10 Text-Based Instruction 201

10 Text-Based Instruction
it draws on appropriate grammar and vocabulary. Second language learning thus involves
being able to use different kinds of spoken and written texts in the specific contexts in
which they are used. According to this view learners in different contexts have to master
the use of the text-types occurring most frequently in these contexts. These contexts might
include studying in an English-medium university, studying in an English-medium pri-
mary or secondary school, working in a restaurant, working in an office, working in a store,
or socializing with neighbors in a housing complex.
Introduction
Approach
Text-Based Instruction (TBI) is an approach that is based on the following principles:
Theory of language
e Teaching explicitly about the structures and grammatical features of spoken and
A number of assumptions about the nature of language inform TBI.
written texts
e Linking spoken and written texts to the social and cultural contexts of their use Texts occur in relation to different genres of discourse
e Designing units of work which focus on developing skills in relation to whole texts As mentioned earlier, the notion of genre also plays an important part in the theory of
e Providing students with guided practice as they develop language skills for mean- language underlying TBI. The situations, contexts, purposes, audiences, and relationships
ingful communication through whole texts. that are involved when we use language account for patterns and norms of language use
(Feez 1998: v) and result in different genres of discourse. Examples of genres are scientific writing, fiction,
conversation, news broadcasts, songs, poems, interviews, sports commentaries, letters,
While developed originally in Australia through the work of educationalists and applied
Genre tefers to spoken and written contexts for language use, in which our expectations
linguists working in the area of literacy and drawing on the work of Halliday (1989),
for the kinds of discourse that occur are shaped by our knowledge of the types of conven-
Derewianka (1990), Christie (2002), and others, it has also been influential in developing a
tions in place for that type of discourse, that is, genre conventions (Dean 2008). ‘a
approaches to language teaching at all levels in countries such as New Zealand, Singapore,
given genre, different types of texts may occur. For example, the genre ofconversation may
and Canada, as well as in a number of European countries, such as Sweden. The Common
include such text-types as small talk, anecdotes, jokes, personal recounts (or narratives).
European Framework of Reference (Chapter 8) also specifies outcomes for what students
Members of a culture or “discourse community” have a shared knowledge of the kinds of
can do with texts. TBI shares many assumptions with a genre-based approach to course
texts that occur in different genres and of the features of different text-types. The Common
design, often used in the development of courses in English for Academic Purposes
European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe 2001) lists the
(Paltridge 2006). Unlike Task-Based Language Teaching (Chapter 9), which is motivated following examples of genres and text-types that learners may need to understand, produce,
by a creative-construction theory of second language learning, TBI, while compatible or participate in:
with theories of learning, derives from a genre theory of the nature of language (see
below) and the role that texts play in social contexts. Communicative competence is seen
to involve the mastery of different types of texts, or genres. Text here is used in a special idise rse =|
sense to refer to structured sequences of language that are used in specific contexts in
Public announcements and Books, fiction and non-fiction
specific ways. For example, in the course of a day a speaker of English may use spoken
instructions Magazines
English in many different ways including the following: Newspapers
Public speeches, lectures,
e Casual conversational exchange with a friend presentations, sermons Instructions (e.g. cookbooks, etc.)
e Conversational exchange with a stranger in an elevator Rituals (ceremonies, formal Textbooks
© Telephone call to arrange an appointment at a hair salon religious services) Comic strips
Entertainment (drama, shows, Brochures, prospectuses
e An account to friends of an unusual experience
readings, songs) Leaflets
e Discussion of a personal problem with a friend to seek advice. | Advertising material
Sports commentaries (football,
Each of these uses of language can be regarded asa text in that it exists as a unified whole cricket, etc.) Public signs and notices
with a beginning, middle, and end, it conforms to norms of organization and content, and (Continued)

200
202 Current approaches and methods 10 Text-Based Instruction 203

Each genre type has its own internal complexity. For example, recounts typically have three
is SS parts:
News broadcasts Supermarket, shop, market stall signs
e The setting or orientation, providing background information concerning who, when
Public debates and discussion Packaging and labelling on goods
Interpersonal dialogues and Tickets, etc. where and why
conversations Forms and questionnaires e Events described in a chronological order
Telephone conversations Dictionaries (monolingual and bilingual), thesauri « Concluding comments, usually expressing a personal opinion regarding the events
Job interviews Business and professional letters, faxes described.
Personal letters
Essays and exercises
Linguistic features include past tense, verbs, and adverbs. Personal recounts are common
Memoranda, reports, and papers in casual conversation and in email communication, blogs, etc. Narratives are similar to
Notes and messages, etc. recounts and share many of the linguistic features of recounts, except that rather than sim-
Database (news, literature, general information, etc.) ply recounting events, they tell a story. Students will have come across many different forms
of narratives in their reading, and common to many of them is a structure that consists of:
Language is a social process
e orientation (in which the setting is presented and the characters in the story are introduced);
This view was described by Halliday (1978: 1): “Language arises in the life of the individual
e complication (that part in the story in which the character or characters experience some
through an ongoing exchange of meanings with significant others” According to Feez
kind of problem);
(Chapter 2), the implications of this view of language include, on the one hand, the fact that
© resolution where a solution is found to the problem or complication.
texts are shaped by the social context in which they are used and, on the other hand, that
the social context is simultaneously shaped by people using language.
Language use reflects the contexts in which it occurs
Texts have distinctive patterns of organization and distinctive linguistic features Another assumption of TBI is that language is shaped by the situations in which it is used
Texts are constructed of words and sentences, but they function in communication as units. and the nature of the interactions in which it occurs. An important principle that derives
They may consist of a single word, a sentence, or much longer constructions, and they from this assumption is that spoken and written language have different functions and
reflect recognizable and conventional patterns of organization. There have been a number use different grammatical resources. The teaching of spoken and written texts should be
of classifications of text-types. The following text-types were originally proposed for genre- informed by research on authentic language use, drawing on such traditions as discourse
based instruction in schools in Australia by the Sydney Group (Johns 2002): and conversation analysis and corpus research. ‘The availability of corpora presenting large
samples of spoken and written language in different genres enables proponents of TBI to
Recounts: Relate an event that happened in the past.
focus on the unique characteristics of spoken and written texts in ways that would not have
Procedures: Outline a process, system or procedure.
been possible in the past.
Descriptions: Classify, describe, and give characteristics of a group of things.
Reports: Tell a story or report information to entertain or educate.
Theory of learning
Explanations: Present instructions that explain how something should be done.
Several assumptions about the nature of second language learning are used to support TBI.
Expositions: Take a position and argue a case.
Learning is facilitated by explicit knowledge of language
Others have amplified this list. For example, two different kinds of text-types are com-
Explicit learning is conscious learning and results in knowledge that can be described and
monly used in describing past experiences: recounts and narratives (Eggins and Slade 1997;
Thornbury and Slade 2006). explained, as compared with implicit learning which is learning that takes place without
conscious awareness and results in knowledge that the learner may not be able to verbalize or
The purpose of a recount is to list and describe past personal experiences by
explain. In teaching from the perspective of texts, students study the discourse and linguis-
retelling events in the order they happened. They have the purpose of either informing
tic features of texts and how texts reflect the contexts of their use. This information is pre-
the listener or entertaining him or her or both. ‘There are two main types of recounts
(Thornbury and Slade 2006): sented directly, and students are expected to understand and learn organizational features
underlying the organization of different text-types. This view of learning contrasts with
e Personal recounts usually retell an event the speaker was personally involved in (e.g., a implicit models of learning found in the Natural Approach (Chapter 14) and Community
traffic accident). Language Learning (Chapter 17).
© Factual recounts describe an incident the speaker is familiar with (e.g., a school fair).
204 Current approaches and methods 10 Text-Based Instruction 205

Learning is facilitated by the study of authentic models and examples @ . recognize ‘and Use conversational chunks.such as comments, descriptions, orrecounts
Students are presented with authentic examples of different text-types, and these are used @ take turns appropriately within Sime) aoe ie ee Statement/
to display and model the features of different kinds of texts. : i
- agreement, statement/disagreement ©
Learning depends upon the scaffolded support of the teacher ~use language appropriate to casual conversation, including politeness sitetesles:
The notion of scaffolded learning, an essential component of the sociocultural model of informal. language, Idiom iy.
learning (see Chapter 2), is central to TBI, and learning is viewed as “the outcome of a joint . build pronunciation. and paralinguistic:‘skills and Si
collaboration between teacher and learner” (Feez 1998: 12). In learning how to create texts, intonation and gesture ©
the teacher first presents an example of the text-type, leads students through an analysis of
the text to identify its distinguishing features, and then works with the students to jointly The syllabus
create a similar text or texts before the students create their own texts. (See below under
Feez suggests that the syllabus in a text-based approach can be initiated from a number of
procedure.) Burns (2012: 145-6) comments:
different perspectives and that one unit might be designed around a topic, while the next
This approach views the teacher as the “expert” who has the skills to monitor and diag- is designed around a particular text-type. In other words, any of the units of organization
nose learner progress and to guide learners toward the aspects of language they need to below could be used;
practice at various points as their skills develop ... Thus, scaffolding involves temporary, » Topics and related contexts of use
and gradually withdrawn support, where learning is assisted in two ways (Hammond and e Text-types and related language features (discourse features at the level of the whole text,
Gibbons 2002); designed-in scaffolding (the content, strategies and learning experiences grammatical and lexical features at the level of the clause)
the teacher plans to bulld into the syllabus) and contingent scaffolding (the moment-by- e Skills and strategies
moment classroom interactions that support learners at the point of need). e Activities.
Burns comments (2012: 145):
Design
Objectives Based on the concepts of scaffolding and support built up over time, it follows that
texts and tasks presented to learners need to be logically sequenced with both
‘The objectives of a text-based course are linked to the contexts in which the learner will use
short-term and long-term learning goals in mind. Teachers witl have in mind the
English and the type of texts he or she will encounter in those contexts. Hence, the starting
“macro-framework” of what they want learners to achieve by the end of the course,
point in developing course objectives is an analysis of learner needs and of the learning
as well as the “micro-framework” of how a specific lesson focussing on a specific text
context in order to identify the genres of discourse and the associated text-types the course
contributes to the larger plan. They can also consider what kind of spoken and written
will focus on. Thus Feez (1998: 23) comments: “The objectives of a course based on a text-
texts logically relate and connect in authentic communicative situations.
based syllabus are always related to the use of whole texts in context.”
Feez (1998: 23) gives the following examples of course objectives for a unit of work in The following text-types are included in the Certificates in Spoken and Written English,
a text-based course on “casual conversation.” which are widely taught language qualifications in Australia.

Exchanges Simple exchanges relating to information and goods and services

Complex or problematic exchanges
Casual conversation
Forms Simple formatted texts
Complex formatted texts
e.. understand the plirpose of casual conversation in Australian ‘workplace culture. Procedures Instructions
* know which conversation topics are appropriate in Australian workplaces © : Procedures
: -recognize and use the élements of a casual conversation, i.e., greetings and eetures Protocols
feedback, topic ‘shifts & Information texts Descriptions
Explanations
 206 Current approaches and methods 10 Text-Based Instruction 207

Reports Learner roles

Directives
Learners learn in TBI both through the support and guidance of the teacher and through
‘Texts which combine one or more of these text-types
the use of rules and patterns to creating texts related to their needs. They use teacher-
Story texts Recounts
provided models to create texts of their own. They learn through a process of collaboration
Narratives
and guidance until they reach a level where they can function independently without the
Persuasive texts Opinion texts
teacher’s support. Learners are also expected to develop skills that enable them to moni-
Expositions
tor their own learning and to compare their own performance and those of others against
Discussions
models.
A text-based approach formed a key component of the 2001 syllabus for primary and
secondany schools in Singapore, where the text-types that are identified can be understood Teacher roles
as forming the communicative building blocks Singapore children need in order to per- ‘The teacher has a somewhat demanding role in TBI, since a text-based course is typically
form in an English-medium school setting (Singapore Ministry of Education 2001). The not a pre-packed course but one developed by a teacher or group of teachers for a specific
text-types are as follows: group of learners. This will often involve:
Explanations, e.g., reference books, dictionaries developing a syllabus based on learners’ needs;
Expositions, e.g., discussions, assembly talks selecting suitable texts as the basis for the course;
Factual recount, e.g., news stories, eye-witness accounts sequencing elements of the course;
Information reports, e.g., brochures, advertisements, documentaries modeling processes of deconstructing and constructing appropriate texts;
Procedures, e.g., how to do kits assessing students’ progress in understanding and mastering different text-types.
Conversations and short functional texts, e.g., making arrangements, thank-you notes
In addition the teacher is expected to have a sound knowledge of the nature of different
Narratives and personal recounts, e.g., oral anecdotes, diary entries. kinds of texts, and the ability to analyze texts and guide students’ awareness and mastery of
The Singapore syllabus also identifies the grammatical items that are needed in order to text conventions. The ability to scaffold learning is a key part of the teacher's role.
master different text-types. For example, the following items are identified in relation to the
text-types of narratives and personal recounts at Secondary 2 level: The role of instructional materials

Adjectives, adjectival phrases, and clauses Materials play an important role in TBI since examples of authentic spoken and written
texts provide the basis for teaching and Jearning. Texts can be obtained from a variety
Adverbs and adverbials
Connectors to do with time and sequence of sources: from the real world (i.e. texts from everyday life such as forms, documents,
Direct and indirect speech reports), from the Internet, from the media (e.g., YouTube), or from students themselves,
Nouns, noun phrases, and clauses that is, from their work, study, and other non-pedagogical contexts. However, teachers may
Prepositions and prepositional phrases
also prepare model texts (adapted from authentic texts) to highlight the discourse and lan-
Pronouns guage features of particular text-types. Student-generated texts (either spoken or written)
Tenses to express past time
are also used as a basis for assessing student learning. A text-based approach can also be
Verbs and verb phrases. used as the basis for designing textbooks (see appendix to this chapter).

Types of learning and teaching activities Procedure

Activities used in TBI are varied and relate to the different stages of a text-based unit of work Feez (1998: 28-31) gives the following description of procedures used in a text-based les-
as well as the type of text in focus, which could be either a spoken or a written text. Activities son or series of lessons. Recall that texts may be spoken or written and differ according
typically focus on building the context for a text, modeling and deconstructing the text, joint to the discourse context in which they are used. Hence, these phases given by Feez would
construction of a text, and independent construction of a text. Teacher-led activities as well as be modified accordingly, depending on the type of text being presented. While TBI may
pair and group-based activities will all be used, but central to all of them is a focus on the nature advocate going through all of these phases systematically in any one lesson, it is possible to
of an authentic text, what its purpose and features are, and how it reflects the context of its use. combine aspects of this procedure with other approaches.
208 Current approaches and methods ! 10 Text-Based Instruction 209

Phase 1 Building the context. Joint construction activities include:

“Teacher questioning, Seer: and editing whole class constru tion then seribing,
tn thisstage student
“— anto-board or OHT
_ Are-introduced ‘to ‘social mee of an authentic model of the: text-type being e. Skeleton texts 5 :
. “Jigsaw and information gap activities ©
‘e. Small-group. construction of tests
social purposes: the text--type. achieves.
&Dictogloss °
F Explore the immediate context of situation: by investigating th register of a model oe
Which has been selected on the basis of the course geet) and learner needs -
Phase a Independent constriction of the text
An exploration f register involves: ; d .
e Building knowledge of the topic of the model text oe d knowledge of the social activity 4 In.this stage: e “ i.
“e in-whieh the text is used, 6. g. fob seeking. a v
.. "Students work independently with the text 4 a4 =
° Understanding the roles and relationships of the people.using the text:and how these e: “Learner performances are used for, achievemertt assessmen
are established and emis by the:ae between a job seeker and a
independent construction activities include:
"prospective employer : : Se
o Listening tasks, e.g. cemprehension activities in response to live. or recorded material,’ |
° “Understanding requirements of the channel of communication being used, 8. g. us g
such-as performing a task, sequencing panies, numbering, Hexing 6or pesertning
the telephone, speaking face-to-face with members ofan Interview henel ee
"material ona. worksheet, answering questions.
Context-building activities include e Listening and speaking tasks, é.g. role plays, sinineed or + authentic dialogues.
| Presenting the context through p i) audiovisual’ terials, ealia, excursions, o Speaking tasks; e.g. spoken presentation to class, community. organization, Berea :
; ield-trips, guest ‘speakers, etc. ; 7 Reading tasks, 6g. ‘comprehension activities in response to written material such as
o” Establishing the social purpose t! rough discussions or surveys ote | ‘ performing atask, sequencing pictures, raltibesngy ticking or
¢ underlining material on
oF Cross-cuttural Bctvities such as ore differences in u use of the text in two 4 a worksheet, answering ‘questions - Fag po SAE Bg
| cultures” @ < Writing tasks which demand that students drat and preset whole texts ea ee:
e Comparing the. inode text with eens texts ‘of Dy same or Gortienng) type, a. a com-
Phase 5 Linking torelated texts -
“2 paring: a‘Job interview with -a complex. spoken exchange involving close friends, a
cs work colleague, ora Sanger inin: a sal encounte! In thisstage students investigate how ree they have fearneel ttin‘thisi iaching/earhing
cycle. can be related tor:
°: “Other texts in the same or similar context
° "Future or past cycles of teaching: and learning
~ Investigate the structural oe aril language features of the model
Activities which link. the text-type to,related texts. include: a
e+ Compare iheemedey with other Samples of the same text-type.- « Comparing the use-of the text-type across different fields
o Researching other text-types used in the same field” ;
© Role playing what ae if the same text-typei is used iby people with different roles
and relationships —
Comparing spoken and written modes of the same text-type |
° Researching how a el language fpehue used in hs et isu in other
_text-types oo

i* Fez tae a Sars thet raentaie and Racananictenlareefandensten at both the whole
: text; clause and expression levels. Itis at.this stage that many traditional ESL language teachin Conclusion
: activities come into their own.” 2 54 As can be seen from the above summary, a text-based approach focuses especially on the
products of learning rather than the processes involved. Advocates of the approach argue
 210 Current approaches and methods 10 Text-Based Instruction 211

that it “provides for the basis for coherent syllabus design drawing on tasks that are based 6. Which of the following are “texts”? For the ones that aren't, why don’t they work as
on understandings of how people actually communicate in a wide range of social situations. texts?
It is an approach where teachers can incorporate many of the resources and activities they
already use within the broader framework of assisting learners to gain greater knowledge A This box contains, on average, 100 large paper clips. Did you watch the news?
of relevant texts” (Burns 2012: 146). Critics have pointed out that, when a TBI model is used Yes, please. ;
exclusively, an emphasis on individual creativity and personal expression is sometimes B Playback. Raymond Chandler. Penguin Books in association with Hamish
missing from the TBI model, which is heavily wedded to a methodology based on the study Hamilton, To Jean and Helga, without whom this book could not have been
of model texts and the creation of texts based on models. Likewise, critics point out that written. One. The voice on the phone sounded sharp and ...
there is a danger that the approach becomes repetitive over time since the five-phase cycle Cc Which one of you is the fish?
described above is applied to the teaching of all four skills. That’s me.
D Phone.
Discussion questions I'm in the shower.
1, Explain to a colleague how the term text is used in TBI. OK.
2. How are the terms text and genre related? 7. Match the following text-types with the descriptions of their purposes below:
3. Which academic discourse communities are you a member of? Consider the types of
1, Narratives
discourse used in both speech and writing in your given profession.
2. Recounts
4. Look at the following isolated sentences. For each one: 3. Procedures
4. Expositions
decide if it is probably spoken or written English;
5. Information reports
think about what language would come before and after it;
6, Explanations
give further relevant details of the context;
state the communicative function; e Classify, describe, and give characteristics of a group of things.
analyze the form. e Outline a process, system, or procedure.
e Tella story or report information to entertain or educate.
. She’s been here for years.
e Relate an event that happened in the past.
NE

. He must have forgotten about it.

e Take a position and argue a case.
. Having a great time here in Bali.
e Present instructions that explain how something should be done.
AY

. Tl get you another one.

8. Select a language teaching textbook.
. Look at the following pairs of sentences. For each pair:
yw

a) Find examples of each of the text-types in the list below from the book, Are other
discuss the likely text-type each utterance is taken from; ;
text-types included?
e discuss the possible context of each;
b) What is the approximate distribution of the text-types (which ones are more
© compare and contrast them in terms of function and form.
frequent)? (You do not need to count all instances in the book — a general impression
. You must see the latest Tom Cruise movie. is sufficient.)
Are any not covered? Should they be?
pepe

. You must have a visa to enter Australia. c)

. I wish I had a car.
I wish I had known.
e Explanations, e.g., grammar paradigms, dictionary entries
e Expositions, e.g., discussions, public meetings
. Tm having a good time in the States.
e Factual recount, e.g., news stories, eye-witness accounts
. Tm working tonight.
SAY

® Information reports, e.g., brochures, advertisements, documentaries

PS, We're out of milk.
e Procedures, e.g., “how to do” kits
 212 Current approaches and methods 10 Text-Based Instruction 213

¢ Conversations and short functional texts, e.g., making arrangements, thank-you notes Appendix: Text-based activities
e Narratives and personal recounts, e.g, oral anecdotes, diary entries

References and further reading

Burns, A. 2005, Teaching speaking: a text-based syllabus approach. In E, Uso-Juan and A. Martinez-
Flor (eds.), Current Trends in the Development and Teaching of the Four Language Skills ‘The Information Report Text type”
Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter. 235-58. Features of af Information Report” Mi
Burns, A. 2012. Text-based teaching. In A. Burns and J. C. Richards (eds,), The Cambridge Guide to
* an informanon report presents facts about atopic These facts rs
Pedagogy and Practice in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. 132-9. are organised in different paragraphs: An information feport S
Carter, R, A. Goddard, D. Reah, K. Sanger, N. Swift, and A. Beard, 2008, Working with Texts. has four man parts, Title, Intraduction, Paragraphs about
3rd edn, London: Routledge. the Topic and Conclusion. Examples of information. reports
Christie, F 2002. Classroom Discourse Analysis: A Functional Perspective. London: Continuum. include News, reports, sclerice Teports and weather ek
Council of Europe. 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dean, S. T. 2008. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Derewianka, B. 1990. Exploring How Texts Work. Sydney: Primary English Teachers’ Association.
introduction - Parallel ics) are the Cujo Gomes forthe
Eggins, S., and D, Slade, 1997, Analysing Casual Conversation. London: Cassell. Ageneral hae ne Lowes
the Olympics in the same host.
Fez, S. 1998. Text-Based Syllabus Design. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching sponte tne L country every ur years.
and Research. ; ee a Origins of the Paralympics .
Gibbons, P. 2006. Bridging Discourses in the ESL Classroom. London: Continuum. L idwig Guttman va Relative.
2s | Paralympics, In 1988. he ‘organised sports compatitions Tor his pronouns
Halliday, M. A. K. 1978. Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and disabled patients He believed in Pa ha to a them, . ee
a
Meaning, London: Edward Arnold.
& : The Paralympics Today eae ‘ -
Halliday, M. A. K. 1989. Spoken and Written Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sones SN bility, ‘fother then. phy 8
Dogs
Hammond, J., and B. Derewianka. 2001. Genre. In R. Carter and D, Nunan (eds.), The Cambridge ace “The participants like able-bodied athletes even
:comaetis
Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. New York; Cambridge. 194-200. Poragraphs though the tow an artical leg or atm, on are wheelchawr users
tha. | The wsually impaired athletes team’ . .
Hammond, J., and Gibbons, P. 2001. What is scaffolding? In J. Hammond (ed.), Scaffolding Teaching
. Topic , seme Outstanding a ParalyympHOO ; wetBu.
and Learning in Language and Literacy Education. Sydney: Primary English Teachers’
* Main ideas - | “t
Association, 1-14.
“eDetalis. | > Anoutstanding athlete is. Yip Pin %u from Singapore. She has
Johns. A. (ed.). 2002. Genres in the Classroom. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Prsealay datrphy ened pret her from wakna
McCarthy, M., and R. Carter. 1994. Language as Discourse: Perspectives for Language Teaching.
London; Longman.
Macken-Horarik, M. 2002. “Something to short for”: a systemic functional approach to teaching
genre in secondary school science. In A. Johns (ed.), Genres in the Classroom. Mahwah, NJ: o made cha ges to theireu aaldingn They! 7
Lawrence Erlbaum. 17-42. L = 30Sy the discbled cocan move round easily
Maybin, J.; N. Mercer, and B. Stierer. 1992. “Scaffolding” learning in the classroom. In K. Norman seh i F people around theworld we
_(ed.), Thinking Voices: The Work of the National Oracy Project. London: Hodder and Stoughton “ Conchnten wotled Ee gained ppl of ie and a ity
oy Key Fue [3Ith
themselves. :
for the National Curriculum Council. 186-95,
O'Keefe, A., M. McCarthy, and R. Carter. 2007. From Corpus to Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Paltridge, B. 2006. Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum. _ Celebrating
the Olympic Spirit
Singapore Ministry of Education 2001. English Language Syllabus 2001 for Primary and Secondary
Schools, Singapore: Ministry of Education,
Thornbury, S., and D, Slade, 2006. Conversation: From Description to Pedagogy. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press,
214 Current approaches and methods
11 The Lexical Approach

Mey Tsk 1 Write a paragraph on the topic. Popular Sports in My Country, ny

Write o main idea at the beginning of the paragraph. The main idea © :
» should sum-up wheit the paragraph is about.Provide details in: the rest of:
the paragraph. pe ee ac me r
* Write an information report on the topic: Popular Sports in My Country.
- Write a suitable-intreduction, paragraphs about the topic Bas 2a o
For every paragraph, include a sub-heading, a.main-idea and supporting: = Introduction
“<< details. Add pictures and:captions to your report. 2 See We have seen throughout this book that central to an approach or method in language
teaching is a view of the nature of language, and this shapes teaching goals, the type of sylla-
bus that is adopted, and the emphasis given in classroom teaching. The syllabuses that were
Introduction -
“ Ageneral . . . reflected in language courses in the first ‘half of the twentieth century viewed vocabulary
. Statement (particularly single-word lexical items) and grammar as the building blocks of language.
about the topic Changed views of language that emerged with the concept of communicative competence
prompted a search for alternative syllabus conceptions (see Chapter 5). One type of syl-
Poragraphs. labus and teaching proposal that appeared in the 1990s and that has been refined and
aboutthe 0 = developed since that time was termed the Lexical Approach (Lewis 1993, 1997, 2000a; Boers
Topic oe
and Lindstromberg 2009). A lexical approach in language teaching refers to one derived
* Sub-headings
+ Main ideas. from the belief that the building blocks of language learning and communication are not
2 Details oo8, grammar, functions, notions, or some other unit of planning and teaching but lexis, that is,
words and particularly multi-word combinations. The Lexical Approach reflects a belief in
the centrality of the lexicon to language structure, second language learning, and language
use, and in particular to multi-word lexical units or “chunks” that are learned and used as
single items. While early discussions of the Lexical Approach (e.g., Lewis 1993) emphasized
the important role of vocabulary in general in language learning, subsequent discussion of
this approach has focused mainly on the role of multi-word units, or “chunks, which is the
focus taken in this chapter. The role of vocabulary in language teaching per se is not central
to current formulations of the Lexical Approach but is dealt with extensively in the litera-
* Conclusion; ture (e.g., Bogaards and Laufer-Dvorkin 2004; Schmitt 2008; Meara 2009; Nation 2013).
. Key points oe
Schmitt (n.d.) comments, clarifying that chunks may consist of either collocations, a
-- Lhave used: — a term that refers to the regular occurrence together of words, or fixed phrases:
_ Simple present tense”
Relative pronouns The Lexical Approach can be summarized in a few words: language consists not of
—O Present perfect tense
traditional grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks. The
+ Celebrating the Olympic Spit- ie lexical approach is a way of analysing and teaching language based on the idea that
it Is made up of lexical units rather than grammatical structures. The units are words
and chunks formed by collocations and fixed phrases.

