent a
'western' view of learning. Nevertheless, we should encourage our own view of good
learner behaviour, in particular by rewarding appropriate efforts and by talking about
how to learn.

Talking about differences

• .i\!Iany people sLiggest that some students have m01:e APTITUDE for language learning
than others - in other words, some students wi ll automatically be better at it than
others. However, it is di fficult to know how to measure this, and a lot will depend on
how, when and where people are learning and what their MOTIVATION is '43.
• Some people suggest that intelligence plays a part in language learning. However, i t
is clear that most people are capable of learning a language whatever their
intellectual level.
• The psychologist Howard Gardner proposed a the01y of MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (Ml
THEORY) to show how we can think about people's knowledge and abilities. 'It is not,'
he wrote, 'how intelligent we are that matters, it is how we are intelligent. ' He
suggested that everyone has the same intelligences: spatial (the ability to visualise
things), linguistic (the abili ty to use, understand and memorise language), !ogica!-
111 athe111atica! (the ability to reason with and understand numbers and other
abstractions), musical (the ability to respond, reproduce �nd interpret music), bodi61-
kinaesthetic (the abili ty to understand, use and control one's bodily actions skilfully) ,
intnpersonal (the ability to empathise and interact with others), intrapersonal (the
ability to think and reflect internally), naturalistic (the ability to understand and enjoy
the natural world) and existential (the ability to see and empathise with spiritual,
religious and psychic belief). However, according to Gardner we are all different: for
some of us, perhaps, our musical intelligence is more developed than our
interpersonal intelligence. Others may have a strong bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence,
and this may be more developed than their logical-mathematical intelligence.
• Emotional intelligence - which is similar to Gardner's interpersonal intelligence - has
been described by a number ot different psycho\ogists as the abihty to understand and
deal with our own emotions and the emotions of others.
• Many people have tried to categorise students according to their LEARNING STYLES - the
way they behave when they are learning in classrooms. According to these categories,
enthusiasts, for example, uy to take part and listen to the teacher, whereas rebels want
to do it 'their way' ; communicative learners tty to do everything by letting the language
flow, ·whereas analytic learners spend their time trying to understand everything.

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 Learner characteristics

• The only problem with these descriptions is that very few students remain one 'type'
or the other, even if we could clearly establish what the different types were. Perhaps
it is more helpful to think of different lesson stages where different styles are more or
less appropri ate.

• NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING (NLP) - which is a model for psychotherapeutic

counselling - has been used to explain learner differences. The founders of J\TLP,
Richard Bandler and John Grinder, wanted to help people to re-frame their
experiences (visualise things in a different way) to help them perform better. They
also suggested that all people respond to the same stimuli visual (what we see),
-

auditory (what we hear), kinaesthetic (associated with physical movement, touching,

etc.), olfactory (what we smell) and gustatory (wh at we taste) - but that for each of us
one of these VAKOG elements has more 'power' because it stimulates us more than the
others do, and this is different for different people.

People have raised doubts about the scientific status of both NLP and MI theory (and
about m any attempts at learner categorisation). However, they all remind of us of an
essential truth: different students are good (and not so good) at different things. They
respond better to some things than to others.

What to do about student differences

• We need to make sure that we use different lessons to cater for different kinds of student
preferences. We might use visual stimuli in one l esson, but rely on music for the next.
We wil l give the students exercises for analytic l earners at one stage of the lesson, but
balance them with more holistic communicative activities at other times.

• We should keep a record of what kinds of activities are successful with which kinds
of student so that we can m ake effective fuuire decisions.

• We need to try to encourage LEARNER AUTONOMY (the students learning on their own and
relying on their own abilities) by offering LEARNER TRAINING, where we get the students
to think about how they learn best. Learner training involves tasks such as showing
the su1dents different ways of note-taking and asking them to think about which ones
they prefer, or talking about different types of listening text and the SKILLS and the
SUB-SKILLS that are appropriate for them. It involves thinking about the best ways of
remembering words -722 and what the students can do to help this h appen, etc.

We discuss DIFFERENTIATION in -742.