An interest in the role of chunks in language learning goes back at least to Palmer (1925),
but their status in language theory has undergone reassessment, beginning with a classic
paper by Pawley and Syder (1983), by the development of corpus-based studies of language

215
216 Current approaches and methods 11 The Lexical Approach 217

use (drawing on large-scale computer databases of authentic language use, e.g., O'Keefe, Multi-word lexical units such as these are thought by some to play a central role in learn-
McCarthy, and Carter 2007), as well as by research in psycholinguistics (e.g, Wray 2002). ing and in communication. Studies based on extensive language corpora have examined
Boers and Lindstromberg (2009; 23) observe: patterns of phrase and clause sequences as they appear in samples of various kinds of texts,
including both written and spoken samples. For example, the Cambridge English Corpus
The relevance of chunks for second and foreign language learners has meanwhile (formerly the Cambridge International Corpus; http://cambridge.org/corpus) is a corpus of
stimulated dictionary makers to include more information about collocation in learners several billion words based on samples of written and spoken English from many different
dictionaries generally and to produce dictionaries of collocations in particular. Concrete sources. This and other corpora are important sources of information about collocations
proposals for instructional methods targeting chunks have also been launched and and other multi-word units in English.
resource books for teachers are becoming available. The Lexical Approach holds that chunks are a central feature of naturalistic language
use, From the perspective of language production, there are advantages in constructing
A lexical approach in language teaching thus seeks to develop proposals for syllabus design
utterances from ready-made chunks rather than from single lexical items; the ability to call
and language teaching founded on a view of language in which multi-word units, or
on chunks is an important factor that contributes to fluent speech. O’Keefe et al. (2007: 63)
chunks, play the central role.
comment: “an over-emphasis in language teaching on single words out of context may leave
second language learners ill-prepared in both the processing of heavily chunked input such
Approach as casual conversation, and of their own productive fluency.’ However, this does not down-
play the importance of grammar in language use or in language teaching. Rather, the point
Theory of language
is that language ability requires not only the ability to produce language through syntactic
The Lexical Approach reflects what we have termed a structural view of language (Chapter 2). generation (via grammatical competence) but also the ability to use lexical chunks in appro-
This views language as a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning. priate situations. This is especially true if learners hope to gain the pragmatic fluency that
Traditionally, the elements of the system included lexical items as well as grammati- comes from knowing the right lexical phrase for the right functional situation. Ultimately,
cal units. The Lexical Approach adds another level of “structure, namely multi-word units. language learners need mastery of both abilities to use language well.
Whereas Chomsky’s influential theory of language emphasized the capacity of speakers to cre- Drawing on research on first language learning, chunks are also believed to play a role
ate and interpret sentences that are unique and have never been produced or heard previously, in language acquisition. They constitute a significant proportion of the data which learners
in contrast, the lexical view holds that only a minority of spoken sentences are entirely novel use to develop their grammatical competence. As Lewis put it, language should be recog-
creations and that multi-word units functioning as “chunks” or memorized patterns form a nized as grammaticalized lexis instead of lexicalized grammar (1993: iv). Chunks are hence
high proportion of the fluent stretches of speech heard in everyday conversation (Pawley and understood not only to be an important feature of language structure and language use but
Syder 1983; O'Keefe et al. 2007), The role of collocation is also important in lexically based also to play a key role in second language learning. Nattinger (1980: 341) commented:
theories of language. For example, compare the following collocations of verbs with nouns:
Perhaps we should base our teaching on the assumption that, for a great deal of the
do my hair / the cooking / the laundry/ my work
time anyway, language production consists of piecing together the ready-made units
make my bed / a promise / coffee / a meal
appropriate for a particular situation and that comprehension relies on knowing which
Many other multi-word units also occur frequently in language. For example: of these patterns to predict in these situations. Our teaching, therefore, would center

binomials clean and tidy, back to front on these patterns and the ways they can be pieced together, along with the ways they

trinomials cool, calm, and collected vary and the situations in which they occur.

idioms dead drunk, to run up a bill Theory of learning

similes as old as the hills
Lewis (2000a: 184) proposed the following account of the learning theory assumed in his
connectives finally, to conclude
initial proposal for a lexical approach:
social-routine formulae Nice to meet you.
discourse markers on the other hand e Encountering new learning items on several occasions is a necessary but sufficient con-
compounds fast forward dition for learning to occur.
proverbs Too many cooks spoil the broth. * Noticing lexical chunks or collocations is a necessary but not sufficient condition for
exclamations You must be kidding! “input” to become “intake.”
218 Current approaches and methods 11 The Lexical Approach 219

e Noticing similarities, differences, restrictions, and examples contributes to turning input level and above, and one that can be used in conjunction with other approaches and methods.
into intake, although formal description of rules probably does not help. Stengers et al. (2010: 101) comment:
e Acquisition is based not on the application of formal rules but on an accumulation of
Given its reliance on incidental acquisition through independent reading and listening,
examples from which learners make provisional generalizations. Language production
we take it that the Lexical Approach is intended for learners above lower-intermediate
is the product of previously met examples, not formal rules. No linear syllabus can
level. The level of proficiency of the students who participated in our experiments was
adequately reflect the nonlinear nature of acquisition.
generally estimated by their teachers to be around B2 according to the descriptors of
Learning of chunks is assumed to take place both through incidental learning and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
through direct instruction. Incidental learning is dependent upon the frequency with
which chunks are encountered and noticed in normal language use. Procedures for The goal of the Lexical Approach is to develop learners’ awareness and use of lexical
direct instruction will be discussed later in this chapter. Boers and Lindstromberg (2009) chunks as an important feature of naturalistic language use. A related goal is for learners
elaborate an account of chunk-based learning from the perspective of cognitive theory, to develop strategies for identifying and learning the chunks that they encounter in spoken
which we have referred to as cognitive-code theory in Chapter 2. The goal of learning is and written texts. Stengers et al. (2010: 101) continue:
that “chunks that are met, noticed and learned must then be adequately entrenched in
The advice given by Lewis and his colleagues is therefore to help students develop
the learners’ long-term memory” (2009: 10). The learning of chunks is facilitated in a
strategies for the recognition and the recording of chunks they encounter not just in,
number of ways:
but outside the classroom too: What is essential is that the teacher equips the stu-
e ‘Through noticing: targeted chunks must first be noticed in the input learners receive. denis with search skills which will enable them to discover significant collocations for
© Through cognitive processing: chunks must be processed through different forms of elabo- themselves, in both the language they meet in the classroom and, more importantly,
ration, which will increase the level of cognitive involvement needed to foster retention in the language they meet outside the classroom. In other words, Lexical Approach
(Boers and Lindstromberg 2009). advocates are hopeful that students will transfer their heightened awareness of the
¢ Through exposure: repeated encounters with chunks are likely to increase the likelihood ubiquity of chunks to their dealings with the L2 samples they encounter outside the
of them being learned. Krashen, in elaborating the Natural Approach (Chapter 14), sug- classroom, and that this will then accelerate the students’ incidental uptake in long-
gested that massive amounts of “language input; especially through reading, is the only term memory of lexical phrases.
effective approach to such learning. Others propose making the language class a labora-
tory in which learners can explore, via computer concordance databases, the contexts of The Lexical Approach may, however, be used with lower-level students when the chunks are
lexical use that occur in different kinds of texts and language data. provided, rather than acquired through independent reading and listening.
e Through comparisons with LI: another approach to learning lexical chunks has been a
“contrastive” one (an example of “elaboration” referred to above). Some applied linguists The syllabus
have suggested that for a number of languages there is an appreciable degree of overlap As with lexis in general, proponents of the Lexical Approach recommend, for lower-
within a given language in the form and meaning of lexical collocations, collocations level students, direct teaching of the chunks that occur most frequently in the kinds of
that may not exist in the language being studied. Bahns (1993: 58) suggests that “the texts students engage with in their learning, and that language corpora can be a source
teaching of lexical collocations in EFL should concentrate on items for which there is of information for this strategy. Shin and Nation (2008), for example, provide a list of
no direct translational equivalence between English and the learners’ respective mother the most frequent chunks that occur in spoken English. However, for intermediate and
tongues.” advanced-level learners, similar information is not readily available. Since there are
potentially many thousands of multi-word units that students may encounter in their
exposure to English and that cannot be predicted in advance, some advocates of the
Design
Lexical Approach argue that the goal for learners at higher levels is not to teach a core set
Objectives of lexical units but rather to develop students’ awareness of the nature of lexical units and
Unlike other teaching proposals in this book, the Lexical Approach is not conceptualized as to provide them with strategies for recognizing, learning, structuring, storing, and using
a comprehensive plan for a language program (i.e., one that provides a complete framework chunks which they encounter. The “syliabus” will therefore consist of an organized record
for the design of a language course). Rather, it can be understood as providing one strand of of the chunks learners have encountered in different written and spoken texts - ie., it is
a language course for students, thought by some educators to be appropriate at intermediate a retrospective syllabus.
 220 Current approaches and methods 11 The Lexical Approach 22:

A lexical approach was used in the COBUILD English Course (Willis and Willis 1989), SOME CONTEXTS OF PREDICT
the rationale and design for which was described in The Lexical Syllabus (Willis 1990). This
was the first published coursebook to be built around a lexical rather than a conventional 1 e foo in copper binding. Our findings predict that the results will show .:
grammatical syllabus (albeit a syllabus mainly consisting of single-word lexical items rather 3, © 2, the stratosphere. The present models predict that a warming of the winter nolan
than chunks). Willis notes that the COBUILD computer analyses of texts indicate that “the ae es after an analysis of the DNA, we.are able topredict ihe complete amino.

700 most frequent words of English account for around 70% of all English text” This “fact” this survey data.is then used to predict values on the vertical profile;
led to the decision that “word frequency would determine the contents of our course. Level 1 5 the natural order hypothesis would predict ‘an increase infrequency of use,

would aim to cover the most frequent 700 words together with their common patterns
and uses” (Willis 1990: vi). In one respect, this work resembled the earlier frequency-based SOME CONTEXTS OF FORECAST
analyses of vocabulary by West (1953) and others. The difference in the COBUILD course
was the attention to word patterns derived from the computer analysis. Willis stresses, 1 ..@ second analysis. The center makes forecasts. seven days ahead for all regions a /
however, that “the lexical syllabus not only subsumes a structural syllabus, it also indicates 2 . ction whose success depends ona forecast beirig accurate. Thiey might end...:
how the structures which make up a syllabus should be exemplified” since the computer [3 . the difficulties of attempting to forecast Britain's economic performance
corpus reveals the commonest structural patterns in which words are used (1990: vi). pa a0 labor of its people. This gloomy forecast can be better explained 'i
The Touchstone series (McCarthy, McCarten, and Sandiford 2005) is another example of a PS : But three months ‘earlier the detailed forecast published by the Treasury
coursebook series that incorporates a corpus-based lexical syllabus including both single-
word units and chunks. The lexical syllabus is based on the most common words and Many different kinds of corpora are available and O'Keefe et al. (2007) give detailed
phrases in the North American spoken segment of the Cambridge English Corpus. information on how teachers can create and use their own corpora, such as through the use
Other proposals have been put forward as to how lexical material might be organ- of free online corpus tools that show how language is used in real situations. Another appli-
ized for instruction. Nation (1999) reviews criteria for classifying collocations and chunks cation of corpora that is relevant to the study of chunks is known as data-driven learning,
and suggests approaches to instructional sequencing and treatment for different types of which O’Keefe et al. (2007: 24) describe as directive activities “where learners get hands-on
collocations. Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992: 185) propose using a functional schema for experience of using a corpus through guided tasks or through materials based on corpus
organizing instruction: evidence ... an inductive approach [that] relies on an ability to see patterning in the target
language and to form generalisations about language form and use.” In other words, teach-
Distinguishing lexical phrases as social interactions, necessary topics, and discourse ers may ask students to do online corpus searches of the target item directly, or may provide
devices seems to us the most effective distinction for pedagogical purposes, but that handouts showing the results of a search.
is not to say that a more effective way of grouping might not be found necessary in
the wake of further research. Training in text chunking
Chunking exercises seek to raise awareness of chunks and how they operate. Boers and
Types of learning and teaching activities Lindstromberg (2009: 89) describe an activity as follows:
Activities used with the Lexical Approach include awareness activities, training in text
This involves asking students to highlight or underline word strings in an authentic text
chunking, as well as activities designed to enhance the remembering of chunks. Such
that they consider to be muitiword units (e.g., strong collocations). Their selections are
activities can be included in any course and not necessarily one based on the Lexical
subsequently compared to those of peers or checked against the teacher’s selection.
Approach.
Alternatively, dictionaries or online sources (e.g., concordance tools or search engines
Awareness activities such as Google) can be accessed to in order to verify the chunk status of selected
These are activities that facilitate the noticing of chunks. An example is the use ofcorpora, word strings.
a resource that is particularly useful in revealing collocation restrictions. An example of
Memory-enhancing activities
the kinds of displays that appear in text materials and in the concordancing displays from
One type of memory-enhancing activity is what Boers and Lindstromberg (2009) have
which the printout materials derive is illustrated below. The difference between how the
termed elaboration. They give this account of elaboration (2009: 35).
vocabulary items “predict” and “forecast” are used and how they collocate is not easy to
explain. However, access to these items in context in the computer corpus allows students This is an umbrella term for diverse mental operations, beyond mere noticing, that a
(and their teachers) to see how these words actually behave in authentic texts. learner may perform with regard to the meaning and/or the form of words and phrases.
222 Current approaches and methods 11 The Lexical Approach 223

Elaboration can, for instance, consist in thinking about a term’s spelling, pronuncia- Teaching assistance will be necessary to lead the learner, by example, through the different
tion, grammatical category, meaning, and associations with other words as well as stages of lexical analysis such as observation, classification, and generalization.
thinking which involves the formation of visual and motoric images related to the Learners are also encouraged to monitor their own learning of chunks and to review
meaning of the term. The more of these dimensions that are involved, the more likely chunks they have encountered - for example, through the use of a vocabulary notebook or
it is that the term will be entrenched in long-term memory. electronic journal - as a way of helping remember them.

Retelling The role of instructional materials

After studying a text with a particular focus on the chunks that appear in it, students take Materials and teaching resources to support lexical approaches in language teaching
part in retelling activities, where they summarize or retell what they have read but attempt include (a) coursebooks that include a focus on multi-word units in the syllabus, such as
to use the same chunks that appeared in the text. the Touchstone series; (b) corpus-informed materials such as McCarthy and O’Dell (2004);
(c) corpora that can be accessed by teachers and students in which a corpus of texts can be
Teacher roles
used with concordancing software to explore how words and multi-word units are used. As
Teachers have several roles in the Lexical Approach. The teacher is assumed to be a lan- described by Allan (2008: 23): ,
guage analyst, capable of recognizing multi-word units in texts, able to assess which ones
are important enough to justify sustained attention in class, and able to use texts in such The learner inputs the target word or words into the software and all examples from
a way as to exploit their potential for the learning of chunks. The teacher may be expected the corpus are returned, usually in a keyword in context (KWIC) format, with the target
to be familiar with the use of computer software and corpora and to use data-driven word in the middle of the line. These lines can be sorted in a variety of ways that may
learning activities as the basis for both deductive and inductive learning. Lewis (1993) help to reveal patterns in meaning and usage ... Learners then interact with the con-
supports Krashen’s Natural Approach procedures (Chapter 14) and suggests that teacher cordance and find answers to their questions about the target words by looking for
talk is a major source of learner input in demonstrating how lexical phrases are used for patterns in it, categorizing them and deriving their own hypotheses, rather than relying
different functional purposes. Willis (1990) proposes that teachers need to understand on a teacher’s intuition or research.
and manage a classroom methodology based on stages composed of Task, Planning, and
An example of a useful corpus is the Bank of English, which forms part of the Collins
Report, the task cycle recommended for Task-Based Language Teaching (Chapter 9). In
Corpus - a 650 million word corpus used in the preparation of the COBUILD dictionar-
general terms, Willis views the teacher's role as one of creating an environment in which
learners can operate effectively and then helping learners manage their own learning,
ies. However, despite the pleas from advocates of a lexically based approach for a greater
use of corpus-based lexus in coursebooks, this appeal is influencing the design of certain
particularly in respect to lexicality. This requires that teachers “abandon the idea of the
coursebooks, but not others. Burton (2012: 98) observes:
teacher as ‘knower’ and concentrate instead on the idea of the learner as “discoverer”
(Willis 1990: 131). The reason why many course books do not currently make much reference to corpus
findings is simply that the students who buy the books — or perhaps more likely the
Learner roles
teachers, school administrators and policy makers who instruct students to buy the
Learners assume an active role in chunk-based approaches to learning. As language ana-
books, or buy them on their behalf — do not demand it, and there is, therefore, no
lysts they may be expected to work with computers to analyze text data previously col-
motivation for publishers to innovate in this way. This remains true even though in
lected or made available “free-form” on the Internet. Here the learner assumes the role of
many ways the use of corpus data would perhaps be one of the simplest innovations
data analyst constructing his or her own linguistic generalizations based on examination
that could be envisaged course book production, as many findings do not necessitate
of large corpora of language samples taken from “real life” In such schemes, teachers have fundamentally new pedagogical approaches, but, simply, modified descriptions and
a major responsibility for organizing the technological system and providing scaffolding presentations of language — arguably closer to the “minimally evolutionary” rather than
to help learners build autonomy in use of the system. The most popular computer-based
“revolutionary” noted by Littlejohn (1992: 206). | have also seen little evidence to sug-
applications using corpora are built on the presentation of what are known as concordance
gest that corpus-based or corpus-informed coursebooks will emerge, despite a lack
lines (see p. 221), where the target word, structure, or chunk appears in the middle ofa line
of demand, in the way that corpus-based dictionaries did in the 1980s.
of text, with the remaining text showing the context in which the item has been used. These
lines of text are generated by a computer program, or concordancer, explained in more Some corpus-informed coursebooks (a modified approach, where the raw corpus-based
detail below. However, learners need training in how to use the concordancer effectively. data is simplified to be accessible to students) have emerged, but as the process of doing
224 Current approaches and methods
a) 11 The Lexical Approach 225
ory

extensive corpus searches and analyzing the data can be time consuming, it is unclear to Hill (2000) suggests that classroom procedures involve (a) teaching individual collocations,
what extent the practice will extend beyond coursebooks intended for very large numbers (b) making students aware of collocation, (c) extending what students already know by
of students. adding knowledge of collocation restrictions to known vocabulary, and (d) storing colloca-
tions through encouraging students to keep a lexical notebook.
Little of the classroom practice Lewis (1997) proposes goes beyond variants of match-
Procedure ing and gap-filling exercises, however. Neither does he suggest ways of helping students
Procedural sequences for lexically based language teaching reflect whether the focus is on remember the chunks they have been exposed to, Nonetheless, in recent years extensive
awareness raising or remembering multi-word units for later use, in other words, the clas- research into the learning of vocabulary, mainly focusing on repeated exposure, has helped
sic distinction between reception and production. Boers and Lindstromberg (2009: 19), teachers develop suitable activities for the learning of chunks.
drawing on Lewis (1997), summarize the current status of classroom procedures with the
Lexical Approach: Conclusion
The LA [Lexical Approach] in its present form proposes classroom activities and exer- The status of lexis in language teaching has been considerably enhanced by developments
cises that raise learners’ awareness of the importance of chunks. The central strat- in lexical and linguistic theory, by work in corpus analysis, and by recognition of the role
egy is pedagogical chunking; its essence is the encouragement of learners to notice of multi-word. units in language learning and communication. However, lexis still refers
chunks. That is, students should first of all be alerted to lexical phrases encountered to only one component of communicative competence. Lewis and others have coined the
in authentic texts and then encouraged to make records of these chunks in vocabu- term lexical approach to characterize their proposals for a lexis-based approach to language
lary notebooks adapted to accommodate this kind of lexis. Lewis recognizes that the teaching, and this chapter has examined what is meant by that term. However, such pro-
quantity of lexical phrases that qualify as good targets for learning far exceeds what posals lack the full characterization of an approach or method as described in this book.
can be acquired on a normai, non-intensive language course. His advice is to help Since Lewis’s original proposal for a lexical approach and a lexically based syllabus as an
students develop strategies for the recognition and recording of chunks in samples alternative to more traditional syllabus models, the concept has not been further developed
of L2 they encounter not just in the classroom, but outside it too. In more detail, his to show how linguistic competence could develop only through the grammaticalization of
recommendation is to expose students to substantial quantities of listening and read- lexus, as opposed to presenting a lexical approach as a valid, but single, component of a
ing materials in the classroom, make them conscious of the chunks that occur In broader language syllabus, Nor do activity types and teaching procedures advocated for use
these materials by helping them “chunk” texts “correctly,” that is, notice the authentic with lexus lead further in this direction. Rather than a broadening of the scope of a lexical
chunks they contain. approach since its conception, subsequent years have seen a narrowing of its application,
limiting it largely to techniques for developing an awareness of the nature of chunks. While
With these activities the learner must take on the role of “discourse analyst,’ with the discourse a focus on multi-word units or chunks is doubtless an important dimension of second
being either packaged data (delivered by the teacher for lower-level learners) or data “found” language learning and of communicative performance, little has been done to show how
via one of the text search computer programs (in higher-level classes). Classroom procedures such a focus can be used to develop either linguistic or communicative competence. Hence,
typically involve the use of activities that draw students’ attention to lexical collocations (as it remains to be convincingly demonstrated how a lexically based theory of language and
mentioned, one of the major categories of chunks) and seek to enhance their retention and use language learning can be applied at the levels of design and procedure in language teaching,
of collocations. Woolard (2000) suggests that teachers should reexamine their coursebooks for suggesting that it is still an idea in search of an approach and a methodology. Nevertheless,
collocations, adding exercises that focus explicitly on lexical phrases. They should also develop the Lexical Approach, as described in this chapter, may be merged effectively with other
activities that enable learners to discover coflocations themselves, both in the classroom and in approaches, such as Communicative Language Teaching, and an understanding of how
the language they encounter outside of the classroom. Woolard (2000: 35) comments: chunks are learned has been facilitated by the advent of corpora.
The learning of collocations is one aspect of language development which is ideally
Discussion questions
suited to independent language learning. In a very real sense, we can teach students
to teach themselves. Collocation is mostly a matter of noticing and recording, and
1. When teaching greetings, what would be some examples of “chunks” that would be helpful?
trained students should be able to explore texts for themselves. Not only should they 2, Inthe terminology of this chapter, explain why the following two sentences don't “work”:
notice common collocations in the texts they meet, but more importantly, they should SorryI am late, I had to make my hair.
select those collocations which are crucial to their particular needs. Your room is a mess, go and do your bed.
226 Current approaches and methods 11 The Lexical Approach 227

3. Match the following terms with the examples. (Review other examples of these terms on 4) Now also select one binomial, one simile, and one connective and do the same.
p. 216, as necessary.) 5) How are these words most commonly used in the corpus? Is this different to the
way the words are used in the textbook? If so, can you think of reasons why this
binomials Lovely to see you again. might be?
trinomials tall as a mountain
idioms in summary, g. There is a close connection between lexis and grammar. Take a random unit from a
similes For crying out loud! course you are familiar with and identify three new words introduced in that unit.
connectives Blood is thicker than water. 1) Copy every word in to one of the free corpora available online, mentioned earlier
social-routine formulae a piece of cake (such as the British National Corpus at http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk). How are the
discourse markers fast forward words most commonly used? For example, what prepositions do they take? Are they
compounds ready, willing and able normally used in present or past tense? Plural or singular? Which words commonly
proverbs having said that, precede or follow them?
exclamations cheap and cheerful 2) Having identified the most common usages, can you identify any “chunks” of lan-
4. Using the above as examples, explain to a colleague the role of chunks in language use guage that it would be useful to present to students?
and language acquisition.
5. Learning of chunks involves (a) noticing, (b) cognitive processing, and (c) exposure. References and further reading
Give examples of how teachers can facilitate chunk learning at all these three levels. Allan, R. 2008. Can a graded reader corpus provide “authentic” input? ELT Journal 63(1): 23-32.
Bahns, J. 1993. Lexical collocations: a contrastive view. ELT Journal 7(1): 56-63.
. Do you think the Lexical Approach can be useful when you are designing a syllabus? Boers, F, and §. Lindstromberg. 2005. Finding ways to make phrase-learning feasible: the mnemonic
a