93
 Different kinds of English learning
English language learning takes place in many different situations and for many
different reasons.
• The vast maj ority of students are learning GENERAL ENGLISH : they are learning the
contexts, language for no special reason. This is the case in many school situations and in many
(private) language institutes, where groups are made up of students from a range of
different levels ages and backgrounds.
• In some schools around the world, teachers use CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED
LEARNING (CLIL), especially at primary and secondary level. CLIL marries the
learning of new language to the learning of school-curriculum SUBJECTS. We discuss
CLIL in '102-110.
• Many students study ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP). If they are aircraft engineers,
they may study the special English of engineering. If they are air traffic controllers,
they will learn language specific to that occupation.
• Many people study BUSINESS ENGLISH . Classes can a) take place in schools where
students are learning business and English at the same time (pre-service) or b) can be
given to people who are already working in the business world (in-service). The
teacher may travel to a company to give lessons.
• ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES (EAP) is studied by many people who need to use
English at college and university.
• We need to think about why our students are learning English and what kind of
English they wa�1t and need. We can do a NEEDS ANALYSIS to find out what future
contexts they will need to use English in. B usiness English teachers, for example,
will find out what situations their students need English for (perhaps business
meetings) and what they will need to do in such situations (make presentations, give
opinions, ask for clarification, etc.).
• Students around the world study in anything from classes of one to groups of 30, 60
and even more than 100. \Ve discuss LARGE CLASSES in '42.
• In ONE-TO-ONE CLASSES (one student, one teacher), we can find out exactly what our
student needs and wants. vVe must be well prepared for lessons, but at the same time
we will need to be flexible as tl1e lesson progresses.
• In one-to-one classes vve can adapt to our student's feelings and wishes about language
learning. We can negotiate the content of the course.
• In countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Iew Zealand and Britain,
students in a group may have a range of first or HOME LANG,UAGES (u). As a result,
English is botl1 the language of instruction and the language of communication.
In other places, the students all share tl1e same first language and, as a result,
teachers can teach and students can learn in different ways. We discuss the uses of the
L 1 in '77.

Language levels
For many years, people have suggested that tl1ere are six different language learning
levels (see diagram 1 ): BEGINNERS (witl1 little or no language), ELEMENTARY, LOWER-/
PRE-INTERMEDIATE, INTERMEDIATE, UPPER-INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED. Although these terms
can mean different tl1ings to different people, it is often said that su1dents can complete
a level in between 90 and 1 2 0 hours.
-
• Some people make a difference between R EAL BEGINNERS (who know nothing at all)
and FALSE BEGINNERS (those who have already picked up a few words and bits and pieces
of English).

94
 Different contexts, different levels

• Many teachers enjoy working with begirrners because their delight in learning is
obvious - and because there often seems to be a clear connection between what is
taught and what is learnt.

• Teachers sometim es talk about the PLATEAU EFFECT, which often happens when smdents
have reached the intermediate level. The students feel that they can speak English and
find i t difficult to see when they are making more progress. It i s vital that we should
provide clear goals for them to aim at, and explain what they are learning and what
progress they are making.

• There are other ways of describing levels, too. The Council of Europe and the
Association of Language Testers of Europe (ALTE) produced the COMMON EUROPEAN
FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES (CEFR), which is now used in countries around
the world. As you can see in d iagram 2, the CEFR has six levels from Al (beginn er) to
C2 (very advanced).

• What makes the CEFR special is that i t can be used for any language because l evels
are described i n terms of CAN-DO STATEMENTS, such as (for writing) 'can complete basic
forms and write notes including times, dates <rnd places' (B l ) or (for speaking and
l istening) 'can contribute effectively in meetings and seminars within their own area
of work or keep up a casual conversation with a good degree of fluency, coping with
abstract expressions' (C2).

• Students can use the CEFR to judge their own language level. fa recent years, many
COURSEBOOK writers and CURRICULUM designers have encouraged students to evaluate
their own progress by checking whether their l earning has been successful. For
example i f, at the end of a unit, they tick the statement I can invite people out and accept
and refuse invitations, it m eans that they have learnt one of the l anguage functions that
were being taught.

• \Ve need to give students more support when they are beginners, and teaching
procedures such as PPP �44 may be more appropriate than for students at higher
levels. It may be easier to encourage LEARNER AUTONOMY �43 at higher levels than at
beginner level. At lower levels we will use a lot more demonstration when we give
instructions �69 than we do at higher l evel s.
• We need to choose appropriate tasks, topics and language for students at different
l evels. \Ve wil l not expect beginners to d iscuss complex issues an d we wil l not ask
advanced students to do simple language drills.