A colleague says she read somewhere that the Lexical Approach is a “retrospective syl- effect of alliteration, System 33: 225-38.
labus” Explain to her what this means. Do you agree? Boers, F, and S. Lindstromberg. 2008a. Structural elaboration by the sound (and feel) of it. In
7. During class you tell students to look up words using a concordancer and identify the F Boers and S. Lindstromberg (eds.), Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Teaching Vocabulary
different ways and contexts in which they can be used. After class a student comes to and Phraseology. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 330-53.
point: it is time-consuming and it would better if you just Boers, F, and S. Lindstromberg. 2008b. From empirical findings to pedagogical Practice. In F, Boers
you and says he doesn't see the
and S. Lindstromberg (eds.), Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Teaching Vocabulary and
explained the vocabulary. How would you respond?
Phraseology. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 375-93.
8. The selection of the language in many textbooks is done based on the authors’ intuition. Boers, F, and S. Lindstromberg. 2008c. How cognitive linguistics can foster effective vocabulary
Corpora can give more accurate information in terms of the frequency and distribution teaching. In F Boers and S. Lindstromberg (eds.), Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Teaching
of specific language, as used by native speakers. Let's investigate the extent to which the Vocabulary and Phraseology. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 1-61.
language in your textbook matches that used by Li speakers. Take one lesson from a Boers, F, and S. Lindstromberg. 2009. Optimizinga Lexical Approach to Instructed Second Language
textbook, preferably at intermediate level. Select a longer text from this lesson. Next you Acquisition. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Boers, F, and S, Lindstromberg, 2012. Experimental and intervention studies on formulaic sequences
will follow steps to analyze this language using several free, online corpus tools:
in a second language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 32: 83-110.
1) Copy and paste the text into the corpus tool, Vocabulary Profilers, part of the website Boers, F, J. Eyckmans, J. Kappel, H. Stengers, and M. Demecheleer. 2006. Formulaic sequences and
for Compleat Lexical Tutor, a search engine developed by the University of Quebec perceived oral proficiency: putting a lexical approach to the test. Language Teaching Research
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demic word lists? Do you think this is reasonable for the target students? and Testing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins,
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 12 Multipte Intelligences 231
12 Multiple Intelligences
Gardner (2993) proposed a view of natural human talents that is labeled the “Multiple
Intelligences Model” This model is one of a variety of learning style models that have been
proposed in general education and have subsequently been applied to language teaching
(see, e.g., Christison 1998; Palmberg 2011). (Gardner himself was not convinced that his
theory had any application to language teaching - Gardner 2006.) Gardner claims that
his view of intelligence(s) is culture-free and avoids the conceptual narrowness usually
associated with traditional models of intelligence (e.g., the Intelligent Quotient [IQ] test-
ing model). Gardner originally posited eight native “intelligences,” which are described as
Introduction follows:
A feature of language learning classrooms is the diversity of learners who are often studying 1. Linguistic: the ability to use language in special and creative ways, which is something
in the same class. Diversity refers to the many ways in which learners may differ from one lawyers, writers, editors, and interpreters are strong in.
another. They may differ in their motivations for learning English, their beliefs about how 2. Logical/mathematical: the ability to think rationally, often found with doctors, engineers,
best to learn a language, the kinds of strategies they favor, and their preference for differ- programmers, and scientists.
ent kinds of teaching methods and classroom activities. Language teaching has often been 3. Spatial: the ability to form mental models of the world, something architects, decorators,
based on the assumption that “one size fits all and some of the teaching approaches and sculptors, and painters are good at.
methods described in this book reflect this view of learners. The learner's role in learning 4. Musical: having a good ear for music, as is strong in singers and composers.
has been predetermined and planned in advance, and the learner's role is to adapt him- or 5. Bodily/kinesthetic: having a well-coordinated body, something found in athletes and
herself to the method. Such is the case with methods such as the Silent Way (Chapter 16) and
craftspersons.
Suggestopedia (Chapter 18). More recent approaches to language teaching seek to acknowl- 6. Interpersonal: the ability to be able to work well with people, which is strong in salespeo-
edge the differences learners bring to learning. Learners are viewed as possessing indi- ple, politicians, and teachers.
vidual learning styles, preferences, and strategies, and these influence how they approach 7. Intrapersonai: the ability to understand oneself and apply one’s talent successfully, which
classroom learning and the kinds of learning activities they favor or learn most effectively
leads to happy and well-adjusted people in all areas of life.
from. Pedagogy is hence assumed to be more successful when these learner differences are 8. Naturalist: the ability to understand and organize the patterns of nature.
acknowledged, analyzed for particular groups of learners, and accommodated in teaching.
In both general education and language teaching, a focus on individual differences has been He later suggested a ninth intelligence — existential intelligence - “a concern with philosophical
a recurring theme in the last 40 years or so, as seen in such movements or approaches as issues such as the status of mankind in relation to universal existence. In learning situations,
individualized instruction, autonomous learning, learner training, and learner strategies the need to see ‘the big picture’ in order to understand minor learning points and details”
(see Chapter 19). The theory of Multiple Intelligences shares a number of commonalities (Palmberg 2011: 8). Armstrong (1999) introduced the following convenient memory tags for
with these earlier proposals. each intelligence:
Multiple Intelligences (MI) refers to a learner-based philosophy that characterizes Linguistic intelligence: “word smart”
human intelligence as having multiple dimensions that must be acknowledged and devel- Logical/mathematical intelligence: “number/reasoning smart”
oped in education. Traditional intelligence or 1Q (Intelligence Quotient) tests are based on a Visual/spatial intelligence: “picture smart”
test called the Stanford-Binet, founded on the idea that intelligence is a single, unchanged, Bodily/kinesthetic intelligence: “body smart”
inborn capacity. However, traditional IQ tests, while still given to most schoolchildren, are Musical intelligence: “music smart”
increasingly being challenged by the MI movement. MI is based on the work of Howard Interpersonal intelligence: “people smart”
Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Gardner 1993). Gardner notes Intrapersonal intelligence: “self smart”
that traditional IQ tests measure only logic and language, yet the brain has other equally Naturalist intelligence: “nature smart”
important types of intelligence. Gardner argues that all humans have these intelligences, but Existentialist intelligence: “existence smart”
people differ in the strengths and combinations of intelligences. He believes that all of them
can be enhanced through training and practice. MI thus belongs to a group of instructional All learners are believed to have personal intelligence profiles - so-called “MI profiles” -
perspectives that focus on differences between learners and the need to recognize learner
that consist of combinations of different intelligence types and for some intelligences to
differences in teaching. be more highly developed than others, hence favoring a particular approach to learning.

230
232 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 233

Christison (2005) suggested that most people are believed to have a few intelligences that theory of language as well as an effective design for language learning. Therefore, the theory
are highly developed, most modestly developed, and one or two underdeveloped. Several of learning might be termed holistic, since we learn through all of our senses.
checklists have been developed to enable people to “identify” their personal MI profile, A widely accepted, but divergent, view of intelligence is that intelligence — however
such as McKenzie’s “Multiple Intelligences Survey” (1999), which requires potential test- measured and in whatever circumstance - comprises a single factor, usually called the “g”
takers to tick statements they agree with out of a total of 90 statements which are grouped factor. From this point of view, “Intelligence (g) can be described as the ability to deal with
into nine sections (ten staternents for each section), each representing one of Gardner's cognitive complexity ... The vast majority of intelligence researchers take these findings for
nine intelligence types. Skeptics might question the reliability of such a crude measure of granted” (Gottfredson 1998: 24). One popular explication of this view sees intelligence as a
these complex qualities of human cognition. hierarchy with g at the apex of the hierarchy:
When it was first proposed, the idea of Multiple Intelligences attracted the interest of
More specific aptitudes are arrayed at successively lower levels: the so-called group
many educators as well as the general public. Schools began to use MI theory to encourage
factors, such as verbal ability, mathematical reasoning, spatial visualization and
learning that goes beyond traditional books, pens, and pencils. Teachers and parents were
memory, are just below g, and below these are skills that are more dependent on
encouraged to recognize their learners’/childrer’s particular gifts and talents and to provide
learning activities that build on those inherent gifts. As a result of strengthening such dif- knowledge or experience, such as the principles and practices of a particular job or
ferences, individuals would be free to be intelligent in their own ways. profession. :
(Gottfredson 1998: 3)

Approach The view of Gardner (and some other cognitive scientists) “contrasts markedly with the
Theory of language view that intelligence is based on a unitary
or ‘general’ ability for problem solving” (Teele
2000: 27). In the Gardner view, there exists a cluster of mental abilities that are separate but
MI theory was originally proposed by Gardner (1993) as a contribution to cognitive science.
Fairly early on, it was interpreted by some general educators, such as Armstrong (1994),
equal and that share the pinnacle at the top of the hierarchy called intelligence - thus, the
as a framework for rethinking school education. Some schools in the United States have eight Multiple Intelligences that Gardner has described. One way of looking at the learn-
indeed remade their educational programs around the MI model. Applications of MI in ing theoretical argument is to apply the logic of the single factor (g) model to the Multiple
language teaching have been more recent, so it is not surprising that MI theory lacks some Intelligences model. ‘The single factor model correlates higher intelligence (+g) with greater
of the basic elements that might link it more directly to language education. One issue is speed and efficiency of neural processing; that is, the higher the g factor in the individual,
the greater the speed and efficiency of that individual’s brain in performing cognitive opera-
the lack of a concrete view of how MI theory relates to any existing language and/or lan-
tions (Gottfredson 1998: 3). If there is not just one I (that is, not one “intelligence”) but
guage learning theories, though attempts have been made to establish such links (e.g., Reid
1997; Christison 1998). It certainly is fair to say that MI proposals look at the language of an
several I’s, then one can assume that the speed and efficiency of neural processing will be
individual, including one or more second languages, not as an “added on” and somewhat
greatest when a particular I is most fully exercised; that is, if a language learner has a high
peripheral skill but as central to the whole life of the language learner and user. In this
musical intelligence, that person will learn most quickly (e.g., a new language) when that
sense, language is held to be integrated with music, bodily activity, interpersonal relation- content is embedded in a musical frame.
Palmberg (2011: 17) describes the influence of particular intelligences on language
ships, and so on. Language is not seen as limited to a “linguistics” perspective but encom-
learning - an account that seems to identify differences in intelligences as differences in
passes all aspects of communication.
learning styles (see Chapter 19):
Theory of learning
Depending on their personal MI profiles, people tend to develop their own favorite way
Language learning and use are obviously closely linked to what MI theorists label (or ways) of learning foreign languages. For vocabulary learning, for example, some
“Linguistic Intelligence.” However, MI proponents believe there is more to language than prefer traditional rote learning. Others divide the foreign words into parts or compo-
what is usually subsumed under the rubric linguistics. There are aspects of language such nents and concentrate on memorizing these instead. Some look for similarities between
as rhythm, tone, volume, and pitch that are more closely linked, say, to a theory of music the foreign-language words and grammatical structures and the corresponding words
than to a theory of linguistics. Other intelligences enrich the tapestry of communication and structures in their mother tongue or other languages they may know. Some people
we call “language.” In addition, language has its ties to life through the senses. The senses find mnemonic devices helpful, at least occasionally. Others have adopted accelerated
provide the accompaniment and context for the linguistic message that give it meaning and learning techniques and use them on a more or less permanent basis.
purpose. A multisensory view of language is necessary, it seems, to construct an adequate
234 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 235

Design 4, Resource-based projects. These are designed to provide students with opportunities to
Objectives research a topic using multiple intelligences.
5. Student-choice projects. These are designed by students and draw on particular
There are no goals stated for MI instruction in linguistic terms. MI pedagogy focuses on the intelligences.
language class as the setting for a series of educational support systems aimed at making the
language learner a better designer of his or her own learning experiences. Such a learner is In other, more fully teacher-fronted classrooms, the students move through a cycle
both better empowered and more fulfilled than a learner in traditional classrooms. A more of activities highlighting use of different intelligences in the activities that the teacher has
goal-directed learner and happier person is held to be a likely candidate for being a better chosen and orchestrated.
second language learner and user. Some suggest that the use of MI profiles enables teachers to select activities that match
learners’ profiles. For example (Berman 2002):
The syllabus © Linguistic intelligence: word-building games
Also, there is no syllabus as such, either prescribed or recommended, in respect to MI-based e Logical/mathematical intelligence: logical-sequential presentations
language teaching, although an MI perspective can combine with virtually any approach or e Visual/spatial intelligence: mind maps -
method. However, there is a basic developmental sequence that has been proposed (Lazear e Bodily/kinesthetic intelligence: relaxation exercises
1991) as an alternative to what we have elsewhere considered as a type of “syllabus” design. e Musical intelligence: jazz chants
The sequence consists of four stages: e Interpersonal intelligence: brainstorming
e Intrapersonal intelligence: learner diaries
e Stage 1; Awaken the Intelligence. Through multisensory experiences - touching, smell-
© Naturalist intelligence: background music in the form of sounds created in the natural
ing, tasting, seeing, and so on — learners can be sensitized to the many-faceted properties
world
of objects and events in the world that surrounds them.
Stage 2: Amplify the Intelligence. Students strengthen and improve the intelligence by Learning activities are often shown or suggested in tables in which a particular intelligence
volunteering objects and events of their own choosing and defining with others the is paired with possible activities useful for working with this intelligence in class. Such a
properties and contexts of experience of these objects and events. table is reproduced in Table 12.1.
Stage 3: Teach with/for the Intelligence. At this stage the intelligence is linked to the
focus of the class, that is, to some aspect of language learning. This is done via work- Table 12,1 Taxonomy of language learning activities for Multiple Intelligences
sheets and small-group projects and discussion. (Christison 1997: 7-8)
Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence. Students reflect on the learning experiences of the
previous three stages and relate these to issues and challenges in the out-of-class world. Linguistic Intelligence
lectures student speeches
small- and large-group discussions storytelling
Types of learning and teaching activities
books debates
MI has been applied in many different types of classrooms, In some, there are eight self- worksheets journal keeping
access activity corners, each corner built around one of the eight or nine intelligences. word games memorizing
Students work alone or in pairs on intelligence foci of their own choosing. Nicholson- listening to cassettes or talking books using word processors
publishing (creating class newspapers or
Nelson (1988: 73) describes how MI can be used to individualize learning through project
collections of writing)
work. She lists five types of projects:
Logicai/Mathematical intelligence
1. Multiple intelligence projects, These are based on one or more of the intelligences and are scientific demonstrations creating codes
designed to stimulate particular intelligences. logic problems and puzzles story problems
2. Curriculum-based projects. These are based on curriculum content areas but are catego- science thinking calculations
rized according to the particular intelligences they make use of. logical-sequential presentation of subject matter
3. Thematic-based projects. These are based on a theme from the curriculum or classroom (Continued)
but are divided into different intelligences.
236 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 237

Spatial Intelligence
All sizes fit one. Every individual exercises all intelligences even though some of these
charts, maps, diagrams visualization may be out of awareness or undervalued. Pedagogy that appeals to all the intelligences
videos, slides, movies photography speaks to the “whole person” in ways that more unifaceted approaches do not. An MI
art and other pictures using mind maps approach helps to develop the Whole Person within each learner, which best serves the
imaginative storytelling painting or collage person's language learning requirements as well.
graphic organizers optical illusions e Me and my people. 1Q testing is held to be badly biased in favor of Western views of
telescopes, microscopes student drawings intelligence. Other cultures may value other intelligences more than the one measured
visual awareness activities
in IQ testing. Since language learning involves culture learning as well, it is useful for
Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence the language learner to study language in a context that recognizes and honors a range
creative movement hands on activities of diversely valued intelligences.
Mother-may-I? field trips
cooking and other “mess” activities mime Each of these views has strengths and weaknesses, some of a theoretical, some of a
role plays pedagogical, and some of a practical nature. It seems that potential MI teachers need
to consider each of these possible applications of MI theory in light of their individual
Musical intelligence
playing recorded music singing teaching situations.
playing live music (piano, guitar) group singing
music appreciation mood music
Learner roles
student-made instruments jazz chants Learners need to see themselves engaged in a process of personality development above
Interpersonal Intelligence and beyond that of being successful language learners. The MI classroom is one designed
, cooperative groups conflict mediation to support development of the “whole person,” and the environment and its activities are
peer teaching board games intended to enable students to become more well-rounded individuals and more success-
group brainstorming pair work ful learners in general. Learners are encouraged to see their goals in these broader terms.
Learners are typically expected to take an MI inventory and to develop their own MI pro-
intrapersonal Intelligence
independent student work reflective learning files based on the inventory. “The more awareness students have of their own intelligences
individualized projects journat keeping and how they work, the more they will know how to use that intelligence [sic] to access
options for homework interest centers the necessary information and knowledge from a lesson” (Christison 1997: 9). All of this
inventories and checklists self-esteem journals is to enable learners to benefit from instructional approaches by reflecting on their own
personal journal keeping goal setting learning.
self-teaching/programmed instruction
Teacher roles
The following list summarizes several alternative views as to how the MI model can
Campbell (1997: 19) notes that MI theory “is not prescriptive. Rather, it gives teachers a
be used to serve the needs of language learners within a classroom setting, and may serve
complex mental model from which to construct curriculum and improve themselves as
as an aid in choosing appropriate learning activities:
educators.” In this view, teachers are expected to understand, master, and be committed to
e Play to strength. If you want an athlete or a musician (or a student having some of these the MI model. Teachers are encouraged to administer an MI inventory on themselves and
talents) to be an involved and successful language learner, structure the learning mate- thereby be able to “connect your life's experiences to your concept of Multiple Intelligences”
rial for each individual (or similar group of individuals) around these strengths. (Christison 1997: 7). Teachers then become curriculum developers, lesson designers and
e Variety is the spice. Providing a teacher-directed rich mix of learning activities variously analysts, activity finders or inventors, and, most critically, orchestrators of a rich array of
calling upon the eight different intelligences makes for an interesting, lively, and effective multisensory activities within the realistic constraints of time, space, and resources of the
classroom for all students. classroom. Teachers are encouraged not to think of themselves merely as language teachers.
e Pick a tool to suit the job. Language has a variety of dimensions, levels, and functions. They have a role that is not only to improve the second language abilities of their students
These different facets of language are best served instructionally by linking their learning but also to become major “contributors to the overall development of students’ intelli-
to the most appropriate kind of MI activity. gences” (Christison 1999: 12).
238 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 239

The role of instructional materiais Christison (1997: 6) describes a low-level language lesson dealing with description of physical
objects. As explained below, the lesson plan recapitulates the sequence described earlier in the
Where M1 is richest is in proposals for lesson organization, multisensory activity planning,
“syllabus” section. This particular lesson is seen as giving students opportunities to “develop
and in using realia, There are also now a number of reports of actual teaching experi-
their linguistic intelligence (for example, describing objects), logical intelligence (for example,
ences from an MI perspective that are both teacher-friendly and candid in their reportage.
Activities and the materials that support them resemble the taxonomy from Christison
determining which object is being described), visual/spatial intelligence (for example, deter-
shown in Table 12.1 above. Because MI requires significant creativity on the part of the
mining how to describe things), interpersonal intelligence (for example, working in groups),
and intrapersonal intelligence (for example, reflecting on one’s own involvement in the lesson)?
teacher, it may not always be possible to find appropriate activities in published materials.
‘Thus, one of the challenges of MI is extensive planning and the time necessary to prepare e Stage 1: Awaken the Intelligence. The teacher brings many different objects to class.
appropriate classroom activities. Students experience feeling things that are soft, rough, cold, smooth, and so on. They
might taste things that.are sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and so on. Experiences like this help
Procedure activate and make learners aware of the sensory bases of experience.
MI-based lessons may vary a great deal, but several examples are offered of how one might e Stage 2: Amplify the Intelligence. Students are asked to bring objects to class or to use
be prepared. Palmberg (201: 29) describes the following procedures that can be used: something in their possession. Teams of students describe each object attending to the
five physical senses. They complete a worksheet including the information they have
Assume that you are going to teach a given topic to a group of foreign-language observed and discussed (Table 12.2).
learners. Select the topic to be taught (such as shopping, at the zoo, flowers, etc.) e Stage 3: Teach with/for the Intelligence. At this stage, the teacher structures larger sec-
and make sure that you have a specific learner group in mind (for example begin- tions of lesson(s) so as to reinforce and emphasize sensory experiences and the language
hers, intermediate-level learners, or advanced learners). Write down the topic on a that accompanies these experiences, Students work in groups, perhaps completing a
large sheet of paper and draw a circle around it. If possible, set up detailed teach- worksheet such as that shown in Table 12.3,
ing goals. Make notes of all tasks, texts, exercises, visual aids, classroom activi- © Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence. This stage is concerned with application of the intel-
ties, and songs that relate to the given topic (and teaching goals) that you come to ligence to daily living. Students are asked to reflect on both the content of the lesson and
think of. It does not matter at this stage whether some of them appear unrealistic its operational procedures (working in groups, completing tables, etc.).
or impractical.

Arrange your ideas according to the intelligence type that, in your opinion, each Table 12,2 The sensory handout (Christison 1997: 10)
task, text, exercise, visual aid, classroom activity, song, etc. will be most suitable for.
If you are a visual-spatial person, you may want to draw nine new circles around the Name of team

central circle and draw lines from the central circle to each of the new circles. Label the
Team members
new circles according to each intelligence, and write down each task, text, exercise,
visual aid, classroom activity, and song into the appropriate circles; Sight
If you feel that you have no more fresh ideas, read through the very practical teach-
Sound
ing suggestions listed on the Literacyworks® website “Multiple Intelligences for Adult
Literacy and Education” for the various intelligences [http:/Avww.literacyworks.org/ Feel
mi/intro/about.htmi]. Make notes of the ones that appeal to you and might fit into
your lesson. After a while, take an overall look at your sheet of paper. Are there any
activities that can be combined? Are there activities that can be modified to fulfil the
teaching goals more efficiently? Are there activities that do not seem at all suitable for
the present purpose?
What it’s used for
To wrap things up, arrange, and, if needed, rearrange the (remaining) ideas and
activities into a lesson outline that is jogical and fulfils the teaching goals of the Name of the object
proposed lesson. Make sure that your lesson caters for all of the nine multiple
intelligences.
240 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 24:

Table 12,3 Multiple Intelligences description exercise (Christison 1997: 10-12) . Look at the four stages (on p. 234) of the basic developmental sequence of a syllabus
based on a Multiple Intelligences view of learning. How would this sequence work at a
What am | describing?
Directions: Work with your group. Listen as the teacher reads the description of the practical level? In other words, when teaching, for example, the past perfect tense, how
object. Discuss what you hear with your group, Together, decide which object in the would you introduce and teach this subject in this sequence? How difficult would these
class is being described. stages be to implement in class?
Name of the object A colleague experienced in using a Multiple Intelligences approach in teaching suggests
Object 1 using the school’s self-access center as a way to individualize the learning experience.
Object 2 Consider a specific skill (e.g., reading or listening) and a particular language level. In
Object 3 a _—_—_—$_—— ae order to use the self-access center effectively:
Object 4.
Object 5 © What kind of preparation would the students need to successfully learn in the center?
e What kinds of materials would need to be provided?
Next have each group describe an object in the classroom using the formula given in e What kinds of activities could be used?
Stage 2. Then, collect the papers and read them, one at a time. Ask each group to work
e What kinds of teacher support might be needed?
together to write down the name of the object in the classroom that you are describing.
In what other ways does self-access learning (potentially) support individualization of
learning?
Conclusion
. One claim made by proponents of Multipie Intelligences is that “Pedagogy that appeals
Multiple Intelligences was one of a number of learner-centered initiatives which attracted to all the intelligences speaks to the ‘whole person” (p. 237). Explain to a colleague how
considerable interest from educators as well as language teachers when it was first proposed this is helpful for learning.
in the early 1990s. It was seen as an approach to characterizing the ways in which learners
are unique and to developing instruction to respond to this uniqueness. MI is one of a set . Multiple Intelligences emphasizes that traditional views of intelligence (such as measure-

an
of such perspectives dealing with learner differences and borrows heavily from these in its ment of “IQ”) are biased towards Western views of education. Can you think of an exam-
recommendations and designs for lesson planning. It offers a new rationale both for the ple of ways in which a non-Western culture you are familiar with might give more weight
selection of existing language teaching activities and for the design of activities to reflect to one or more intelligences than Western culture? Do you think there are any problems
particular intelligences in the MI inventory. ‘The literature on MI provides a rich source with considering questions of this sort about non-Western cultures?
of classroom ideas regardless of one’s theoretical perspective and can help teachers think Look again at the taxonomy of activity types for Multiple Intelligences in Table 12.1 on

~_
about instruction in their classes in unique ways. Some teachers may see the assumptions of page 235. Which of these do you use in your teaching? Which of those you could you
identifying and responding to the variety of ways in which students differ to be unrealistic incorporate in your classes?
in their own settings and antithetical to the expectations of their students and adminis-
trators. There have been, however, entire schools as well as language programs that were . Refer again to Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Model on page 231. ‘This includes the

9
restructured around the MI perspective. In order to justify the claims of MI in education “intelligences” listed in the table below. Using classroom materials you are familiar with,
identify, or create, an activity that would allow students to practice each of these, in the
and in second language teaching, the success of these innovations will need to be more
fully evaluated. context of language learning.

Discussion questions Intelligence Activity Contribution to language learning

1. Gardner (p. 231) lists eight native intelligences that describe the ways in which learn- Linguistic
ers differ from each other. Rank them in order of importance. Which have the greatest
impact on the way students learn in class?
Logical/mathematical
2. Do the same for the impact Gardner's native intelligences have on the teaching in class.
Do you feel the MI model is an effective way to address these differences? Spatial

(Continued)
242 Current approaches and methods 12 Multiple Intelligences 243

Gardner, H. 1985. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Muitiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
Intelligence Activity Contribution to language learning
Gardner, H. 1993. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory and Practice. New York: Basic Books.
Musical Gardner, H. 2006, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. New York: Basic Books.
Gardner, H. 2008. The 25th Anniversary of the Publication of Howard Gardner’s Frames of Mind:
Bodily/kinesthetic The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. April 2008. Available at: http://pzweb.harvard.edu/pis/
Milat25.pdf; accessed March 2012.
Gotttredson, L. 1998. The general intelligence factor. Scientific American 9(4) (Winter): 24-9.
Interpersonal Kerr, P. 2009. Should “Multiple Intelligences Theory” play a role in teacher education programmes?
Newsletter of The Teacher Training and Education Special Interest Group, IATEFL 2.
Intrapersonal Lazear, D. 1991. Seven Ways of Teaching: The Artistry of Teaching with Multiple Intelligences. Palatine,
IL: IRI Skylight.
Marzano, R., R. Brandt, C. Hughes, B. Jones, B. Presseisen, and S. Rankin. 1988. Dimensions of
Naturalist
Thinking: A Framework for Curriculum and Instruction. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Existential McKenzie, W. 1999. Multiple Intelligences Survey. Available at: http://surfaquarium.com/MI/
inventory.htm
McKenzie, W. 2005. Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technology. 2nd edn. Washington, DC:
International Society for Technolgy in Education.
After completing the table, (a) consider to what extent activities like these feature in Nicholson-Nelson, K. 1988. Developing Students’ Multiple Intelligences. New York: Scholastic.
materials you are familiar with, and (b) consider what contribution having each of these Palmberg, R. 2011. Multiple Intelligences Revisited [Ebook]. Available at: http://www.esldepot.com/
intelligences can make to language learning. PDEF/EnglishClub-Multiple-Intelligences-Revisited pdf
Reid, J. 1997. Understanding Learning Styles in the Second Language Classroom. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall/Regents.
References and further reading Teele, S. 2000. Rainbows of Intelligence: Exploring How Students Learn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Armstrong, T. 1994. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Press.
Supervision and Curriculum Development. Weinreich-Haste, H. 1985. The varieties of intelligence: an interview with Howard Gardner. New
Armstrong, T. 1999. 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences, Ideas in Psychology 3(4): 47-65.
New York: Plume Books.
Atkinson, R. C. 1975. Mnemotechniques in second-language learning. American Psychologist 30:
821-8.
Berman, M. 2001. Intelligence Reframed for ELT. London: Golem Press.
Berman, M. 2002. A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom. 2nd edn. Carmarthen: Crown
House Publishing.
Berman, M. 2010. In a Faraway Land. Ropley, Hampshire: O-Books.
Campbell, L. 1997. How teachers interpret MI theory. Educational Leadership 55(1): 15-19.
Christison, M. 1997. An introduction to multiple intelligences theory and second language learning,
In J. Reid (ed.), Understanding Learning Styles in the Second Language Classroom. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall/Regents. 1-14.
Christison, M. 1998. Applying multiple intelligences theory in preservice and inservice TEFL educa-
tion programs. English Language Teaching Forum 36(2) (April-June): 2-13.
Christison, M. 1999. Multiple Intelligences: teaching the whole student. ESL Magazine 2(5): 10-13.
Christison, M. 2001. Applying Multiple Intelligences Theory in the Second and Foreign Language
Classroom. Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center Publishers.
Christison, M. 2005. Multiple Intelligences and Language Learning: A Guidebook of Theory, Activities,
Inventories, and Resources. San Francisco: Alta Books.
 13 Cooperative Language Learning 245
13 Cooperative Language Learning
students might fall behind higher-achieving students in this kind of learning environment. CL
in this context sought to do the following:

e raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or academi-
cally handicapped
e help the teacher build positive relationships among students
e give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological, and
cognitive development
® replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms and schools
Introduction
with a team-based, high-performance organizational structure
Language teaching is sometimes discussed as if it existed independently of the teach- (Qohnson, Johnson, and Holubec 1994: 2)
ing of other subjects and of trends in teaching generally. However, like teachers in
other areas of a school curriculum, language teachers too have to to create a posi- In second language teaching, CL (where, as noted above, it is often referred to as Cooperative
tive environment for learning in the classroom. They have to find ways of engaging Language Learning ~ CLL) has been embraced as a way of promoting communicative inter-
students in their lessons, to use learning arrangements that encourage active student action in the classroom and is seen as an extension of the principles of Communicative
participation in lessons, to acknowledge the diversity of motivations and interests Language Teaching (Chapter 5). It is viewed as a learner-centered approach to teaching that
learners bring to the classroom, and to use strategies that enable the class to function is held to offer advantages over teacher-fronted classroom methods. In language teaching
as a cohesive group that collaborates to help make the lesson a positive learning expe- its goals are:
rience. In dealing with issues such as these, language teachers can learn much from
e to provide opportunities for naturalistic second language acquisition through the use of
considering approaches that have been used in mainstream education. Cooperative
interactive pair and group activities;
Language Learning (CLL) is one such example. CLL is part of a more general instruc-
e to provide teachers with a methodology to enable them to achieve this goal and one that
tional approach, known as Collaborative or Cooperative Learning (CL), which origi-
can be applied in a variety of curriculum settings (e.g., content-based, foreign language
nated in mainstream education and emphasizes peer support and coaching. CL is an
classrooms; mainstreaming);
approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving
e to enable focused attention to particular lexical items, language structures, and com-
pairs and smail groups of learners in the classroom. It has been defined as follows:
municative functions through the use of interactive tasks;
Cooperative learning is group learning activity organized so that learning is dependent e to provide opportunities for learners to develop successful learning and communication
on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in strategies;
which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and is motivated to e to enhance learner motivation and reduce learner stress and to create a positive affective
increase the learning of others. classroom climate.
(Olsen and Kagan 1992; 8)
CLL is thus an approach that crosses both mainstream education and second
and foreign language teaching. CLL also seeks to develop learners’ critical thinking
Cooperative Learning has antecedents in proposals for peer-tutoring and peer-monitoring
skills, which are seen as central to learning of any sort. Some authors have even ele-
that go back hundreds of years and longer. The early-twentieth-century US educator John
vated critical thinking to the same level of focus as that of the basic language skills of
Dewey is usually credited with promoting the idea of building cooperation in learning into regu-
reading, writing, listening, and speaking (Kagan 1992). One approach to integrating
lar classrooms on a regular and systematic basis (Rodgers 1988). It was more generally promoted.
the teaching of critical thinking adopted by CLL advocates is called the Question
and developed in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s as a response to the forced integration
Matrix (Wiederhold 1995). Wiederhold has developed a battery of cooperative
of public schools and has been substantially refined and developed since then. Educators were
activities built on the matrix that encourages learners to ask and respond to a deeper
concerned that traditional models of classroom learning were teacher-fronted, fostered com-
array of alternative question types. Activities of this kind are believed to foster the
petition rather than cooperation, and favored majority students. They believed that minority
development of critical thinking. (The matrix is based on the well-known Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives devised by Bloom [1956], which assumes a hierarchy of

244
246 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 247

learning objectives ranging from simple recall of information to forming concep- depends on the ability to express and understand functions or speech acts, such as those
tual judgments.) Kagan and other CL theorists have adopted this framework as an used to express personal, interpersonal, directive, referential, and imaginative mean-
underlying learning theory for Cooperative Learning. The word cooperative in ings. CLL activities can be used to develop fluency in expressing categories of functional
Cooperative Learning emphasizes another important dimension of CLL: it seeks meaning.
to develop classrooms that foster cooperation rather than competition in learning. © Language is a means of interpersonal and social interaction. In CLL learners are required
Advocates of CLL in general education stress the benefits of cooperation in promoting to interact through the use of both spoken and written language, and language is the
learning: means by which interaction is achieved and develops through the results of such inter-
action.
Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared goals. Within cooperative e Language is a resource for carrying out tasks, The focus of many CLL activities is col-
situations, individuals seek outcomes beneficial to themselves and all other group laborating to complete different kinds of tasks. Language thus serves to achieve practical
members. Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups through which goals that relate to the learners’ needs.
students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. It may be
contrasted with competitive learning in which students work against each other to
achieve an academic goal such as a grade of “A.” Theory of learning
(Johnson et al. 1994: 4)
Learning theory that supports CLL draws on SLA-related theory as well as sociocultural
From the perspective of second language teaching, McGroarty (1989) offers six learn-
learning theory (Chapter 2).
ing advantages for ESL students in CLL classrooms: Learning results from conversational interaction
1. Increased frequency and variety of second language practice through different types of This strand of theory is central to some theories of second language acquisition, It is based
interaction on the assumption that as learners seek to achieve meaning, they engage in a joint process
2, Possibility for development or use of language in ways that support cognitive develop- of negotiation of meaning, during which various communication strategies are used to
ment and increased language skills maintain the flow of communication. These are such things as “repetitions, confirmations,
3. Opportunities to integrate language with Content-Based Instruction reformulations, comprehension checks, clarification requests etc” (Long 1996: 418), and
4, Opportunities to include a greater variety of curricular materials to stimulate language it is these aspects of conversational interaction that serve as the basis for learning. CLL
as well as concept learning activities provide an optimal context for negotiation of meaning and hence should be
5. Freedom for teachers to master new professional skills, particularly those emphasizing beneficial to second language development. Abdullah and Jacobs (2004) suggest that CL
communication promotes interaction in the following ways:
6. Opportunities for students to act as resources for each other, thus assuming a more 1. The literature on Cooperative Learning recommends that students who are differ-
active role in their learning. ent from each other according to the variable of proficiency become groupmates.
This heterogeneity increases the likelihood that negotiation for meaning will be
Approach necessary. Furthermore, teachers often use the variable of second language pro-
Theory of language ficiency when creating heterogeneous groups. This means that more proficient
students will be available to facilitate comprehension of their less proficient peers.
Although CLL supports an interactional theory of language, it is not linked directly to any
2. In Cooperative Learning, teachers can encourage more negotiation for meaning by
specific theory and is compatible with several theories of language that inform approaches
allowing groups to try to sort out their own communication difficulties without teacher
to language teaching.
intervention, although teachers do stand ready to help, if, after trying, groups remain
e Language is a resource for expressing meaning. Language is not something that is deadlocked or confused.
acquired for its own sake but serves the goal of making meaning. Meaning is often reali- 3. Cooperative Learning activities provide a context in which students may be more likely
zed through a joint process of collaboration. to interact than in a whole class setting.
e Language is a means of expressing different communicative functions. CLL shares with 4. SLA researchers propose that group activities can encourage students to interact with
Communicative Language Teaching the notion that communicative competence each other in a way that promotes a focus on form ... Such a focus on form can be
 r 13 Cooperative Language Learning 245

13 Cooperative Language Learning

students might fall behind higher-achieving students in this kind of learning environment, CL
in this context sought to do the following:
e raise the achievement of alt students, including those who are gifted or academi-
cally handicapped
e help the teacher build positive relationships among students
e give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological, and
cognitive development
e replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms and schools
Introduction
with a team-based, high-performance organizational structure
Language teaching is sometimes discussed as if it existed independently of the teach- (Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec 1994: 2)
ing of other subjects and of trends in teaching generally. However, like teachers in
other areas of a school curriculum, language teachers too have to to create a posi- In second language teaching, CL (where, as noted above, it is often referred to as Cooperative
tive environment for learning in the classroom. They have to find ways of engaging Language Learning ~ CLL) has been embraced as a way of promoting communicative inter-
students in their lessons, to use learning arrangements that encourage active student action in the classroom and is seen as an extension of the principles of Communicative
participation in lessons, to acknowledge the diversity of motivations and interests Language Teaching (Chapter 5). It is viewed as a learner-centered approach to teaching that
learners bring to the classroom, and to use strategies that enable the class to function is held to offer advantages over teacher-fronted classroom methods. In language teaching
as a cohesive group that collaborates to help make the lesson a positive learning expe- its goals are:
rience. In dealing with issues such as these, language teachers can learn much from
e to provide opportunities for naturalistic second language acquisition through the use of
considering approaches that have been used in mainstream education. Cooperative
interactive pair and group activities;
Language Learning (CLL) is one such example. CLL is part of a more general instruc-
to provide teachers with a methodology to enable them to achieve this goal and one that
tional approach, known as Collaborative or Cooperative Learning (CL), which origi-
can be applied in a variety of curriculum settings (e.g., content-based, foreign language
nated in mainstream education and emphasizes peer support and coaching. CL is an
classrooms; mainstreaming);
approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving
to enable focused attention to particular lexical items, language structures, and com-
pairs and small groups of learners in the classroom. It has been defined as follows:
municative functions through the use of interactive tasks;
Cooperative learning is group learning activity organized so that learning is dependent e to provide opportunities for learners to develop successful learning and communication
on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in strategies;
which each learner is hetd accountable for his or her own learning and is motivated to ® to enhance learner motivation and reduce learner stress and to create a positive affective
increase the learning of others. classroom climate.
(Olsen and Kagan 1992: 8) CLL is thus an approach that crosses both mainstream education and second
and foreign language teaching. CLL also seeks to develop learners’ critical thinking
Cooperative Learning has antecedents in proposals for peer-tutoring and peer-monitoring
skills, which are seen as central to learning of any sort. Some authors have even ele-
that go back hundreds of years and longer. The early-twentieth-century US educator John
vated critical thinking to the same level of focus as that of the basic language skills of
Dewey is usually credited with promoting the idea of building cooperation in learning into regu-
reading, writing, listening, and speaking (Kagan 1992). One approach to integrating
lar classrooms on a regular and systematic basis (Rodgers 1988). It was more generally promoted.
the teaching of critical thinking adopted by CLL advocates is called the Question
and developed in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s as a response to the forced integration
Matrix (Wiederhold 1995). Wiederhold has developed a battery of cooperative
of public schools and has been substantially refined and developed since then. Educators were
activities built on the matrix that encourages learners to ask and respond to a deeper
concerned that traditional models of classroom learning were teacher-fronted, fostered com-
array of alternative question types. Activities of this kind are believed to foster the
petition rather than cooperation, and favored majority students, They believed that minority
development of critical thinking. (The matrix is based on the well-known Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives devised by Bloom [1956], which assumes a hierarchy of

244
246 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 247

learning objectives ranging from simple recall of information to forming concep- depends on the ability to express and understand functions or speech acts, such as those
tual judgments.) Kagan and other CL theorists have adopted this framework as an used to express personal, interpersonal, directive, referential, and imaginative mean-
underlying learning theory for Cooperative Learning. The word cooperative in ings. CLL activities can be used to develop fluency in expressing categories of functional
Cooperative Learning emphasizes another important dimension of CLL: it seeks meaning,
to develop classrooms that foster cooperation rather than competition in learning. e Language is a means of interpersonal and social interaction. In CLL learners are required
Advocates of CLL in general education stress the benefits of cooperation in promoting to interact through the use of both spoken and written language, and language is the
learning: means by which interaction is achieved and develops through the results of such inter-
action.
Cooperation is working tegether to accomplish shared goals. Within cooperative e Language is a resource for carrying out tasks. The focus of many CLL activities is col-
situations, individuals seek outcomes beneficial to themselves and all other group laborating to complete different kinds of tasks. Language thus serves to achieve practical
members. Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups through which goals that relate to the learners’ needs.
students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning. It may be
contrasted with competitive learning in which students work against each other to
achieve an academic goal such as a grade of “A.” Theory of learning
(Johnson et al. 1994: 4)
Learning theory that supports CLL draws on SLA-related theory as well as sociocultural
From the perspective of second language teaching, McGroarty (1989) offers six learn- learning theory (Chapter 2).
ing advantages for ESL students in CLL classrooms: Learning results from conversational interaction
1. Increased frequency and variety of second language practice through different types of This strand of theory is central to some theories of second language acquisition. It is based
interaction on the assumption that as learners seek to achieve meaning, they engage in a joint process
2. Possibility for development or use of language in ways that support cognitive develop- of negotiation of meaning, during which various communication strategies are used to
ment and increased language skills maintain the flow of communication. These are such things as “repetitions, confirmations,
3. Opportunities to integrate language with Content-Based Instruction reformulations, comprehension checks, clarification requests etc.’ (Long 1996: 418), and
4. Opportunities to include a greater variety of curricular materials to stimulate language it is these aspects of conversational interaction that serve as the basis for learning. CLL
as well as concept learning activities provide an optimal context for negotiation of meaning and hence should be
5. Freedom for teachers to master new professional skills, particularly those emphasizing beneficial to second language development. Abdullah and Jacobs (2004) suggest that CL
communication promotes interaction in the following ways:
6. Opportunities for students to act as resources for each other, thus assuming a more 1. The literature on Cooperative Learning recommends that students who are differ-
active role in their learning. ent from each other according to the variable of proficiency become groupmates.
This heterogeneity increases the likelihood that negotiation for meaning will be
Approach necessary. Furthermore, teachers often use the variable of second language pro-
Theory of language ficiency when creating heterogeneous groups. This means that more proficient
students will be available to facilitate comprehension of their less proficient peers.
Although’CLL supports an interactional theory of language, it is not linked directly to any
2. In Cooperative Learning, teachers can encourage more negotiation for meaning by
specific theory and is compatible with several theories of language that inform approaches
allowing groups to try to sort out their own communication difficulties without teacher
to language teaching.
intervention, although teachers do stand ready to help, if, after trying, groups remain
e Language is a resource for expressing meaning. Language is not something that is deadlocked or confused.
acquired for its own sake but serves the goal of making meaning. Meaning is often reali- 3 Cooperative Learning activities provide a context in which students may be more likely
zed through a joint process of collaboration. to interact than in a whole class setting.
e Language is a means of expressing different communicative functions. CLL shares with 4. SLA researchers propose that group activities can encourage students to interact with
Communicative Language Teaching the notion that communicative competence each other in a way that promotes a focus on form ... Such a focus on form can be
248 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 249

encouraged when grammar constitutes at least one aspect of group tasks. Examples of The syllabus
making grammar an aspect of groups’ tasks include: CLL does not assume any particular form of language syllabus, since activities from a
e noticing tasks in which students analyze how a grammar point functions and wide variety of curriculum orientations can be taught via this approach. Thus, we find
formulate their own rule; CLL used in teaching content classes, ESP, the four skills, grammar, pronunciation, and
® peer assessment in which students check each other’s writing or speaking for vocabulary. What defines CLL is the systematic and carefully planned use of group-
particular grammatical features, for example, in an English L2 class, the presence of based procedures in teaching as an alternative to teacher-fronted teaching. A sense of
plural -s. what a whole course design looks like organized around CLL, and the ways in which
it promotes a focus on critical and creative thinking, can be found in Jacobs, Lee, and
The teaching of collaborative skills can play a crucial role in promoting peer inter-
Ball (1995).
action, because the skills provide students with strategies for effective interaction.
Examples include collaborative skills that second language learners can use to repair
communication breakdowns, such as asking for repetition, slower speed of speaking, Types of learning and teaching activities
louder volume, and explanation of words. Collaborative skills also prove useful when Johnson et al. (1994: 4-5) describe three types of CLL groups.
students understand the input they have received but wish to disagree or ask for further
information. 1. Formal CLL groups. These tast from one class period to several weeks. These are
established for a specific task and involve students working together to achieve shared
Language learning is a sociocultural process learning goals.
This theory of learning, derived initially from the work of the Soviet psychologist 2. Informal CLL groups. These are ad-hoc groups that last from a few minutes to a class
Vygotsky ([2935] 1978) but elaborated considerably since its original formulation, makes period and are used to focus student attention or to facilitate learning during direct
use particularly of the notions of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and scaffold- teaching.
ing (Chapter 2). Scaffolding refers to the assistance a more advanced learner or language 3. Cooperative base groups. These are long-term, lasting for at least a year, and consist of
user gives to a less advanced learner in completing a task and makes use of collaborative heterogeneous learning groups with stable membership whose primary purpose is to
dialogue (Swain 2000: 102) — a form of discourse in which new knowledge or skill is the allow members to give each other the support, help, encouragement, and assistance they
outcome of interaction. CLL tasks provide extended opportunities for these processes need to succeed academically.
to take place. Abdullah and Jacobs (2004) cite sociocultural learning theory as support
for CLL. The success of CLL is crucially dependent on the nature and organization of group
CLL overlaps with sociocultural learning theory by attempting to build an environ- work, This requires a structured program of learning carefully designed so that learn-
ment that fosters mutual aid. As Newman and Holtzman (1993: 77) note: “Vygotsky's ers interact with each other and are motivated to increase each other's learning. Olsen
strategy was essentially a cooperative learning strategy. He created heterogeneous groups and Kagan (1992) propose the following key elements of successful group-based learn-
of children (he called them a collective), providing them not only with the opportunity ing in CL:
but the need for cooperation and joint activity by giving them tasks that were beyond the e Positive interdependence
development level of some, if not all, of them.” e Group formation
e Individual accountability
Design e Social skills
Objectives e Structuring and structures
Since CLL is an approach designed to foster cooperation rather than competition, to Positive interdependence occurs when group members feel that what helps one
develop critical thinking skills, and to develop communicative competence through member helps all and what hurts one member hurts all, It is created by the structure of
socially structured interaction activities, these can be regarded as the overall objec- CLL tasks and by building a spirit of mutual support within the group. For example, a
tives of CLL. More specific objectives will derive from the context in which CLL group may produce a single product, such as an essay, or the scores for members of a
is used. group may be averaged.
250 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 251

Group formation is an important factor in creating positive interdependence. Factors 2. Jigsaw: differentiated but predetermined input - evaluation and synthesis of facts and
involved in setting up groups include the following: opinions
e Deciding on the size of the group. This will depend on the tasks they have to carry out, the e Each group member receives a different piece of the information.
age of the learners, and time limits for the lesson. Typical group size is from two to four, e Students regroup in topic groups (expert groups) composed of people with the same
e Assigning students to groups. Groups can be teacher-selected, random, or student- piece to master the material and prepare to teach it.
selected, although teacher-selected is recommended as the usual mode so as to create e Students return to home groups (Jigsaw groups) to share their information with each
groups that are heterogeneous on such variables as past achievement, ethnicity, or sex. other.
e Student roles in groups. Each group member has a specific role to play in a group, such e Students synthesize the information through discussion.
as noise monitor, turn-taker monitor, recorder, or summarizer. e Each student produces an assignment of part of a group project, or takes a test, to
demonstrate synthesis of all the information presented by all group members.
Individual accountability involves both group and individual performance, for exam-
e This method of organization may require team-building activities for both home
ple, by assigning each student a grade on his or her portion of a team project or by calling
groups and topic groups, long-term group involvement, and rehearsal of presentation
on a student at random to share with the whole class, with group members, or with another
methods.
group.
e This method is very useful in the multilevel class, allowing for both homogeneous
Social skills determine the way students interact with each other as teammates,
and heterogeneous grouping in terms of English proficiency.
Usually some explicit instruction in social skills is needed to ensure successful interaction.
e Information gap activities in language teaching are jigsaw activities in the form of
Structuring and Structures refer to ways of organizing student interaction and differ-
pair work. Partners have data (in the form of text, tables, charts, etc.) with missing
ent ways in which students are to interact, such as Three-step interview or Round Robin
information to be supplied during interaction with another partner.
(discussed later in this section).
Numerous descriptions exist of activity types that can be used when transferring the
3. Cooperative projects: topics/resources selected by students ~ discovery learning
above elements of cooperative learning to a language environment. Coelho (1992b: 132)
describes three major kinds of CL tasks and their learning focus, each of which has many Topics may be different for each group.
variations. Students identify subtopics for each group member.
Steering committee may coordinate the work of the class as a whole.
1, Team practice from common input - skills development and mastery of facts
Students research the information using resources such as library reference,
e All students work on the same material. interviews, visual media.
e Practice could follow a traditional teacher-directed presentation of new material and e Students synthesize their information for a group presentation: oral and/or written.
for that reason is a good starting point for teachers and/or students new to group Each group member plays a part in the presentation.
work. e Each group presents to the whole class.
e The task is to make sure that everyone in the group knows the answer to a question e This method places greater emphasis on individualization and students’ interests.
and can explain how the answer was obtained or understands the material. Because Each student’s assignment is unique.
students want their team to do well, they coach and tutor each other to make sure ® Students need plenty of previous experience with more structured group work for
that any member of the group could answer for all of them and explain their team’s this to be effective.
answer.
Olsen and Kagan (1992: 88) describe the following examples of CLL activities:
e When the teacher takes up the question or assignment, anyone in a group may be
called on to answer for the team. e Three-step interview, (1) Students are in pairs; one is interviewer and the other is inter-
e This technique is good for review and for practice tests; the group takes the practice viewee. (2) Students reverse roles. (3) Each shares with his or her partner what was
test together, but each student will eventually do an assignment or take a test learned during the two interviews.
individually. e Roundtable. There is one piece of paper and one pen for each team. (1) One student makes
e This technique is effective in situations where the composition of the groups is a contribution and (2) passes the paper and pen to the student on his or her left. (3) Each
unstable (e.g., in adult programs). Students can form new groups every day. student makes contributions in turn. If done orally, the structure is called Round Robin.
252 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 253

e Think-Pair-Share. (1) Teacher poses a question (usually a low-consensus question). control (Harel 1992). The teacher may also have the task of restructuring lessons so that
(2) Students think of a response. (3) Students discuss their responses with a partner. students can work on them cooperatively. This involves the following steps, according to
(4) Students share his or her partner's response with the class. Johnson et al. (1994: 9):
¢ Solve-Pair-Share. (1) Teacher poses a problem (a low-consensus or high-consensus item
1. Take your existing lessons, curriculum, and sources and structure them cooperatively.
that may be resolved with different strategies). (2) Students work out solutions individu-
2, Tailor cooperative learning lessons to your unique instructional needs, circum-
ally. (3) Students explain how they solved the problem in Interview or Round Robin
stances, curricula, subject areas, and students.
structures.
3. Diagnose the problems some students may have in working together and intervene
e Numbered heads. (1) Students number off in teams. (2) Teacher asks a question (usu-
to increase learning groups’ effectiveness.
ally high-consensus). (3) Heads Together - students literally put their heads together
and make sure everyone knows and can explain the answer. (4) Teacher calls a number
and students with that number raise their hands to be called on, as in a traditional The role of instructional materiais
classroom. Materials play an important part in creating opportunities for students to work coopera-
tively. The same materials can be used as are used in other types of lessons, but variations
Learner roles are required in how the materials are used. For example, if students are working in groups,
‘The primary role of the learner is as a member of a group who must work collaboratively each might have one set of materials (or groups might have different sets of materials),
on tasks with other group members. Learners have to learn teamwork skills. Learners are or each group member might need a copy of a text to read and refer to. Materials may be
also directors of their own learning. They are taught to plan, monitor, and evaluate their specially designed for CLL learning (such as commercially sold jigsaw and information
own learning, which is viewed as a compilation of lifelong learning skills. Thus, learning gap activities), modified from existing materials, or borrowed from other disciplines.
is something that requires students’ direct and active involvement and participation. Pair
grouping is the most typical CLL format, ensuring the maximum amount of time both Comparison of Cooperative Language Learning and traditional
learners spend engaged on learning tasks. Pair tasks in which learners alternate roles approaches
involve partners in the role of tutors, checkers, recorders, and information sharers.
Zhang compares CLL and traditional approaches in Table 13.1. In practice, many classrooms
Teacher roles
may fall somewhere between CLL and traditional approaches, where teaching is not neces-
sarily teacher-fronted and elements of CLL are incorporated, but where the approach does
‘The role of the teacher in CLL differs considerably from the role of teachers in traditional not form the basis for the organization of the course.
teacher-fronted lessons. The teacher has to create a highly structured and well-organized
learning environment in the classroom, setting goals, planning and structuring tasks, estab- Table 13.1 Comparison of Cooperative Language Learning and traditional language
lishing the physical arrangement of the classroom, assigning students to groups and roles, teaching (from Yan Zhang 2010)
and selecting materials and time (Johnson et al. 1994). An important role for the teacher is
that of facilitator of learning. In his or her role as facilitator, the teacher must move around oe Traditional fanguage Cooperative Language
the class helping students and groups as needs arise: teaching. Learning S
Independence None or negative Positive
During this time the teacher interacts, teaches, refocuses, questions, clarifies, supports, Learner roles Passive receiver and performer | Active participator, autonomous
expands, celebrates, empathizes. Depending on what problems evolve, the following learners
supportive behaviors are utilized. Facilitators are giving feedback, redirecting the group Teacher roles The center of the classroom, Organizer and counselor of
with questions, encouraging the group to solve its own problems, extending activity, controlier of teaching pace group work, facilitator of the
encouraging thinking, managing conflict, observing students, and supplying resources. and direction, judge of communication tasks, intervener
(Harel 1992: 169) students’ right or wrong, the to teach collaborative skills
major source of assistance,
Teachers speak less than in teacher-fronted classes. They provide broad questions feedback, reinforcement and
to challenge thinking, they prepare students for the tasks they will carry out, they assist support
students with the learning tasks, and they give few commands, imposing less disciplinary (Continued)
254 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Leaming 255