Different student levels advanced

upper-intermediate

intermediate

�
lower-intermediate/pre-intermediate

elementary

real beginner false beginner

beginners elementary intermediate advanced

I A1 I A2 B1 I B2 01 d2
false beginners pre-intermediate upper-intermediate

Levels and CEFR levels

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 Large and
mixed-ability
classes

Teaching large classes

Some teachers dislike the idea of teaching large classes (30 to 1 00+ students), and it is true
that it is more difficult to give individual attention to students when there are so many
of them. However, teach ing in such circumstances can be rewarding and productive.
Big classes can develop a strong group identity, and the atmosphere can be exhilarating.
• It is important to be ve1y organised when teaching large classes. We must be sure that
we have all the material that we and the students need. 'ii\Te need to have a clear i dea of
what we are going to do.
• The bigger the class, the more important it is to give very clear INSTRUCTIONS (and
check them) °'69 so that everyone understands exactly what they need to do. We
should plan exactly how we are going to explain things and think about how to
demonstrate what we want the students to do.
• \i\Te need to make it clear when we are moving from one STAGE OF A LESSON to the next. All
tl1e students, even tlle ones at the back, should know exactly what is going on. We need
to vary our voice and the pace of tl1e lesson when we move from one stage to the other.
• It helps to establish clear routines. Students need to know when tl1ey should quieten
down at the end of an activity "70 and what signs and signals we use to indicate
this. We also need to have a clear system of collecting in and giving back HOMEWORK
°'76, etc.
• We will maximise the use of PAIRWORK and GROUPWORK °'67. For example, students
can do INFORMATION-GAP activities °'SO or rehearse scenes from plays °'64. We can
ask them to reconstruct stories � or do STORY CIRCLE-type activities °'58.
• Students can complete WORKSHEETS and do reading and listening tasks in pairs and
groups.
• We can use CHORAL REPETITION for reaction and practice "47. We can divide the class
into two or three groups for choral practice lll!Z:Ii> .
• vVe can use activities (such as poetry fill-ins �63, 'It s ;�) fp<;
e' reading al ? ud
_ down' hstenmg ' ' ) where we give all the
°'29, 69 and mD> or 'stand up, sit
students the same input, but they have to think and respond individually.

96
 Large and mixed-ability classes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .

Teaching mixed-ability classes

In a sense, all classes are mixed ability because students are all individuals and have
different LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS -+40. And even in a class where everyone is supposed
to be at the same level (UPPER-INTERMEDIATE -+41 , for example), it is unlikely that the
students will all be able to speak, listen, write or read as well as each other. In primary
and secondary education, children learn at different speeds and there is often a much
greater range of ability, even where classes are STREAMED from, say, group 1 (high
achievers) to group 3 (low achievers).
• DIFFERENTIATION (teaching different individuals in a different way) means trying to
provide different learning experiences for different individuals - for example, offering
different learning material or activities to suit different abilities and needs.
• \Ve need to try to ensure that every student has a chance of success so that they can
enjoy praise which they believe they desenre -+72.
• \Ve can give different students different material. For example, we can give out
TEXTS at different levels. vVe can refer students to different Online websites or give
them different exercises and activities to do. However, this creates a lot of extra
work for teachers.
• \i\Te can put the students in ability groups so that groups of stronger students work
on different content or tasks from the weaker groups. In effect this is like in-class
streaming.
• \i\Te can put students in groups where weaker and more able students are working
together. We can give the group a task and say that it will not be complete until all the
students (stronger and weaker) have completed it. As a result, the stronger students
have to help out the weaker students.
• \i\Te can give students different roles when we give them tasks so that the stronger
ones act as 'chairpersons' and take on the more difficult parts of the activity.
• vVe will take great care to respond to each individual student in a way that is
appropriate for that student. This �ill affect such things as our choice of CORRECTION
techniques -+ 73, 75, how we reward and PRAISE students -+ 72 and how we respond
to DISCIPLINE problems -+71 .
• We can give all the students the same task, but expect different responses. For
example, we can get some students to answer all 2 0 questions about a reading text, but
only expect others to deal with the first ten. We can give a series of tasks which start
by being general but then go into more detail. Some students do the first set of tasks,
the others do the second.
• We will remember that weaker students need more help, not less. For example, when
the students are working with a reading text, the stronger ones may go straight into
the reading tasks and then move quickly to the FOLLOW-UP TASKS -+56, whereas the
weaker students may spend longer in a pre-reading prediction phase, and we may
give them more help with the language that they are likely to encounter in the
reading text.
• We need to have material ready so that we can give those students who finish early
something interesting to do whilst the rest of the class catch up.
One of most important ways of dealing with both large classes and mixed-ability classes
is to include LEARNER TRAINING -+40 so that individual students can take responsibility for
their own learning and progress.