Traditional tanguage ; Cooperative Lang lage * :

4. The students individually research the material they need for their compositions, each
: teaching #38 Learning ee eee ee keeping an eye out for material useful to their partner.
5. The students work together to write the first paragraph of each composition to ensure
Materials Complete set of rristerials for Materials are arranged
that they both have a clear start on their compositions.
each student according to purpose of fesson.
Usually one group shares a 6. The students write their compositions individually.
complete set of materials. 7. When the students have completed their compositions, they proofread each other's
Types of Knowledge recall and review, Any instructional activity, compositions, making corrections in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, language
activities phrasal or sentence pattern mainly group work to engage usage, and other aspects of writing the teacher specifies. Students also give each other
practice, role play, translation, learners in communication, suggestions for revision.
listening, etc. involving processes like 8. The students revise their compositions.
information sharing, negotiation 9. The students then reread each other’s compositions and sign their names to indicate that
of meaning, and interaction each composition is error-free.
Interaction Some talking among students, Intense interaction among
mainly teacher-student students, a few teacher-student Daring this process, the teacher monitors the pairs, intervening when appropriate to help
interaction interactions students master the needed writing and cooperative skills.
Room Separate desks or students Collaborative small groups
arrangement placed in pairs Conclusion
Student Take a major part in evaluating | All members in some way
expectations own progress and the quality of | contribute to success of group.
This chapter has reviewed the principles underlying Cooperative Language Learning and
own efforts toward learning. Be | The one who makes progress is some ways in which the approach can be implemented. The use of discussion groups,
a winner or loser. the winner. group work, and pair work has often been advocated in teaching both languages and other
Teacher-student | Superior, inferior or equal Cooperating and equal subjects. Typically, such groups are used to provide a change from the normal pace of class-
relationship room events and to increase the amount of student participation in lessons. Such activities,
however, are not necessarily cooperative. In CLL, group activities are the major mode of
learning and are part of a comprehensive theory and system for the use of group work in
Procedure
teaching. Group activities are carefully planned to maximize students’ interaction and to
The procedure for a CLL lesson follows from going through the steps involved in determin- facilitate students’ contributions to each other's learning. CLL activities can also be used in
ing the lesson objective and choosing appropriate cooperative activity types for teaching collaboration with other teaching methods and approaches, for example, Communicative
and learning. Johnson et al. (1994: 67-8) give the following example of how a collaborative Language Teaching, as mentioned earlier.
learning lesson would be carried out when students are required to write an essay, report,
Unlike most language teaching proposals, CLL has been extensively researched and
poem, or story, or review something that they have read. A cooperative writing and edit- evaluated, and research findings are generally supportive (see Slavin 1995; Baloche 1998;
ing pair arrangement is used. Pairs verify that each member's composition matches the
Crandall 2000; Jia 2003; McGafferty and Jacobs 2006), although little of this research was
criteria that have been established by the teacher; they then receive an individual score on conducted in L2 classrooms. CLL is not without its critics, however. Some have questioned
the quality of their compositions. They can also be given a group score based on the total
its use with learners of different proficiency levels, suggesting that some groups of students
number of errors made by the pair in their individual compositions. The procedure works (eg., intermediate and advanced learners) may obtain more benefits from it than others.
in the following way: In addition, it places considerable demands on teachers, who may have difficulty adapting
1, The teacher assigns students to pairs with at least one good reader in each pair. to the new roles required of them. Proponents of CLL stress that it enhances both learning
2. Student A describes what he or she is planning to write to Student B, who listens care- and learners’ interaction skills.
fully, probes with a set of questions, and outlines Student A’s ideas. Student B gives the
written outline to Student A. Discussion questions
3. This procedure is reversed, with Student B describing what he or she is going to write 1, CLL emphasizes pair and group work and extensive collaboration and learning through
and Student A listening and completing an outline of Student B's ideas, which is then interaction. Do you think that the benefits of this are age-related? For example, might
given to Student B. such an approach work better with younger learners? Why (not)?

i
256 Current approaches and methods 13 Cooperative Language Learning 257

2. By promoting interaction, CLL activities may encourage the following (p. 247): References and further reading
¢ Negotiation of meaning Abdullah, M., and G. Jacobs 2004. Promoting cooperative learning at primary school.
e Focus on form TESOL-EJ 7(4).
e (Repairing) communication breakdowns Baloche, L. 1998. The Cooperative Classroom, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bloom, S. 1956. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: David McKay.
For each of these, think of one classroom activity (from this chapter or elsewhere) that Brody, C., and N. Davidson (eds.). 1998. Professional Development for Cooperative Learning.
would be likely to lead to these. New York: State University of New York Press.
3. In the chapter you have read about positive interdependence, which occurs when group Christison, M., and S. Bassano, 1981. Look Who’ Talking. San Francisco: Alemany Press.
members feel that what helps one member helps all and what hurts one member hurts Coelho, E, 1992a. Cooperative learning: foundation for a communicative curriculum. In Kessler
all. One way of encouraging it is by building 4 spirit of mutual support within the group; (ed.), 31-51.
for example, by asking a group to produce a single product such as an essay on which the Coelho, E. 1992b. Jigsaw: integrating language and content. In Kessler (ed.), 129-52.
Coelho, E. 1994. Learning Together in the Multicultural Classroom. Scarborough, Ont.: Pippin.
scores for all members are averaged. Can you think of other ways to encourage positive
Crandall, J. 1999. Cooperative language learning and affective factors. In J, Arnold (ed.), Affect in
interdependence? Compare your answer with a colleague's.
Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 226-45.
4. Jigsaw tasks with differentiated input are “very useful in the multilevel class, allowing for Dishon, D., and P. W, O'Leary. 1998. A Guidebook for Cooperative Learning. Holmes Beach, FL:
... heterogeneous grouping in terms of English proficiency” (p. 251) as it will encourage Learning Publications.
interaction between learners. Give an example of a language outcome of such a task. Fathman, A., and C. Kessler. 1992. Cooperative language learning in school contexts, Annual Review
of Applied Linguistics 13: 127-40. .
5. Read the description of the essay writing task on page 254. If you teach essay writing, is Grice, H. P. 1975. Logic and conversation. In P, Cole and J. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics,
this different from the way you conduct your classes? If so, how? Vol. III: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, 41-58.
6. Some research has suggested that CLL, with its focus on heterogeneous groups, may Harel, Y. 1992. Teacher talk in the cooperative learning classroom. In Kessler (ed.), 153-62.
Jacobs, G. M., G. Lee, and J. Ball. 1995. Learning Cooperative Learning via Cooperative Learning.
work better with intermediate and advanced learners. Why would this be so?
Singapore: Regional Language Centre.
7. Together with a colleague, select a classroom task you are both familiar with and rede- Jacobs, G. M., and C. M. C. Goh. 2007. Cooperative Learning in the Language Classroom. Singapore:
sign it using the principles of CLL. Try to include: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
Jacobs, G. M., and D, Hannah. 2004. Combining cooperative learning with reading aloud by teachers.
ample opportunities for interaction;
International Journal of English Studies 4: 97-118.
a focus on collaboration (not competition);
Jia, G. 2003. Psychology of Foreign Language Education. 2nd edn. Nanning: Guangxi Education Press.
activities that are student rather than teacher-managed; Johnson, D., R. Johnson, and E. Holubec. 1994. Cooperative Learning in the Classroom, Alexandria,
(where appropriate) a focus on critical thinking skills. VA; Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Now try out the task with a group of students. One of you teaches it in its original form, Johnson, D. W, and R. T. Johnson, 1991. Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive, and
the other in its revised form. Observe each other. Which task worked better? What were Individualistic, 3rd edn. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hail.
Kagan, S. 1992. Cooperative Learning. San Juan Capistrano, CA: Kagan Cooperative Learning.
some of the (dis)advantages of each?
Kessler, C. (ed.). 1992. Cooperative Language Learning: A Teacher's Resource Book. New York: Prentice
8. One of the benefits given for CLL is that it provides “opportunities for students to act as Hall.
resources for each other, thus assuming a more active role in their learning” (p. 246). A Long, M. H. 1996. The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition, In
colleague comes to you and says he is concerned that this will not work with his class W. C. Ritchie and T. K. Bhatia (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. New York:
which has very mixed abilities. How will you respond to this teacher? Now reread point 1 Academic Press. 413-68.
on page 248, which suggests that students who are different from each other according to McGafferty, S. G., and G. M. Jacobs. 2006. Cooperative Learning and Second Language Teaching.
the variable of proficiency become groupmates. Do you agree with this? Can you think New York: Cambridge University Press,
of disadvantages to creating such heterogeneous groups? McGroarty, M. 1989. The benefits of cooperative learning arrangements in second language instruc-
tion. NABE Journal 13(2) (Winter); 127-43.
9. On page 252 you have read a description of the roles of the teacher in CLL. Your school Newman, E, and L. Holzman. 1993. Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist. London: Routledge.
is looking for a new teacher who is familiar with this approach. Write a short job Olsen, J. W. B. 1978. Communication Starters and Other Activities for the ESL Classroom.
announcement (maximum 200 words) describing the teaching style and experience the San Francisco: Alemany Press.
successful candidate should have.
258 Current approaches and methods
Part Ill Alternative twentieth-century
Olsen, R., and S, Kagan. 1992. About cooperative learning. In Kessler (ed.), 1-30.
Palmer, A., and T. Rodgers. 1986. Back and Forth: Pair Activities for Language Development.
approaches and methods
San Francisco: Alemany Press.
Piaget, J. 1965. The Language and Thought of the Child. New York: World Publishing Co.
Richards, J. and R. Schmidt, 1983. Language and Communication. London: Longman,
Rodgers, T. 1988. Cooperative language learning: What's new? PASAA: A Journal of Language
Teaching and Learning 18(2): 12-23.
The period from the 1970s to the 1980s witnessed a major paradigm shift in language
Sharan, S. (ed.). 1994. Handbook of Cooperative Learning Methods. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
teaching. The quest for alternatives to grammar-based approaches and methods led in
Skehan, P. 1998. A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Slavin, R. 1995. Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research and Practice. 2nd edn. New York: Prentice several different directions. Mainstream language teaching embraced the growing interest
Hall, in communicative approaches to language teaching, as we saw in Part II. The communica-
Swain, M. 2000.The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative tive movement sought to move the focus away from grammar as the core component of
dialogue. In J. P. Lantolf (ed.), Sociocultural ‘theory and Second Language Learning: Oxford: language, to a different view of language, of language learning, of teachers, and of learners,
Oxford University Press. 97-114. one that focused on language as communication. Other directions in language teaching,
Vygotsky, L. 1962. Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, also quests for alternatives, appeared during this period and are the focus of this part of
Vygotsky, L. S. [1935] 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. the book.
Cambridge, MA; Harvard University Press. Whereas Audiolingualism and Situational Language ‘Teaching were mainstream
Weeks, T. 1979. Born to Talk, Rowley, MA: Newbury House. teaching methods developed by linguists and applied linguists, the approaches and meth-
Wiederhold, C. 1995. The Question Matrix. San Juan Capistrano, CA: Kagan Cooperative Learning.
ods described in this section were either developed outside of mainstream language teach-
Zhang, Y. 2010. Cooperative language learning and foreign language learning and teaching,
ing or represent an application in language teaching of educational principles developed
Journal of Language Teaching and Research 1(1): 81-3.
elsewhere. They are represented by such innovative methods of the 1970s as the Natural
Approach (Chapter 14), Total Physical Response (Chapter 15), the Silent Way (Chapter
16), Community Language Learning (Chapter 17), and Suggestopedia (Chapter 18), Rather
than starting from a theory of language and drawing on research and theory in applied lin-
guistics, the majority of these methods are developed around particular theories of learn-
ers and learning, sometimes the theories of a single theorizer or educator. Many of these
methods are consequently relatively underdeveloped in the domain of language theory,
and the learning principles they reflect are generally different from theories found in sec-
ond language acquisition (SLA) textbooks. The one exception in this group is the Natural
Approach, as explained below.
Alternative approaches and methods of the 1970s and 1980s have had a somewhat
varied history. Although Total Physical Response, the Silent Way, Community Language
Learning, and Suggestopedia did not succeed in attracting the support of mainstream
language teaching, each can be seen as expressing important dimensions of the teaching/
learning process. ‘hey can be seen as offering particular insights that have attracted the
attention and/or allegiance of some teachers and educators, but they have each seen their
popularity rise and fall since the 1970s. Today, in most places, they are of little more than
historical interest. The Natural Approach, on the other hand, was based on Krashen’s inter-
pretation of SLA research and his distinction between acquisition, learning, and the role of
the monitor attracted widespread interest for many years.

259
14 The Natural Approach

Introduction
In 1977, Tracy Terrell, a teacher of Spanish in California, outlined “a proposal for a ‘new’
philosophy of language teaching which [he] called the Natural Approach” (1977; 1982: 121).
This was an attempt to develop a language teaching proposal that incorporated the “natu-
ralistic” principles researchers had identified in studies of second language acquisition.
In the Natural Approach there is an emphasis on exposure, or input, rather than practice;
optimizing emotional preparedness for learning; a prolonged period of attention to what
the language learners hear before they try to produce language; and a willingness to use
written and other materials as a source of input.
The Natural Approach grew out of Terrell’s experiences of teaching Spanish classes,
although it has also been used in elementary to advanced-level classes and with several
other languages. At the same time, he joined forces with Stephen Krashen, an applied lin-
guist at the University of Southern California, in elaborating a theoretical rationale for the
Natural Approach, drawing on Krashen’s understanding of the findings of the emerging
field of second language acquisition. Krashen and Terrell’s combined statement of the prin-
ciples and practices of the Natural Approach appeared in their book The Natural Approach,
published in 1983. At the time the Natural Approach attracted a wide interest because of the
accessibility of the principles on which it was based, the ease with which it confirmed many
teachers’ common sense understandings of second language learning, the fact it appeared
to be supported by state-of-the-art theory and research, and the fact that Krashen himself
is a charismatic presenter and persuasive advocate of his own views - as is evident from
the numerous examples of his presentations available on the Internet. Krashen and Terrell’s
book contains theoretical sections prepared by Krashen that outline his views on second
language acquisition (Krashen 1981, 1982), and sections on implementation and classroom
procedures, prepared largely by Terrell.
Krashen and Terrell identified the Natural Approach with what they call “traditional”
approaches to language teaching. Traditional approaches are defined as “based on the use of
language in communicative situations without recourse to the native language” - and, per-
haps, needless to say, without reference to grammatical analysis, grammatical drilling, or
a particular theory of grammar. Hence, traditional approaches, as defined by Krashen and
Terrell, have much in common with the Direct Method (Chapter 1), Krashen and Terrell
noted that such “approaches have been called natural, psychological, phonetic, new, reform,
direct, analytic, imitative and so forth” (1983: 9). The fact that the authors of the Natural

261
262 Altemative twentieth-century approaches and methods

Approach relate their approach to the Natural Method, a precursor of the Direct Method communicative abilities, they refer to the Natural Approach as an example of a commu-
has led some people to assume that Natural Approach and Natural Method are synonymous nicative approach. The Natural Approach “is similar to other communicative approaches
terms. Although the tradition is a common one, there are important differences between being developed today” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 17). They reject earlier methods of
the Natural Approach and the older Natural Method, which it will be useful to consider language teaching, such as the Audiolingual Method (Chapter 4), which viewed gram-
at the outset, mar as the central component of language. According to Krashen and Terrell, the major
The Natural Method (see Chapter 1) is another term for what by 1900 had become problem with these methods was that they were built not around “actual theories of
known as the Direct Method. It is described in a report on the state of the art in language language acquisition, but theories of something else; for example, the structure of lan-
teaching commissioned by the Modern Language Association in 1901 (the report of the guage” (1983: 1). Unlike proponents of Communicative Language Teaching (Chapter 5),
“Committee of 12”): however, Krashen and Terrell give little attention to a theory of language. Indeed, a critic
of Krashen suggested that he has no theory of language at all (Gregg 1984). What Krashen
In its extreme form the method consisted of a series of monologues by the teacher and Terrell do describe about the nature of language emphasizes the primacy of mean-
interspersed with exchanges of question and answer between the instructor and the ing. The importance of the vocabulary is stressed, for example, suggesting the view that a
pupil ~ all in the foreign language ... A great deal of pantomime accompanied the talk. language is essentially its lexicon and only inconsequently the grammar that determines
With the aid of this gesticulation, by attentive listening and by dint of much repetition, how the lexicon is exploited to produce messages, where the term message refers essen-
the learner came to associate certain acts and objects with certain combinations of tially to what the speaker intends to communicate. Terrell quotes Dwight Bolinger to
the sounds and finally reached the point of reproducing the foreign words or phrase ... support this view:
Not until a considerable familiarity with the spoken word was attained was the scholar
allowed to see the foreign language in print. The study of grammar was reserved for The quantity of information in the lexicon far outweighs that in any other part of the
a still later period. language, and if there is anything to the notion of redundancy it should be easier to
(Cole 1931: 58) reconstruct a message containing just words than one containing just the syntactic
relations. The significant fact is the subordinate role of grammar. The most important
The term natural, used in reference to the Direct Method, merely emphasized that the thing is to get the words in.
principles underlying the method were believed to conform to the principles of natural- (Bolinger, in Terrell 1977: 333)
istic language learning in young children. Similarly, the Natural Approach, as defined by
Krashen and Terrell, is believed to conform to the naturalistic principles found in successful Language is viewed as a vehicle for communicating meanings and messages. Hence,
second language acquisition. Unlike the Direct Method, however, it places less emphasis on Krashen and Terrell stated that “acquisition can take place only when people understand
teacher monologues, direct repetition, and formal questions and answers, and less focus on messages in the target language” (1983: 19). Yet despite their avowed communicative
accurate production of target-language sentences, It is, in fact, an example of a cognitive approach to language, they view language learning, as do audiolingualists, as mastery of
approach to language learning, as described in Chapter 2. Language learning is believed to structures by stages. “Lhe input hypothesis states that in order for acquirers to progress to
emerge naturally given appropriate exposure and conditions ~ a result of the innate pro- the next stage in the acquisition of the target language, they need to understand input lan-
perties of the human mind (see below). The emphasis on the central role of comprehension guage that includes a structure that is part of the next stage” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 32).
in the Natural Approach links it to other comprehension-based approaches in language Krashen refers to this with the formula “i + 1” (i.e., input that contains structures slightly
teaching, such as the Lexical Approach (see Chapter 11), above the learner’s present level). We assume that Krashen means by structures something
at least in the tradition of what such linguists as Charles Fries meant by structures. For
Fries, grammar or “structure” referred to the basic sentence patterns of a language, and oral
Approach drilling formed the core of language teaching (see Chapter 4). Ihe Natural Approach thus
Theory of language assumes a linguistic hierarchy of structural complexity that one masters through encoun-
‘The Natural Approach is primarily developed from a theory of language learning rather ters with “input” containing structures at the “i + 1” level.
than a theory of language - something it has in common with Task-Based Language We are left, then, with a view of language that consists of lexical items, structures,
Teaching and which distinguishes it from methods such as Text-Based Instruction, which and messages, or the communicative goal. Obviously, there is no particular novelty in this
are based primarily around a theory of language. Krashen and Terrell see communica- view as such, except that messages are considered of primary importance in the Natural
tion as the primary function of language, and since their approach focuses on teaching Approach. The lexicon for both perception and production is considered critical in the
264 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 14 The Natural Approach 265

construction and interpretation of messages. Lexical items in messages are necessarily The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis
grammatically structured, and more complex messages involve more complex grammati- The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis claims that there are two distinctive ways of develop-
cal structure. Although they acknowledge such grammatical structuring, Krashen and ing competence in a second or foreign language. Acquisition is the “natural” way, paralleling
Terrell feel that grammatical structure does not require explicit analysis or attention by first language development in children. Acquisition refers to an unconscious process that
the language teacher, by the language learner, or in language teaching materials. involves the naturalistic development of language proficiency through understanding lan-
guage and through using language for meaningful communication. Learning, by contrast,
Theory of learning refers to a process in which conscious rules about a language are developed. It results in
In order to understand the origins of the theoretical assumptions underlying the explicit knowledge about the forms of a language and the ability to verbalize this know1-
Natural Approach, it is necessary to go back to the emergence of cognitive approaches edge. Formal teaching is necessary for “learning” to occur, and correction of errors helps
to language and language learning that were prompted by Chomsky’s claim that the with the development of learned rules. Learning, according to the theory, cannot lead to
potential to learn a language was an innate property of the human mind - a theory that acquisition, as will be explained below.
later was phrased in terms of universal grammar (Chapter 2). All that was needed was
The Monitor Hypothesis
exposure to language and the need to communicate, and the brain would take care of The acquired linguistic system is said to initiate utterances when we communicate in a second
the rest. The psychologist Roger Brown investigated how this process occurred in first
or foreign language. Conscious learning can function only as a monitor or editor that checks
language learning in his influential book A First Language (1973), which documented and repairs the output of the acquired system. The Monitor Hypothesis claims that we may
the common stages of development evidenced in children’s initial learning of their
call upon learned knowledge to correct ourselves when we communicate, but that conscious
first language. Prompted by this research, applied linguists turned their attention to
learning (ie., the learned system) has only this function. Three conditions limit the successful
second language acquisition and sought to demonstrate that second language devel-
use of the monitor:
opment could not be explained by behaviorist learning theory. It was not dependent
upon imitation and repetition of utterances the learner was exposed to but ~ as with 1. Time. There must be sufficient time for a learner to choose and apply a learned rule.
first language learning ~ was dependent upon universal principles of learning. These 2. Focus on form. The language user must be focused on correctness or on the form of the
accounted for the common patterns of development that were observed in second output.
language learners and that could not be explained simply through interference from 3. Knowledge of rules. The performer must know the rules. The monitor does best with
the first language. Krashen argued that there was a natural sequence of development rules that are simple in two ways. They must be simple to describe and they must not
for many features of English (Bailey, Madden, and Krashen 1974), and this theory was require complex movements and rearrangements,
elaborated as part of a more comprehensive account of second language learning in a
book that echoes the title of Brown's book ~ Language Two (Dulay, Burt, and Krashen The Natural Order Hypothesis
1982). The Natural Approach can be seen as an attempt to develop a pedagogical appli- According to the Natural Order Hypothesis, the acquisition of grammatical structures
cation of the theory Krashen and other researchers were developing in their applied proceeds in a predictable order. Research is said to have shown that certain grammati-
linguistics research in the 1970s and 1980s. cal structures or morphemes are acquired before others in first language acquisition of
Krashen and Terrell hence make continuing reference to the theoretical and English, and a similar natural order is found in second language acquisition. Errors are
research base claimed to underlie the Natural Approach and to the fact that the method signs of naturalistic developmental processes, and during acquisition (but not during
is unique.in having such a base. “It is based on an empirically grounded theory of second learning), similar developmental errors occur in learners no matter what their native
language acquisition, which has been supported by a large number of scientific studies language is.
in a wide variety of language acquisition and learning contexts” (Krashen and Terrell
The input Hypothesis
1983: 1). The theory and research are grounded in Krashen’s views of language acquisi-
The Input Hypothesis claims to explain the relationship between what the learner is
tion, which we will collectively refer to as Krashen’s language acquisition theory. Krasher’s
exposed to of a language (the input) and language acquisition. It involves four main issues.
views have been presented and discussed extensively elsewhere (e.g., Krashen 1982), so
we will not try to present or critique his arguments here. (For a detailed critical review, 1. The hypothesis relates to acquisition, and not to learning.
see Gregg 1984 and McLaughlin 1978.) It is necessary, however, to outline the principal 2. As mentioned earlier, people acquire language best by understanding input that is
tenets of the theory, since it is on these that the design and procedures in the Natural slightly beyond their current level of competence: “An acquirer can ‘move’ from a
Approach are based. stage i (where i is the acquirer's level of competence) to a stage i + 1 (where i + 1is the
266 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 7 14 The Natural Approach 267

stage immediately following i along some natural order) by understanding language These five hypotheses have obvious implications for language teaching. In sum, these
containing i + 1” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 32). Clues based on the situation and the are as follows:
context, extralinguistic information, and knowledge of the world make comprehen- 1. As much comprehensible input as possible must be presented.
sion possible. 2. Whatever helps comprehension is important. Visual aids are useful, as is exposure to a
3. The ability to speak fluently cannot be taught directly; rather, it “emerges” independ- wide range of vocabulary rather than study of syntactic structure.
ently in time, after the acquirer has built up linguistic competence by understanding 3. The focus in the classroom should be on listening and reading; speaking should be
input, allowed to “emerge.”
4. If there is a sufficient quantity of comprehensible input, i + 1 will usually be provided 4. In order to lower the affective filter, student work should center on meaningful commu-
automatically. Comprehensible input refers to utterances that the learner understands nication rather than on form; input should be interesting and so contribute to a relaxed
based on the context in which they are used as well as the language in which they are classroom atmosphere.
phrased. When a speaker uses language so that the acquirer understands the message,
the speaker “casts a net” of structure around the acquirer’s current level of competence,
Design
and this will include many instances of i + 1. Thus, input need not be finely tuned to a
learner’s current level of linguistic competence, and in fact cannot be so finely tuned Objectives
in a language class, where learners will be at many different levels of competence. Just The Natural Approach “is for beginners and is designed to help them become intermedi-
as child acquirers of a first language are provided with samples of “caretaker speech,” ates.” It has the expectation that students
rough-tuned to their present level of understanding, so adult acquirers of a second
language are provided with simple codes that facilitate second language comprehen- will be able to function adequately in. the target situation. They will understand the
sion. One such code is “foreigner talk,’ which refers to the speech native speakers use speaker of the target language (perhaps with requests for clarification), and will be able

to simplify communication with foreigners. Foreigner talk is characterized by a slower to convey (in anon-insulting manner) their requests and ideas. They need not know every

rate of speech, repetition, restating, use of Yes/No instead of Wh-questions, and other word in a particular semantic domain, nor is it necessary that the syntax and vocabulary
changes that make messages more comprehensible to persons of limited language be flawless ~ but their production does need to be understood. They should be able to

proficiency. make the meaning clear but not necessarily be accurate in all details of grammar.
(Krashen and Terrell 1983: 71)
The Affective Filter Hypothesis
Krashen sees the learner’s emotional state or attitudes as an adjustable filter that freely However, since the Natural Approach is offered as a general set of principles applicable to
passes, impedes, or blocks input necessary to acquisition. A low affective filter is desirable, a wide variety of situations, as in Communicative Language Teaching, specific objectives
since it impedes or blocks less of this necessary input. The hypothesis is built on research depend on learner needs and the skill (listening, speaking, reading, or writing) and level being
in second language acquisition, which has identified three kinds of affective or attitudinal taught. Krashen and Terrell believe that it is important to communicate to learners what they
can expect of a course as well as what they should not expect. They offer as an example a pos-
variables related to second language acquisition:
sible goal and non-goal staternent for a beginning Natural Approach Spanish class:
1, Motivation. Learners with high motivation generally do better.
2. Self-confidence. Learners with self-confidence and a good self-image tend to be more After 100-150 hours of Natural Approach Spanish, you will be able to: “get around”
successful. in Spanish; you will be able to communicate with a monolingual native speaker of
3. Anxiety, Low personal anxiety and low classroom anxiety are more conducive to second Spanish without difficulty; read most ordinary texts in Spanish with some use of a
language acquisition. dictionary; know enough Spanish to continue to improve on your own.

The Affective Filter Hypothesis states that acquirers with a low affective filter seek and After 100-150 hours of Natural Approach Spanish you will not be able to: pass for a
receive more input, interact with confidence, and are more receptive to the input they native speaker, use Spanish as easily as you use English, understand native speakers
receive, Anxious acquirers have a high affective filter, which prevents acquisition from tak- when they talk to each other (you will probably not be able to eavesdrop successfully);
ing place. It is believed that the affective filter (e.g., fear or embarrassment) rises in early use Spanish on the telephone with great comfort; participate easily in a conversation
adolescence, and this may account for the apparent ease with which children acquire new with several other native speakers on unfamiliar topics.
languages compared to older acquirers of a second language. (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 74)
268 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 14 The Natural Approach 269

The syllabus Types of learning and teaching activities

Krashen and Terrell (1983) approach course organization from two points of view. First, From the beginning of a class taught according to the Natural Approach, emphasis is on
they list some typical goals for language courses and suggest which of these goals are the presenting comprehensible input in the target language. Teacher talk focuses on objects
ones at which the Natural Approach aims. They list such goals under four areas: in the classroom and on the content of pictures, as with the Direct Method. To minimize
stress, learners are not required to say anything until they feel ready, but they are expected
1. Basic personal communication skills: oral (e.g., listening to announcements in public
to respond to teacher commands and questions in other ways.
places)
When learners are ready to begin talking in the new language, the teacher pro-
2, Basic personal communication skills: written (e.g., reading and writing personal
vides comprehensible language and simple response opportunities. The teacher talks
letters)
slowly and distinctly, asking questions and eliciting one-word answers. There is a
3. Academic learning skills: oral (e.g., listening to a lecture)
gradual progression from Yes/No questions, through either/or questions, to questions
4. Academic learning skills: written (e.g., taking notes in class)
that students can answer using words they have heard used by the teacher. Students are
Of these, they note that the Natural Approach is primarily “designed to develop basic not expected to use a word actively until they have heard it many times. Charts, pic-
communication skills - both oral and written” (1983: 67). They then observe that com- tures, advertisements, and other realia serve as the focal point for questions, and when
munication goals “may be expressed in terms of situations, functions and topics” and the students’ competence permits, talk moves to class members. “Acquisition activi-
proceed to order four pages of topics and situations “which are likely to be most useful ties” - those that focus on meaningful communication rather than language form ~ are
to beginning students” (ibid.). The order in which the functions are presented are not emphasized. Pair or group work may be employed, followed by whole-class discussion
specified or suggested but are felt to derive naturally from the topics and situations. led by the teacher.
This approach to syllabus design would appear to reflect Threshold Level specifications Techniques recommended by Krashen and Terrell are often borrowed from other
(see Chapter 5). methods and adapted to meet the requirements of Natural Approach theory. These
The second point of view holds that “the purpose of a language course will vary include command-based activities from Total Physical Response (Chapter 15); Direct
according to the needs of the students and their particular interests” (Krashen and Terrell Method activities in which mime, gesture, and context are used to elicit questions
1983: 65): and answers (Chapter 1); and even situation-based practice of structures and patterns
(Chapter 3). Group-work activities are often identical to those used in Communicative
The goals of a Natural Approach class are based on an assessment of student needs. Language Teaching (Chapter 5), where sharing information in order to complete a task is
We determine the situations in which they will use the target language and the sorts emphasized. There is nothing novel about the procedures and techniques advocated for
of topics they will have to communicate information about. In setting communication use with the Natural Approach. A casual observer might not be aware of the philosophy
goals, we do not expect the students at the end of a particular course to have acquired
underlying the classroom techniques he or she observes. What characterizes Natural
acertain group of structures or forms. Instead we expect them to deal with a particular Approach learning and teaching activities is the use of familiar techniques within the
set of topics in a given situation. We do not organize the activities of the class about framework of a method that focuses on providing comprehensible input and a classroom
a grammatical syllabus. environment that provides comprehension of input, minimizes learner anxiety, and
(Ktashen and Terrell 1983: 71)
maximizes learner self-confidence.
From this point of view, it is difficult to specify communicative goals that necessarily fit the
needs of all students. Thus, any list of topics and situations must be understood as syllabus Learner roles
suggestions rather than as specifications. There is a basic assumption in the Natural Approach that learners should not try to
As well as fitting the needs and interests of students, content selection should learn a language in the usual sense. The extent to which they can lose themselves in
aim to create a low affective filter by being interesting and fostering a friendly, relaxed activities involving meaningful communication will determine the amount and kind of
atmosphere, should provide a wide exposure to vocabulary that may be useful to basic acquisition they will experience and the fluency they will ultimately demonstrate, The
personal communication, and should resist any focus on grammatical structures, since language acquirer is seen as a processor of comprehensible input. When the acquirer is
if input is provided “over a wider variety of topics while pursuing communicative goals, challenged by input that is slightly beyond his or her current level of competence, he or
the necessary grammatical structures are automatically provided in the input” (Krashen she is able to assign meaning to this input through active use of context and extralin-
and Terrell 1983: 71). guistic information.
270 ©Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 14 The Natural Approach 271

Learners’ roles are seen to change according to their stage of linguistic development. Finally, the teacher must choose and orchestrate a rich mix of classroom activi-
Central to these changing roles are learner decisions on when to speak, what to speak ties, involving a variety of group sizes, content, and contexts. ‘Ihe teacher is seen as
about, and what linguistic expressions to use in speaking, responsible for collecting materials and designing their use. These materials, according
In the pre-production stage, students “participate in the language activity without hav- to Krashen and Terrell, are based not just on teacher perceptions but on elicited stu-
ing to respond in the target language” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 76). For example, students dent needs and interests, As with other unconventional teaching systems, the Natural
can act out physical commands, identify student colleagues from teacher description, point Approach teacher has a particular responsibility to communicate clearly and compel-
to pictures, and so forth. lingly to students the assumptions, organization, and expectations of the method,
In the early-production stage, students respond to either/or questions, use single since in many cases these will violate student views of what language learning and
words and short phrases, fill in charts, and use fixed conversational patterns (e.g., How are teaching are supposed to be,
you? What's your name?).
In the speech-emergent phase, students involve themselves in role play and games,
The role of instructional materials
contribute personal information and opinions, and participate in group problem-
solving. The primary goal of materials in the Natural Approach is to make classroom activi-
Learners have four kinds of responsibilities in the Natural Approach classroom:
ties as meaningful as possible by supplying “the extralinguistic context that helps the
acquirer to understand and thereby to acquire” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 55), by relat-
1. To provide information about their specific goals so that acquisition activities can focus ing classroom activities to the real world, and by fostering real communication among
on the topics and situations most relevant to their needs. the learners. Materials come from the world of realia rather than from textbooks. The
2. To take an active role in ensuring comprehensible input. They should learn and use primary aim of materials is to promote comprehension and communication. Pictures
conversational management techniques to regulate input. and other visual aids are essential, because they supply the content for communication.
3. To decide when to start producing speech and when to upgrade it. As the pictures prompt the teacher to provide the vocabulary necessary to describe
4. Where learning exercises (i.e., grammar study) are to be a part of the program, to decide what is contained in them, they facilitate the acquisition of a large vocabulary within
with the teacher the relative amount of time to be devoted to them and perhaps even the classroom. Other recommended materials include schedules, brochures, advertise-
complete and correct them independently. ments, maps, and books at levels appropriate to the students, if a reading component is
Learners are expected to participate in communication activities with other learners, included in the course. Games, in general, are seen as useful classroom materials, since
Although communication activities are seen to provide naturalistic practice and to create “games by their very nature, focus the students on what it is they are doing and use the
a sense of camaraderie, which lowers the affective filter, they may fail to provide learners language as a tool for reaching the goal rather than as a goal in itself” (Terrell 1982: 121).
with well-formed and comprehensible input at the i + 1 level. Krashen and Terrell warn of The selection, reproduction, and collection of materials place a considerable burden on
these shortcomings but do not suggest means for their amelioration. the Natural Approach teacher.

Teacher roies
The Natural Approach teacher has three central roles. First, the teacher is the primary Procedure
source of comprehensible input in the target language. “Class time is devoted primarily to We have seen that the Natural Approach adopts techniques and activities freely from vari-
providing input for acquisition” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 35) and the teacher is the pri- ous method sources and can be regarded as innovative only with respect to the purposes
mary generator of that input. In this role, the teacher is required to generate a constant flow for which they are recommended and the ways they are used. Krashen and Terrell (1983)
of language input while providing a multiplicity of nonlinguistic clues to assist students in provide suggestions for the use of a wide range of activities, all of which are familiar
interpreting the input. The Natural Approach demands a much more center-stage role for components of Situational Language Teaching (Chapter 3), Communicative Language
the teacher than do many methods. Teaching, and other methods discussed in this book. To illustrate procedural aspects of the
Second, the Natural Approach teacher creates a classroom atmosphere that is interest- Natural Approach, we will cite examples of how such activities are to be used in the Natural
ing, friendly, and in which there is a low affective filter for learning. This is achieved in part Approach classroom to provide comprehensible input, without requiring production of
through such Natural Approach techniques as not demanding speech from the students responses or minimal responses in the target language. The first steps rely on the Total
before they are ready for it, not correcting student errors, and providing subject matter of Physical Response (TPR) method (Chapter 15), which attempts to teach language through
high interest to students. physical or motor activity.
272 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 14 The Natural Approach 273

* Start with TPR commands, At first the corm In all these activities, the instructor maintains a constant flow of “comprehensible input,’
around. Raise your right hand.”,”
using key vocabulary items, appropriate gestures, context, repetition, and paraphrase to
Qi Use TPR to teach names.of body paris. and to‘introduce numbers and sequence. “lay
ensure the comprehensibility of the input.
e your night hand on your head, put both hands on your shoulder, first: touch your:nose,
then stand up and turn to the right three times” and so forth
Conclusion
Introduce classroom terms. and props into commands. “Pick-up a pencil and put‘it
The Natural Approach belongs to a tradition of language teaching methods based on
under the book, touch ’a wall, go to the door and knock three times.” Any item which
observation and interpretation of how learners acquire both first and second languages
can be brought to the class can be incorporated. “Pick up the.record.and place it
| in
“>. the tray, Take. the green blanket toterry.) ics —- the Soap and take it fo the woman:
in nonformal settings. Such methods reject the formal (grammatical) organization of lan-
“wearing the gresn blouse,” ,
guage as a prerequisite to teaching. They hold with Newmark and Reibel that “an adult can
effectively be taught by grammatically unordered materials” (even if, in practice, there is
4. Use names of physical characteristics and clothing io identity members: ‘of the cess:
by name. The instructor uses context andthe items themselves to make the mean-
generally an intuitive attempt on the part of the teacher to provide a basic order) and that
93.of the key words. clear: hair, long, short, etc. Then a student is described: “What
such an approach is, indeed, “the.only learning process which we know for certain will
produce mastery of the language at a native level” (1968: 153). In the Natural Approach, a
Is your name?” (selecting. a student). “Glass. Look at Barbara. She has: long brown.
focus on comprehension and meaningful communication as well as the provision of the
hair. Her hair-is long and.brown, Her hair.is.not short, Itis long.” (Using mime, pointing
“and context to ensure comprehension} ‘ “What's the name.of the student with fong
right kinds of comprehensible input provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for
” brown hair?" (Barbara). Questions such as.“What is the narne of the woman with the
successful classroom second and foreign language acquisition. This has led to a rationale for
‘short blond hair?” or “What is the name of the: student sitting next tothe man with
the integration and adaptation of techniques drawn from a wide variety of existing sources.
Like Communicative Language Teaching, the Natural Approach is hence evolutionary
short brown: hair. and glasses?” are-very simple to understand by attending to key
words;
‘ ‘gestures. and context. And they require the students only, to: remember and
rather than revolutionary in its procedures. Its greatest claim to originality lies not in the
produce | ihe name of a fellow student. The same: can be done with articles: of-clothing
techniques it employs but in their use in a method that emphasizes comprehensible and
meaningful practice activities, rather than production of grammatically perfect utterances
and colors. “Who iswearing a yellow shirt? Who iswearing ‘a-brown ‘dress?”,
s.. Use visuals, typically magazine pictures, to introduce new vocabulary and to continue
and sentences.
The Natural Approach is very much a product of the 1980s and attracted a great deal
“with, activities requiring only student names. as response, The instructor introduces:
as the pictures to.the entire class one at a time focusing usually on: one single item or
of interest at that time. It was particularly influential in Krashen’s home state of California
where it helped frame an approach to the teaching of language minority students (Krashen
. activity i in the picture, He may introduces one to five. new-words while talking about the
icture. He then -passes the picture toa particular student iin the class. The students’.
1981). Krashen himself for many years has been a powerful advocate for bilingual education
in the face of growing pressure to limit its role in Californian schools. However, numerous
“task is to: remember the name of the student with a particular pictixre. For exarhple,
“Tom has the picture of the sailboat. Joan has the picture of the family watching televi-
articles as well as full-length books since that time have been devoted to rejecting both the
theory and research Krashen used in support of the principles of the Natural Approach
“gion” and so forth. The instructor will ask questions | like “Who has the picture with the
(eg. Gregg 1984; McLaughlin 1978) as well as its practical applications. In California at
sailboat?’ Does Susan or “Jom have the picture of the People oonthe li Sean Oe
students need only produce aname inresponse, By 3 least, policy changes in recent years have made the Natural Approach largely irrelevant to
the needs of teachers in public schools. As with public education in many other countries,
‘Combine uuse of pictures: with TPR: “Jim, find the picture. of the little ait ‘with her do"
teachers are now required to teach to standards (Chapter 8) that specify the language skills
ind:give it tothe woman with ‘the pink blouse.”
ombine observations about the pictures with commands and cenditionals. “If there
learners need to develop at different stages in the school curriculum. However, the Natural
Ss a woman in your |pic’ re, stand up. if here i ssi m thing bh 8 in your pi ture, touch:
Approach still has its advocates elsewhere. A leading language institute in Thailand (AUA),
“your right ‘shoulder. i + for example, offers a Natural Approach course for the learning of Thai as an option stu-
- Using several pictures, ask students to point to thepicture being described.” ;
dents can choose when studying Thai. As a general approach in other contexts, the Natural
Approach is unlikely to prove attractive to many teachers today. Although, as noted earlier
Picture 1. “There are several peopie in this picture, One: appears to be a father, the ether
in this chapter, the principles on which it is based, such as exposing learners to extensive
daughter. What are they doing? Cooking: They are cooking a hamburger.” Picture .
"“Theré are two men‘in this picture. They areyoung. They are boxing. ” Picture 8
input slightly above their level before production is required, seem to confirm what many
* (Krashen and Terrell ie 15-7) | people would describe as common sense - whether or not they are supported by current
274 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 14 The Natural Approach 275

research - practical limitations would not make the Natural Approach an option for many g. The Natural Approach makes considerable use of realia as source for comprehensible
teachers. In particular: input. Can you think of downsides to the use of realia to this degree?

There are no published materials or coursebooks to support the approach. 10. Below are some of the key characteristics of the Natural Approach. Work with a col-
It requires a high level of training and language proficiency for its implementation. league and do the following:
English may be assigned as little as three or four hours a week in some countries, requir- 1) Select (a) one conversational skill (e.g., interrupting someone), and (b) one gram-
ing an accelerated rather than a gradual approach to English teaching. matical structure (e.g., the passive).
‘The English curriculum may be linked to national standards and tests, giving teachers 2) Create a classroom activity using the principles below.
little choice over what to teach. 3) Find an example from a textbook you are familiar with.
Although Krashen and Terrell published the Natural Approach several decades ago, the 4) Complete the table and compare your activities with those from the textbook. How
principles behind the approach continue to be debated today, in particular the value of a are they different? Which do you think would be more successful for your learners
considerable amount of comprehensible input. More recently, Krashen has been an advo- and why? Does either your activity or the textbook activity work better for either the
cate of extensive reading, an approach advocating free reading for pleasure, which bears conversational skill or the grammar point? Why?
much in common with his earlier research.
Natural Approach Textbook
Discussion questions Conversational skill

1. Explain to a colleague what the word natural in the Natural Approach refers to. Input

2. The Natural Approach makes a distinction between acquisition and learning of a second
language. Explain to a colleague how these are different and how this impacts the way ‘Practice
an Lz is taught.
. “Learning, according to the theory, cannot lead to acquisition” (p. 265). What is your Emotional preparation

view on this? Can you think of examples (perhaps from your own learning or teaching)
where learning did lead to acquisition? Opportunities to listen

. The Monitor Hypothesis states that learners can only call upon learned knowledge if they
(a) have sufficient time, (b) are focused on form, and (c) have knowledge of the rules, Can Grammar point
you think of examples of real-world language tasks that meet these requirements? Input

. “Input need not be finely tuned to a learner’s current level of linguistic competence”
(p. 266). What characteristics does input need to have according to the Natural Approach? Practice

. “The Affective Filter Hypothesis states that acquirers with a low affective filter seek and
receive more input, interact with confidence, and are more receptive to the input they Emotional preparation
receive? (p. 266). What can teachers do to lower students’ affective filter? Talk to a col-
league and exchange techniques you both use with students. Opportunities to listen

Now review the five basic principles of the Natural Approach again: The Acquisition/
Learning Hypothesis, the Monitor Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis, the Input u. “Learners’ roles are seen to change according to their stage of linguistic development.
Hypothesis, and the Affective Filter Hypothesis. Which of these areas do you think are Central to these changing roles are learner decisions on when to speak, what to speak
most important? Do you use any of these principles in your own teaching? about, and what linguistic expressions to use in speaking” (p. 270). How does this
. The Natural Approach does not prescribe a well-defined syllabus or order in which top- compare with your own classes? Can you think of (a) some advantages, and (b) some
ics or structures need to be presented. How do you think teachers using this approach drawbacks to not specifying when learners will speak nor telling them which linguistic
decide on course content and sequencing? expressions to use?
276 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods ]
15 Total Physical Response
References and further reading
Bailey, N., C. Madden, and §, Krashen. 1974. Is there a “natural sequence” in adult second language
learning? Language Learning 21: 235-43.
Baltra, A. 1992. On breaking with tradition: the significance of Terrell’s Natural Approach. Canadian
Modern Language Review 49(3): 565-93.
Berne, J. 1990. A comparison of teaching for proficiency with the natural approach: procedure,
design and approach. Hispania 73(4): 147-53.
Brown, J. M., and A. Palmer. 1988. Listening Approach: Methods and Materials for Applying Krashen's
Input Hypothesis. Harlow, UK: Longman. Introduction
Brown, R, 1973. A First Language: The Early Stages. Boston: Harvard University Press.
We saw in Chapter 2 that major approaches and methods throughout the twentieth century
Cole, R. 1931. Modern Foreign Languages and Their Teaching. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts,
were generally influenced by theories of language and language learning drawn from the dis-
Dulay, H., M. Burt, and S. Krashen. Language Two. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. 1997. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ciplines of linguistics and applied linguistics - and from the 1960s onwards, often from the
Gregg, K. 1984, Krashen’s monitor and Occam's razor. Applied Linguistics 5(2): 79-100. discipline of second language acquisition. However, some methods were based on learning
Hashemipor, P, R. Maldonado, and M. van Naerssen (eds.). 1995. Studies in Language Learning and theories not specific to language learning; for example, Audiolingualism (Chapter 4) drew
Spanish Linguistics: Festschrift in Honor of Tracy D. Terrell. New York: McGraw-Hill. on behaviorism. Total Physical Response (TPR) is another example of a teaching method
Krashen, S. 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon. that goes outside mainstream applied linguistics for its theoretical basis. It is a language
Krashen, S. 1982. Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon. teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach
Krashen, S. 1985. The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications, London: Longman. language through physical (motor) activity. Developed by James Asher, who was a professor
Krashen, S. 1989. We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: additional evidence for the input of psychology at San Jose State University, California, it draws on several traditions, includ-
hypothesis. Modern Language Journal 73(4): 440-64. ing developmental psychology, learning theory, and humanistic pedagogy, as well as on lan-
Krashen, S. 1992. Fundamentals of Language Education. Beverley Hills, CA: Laredo. guage teaching procedures proposed by Harold and Dorothy Palmer in 1925. Let us briefly
Krashen, S. 1993. The case for free voluntary reading. Canadian Modern Language Review 50(1): consider these precedents to TPR.
TPR is linked to the “trace theory” of memory in psychology (e.g., Katona 1940),
72-82.
Krashen, S. 1996a. The case for narrow listening, System 24(1): 97~100.
which holds that the more often or more intensively a memory connection is traced, the
Krashen, S. 1996b, Principles of English as a foreign language. English Teachers’ Journal (Israel) 49:
11-19,
stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. Retracing
Krashen, S. 1997. The comprehension hypothesis: recent evidence. English Teachers’ Journal (Israel) can be done verbally (e.g., by rote repetition) and/or in association with motor activity.
51: 17-29. Combined tracing activities, such as verbal rehearsal accompanied by motor activity, hence
Krashen, S., and T. Terrell. 1983. The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. increase the probability of successful recall.
Oxford: Pergamon. In a development sense, Asher sees successful adult second language learning as a
McLaughlin, B. 1978. The Monitor Model: some methodological considerations. Language Learning parallel process to child first !anguage acquisition. He claims that speech directed to young
28(2): 309-32. children consists primarily of commands which children respond to physically before they
Newmark, L., and D. A. Reibel. 1968. Necessity and sufficiency in language learning. International begin to produce verbal responses. Asher feels adults should recapitulate the processes by
Review of Applied Linguistics 6(2): 145-64. which children acquire their mother tongue.
Rivers, W. 1981, Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. 2nd edn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Asher shares with the school of humanistic psychology a concern for the role of
Skehan, P, 1998. A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. affective (emotional) factors in language learning. A method that is undemanding in terms
Stevick, E. W. 1976. Memory, Meaning and Method: Some Psychological Perspectives on Language movements reduces learner stress, he
of linguistic production and that involves gamelike
Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
believes, and creates a positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning.
Terrell, T. D. 1977. A natural approach to second language acquisition and learning. Modern
Language Journal 61; 325-36.
Asher’s emphasis on developing comprehension skills before the learner is taught to
Terrell, T, D. 1981, The natural approach in bilingual education. Ms. California Office of Bilingual speak links him to a movement in foreign language teaching sometimes referred to as the
Education. Comprehension Approach (Winitz 1981). This refers to several different comprehension-
Terrell, T. D, 1982, The natural approach to language teaching: an update. Modern Language Journal based language teaching proposals which share the belief that (a) comprehension abilities
66; 121~32. precede productive skills in learning a language; (b) the teaching of speaking should be