97
 The importance of motivation
It almost goes without saying that students who are not motivated find learning difficult,
whereas students who are motivated usually have more chance of success. But what is
MOTIVATION and how can teachers have an effect on it?
Motivation

Where motivation comes from

When we want something badly enough, when we want to feel better about ourselves or
when we want to know that other people like what we are doing, we get into a state of
mind that provokes us into doing something. In other words, if we want something
badly enough, we act on that desire. That state of mind is what we call motivation.

• Experts talk about EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION, which comes from outside the learner and
may, for example, be related to a need to pass an exam, or the desire to elicit praise
from the teacher, or because the learner has a forthcoming trip where the foreign
language would be an advantage. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, on the other hand, comes from
the task itself - and exists because the learner has a drive to learn.

• Differences have also been drawn between INTEGRATIVE. MOTIVATION (where a language
learner wishes somehow to integrate into the target language culture) and
INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION (where a language learner is studying because with English
they will get a better job - or for some other more materialistic reason). It has been
suggested that integrative motivation has a more positive effect on student success
than instrumental motivation, but perhaps it is more sensible to say that the
strength of a student's motivation is what matters, wherever it comes from and
whatever kind it is.

• The students' motivation may be affected (negatively or positively) by a number of

factors such as a) the society they live in and that society's attitude to l anguage
learning, b) the people around them and how important those people think that
learning a foreign language is, c) whether or not they have a definite goal for language
learning (students who are preparing for exams are often highly motivated �89) and
d) by the natural curiosity that most students possess.

• The students' motivation will also be affected by their learning experiences.

Although motivation is personal to each learner, what teachers do can have a
profound effect upon it.

98
 Motivation

Sustaining motivation
Most teachers can motivate their students. It is, after all, one of the things we are
supposed to be able to do, and when, for example, we are asked to substitute for a
colleague, it is not difficult to produce our 'best' lesson for the students to enjoy. Being
a SUBSTITUTE TEACHER can be great fun. In the same way, the students' natural curiosity
often makes the first lesson of a semester with a new class an enjoyable event. Helping
our students to sustain their motivation throughout a semester or a year requires more
effort, however.
• Students are far more likely to stay motivated if they think that their teacher cares
about them - if their AFFECT (feeling) is positive. We need to listen, watch and respond
to our students in a genuine and interested way. We discuss the importance of RAPPORT
(the relationship between teacher and students) in -+66 .
• Nothing succeeds like success, and students who succeed in language learning are far
more likely to remain motivated than students who constantly fail. However, it is
important that students' ACHIEVEMENT should be the result of some effort. If everytl1ing
is either too easy or too difficult, achievement will be either meaningless or
impossible. Good teachers set an appropriate LEVEL OF CHALLENGE so that individual
students can experience appropriate success (we discuss DIFFERENTIATION in -+42).
They set achievable GOALS at every stage of the language learning process.
• Students are far more likely to remain motivated if iliey think their teacher has a
professional ATTITUDE. The way that we present ourselves to the class is important.
Students need to !mow tlrnt we have thought about what we are going to teach
(PLANNING -+79-80) and that we know what we are doing. Part of a teacher's job is to
convince t11e students, whatever the reality, that they have this kind of professional
competence.
• Students will always stay more motivated if we involve t11em in enjoyable and
challenging ACTIVITIES. However, not all students enjoy or respond to the same things
in the same way. It is important for teachers to keep a record of what works and what
doesn't (for the class and for individual students). REFLECTIVE TEACHERS do t11is anyway,
and it helps them to decide what to do next.
• Students are far more likely to remain motivated if t11ey have AGENCY (that is, if they
have some control over what is happening). When students can make some decisions
themselves - when t11ey are t11e agents of their own actions - then they stay engaged
in the process of learning because they have a stake in it.
• Because we believe that students should have agency, we encourage LEARNER
AUTONOMY, where students do some or a lot of the work on their own. We want t11em
to take charge of their learning by doing such t11ings as DISCOVERING things for
themselves -+46, doing a lot of EXTENSIVE READING -+54 and listening to PODCASTS,
completing HOMEWORK tasks -+76 and doing their own language investigation.
We will provide LEARNER TRAINING, encouraging our students to think about the best
techniques for their own individual learning. For example, how can they remember
vocabulary best? What is the best way of studying at home?
None of these t11ings will sustain motivation on their own, but taken together they offer
us a clear guide about how to keep students motivated over a period of time.

99