277
278 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 7
15 Total Physical Response 279

delayed until comprehension skills are established; (c) skills acquired through listening
well as to work on the role of prefabricated patterns in language learning and language use
transfer to other skills; (d) teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form; and (eg., Pawley and Syder 1983: Boers et al. 2006).
(e) teaching should minimize learner stress. These principles are also compatible with the
tenets of the Natural Approach (Chapter 14). Theory of learning
The emphasis on comprehension and the use of physical actions to teach a foreign Asher’s language learning theories are reminiscent of the views of other behavioral views of
language at an introductory level has a long tradition in language teaching. We saw in learning. Although psychologists have abandoned such simple stimulus—response models
Chapter 1 that in the nineteenth century Gouin had advocated a situationally based teach- of language acquisition and development, and although SLA theory has long rejected them
ing strategy in which a chain of action verbs served as the basis for introducing and prac- as incapable of accounting for the fundamental features of second language learning and
ticing new language items. Palmer experimented with an action-based teaching strategy in use (see Chapters 2 and 4), Asher still sees a stimulus~response view as providing the learn-
his book English through Actions (first published in Tokyo in 1925 and ultimately reissued ing theory underlying language teaching pedagogy. In addition, Asher has an elaborate
as Palmer and Palmer in 1959), which claimed that “no method of teaching foreign speech account of what he feels facilitates or inhibits foreign language learning. For this dimension
is likely to be economical or successful which does not include in the first period a very of his learning theory, he draws on three rather influential learning hypotheses:
considerable proportion of that type of classroom work which consists of the carrying out
by the pupil of orders issued by the teacher” (Palmer and Palmer 1959: 39). 1. There exists a specific innate bio-program for language learning, which defines an opti-
mal path for first and second language development.
2. Brain lateralization defines different learning functions in the left- and right-brain hemi-
Approach spheres.
3. Stress (an affective filter) intervenes between the act of learning and what is to be
Theory of language
learned; the lower the stress, the greater the learning.
Asher does not directly discuss the nature of language or how languages are organized.
However, the labeling and ordering of TPR classroom drills seem to be built on assump- Let us consider how Asher views each of these in turn.
tions that owe much to structuralist or grammar-based views of languages. Asher states The bio program
that “most of the grammatical structure of the target language and hundreds of vocabulary Asher’s TPR is a “Natural Method” (see Chapters 1 and 14), in as much as Asher sees first
items can be learned from the skilful use of the imperative by the instructor” (1977: 4). He and second language learning as parallel processes. Second language teaching and learning
views the verb in the imperative as the central linguistic motif around which language use should reflect the naturalistic processes of first language learning. Asher sees three proc-
and learning are organized. esses as. central. (a) Children develop listening competence before they develop the ability
Asher sees language as being composed of abstractions and non-abstractions, with to speak. At the early stages of first language acquisition, they can understand complex
non-abstractions being most specifically represented by concrete nouns and impera- utterances that they cannot spontaneously produce or imitate. Asher speculates that during
tive verbs, He believes that learners can acquire a “detailed cognitive map” as well as
this period of listening, the learner may be making a mental “blueprint” of the language
“the grammatical structure of a language” without recourse to abstractions. Abstractions that will make it possible to produce spoken language later. (b) Children’s ability in listening
should be delayed until students have internalized a detailed cognitive map of the target comprehension is acquired because children are required to respond physically to spoken
language. Abstractions are not necessary for people to decode the grammatical structure of language in the form of parental commands. (c) Once a foundation in listening comprehen-
a language. Once students have internalized the code, abstractions can be introduced and sion has been established, speech evolves naturally and effortlessly out of it. As we noted
explained in the target language (Asher 1977: 11-12). earlier, these principles are held by proponents of a number of other method proposals and
Despite Asher’s belief in the central role of comprehension in language learning, he
are referred to collectively as a Comprehension Approach.
does not elaborate on the relation between comprehension, production, and communica-
Parallel to the processes of first language learning, the foreign language learner
tion (e.g., he has no theory of speech acts, or functions [Chapter 5] or their equivalents), should first internalize a “cognitive map” of the target language through listening exercises.
although in advanced TPR lessons imperatives are used to initiate different speech acts, Listening should be accompanied by physical movement. Speech and other productive
such as requests (“John, ask Mary to walk to the door”), and apologies (“Ned, tell Jack
skills should come later. The speech-production mechanisms will begin to function spon-
you're sorry”). Asher also refers in passing to the fact that language can be internalized as taneously when the basic foundations of language are established through listening train-
wholes or chunks, as defined in the Lexical Approach (Chapter 11), rather than as single ing. Asher bases these assumptions on his belief in the human brain of a bio-program for
lexical items, and, as such, links are possible to more theoretical proposals of this kind as language, which defines an optimal order for first and second language learning.
280 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 15 Total Physical Response 281

A reasonable hypothesis is that the brain and nervous system are biologically The syllabus
programmed to acquire language ... in a particular sequence and in a particular The type of syllabus Asher uses can be inferred from an analysis of the exercise types
mode. The sequence is listening before speaking and the mode is to synchronize employed in TPR classes. This analysis reveals the use of a sentence-based syllabus, with
language with the individual’s body. grammatical and lexical criteria being primary in selecting teaching items. Unlike methods
(Asher 1977: 4) that operate from a grammar-based or structural view of the core elements of language,
TPR requires initial attention to meaning rather than to the form of items. Grammar is thus
Brain lateralization
Asher sees TPR as directed to right-brain learning, whereas most second learning teach-
taught inductively. Grammatical features and vocabulary items are selected not according
to their frequency of need or use in target-language situations, but according to the situ-
ing methods are directed to left-brain learnirig. Asher refers to neurological studies of
ations in which they can be used in the classroom and the ease with which they can be
the brains of cats and studies of a boy with a seizure disorder whose corpus callosum,
connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain, was surgically divided, at which learned.
The criterion for including a vocabulary item or grammatical feature at a particular
point the boy’s language function appeared to move from the left to the right hemi-
point in training is ease of assimilation by students. If an item is not learned rapidly, this
sphere, Asher interprets these studies as demonstrating that the brain is divided into
means that the students are not ready for that item. Withdraw it and try again at a future
hemispheres according to function, with language activities centralized in the right
time in the training program (Asher 1977: 42). Asher also suggests that a fixed number of
hemispheres. Drawing on work by Jean Piaget, Asher holds that the child language
learner acquires language through motor movement - a right-hemisphere activity. items be introduced at a time, to facilitate ease of differentiation and assimilation, “In an
hour, it is possible for students to assimilate 12 to 36 new lexical items depending upon the
Right-hemisphere activities must occur before the left hemisphere can process language
size of the group and the stage of training” (ibid.). Asher sees a need for attention to both
for production.
the global meaning of language, or the overall communicative purpose, and to the finer
Similarly, the adult should proceed to language mastery through right-hemisphere
motor activities, while the left hemisphere watches and learns. When a sufficient amount of
details of its organization, that is, its grammatical structure.
The movement of the body seems to be a powerful mediator for the understanding,
right-hemisphere learning has taken place, the left hemisphere will be triggered to produce
organization, and storage of macro-details of linguistic input. Language can be internalized
language and to initiate other, more abstract language processes.
in chunks, but alternative strategies must be developed for fine-tuning to macro-details,
Reduction of stress such as the grammar of these chunks or the function of individual words within them
An important condition for successful language learning is the absence of stress. First lan- (Asher, Kusodo, and de la Torre 1974: 28).
guage acquisition takes place in a stress-free environment, according to Asher, whereas the A course designed around TPR principles, however, would not be expected to follow
adult language learning environment often causes considerable stress and anxiety. The key a TPR syllabus exclusively.
to stress-free learning is to tap into the natural bio-program for language development and
We are not advocating only one strategy of learning. Even if the imperative is the major
thus to recapture the relaxed and pleasurable experiences that accompany first language
or minor format of training, variety is critical for maintaining continued student interest.
learning. By focusing on meaning interpreted through movement, rather than on language
forms studied in the abstract, the learner is said to be liberated from self-conscious and The imperative is a powerful facilitator of learning, but it should be used in combina-
stressful situations and is able to devote full energy to learning. tion with many other techniques. The optimal combination will vary from instructor to
instructor and class to class.
(Asher 1977: 28)
Design ©
Objectives Types of learning and teaching activities
The general objectives of TPR are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level. Imperative drills are the major classroom activity in TPR, for the first 120 hours of instruc-
Comprehension is a means to an end, and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills. tion, as mentioned. They are typically used to elicit physical actions and activity on the
A TPR course aims to produce learners who are capable of an uninhibited communication part of the learners. Asher’s rationale for this is that “everyday conversations are highly
that is intelligible to a native speaker. Specific instructional objectives are not elaborated, abstract and disconnected; therefore to understand them requires a rather advanced
for these will depend on the particular needs of the learners. Whatever goals are set, how- internalization of the target language” (1977: 95). Other class activities include role plays
ever, must be attainable through the use of action-based drills in the imperative form. and slide presentations. Role plays center on everyday situations, such as at the restaurant,
Conversational dialogues are delayed until after about 120 hours of instruction. supermarket, or gas station. Slide presentations are used to provide a visual center for
282 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 15 Total Physical Response 283

teacher narration, which is followed by commands, and for questions to students, such as language. Thus, the teacher controls the language input the learners receive, providing the
“Which person in the picture is the salesperson?” Reading and writing activities may also raw material for the “cognitive map” that the learners will construct in their own minds.
be employed to further consolidate structures and vocabulary, and as follow-ups to oral The teacher should also allow speaking abilities to develop in learners at the learners’ own
imperative drills. natural pace.
In giving feedback to learners, the teacher should follow the example of parents giving
Learner roles feedback to their children, At first, parents correct very little, but as the child grows older,
Learners in TPR have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen attentively parents are said to tolerate fewer mistakes in speech. Similarly teachers should refrain from
and respond physically to commands given by the teacher, Learners are required to respond too much correction in the early stages and should not interrupt to correct errors, since
both individually and collectively. Learners have little influence over the content of learn- this will inhibit learners. As time goes on, however, more teacher intervention is expected,
ing, since content is determined by the teacher, who must follow the imperative-based for- as the learners’ speech becomes “fine-tuned.”
mat for lessons. Learners are also expected to recognize and respond to novel combinations Asher cautions teachers about preconceptions that he feels could hinder the success-
of previously taught items: ful implementation of TPR principles. First, he cautions against the “illusion of simplicity,’
where the teacher underestimates the difficulties involved in learning a foreign language.
Novel utterances are recombinations of constituents you have used directly in training. ‘This results in progressing at too fast a pace and failing to provide a gradual transition from
For instance, you directed students with “Walk to the table!” and “Sit on the chair!” one teaching stage to another. The teacher should also avoid having too narrow a tolerance
These are familiar to students since they have practiced responding to them. Now, will for errors in speaking.
a student understand if you surprise the individual with an unfamiliar utterance that
you created by recombining familiar elements (e.g. “Sit on the table!”). You begin with a wide tolerance for student speech errors, but as training progresses,
(Asher 1977: 31) the tolerance narrows ... Remember that as students progress in their training, more
and more attention units are freed to process feedback from the instructor. In the
Learners are also required to produce novel combinations of their own. beginning, almost no attention units are available to hear the instructor’s attempts
Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress. They are encouraged to speak to correct distortions in speech. All attention is directed to producing utterances.
when they feel ready to speak — that is, when a sufficient basis in the language has been Therefore the student cannot attend efficiently to the instructor’s corrections.
internalized. (Asher 1977: 27)

Teacher roles The role of instructional materials

‘The teacher plays an active and direct role in TPR: “The instructor is the director of a There is generally no basic text in a TPR course. Materials and realia play an increasing
stage play in which the students are the actors” (Asher 1977: 43). It is the teacher who role, however, in later learning stages and a number of published resources are now avail-
decides what to teach, who models and presents the new materials, and who selects sup- able to support TPR-based teaching. For absolute beginners, lessons may not require the
porting materials for classroom use, ‘The teacher is encouraged to be well prepared and use of materials, since the teacher's voice, actions, and gestures may be a sufficient basis for
well organized so that the lesson flows smoothly and predictably. Asher recommends classroom activities. Later the teacher may use common classroom objects, such as books,
detailed lesson plans: “It is wise to write out the exact utterances you will be using and pens, cups, furniture. As the course develops, the teacher will need to make or collect sup-
especially the novel commands because the action is so fast-moving there is usually not porting materials to support teaching points. These may include pictures, realia, slides, and
time for you to create spontaneously” (1977: 47). Classroom interaction and turn taking word charts. Asher has developed TPR student kits that focus on specific situations, such
is teacher-directed rather than learner-directed. Even when learners interact with other as the home, the supermarket, the beach. Students may use the kits to construct scenes
learners, it is usually the teacher who initiates the interaction: (eg., “Put the stove in the kitchen”).

Teacher: Maria, pick up the box of rice and hand it to Miguel and ask Miguel to read
Procedure
the price.
A typical procedure for students in the early phase of a new course, before conversational
Asher stresses, however, that the teacher's role is not so much to teach as to provide dialogues are introduced, is presented below and serves as a source of information on the
opportunities for learning. The teacher has the responsibility of providing the best kind procedures used in the TPR classroom. Asher (1977) provides a lesson-by-lesson account
of exposure to language so that the learner can internalize the basic rules of the target of a course taught according to TPR principles. The course was for adult immigrants and
284 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 15 Total Physical Response 285

consisted of 159 hours of classroom instruction. The sixth class in the course proceeded in
Take out-your ee :
the following way: _Brush your teeth.”
| Review. This was a fast-moving warm-up in which individual students were moved with
"Put your: toothbrush in your.book.
Touch your teeth. ;
commands such
Show your teeth’ to > Dolores. :
rive your car around Miako Dolores, point to Eduardo's t 2
‘Jeffe, throw the red flower to Maria, ook for the soap.
Maria, scream. Give
f the soap to Elaine.
Rita; ‘pick up the knife and'spoon and put thém{n the cup “;. Blaine; put the soap in Ramiro’s ear. .
Eduardo, take a drink of water and give the cup to Elaine. “Put the towel on Juan’ 's.arm.
Juan, put the towel.on your head and laugh. a
Mare,
A wipe yo rhands on the. towel. tee

such as pointing. ‘Examples would be:

“Look for :
Where igi the towel? [Eduar 0, point to the towel] Bante eee gh VY ' %
Where ls the toothbrush? ee Point to the toothbneh i oi
Where isDolores? E
Role ’ feversal, Students readily volunteered
| to.
behavior of the instructor and other students
Reading and writing. The instrictor: wrote on the chalkboard each new vocabulary item
Maria’s hair.”
and_a sentence to illustrate the item. Then she spoke each item:and. acted out the sen-
Shirou’s hair, tence. The students listened as she read the material. Some copied the ees in”
your teeth.
their noes f ; sacs
2. your pants, |.
“(asher i977: 6-6)

Conclusion
Pick up: rectangle from the table and giv Total Physical Response is in a sense a revival and extension of the language teaching
, Put the rectangle next tothe square, <2
procedures proposed in Palmer and Palmer’s English through Actions, updated with refer-
: Pick-up. the tangle from the-table and give it, iome.
ences to more recent psychological theories. It enjayed some popularity when it was first
, Catch the triangle and put it nextto the rectangle,
introduced. because of its support by those who emphasized the role of comprehension
in second language acquisition. Krashen (1981), for example, regards provision of com-
prehensible input and reduction of stress as keys to successful language acquisition, and
he sees performing physical actions in the target language as a means of making input
comprehensible and minimizing stress (see Chapter 14). Asher continues to be the primary
advocate of TPR. In 2007 he published an article entitled “TPR after 40 Years: Still a Good
Idea? and he continues to promote his book and related publications on the TPR website
(http://www.tpr-world.com/). Nevertheless, Asher himself has stressed that TPR should
«Throw the aes to Wing. ©: be used in association with other methods and techniques. The experimental support for
' Wing, unscrew ithe top of the toothpaste.
the effectiveness of TPR is sketchy (as it is for most methods) and typically deals with only
286 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 15 Total Physical Response 287

the very beginning stages of learning. Proponents of Communicative Language Teaching 3) Both you and the students answer the questions in the table below.
would question the relevance to real-world learner needs of the TPR syllabus and the utter-
Questions Teacher Studenis
ances and sentences used within it. Therefore, as Asher has recommended in more recent
How much did you enjoy the
years, practitioners of TPR typically follow his suggestion that TPR represents a useful set
lesson compared to a normal
of techniques and is compatible with other approaches to teaching, Today TPR activities
lesson? (1 = not at all, 5 = very
are often included in training courses for teachers of young learners, though not usually much)
Asher’s theoretical justifications for them. TPR practices, therefore, may be effective for How stressful was the class?
reasons other than those proposed by Asher and do not necessarily demand commitment
How much did you / the
to the theories used to justify them. students learn?
(1 = nothing, 5 = very much)
Discussion questions
How useful do you think what
1. Asher claims that adults should copy the processes by which children acquire their you / the students have learned
mother tongue (p. 277). What do you think are some of the ways in which adults learn will be outside the class?
differently from children? (1 =not at all, 5 = very much)
2. One of the tenets of TPR (and several other comprehension-based approaches) is the For the teacher only

practice of receptive before productive skills. Can you think of reasons or situations in How much preparation time did
which it may be preferable to start with spoken language? the class involve compared to
your normal classes? (1 = much
3. In TPR, grammar is taught inductively, and initial attention is paid to meaning rather less, 5 = much more)
than form. Can you think of other language teaching methods or approaches that do
the same?
References and further reading
4. “Grammatical features and vocabulary items are selected not according to their fre-
quency of need or use in target-language situations, but according to the situations in Asher, J. 1965, The strategy of the total physical response: an application to learning Russian.
International Review of Applied Linguistics 3: 291-300.
which they can be used in the classroom and the ease with which they can be learned”
Asher, J. 1966. ‘The learning strategy of the total physical response: a review. Modern Language
(p. 281). What is the reason for this?
Journal 50: 79-84.
5. TPR uses mainly imperatives to teach language at the early stages. Consider the follow- Asher, J. 1969. The total physical response approach to second language learning. Modern Language
ing three situations and give examples of how appropriate language for them could be Journal 53: 3-17.
introduced in this way: Asher, J, 1972. Children’s first language as a model of second language learning. Modern Language
Journal 56: 133-9.
e Buying a train ticket Asher, J. 1977. Learning Another Language through Actions: The Complete Teacher's Guide Book.
e Watching the news on TV Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions. 2nd edn. 1982.
¢ Participating in a classroom discussion with other learners about rising food prices. Asher, J. 1981a. The extinction of second language learning in American schools: an intervention
model. In H. Winitz (ed.), The Comprehension Approach to Foreign Language Instruction.
Did you find this easier to do for some tasks than others? Why?
Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 49-68.
. Discovery task. Several claims are made by proponents of TPR. Let’s test these out in a Asher, J. 1981b. The fear of foreign languages. Psychology Today 15(8): 52-9.
n

mini experiment. Asher, J,, J. A. Kusodo, and R. de la Torre. 1974. Learning a second language through commands: the
second field test. Modern Language Journal 58: 24 -32.
1) Find two learners who are willing to assist you and choose a topic you are comfortable
Asher, J., and B. S. Price. 1967. The learning strategy of the total physical response: some age differ-
teaching (i.e., that you are familiar with and have taught before). ences. Child Development 38: 1219-27.
2) Plan a TPR activity in great detail, deciding beforehand how you will introduce the Boers, F., J. Eyckmans, J. Kappel, H. Stengers, and M. Demecheleer. 2006. Formulaic sequences and
topic, how you will handle new words, and what responses you expect from your perceived oral proficiency: putting a lexical approach to the test. Language Teaching Research
students. 10: 245-61.
288 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
16 The Silent Way
DeCecco, J. P. 1968. The Psychology of Learning and Instruction: Educational Psychology. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Katona, G. 1940. Organizing and Memorizing: Studies in the Psychology of Learning and ‘Teaching.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Krashen, S. D. 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
Kunihira, S., and J. Asher. 1965. The strategy of the total physical response: an application to learning
Japanese. International Review of Applied Linguistics 3: 277-89.
Miller, G. A., E. Galanter, and K. H. Pribram. 1960. Plans and the Structure of Behavior. New York:
Henry Holt. Introduction
Palmer, H., and D. Palmer. 1925. English through Actions. Rept. London: Longman Green, 1959.
Pawley, A., and F. Syder. 1983. Two puzzles for linguistic theory: native-like selection and native- While some of the teaching methods that have gained prominence at different times
like fluency. In J. Richards and R. Schmidt (eds.), Language and Communication. London: represented the consensus of academics, language teaching specialists, and educational
Longman. 191~226. institutions and hence were often widely adopted, others have been the product of indi-
Winitz, H. (ed.). 1981. The Comprehension Approach to Foreign Language Instruction. Rowley, MA: vidual educators advocating a personal view of teaching and learning. Such is the case with
Newbury House. the Silent Way. The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by
Winitz, H., and J. Reeds, 1975. Comprehension and Problem Solving as Strategies for Language Caleb Gattegno (1911-1988). Gattegno’s name is well known for his revival of interest in the
Training. The Hague: Mouton. use of colored wooden sticks called Cuisenaire rods and for his series Words in Color, an
Yorio, C. 1980. Conventionalized language forms and the development of communicative compe- approach to the teaching of initial reading in which sounds are coded by specific colors.
tence, TESOL Quarterly 14(4): 433-42. His reading materials are copyrighted and continue to be marketed through Educational
Solutions Inc., in New York. The Silent Way represents Gattegno’s venture into the field of
foreign language teaching. As applied to language teaching, a Silent Way lesson progresses
through a number of stages, beginning in a similar way with pronunciation practice and
then moving to practice of simple sentence patterns, structure, and vocabulary. It is based
on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom and
the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible. Elements of the
Silent Way, particularly the use of color charts and the colored Cuisenaire rods, grew out
of Gattegno’s previous experience as an educational designer of reading and mathematics
programs. (Cuisenaire rods were first developed by Georges Cuisenaire, a European educa-
tor who used them for the teaching of math. Gattegno had observed Cuisenaire rods and
this gave him the idea for their use in language teaching.) Working from what is a rather
traditional structural and lexical syllabus, the Silent Way method exemplifies many of the
features that characterize more traditional methods, such as Situational Language Teaching
(Chapter 3) and Audiolingualism (Chapter 4), with a strong focus on accurate repetition
of sentences, modeled initially by the teacher, and a movement through guided elicitation
exercises to freer communication.
It is interesting to speculate that one of the reasons for the early popularity of the Silent
Way in the United States and its use in official US Foreign Officer and Peace Corps training
programs is that silence has been noted to be a stronger inducement to verbalization among
Americans than for many other cultural groups. Americans are said to think of communica-
tion as essentially a verbal activity (Langer 1942; Knapp 1978). Hence, they are uncomfortable
with long periods of silence (Mehrabian 1981). Within the media industries, for example,
merchants buy time for advertising and the metaphor of “time is money” becomes a central
concern. Dead time (long periods of silence) in radio and television is seen as a critical

289
 7
290 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 16 The Silent Way 291

vocabulary” is used in communicating more specialized ideas, such as political or

problem of miscommunication. Periods of silence are avoided among individuals engaged
in conversations with others. Silence is seen, in this context, as a moment of awkwardness philosophical opinions. The most important vocabulary for the learner deals with the most
(St. Clair 2003). Second language teachers typically encourage their students to “speak out”
functional and versatile words of the language, many of which may not have direct equiva-
as an essential way of learning. Silence in the Silent Way may have been seen by its American lents in the learner's native language. “Functional vocabulary” includes such areas as pro-
nouns, numbers, and comparison words that refer to oneself and to others. ‘This functional
practitioners as a way to lever participation in the foreign language class — that is, have the
teacher take responsibility for most of the speaking - so students could avoid “moments of vocabulary provides a key, says Gattegno, to comprehending the “spirit” of the Janguage.
awkwardness.”
Theory of learning

Approach The Silent Way draws on Gattegno’s understanding of a cognitive-code theory of learn-
ing (see Chapter 2; Atkinson 2011). In cognitively based approaches, language learning is
Theory of language
understood as a mental activity - one in which the learner is a lone scientist or explorer,
Gattegno takes an openly skeptical view of the role of linguistic theory in language teach- building up his or her understanding of language from exposure to and experience of it.
ing methodology. He feels that linguistic studies “may be a specialization, [that] carry with Cognitive approaches to learning are an established approach in psychology and are based
them a narrow opening of one’ sensitivity and perhaps serve very little towards the broad on the view that learning reflects properties of the mind and the processes involved in
end in mind” (Gattegno 1972: 84). In other words, linguistic studies, according to Gattegno, acquiring, storing and retrieving knowledge.
may increase one’s sensitivity toward language only slightly and does not contribute in a ‘The learning hypotheses underlying Gattegno’s work could be stated as follows:
meaningful way to teaching methodology. Gattegno views language itself “as a substitute
for experience, so experience is what gives meaning to language” (1972: 8). We are not e Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and
surprised, then, to see simulated experiences using tokens and picture charts as central ele- repeats what is to be learned.
ments in Silent Way teaching. © Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects.
Considerable discussion is devoted to the importance of grasping the “spirit” of the e Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.
language, and not just its component forms. By the “spirit” of the language, Gattegno is Let us consider each of these issues in turn.
referring to the way each language is composed of phonological and suprasegmental ele-
ments that combine to give the language its unique sound system and melody. The learner 1. The educational psychologist and philosopher Jerome Bruner distinguishes two tradi-
must gain a “feel” for this aspect of the target language as soon as possible, though how the tions of teaching - that which takes place in the expository mode and that which takes
learner is to do this is not altogether clear. place in the hypothetical mode. In the expository mode “decisions covering the mode
and pace and style of exposition are principally determined by the teacher as expositor:
By looking at the material chosen and the sequence in which it is presented in a Silent
Way classroom, it is clear that the Silent Way takes a structural approach to the organization the student is the listener.” In the hypothetical mode “the teacher and the student are in
of language to be taught. Language is seen as groups of sounds arbitrarily associated with a more cooperative position. The student is not a bench-bound listener but is taking part
in the formulation and at times may play the principal role in it” (Bruner 1966: 83). The
specific meanings and organized into sentences or strings of meaningful units by grammar
rules. Language is separated from its social context and taught through artificial situations, Silent Way belongs to the latter tradition, which views learning as a problem-solving,
usually represented by rods. Lessons follow a sequence based on grammatical complexity,
creative, discovering activity, in which the learner is a principal actor rather than a
bench-bound listener. Bruner discusses the benefits derived from “discovery learning”
and new lexical and structural material is meticulously broken down into its elements, with
under four headings: (a) the increase in intellectual potency, (b) the shift from extrinsic
one element presented at a time. The sentence is the basic unit of teaching, and the teacher
to intrinsic rewards, (c) the learning of heuristics by discovering, and (d) the aid to con-
focuses on propositional meaning (i.e., complete sentences that generally have a “yes or no”
truth value), rather than communicative value. Students are presented with the structural
serving memory (Bruner 1966; 83), In other words, this type of learning enhances intel-
lect, is more rewarding, develops the individual’s ability to make discoveries, and helps
patterns of the target language and learn the grammar rules of the language through largely
inductive processes.
the learner to retain what is learned. As we shall see, Gattegno claims similar benefits
Gattegno secs vocabulary as a central dimension of language learning and the choice from learners taught via the Silent Way.
of vocabulary as crucial. He distinguishes between several classes of vocabulary items. 2. The rods and the color-coded pronunciation charts (called Fidel charts) provide physical
The “semi-luxury vocabulary” consists of expressions common in the daily life of the tar- foci for student learning and also create memorable images to facilitate student recall.
In psychological terms, these visual devices serve as associative mediators for student
get language culture; this refers to food, clothing, travel, family life, and so on. “Luxury
292 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 16 The Silent Way 293

learning and recall, The psychological literature on mediation in learning and recall proceeds from attention, production, self-correction, and absorption. Silent Way learners
is voluminous but, for our purposes, can be briefly summarized in a quote from Earl acquire “inner criteria, which play a central role “in one’s education throughout all of one’s
Stevick: “If the use of associative mediators produces better retention than repetition life” (Gattegno 1976: 29). These inner criteria allow learners to monitor and self-correct
does, it seems to be the case that the quality of the mediators and the student's personal their own production. It is in the activity of self-correction through self-awareness that the
investment in them may also have a powerful effect on memory” (1976: 25). Silent Way claims to differ most notably from other ways of language learning. It is this
3. The Silent Way is also related to a set of premises that we have called “problem-solving capacity for self-awareness that the Silent Way calls upon, a capacity said to be little appreci-
approaches to Jearning” These premises are succinctly represented in the words of ated or exercised by first language learners.
Benjamin Franklin: However, the Silent Way is not merely a language teaching method. Gattegno sees
language learning through the Silent Way as a recovery of innocence ~ “a return to our full
Tell me and | forget,
powers and potential” Gattegno’s aim is not just second language learning; it is nothing less
teach me and | remember,
than the education of the spiritual powers and of the sensitivity of the individual. Mastery
involve me and | learn.
of linguistic skills are seen in the light of an emotional inner peace resulting from the sense
In the languages of experimental psychology, the kind of subject involvement that of power and control brought about by new levels of awareness.
promotes greatest learning and recall involves processing of material to be learned at the
“greatest cognitive depth” (Craik 1973) or, for our purposes, involving the greatest amount
of problem-solving activity. Memory research has demonstrated that the learner's “memory Design
benefits from creatively searching out, discovering and depicting” (Bower and Winzenz Objectives
1970). In the Silent Way, “the teacher's strict avoidance of repetition forces alertness and The general objective of the Silent Way is to give beginning-level students oral and aural
concentration on the part of the learners (Gattegno 1972: 80). Similarly, the learner's grap- facility in basic elements of the target language. The general goal set for language learn-
pling with the problem of forming an appropriate and meaningful utterance in a new ing is near-native fluency in the target language, and correct pronunciation and mastery
language leads the learner to realization of the language “through his own perceptual and of the prosodic elements (variations of pitch, stress, and rhythm) of the target language
analytical powers” (Selman 1977). The Silent Way student is expected to become “independ- are emphasized. An immediate objective is to provide the learner with a basic practi-
ent, autonomous and responsible” (Gattegno 1976) — in other words, a good problem-solver cal knowledge of the grammar of the language. This forms the basis for independent
in language. learning on the learner's part. Gattegno discusses the following kinds of objectives as
Like many other method proponents, Gattegno also makes extensive use of his under- appropriate for a language course at an elementary level (1972: 81-3). Students should
standing of first language learning processes as a basis for deriving principles for teaching be able to:
foreign languages to adults. Gattegno recommends, for example, that the learner needs to
e correctly and easily answer questions about themselves, their education, their family,
“return to the state of mind that characterizes a baby’s learning - surrender” (Scott and
travel, and daily events;
Page 1982: 273)
e speak with a good accent;
Having referred to these processes, however, Gattegno states that the processes of
e give either a written or an oral description of a picture, “including the existing relation-
learning a second language are “radically different” from those involved in learning a first
ships that concern space, time and numbers”;
language. The second language learner is unlike the first language learner and “cannot learn
® answer general questions about the culture and the literature of the native speakers of
another language in the same way because of what he now knows” (Gattegno 1972: 11). The
the target language;
“natural” or “direct” approaches to acquiring a second language are thus misguided, says
e perform adequately in the following areas: spelling, grammar (production rather than
Gattegno, and a successful second language approach will “replace a ‘natural’ approach by
explanation), reading comprehension, and writing.
one that is very ‘artificial’ and, for some purposes, strictly controlled” (1972: 12). The “arti-
ficial approach” that Gattegno proposes is based on the principle that successful learning Gattegno states that the Silent Way teaches learners how to learn a language, and the skills
involves commitment of the self to language acquisition through the use of silent awareness developed through the process of learning a foreign or second language can be employed in
and then active trial. Gattegno’s repeated emphasis on the primacy of learning over teach- dealing with “unknowns” of every type. ‘Ihe method, we are told, can also be used to teach
ing places a focus on the self of the learner, on the learner's priorities and commitments. reading and writing, and its usefulness is not restricted to beginning-level students. Most
Awareness is educable. As one learns “in awareness,” one’s powers of awareness and of the examples Gattegno describes, however, as well as the classes we have observed, deal
one’s capacity to learn become greater. Again, the process chain that develops awareness primarily with a basic level of aural/oral proficiency.
294 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 16 The Silent Way 295

The syllabus
: 8, Wood color red long.
‘The Silent Way adopts a basically structural syllabus, with lessons planned around gram-
~ Wood color green fonger.
matical items and related vocabulary. Gattegno does not, however, provide details as to the
~ Wood color orange longest
precise selection and arrangement of grammatical and lexical items to be covered. There is
“9. Wood color green taller.
no general Silent Way syllabus. But from observation of Silent Way programs developed by
Wood color red, is it?
the Peace Corps to teach a variety of languages at a basic level of proficiency, it is clear that
10, Review. Students use structures taught
language items are introduced according to their grammatical complexity, their relation-
in new situations, such.as comparing the
ship to what has been taught previously, and the ease with which items can be presented
elahis.0
ofstudents in the class.
visually. Typically, the imperative is the initial structure introduced, because of the ease Fe Goel Wiskin, personalcommunication)
with which action verbs may be demonstrated using Silent Way materials. New elements,
such as the plural form of nouns, are taught within a structure already familiar, Numeration
occurs early in a course, because of the importance of numbers in everyday life and the Types of learning and teaching activities
ease with which they can be demonstrated. Prepositions of location also appear early in the
Learning tasks and activities in the Silent Way have the function of encouraging and shaping
syllabus for similar reasons.
student oral response without direct oral instruction from or unnecessary modeling by the
Vocabulary is selected according to the degree to which it can be manipulated within
teacher, Basic to the method are simple linguistic tasks in which the teacher models a word,
a given structure and according to its productivity within the classroom setting. In addition
phrase, or sentence and then elicits learner responses, initially by having learners silently carry
to prepositions and numbers, pronouns, quantifiers, words dealing with temporal relations,
out their commands containing these words, phrases, or sentences, Learners then go on to cre-
and words of comparison are introduced early in the course, because they “refer to oneself
ate their own utterances by putting together old and new information. Charts, rods, and other
and to others in the numerous relations of everyday life” (Stevick 1976). These kinds of
aids may be used to elicit learner responses, and much of the activity may be teacher-directed.
words, as mentioned earlier, are referred to as the “functional vocabulary” of a language
However, after the initial presentation of language, teacher modeling is minimal. Responses to
because of their high utility.
commands, questions, and visual cues thus constitute the basis for classroom activities,
The following is a section of a Peace Corps Silent Way Syllabus for the first ten
hours of instruction in Thai. It was used to teach American Peace Corps volunteers being Learner roles
trained to teach in Thailand. At least 15 minutes of every hour of instruction would be
Gattegno sees language learning as a process of personal growth resulting from growing
spent on pronunciation. A word that is italicized can be substituted for by another word
student awareness and self-challenge. The learner first experiences a “random or almost
having the same part of speech or purpose. (The English represents translations of the
random feeling of the area of activity in question until one finds one or more cornerstones
Thai sentences.)
to build on. Then starts a systematic analysis, first by trial and error, later by directed exper-
iment with practice of the acquired subareas until mastery follows” (Gattegno 1972: 79).
Learners are expected to develop independence, autonomy, and responsibility. Independent
learners are those who are aware that they must depend on their own resources and real-
ize that they can use “the knowledge of their own language to open up some things in a
new language” or that they can “take their knowledge of the first few words in the new
Wood colar red two pieces. language and figure out additional words by using that knowledge” (Stevick 1980: 42). The
hee Take {pick up) wood color ‘red two pieces. autonomous learner chooses proper expressions in a given set of circumstances and situa-
Q Take wood color red two pieces give him: tions. “The teacher cultivates the student’s ‘autonomy’ by deliberately building choices into
ea on, under, near, fe, over, - situations” (Stevick 1980: 42). Responsible learners know that they have free will to choose
6. Wood red where?
. Wood red on table. among any set of linguistic choices. The ability to choose intelligently and carefully is said
“Wood color red on table, is i? to be evidence of responsibility. ‘Ihe absence of correction and repeated modeling from
“Yes, on the teacher requires the students to develop “inner criteria” and to correct themselves.
: Not on: The absence of explanations requires learners to make generalizations, come to their own
conclusions, and formulate whatever rules they themselves feel they need.
296 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 16 The Silent Way 297

Learners exert a strong influence over each other’s learning and, to a lesser degree, shape student responses and so must be both facile and creative as a pantomimist and
over the linguistic content taught. They are expected to interact with each other and puppeteer. In sum, the Silent Way teacher, like the complete dramatist, writes the script,
suggest alternatives to each other. Learners have only themselves as individuals and the chooses the props, sets the mood, models the action, designates the players, and is critic
group to rely on, and so must learn to work cooperatively rather than competitively. for the performance.
They need to feel comfortable both correcting each other and being corrected by each
other. The role of instructional materials
In order to be productive members of the learning group, learners thus have to play The Silent Way is perhaps as well known for the unique nature of its teaching materials as
varying roles, At times one is an independent individual, at other times a group member. for the silence of its teachers. The materials consist mainly of a set of colored rods, color-
A learner also must be a teacher, a student, part of a support system, a problem-solver, and coded pronunciation and vocabulary wall charts, a pointer, and reading/writing exercises,
a self-evaluator. And it is the student who is usually expected to decide on what roles are all of which are used to illustrate the relationships between sound and meaning in the
most appropriate to a given situation. target language. The materials are designed for manipulation by the students as well as by
the teacher, independently and cooperatively, in promoting language learning by direct
Teacher roles association.
Teacher silence is, perhaps, the unique and, for many traditionally trained language teach- The pronunciation charts, called “Fidels,” have been devised for a number of languages
ers, the most demanding aspect of the Silent Way. Teachers are exhorted to resist their and contain symbols in the target language for all of the vowel and consonant sounds of
long-standing commitment to model, remodel, assist, and direct desired student responses, the language. The symbols are color-coded according to pronunciation; thus, if a language
Silent Way teachers have remarked upon the arduousness of self-restraint to which early possesses two different symbols for the same sound, they will be colored alike. Classes often
experience of the Silent Way has subjected them. Gattegno talks of subordinating “teaching begin by using Fidel charts in the native language, color-coded in an analogous manner,
to learning,’ but that is not to suggest that the teacher’s role in Silent Way is not critical and so that students learn to pair sounds with its associated color. There may be from one to
demanding. Gattegno anticipates that using the Silent Way would require most teachers eight of such charts, depending upon the language. The teacher uses the pointer to indicate
to change their perception of their role. Stevick (1980: 56) defines the Silent Way teacher's a sound symbol for the students to produce. Where native-language Fidels are used, the
tasks as (a) to teach, (b) to test, and (c) to get out of the way. Although this may not seem teacher will point to a symbol on one chart and then to its analogues on the Fidel in the
to constitute a radical alternative to standard teaching practice, the details of the steps the other language. In the absence of native-language charts, or when introducing a sound not
teacher is expected to follow are unique to the Silent Way. present in the native language, the teacher will give one clear, audible model after indicating
By “teaching” is meant the presentation of an item once, typically using nonverbal the proper Fidel symbol in the target language. The charts are hung on the wall and serve to
clues to get across meanings. Testing follows immediately and might better be termed elici- aid in remembering pronunciation and in building new words by sounding out sequences
tation and shaping of student production, which, again, is done in as silent a way as pos- of symbols as they are pointed to by the teacher or student.
sible. Finally, the teacher silently monitors learners’ interactions with each other and may Just as the Fidel charts are used to visually illustrate pronunciation, the colored
even leave the room while learners struggle with their new linguistic tools. For the most Cuisenaire rods are used to directly link words and structures with their meanings in
part, Silent Way teacher’s manuals are unavailable (however, see Arnold 1981), and teachers the target language, thereby avoiding translation into the native language. The rods vary
are responsible for designing teaching sequences and creating individual lessons and lesson in length from 1 to 10 centimeters, and each length has a specific color. The rods may
elements. Gattegno emphasized the importance of teacher-defined learning goals that are be used for naming colors, for size comparisons, to represent people, build floor plans,
clear and attainable. Sequence and timing in Silent Way classes are more important than in constitute a road map, and so on. Use of the rods is intended to promote inventiveness,
many kinds of language teaching classes, and the teacher's sensitivity to and management creativity, and interest in forming communicative utterances on the part of the students,
of them is critical. as they move from simple to more complex structures. Gattegno and his proponents
More generally, the teacher is responsible for creating an environment that encour- believe that the range of structures that can be illustrated and learned through skillful
ages student risk-taking and that facilitates learning. This is not to say that the Silent Way use of the rods is as limitless as the human imagination. When the teacher or student
teacher becomes “one of the group.” In fact, observers have noted that Silent Way teachers has difficulty expressing a desired word or concept, the rods can be supplemented by
often appear aloof or even gruff with their students. The teacher's role is one of neutral referring to the Fidel charts, or to the third major visual aid used in the Silent Way, the
observer, neither elated by correct performance nor discouraged by error. Students are vocabulary charts.
expected to come to see the teacher as a disinterested judge, supportive but emotionally The vocabulary or word charts are likewise color-coded, although the colors of
uninvolved. The teacher uses gestures, charts, and manipulatives in order to elicit and the symbols will not correspond to the phonetics of the Fidels, but rather to conceptual
298 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 16 The Silent Way 299

groupings of words, There are typically twelve such charts containing 500 to 800 words in incorrect, the teacher will attempt to reshape the utterance or have another student present
the native language and script. These words are selected according to their ease of appli- the correct model. After a structure is introduced and understood, the teacher will create
cation in teaching, their relative significance in the “functional” or “luxury” vocabulary, a situation in which the students can practice the structure through the manipulation of
their flexibility in terms of generalization and use with other words, and their importance the rods. Variations on the structural theme will be elicited from the class using the rods
in illustrating basic grammatical structures. The content of word charts will vary from and charts.
language to language, but the general content of the vocabulary charts (Gattegno 1972) is The sample lesson that follows illustrates a typical lesson format. The language being
paraphrased below: taught is Thai, for which this is the first lesson.

Chart 1; the word rod, colors of the rods, plural markers, simple imperative verbs, Teacher empties rods onto the table.’

aes
personal pronouns, some adjectives and question words . Teacher picks up two or be rods of ferent
Charts 2, 3: remaining pronouns, words for “here” and “there, of, for, and name says: ima]. ;
Chart 4: numbers . Teacher holds up one rod otaany color ie ‘indicates fo as student that & responge a
Charts 5, 6: words illustrating size, space, and temporal relationships as well as some required. Student says: [mai]. If response is incorrect, “teacher elicits response from |
concepts difficult to illustrate with rods, such as order, causality, condition, another student, who then. models for the first studen
similarity, and difference Teacher next picks upa red rod and says: {mai sii daeng].
Chart 7: words that qualify, such as adverbs 5: Teacher picks up a green rod and says: [mai sii khiaw].
Charts 8, 9: verbs, with cultural references where possible 6: Teacher picks up: either a red or green rod and 6licits response from See it
Chart 10: family relationships or response is-incorrect, prosedure | in stép 3's followed {student model
Charts 11,12: words expressing time, calendar elements, seasons, days, week, month, “Teacher introduces two or three other-colorsiin. the same’ manner. - ?

ST,
year, etc. Teacher shows any of the ‘ods. whose forms were taught previously and elicits stu-
Other materials that may be used include books and worksheets for practicing reading and el dent fesponse. Correction technique i is though student modeling, or the teacher may
writing skills, picture books, tapes, videotapes, films, and other visual aids. Reading and elp. ‘student isolate error and self-correct..
writing are sometimes taught from the beginning, and students are given assignments to do “9. When: mastery isachieved, teacher Puls one fred rod. in Plein view and las inal sit
si
outside the classroom at their own pace. These materials are of secondary importance and ~.daeng nung an). pkg *
are used to supplement the classroom use of rods and charts. Choice and implementation 10. Teacher then puts two ea rods | inn plan view and says: [mai sii daeng song an.
depends upon need as assessed by teachers and/or students. i. Teacher places two gréen rods in view: and says: [mai sii khiaw song an]. *
12, Teacher holds up two rods of a different color and elicits student response.
3B. Teacher introduces. additional numbers, based on. what the class can
Procedure
tain. Other colors might also be introduced.
A Silent Way lesson typically follows a standard format. The first part of the lesson focuses “Rods are putin a pile. Teacher indicates; through: his or her own actions; that rods
on pronunciation. Depending on student level, the class might work on sounds, phrases, F “should be picked up, ‘and the correct utterance made. All the students in thé group
even sentences designated on the Fidel chart. At the beginning stage, the teacher will ui, Pick up rods and make utterances. Peer “group correction isa ecioouraged. .
model the appropriate sound after pointing to a symbol on the chart. Later, the teacher will 5. Teacher then says: {kep mai sit daenig song an]
silently point to individual symbols and combinations of utterances, and monitor student
utterances, The teacher may say a word and have students guess what word the sequence of asks other students in the class to give him or her the ‘ods that he or she asks for.
symbols represents, The pointer is used to indicate stress, phrasing, and intonation. Stress his isi all done.in the target language through unambiguous actions on the part of the
can be shown by touching certain symbols more forcibly than others when pointing out a
word. Intonation and phrasing can be demonstrated by tapping on the chart to the rhythm
of the utterance.
After practice with the sounds of the language, sentence patterns, structure, and
vocabulary are practiced. The teacher models an utterance while creating a visual reali-
zation of it with the colored rods. After modeling the utterance, the teacher will have a ; (Joel Wiskin, personal communication)
student attempt to produce the utterance and will indicate its acceptability, If a response is
 } 16 The Silent Way 30:
300 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods

5. In the Silent Way, mastery of linguistic skills is seen in the light of an emotional inner
Conciusion
peace resulting from the sense of power and control brought about by new levels of
Gattegno’s
Despite the philosophical and sometimes almost metaphysical quality of much of awareness. It is perhaps understandable that this aspect of the Silent Way did not become
be
writings, the actual practices of the Silent Way are much less revolutionary than might part of mainstream language teaching. Keeping an open mind, however, what do you
expected. As noted earlier, the Silent Way follows a traditional grammatica l and lexical
think the benefits for learning of “an emotional inner peace” and “awareness” are? How
syllabus and moves from guided repetition to freer practice. The innovations in Gattegno’s might the Silent Way, in this respect, be similar to some of the elements of Cooperative
method derive primarily from the manner in which classroom activities are organized, the Language Learning (Chapter 13) or the Natural Approach (Chapter 14)?
indirect role the teacher is required to assume in directing and monitoring learner per-
formance, the responsibility placed on learners to figure out and test their hypotheses about . The first part of a Silent Way lesson is usually dedicated to pronunciation. Why do you

nN
how the language works, and the materials used to elicit and practice language. Although think there is such a strong focus on pronunciation?
the Silent Way has been viewed as outside the mainstream of language teaching since its 7. Search on the Internet for a video of a Silent Way lesson. One is currently available on
users in dif-
inception, it continues to be promoted with enthusiasm by small numbers of YouTube (http://bit.ly/ZqwC5S). As-you watch the video, answer the following questions.
ferent parts of the word. In 2011 a commemora tive volume was published on the occasion
of the 100th anniversary of Gattegno’s birth, containing accounts of teachers’ successful
How is new language introduced?
in
use of the method as the basis for introductory courses in many different languages and
as
many different countries (Educational Solutions Inc. 2011). However, because of its status
What kind of language is used?
a “fringe” method, it has not attracted the attention of researchers in language acquisition
or of the applied linguistic community; hence, there is little research available to enable
is
its claims to be seriously evaluated. For many of its practitioners, little further evidence Who does most of the talking?
needed apart from the success they report in using it.

Discussion questions What kind of feedback do learners

1. The Silent Way makes extensive use of Cuisenaire rods to teach aspects of the language. receive?
Do you see a value in this approach? What kinds of realia do you use in your classes,
and for what purpose? Can you identify aspects of the iesson that
reflect the “spirit” of the language? Give
2, Related to this, Stevick says that rods and pronunciation charts create memory aids, and examples.
that these physical aids are “associative mediators”: “If the use of associative mediators
produces better retention than repetition does, it seems to be the case that the quality of
the mediators and the student’s personal investment in them may also have a powerful References and further reading
effect on memory” (p. 292). How can teachers improve the quality of the mediators (Le., Arnold, F, 1981. College English: A Silent-Way Approach. Nara, Japan: Dawn Press.
what would be an example of a good mediator) and students’ investment in them? Atkinson, D, (ed.). 2011. Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge.
3. By the “spirit” of the language, Gattegno is referring to the way in which each language Blair, R. W. (ed.). 1982. Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
is composed of phonological and suprasegmental elements that combine to give the Bower, G. H., and D, Winzenz. 1970, Comparison of associative learning strategies, Psychonomic

language its unique sound system and melody. To some people this may sound rather
Sciences 20: 119-20.
Bruner, J, 1966. On Knowing: Essays for the Left Hand. New York: Atheneum.
vague. Have you noticed examples in your own language study where phonological and
Cheery, D. 1994. Learning with rods: one account. Master's thesis, School for International Training,
suprasegmental elements (such as its intonation and rhythm) give languages a special, Brattleboro, Vermont.
recognizable voice quality or tone?
Craik, F. I. M. 1973. A levels of analysis view of memory. In P. Pliner, L. Krames, and T. Alloway
the greatest
4. Language that is processed more deeply (Craik 1973), or that involves (eds.), Communication and Affect: Language and Thought. New York: Academic Press. 112-19.
amount of problem-solving, is likely to lead to better learning outcomes. How would Diller, C. 1978. The Language Teaching Controversy. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
you measure how deeply something was processed by a learner, or how much problem- Gattegno, C. 1972. Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools: The Silent Way, 2nd edn. New York:
Educational Solutions,
solving it involves?
302. Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
147 Community Language Learning
New York: !
The Common Sense of Teaching Forei; Languages. OF Educational
Gattegno, C. 1976. of iS gn guages.
gho, ©. 197 01
; f t
Solutions.
.com
Educational Solutions Inc 2011. The Gattegno Effect. http://www-.educationalsolutions
Knapp, M. L. 1978. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2nd edn. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston. __m
University Press.
Langer, 8. K. 1942. Philosophy in a New Key, Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Mehrabian, A. 1981. Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Belmont, .
;
CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
of Maori as a second ,
Mataira, K, 1980. The effectiveness of the Silent Way method in the teaching Introduction
. '
language. Master's thesis, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Gattegno, inventor of the Silent Way. ELT Community Language Learning (CLL’) is the name ofa method developed by Charles
Rossner, R. 1982. Talking shop: a conversation with Caleb
5 A. Curran and his associates. Curran was a specialist in counseling and a professor of
Journal 36(4): 237-41.
Scott, R. and M. Page. 1982. The subordination of teaching to learning: a seminar conducted by psychology at Loyola University, Chicago. His application of psychological counsel-
Dr. Caleb Gattegno. ELT Journal 36(4): 273-4. ing techniques to learning is known as Counseling-Learning. CLL represents the use
TESL Talk 8: 33-6. ;
Selman, M. 1977. The Silent Way: insights for ESL. of Counseling-Learning theory to teach languages. As the name indicates, CLL derives
of silence. Intercult ural Communic ation
St. Clair, R. N. 2003. The social and cultural construction its primary insights, and indeed its organizing rationale, from: Rogerian counseling.
4
Studies 12(3): 87-91. Counseling, as Rogerians see it, consists of one individual (the counselor) assuming, inso-
Perspectives on Language
Stevick, E. W. 1976. Memory, Meaning and Method: Some Psychological far as he or she is able, the internal frame of reference of the client, perceiving the world
Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. as that person sees it and communicating something of this empathetic understanding
MA: Newbury Houses i”
Stevick, E. W. 1980. Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways, Rowley, (Rogers 1951). In lay terms, counseling is one person giving advice, assistance, and support
application. Master’s thesis, University of
Thompson, G. J. 1980. The Silent Way: interpretation and to another who has a problem or is in some way in need. CLL draws on the counseling
Hawaii.
TESOL Quarterly 13(4): 483-94. metaphor to redefine the roles of the teacher (the counselor) and learners (the clients) in
Varvel, T. 1979. The Silent Way: panacea or pipedream? the language classroom.
Within the language teaching tradition, CLL is sometimes cited as an example of a
“humanistic approach” The content of the language class stems from topics learners want
to talk about, and the teacher translates their requests into an appropriate syllabus, Links
can also be made between CLL procedures and those of bilingual education, particularly
_ the set of bilingual procedures referred to as language alternation or code switching, Let us
_ discuss briefly the debt of CLL to these two traditions.
Because of the humanistic approach of CLL, the basic procedures can thus be seen
_as derived from the counselor-client relationship. Consider the following CLL proce-
dures: A group of learners sit in a circle with the teacher standing outside the circle:
a student whispers a message in the native language (L1); the teacher translates it into
_ the foreign language (L2); the student repeats the message in the foreign language into
an audio recorder; students compose further messages in the foreign language with the
teacher's help; students reflect about their feelings. We can compare the client-counselor
‘telationship in psychological counseling with the learner-knower relationship in CLL
‘(Table 17.1).

—
* The abbreviation CLL is also used for Cooperative Language Learning (Chapter 13).

303
 17 Community Language Learning 305
304 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods

CLL is trying to communicate (La Forge 1983: 45). In view of the reported success of language
Table 17.1 Comparison of client-counselor relationships in psychological counseling and
alternation procedures in several well-studied bilingual education settings (e.g., Lim 1968;
Psychological coun Community Language Learning Mackey 1972), it may be that this little-discussed aspect of CLL accounts for more of the
(client-counselor) (learner-knower)
informally reported successes of CLL students than is usually acknowledged.
1. Client and counselor agree 1. Learner and knower agree to language
[contract] to counseling. learning.
2. Client articulates his or her 2 Learner presents to the knower (in L1) a message Approach
problem in language of affect. he or she wishes to deliver to another. Theory of language
3. Counselor listens carefully. 3. Knower listens and other learners overhear.
Curran himself wrote little about his theory of language. His student La Forge (1983) has
4. Counselor restates client message 4. Knower restates learner’s message in L2. attempted to be more explicit about this dimension of CLL theory, and we draw on his
in language of cognition. account for the language theory underlying the method. La Forge reviews linguistic theory
. Client evaluates the accuracy of 5. Learner repeats the L2 message form to its as a prelude to presenting the CLL model of language. He seems to accept that language
ye

counselor's message restatement. addressee. theory must start, though not end, with criteria for sound features, the sentence, and
Client reflects on the interaction 6. Learrier replays (from tape or memory) and abstract models of language (La Forge 1983: 4). The foreign language learners’ tasks are “to
os

of the counseling session. reflects upon the messages exchanged during apprehend the sound system, assign fundamental meanings, and to construct a basic gram-
the language class. mar of the foreign language.” He cites with pride that “after several months a small group of
students was able to learn the basic sounds and grammatical patterns of German” (1983: 47).
z (1978). CLL tech-
The term humanistic approach is often associated with Moskowit A theory of language built on “basic sound and grammatical patterns” does not
teach-
niques, as the chart above demonstrates, belong to a larger set of foreign language appear to suggest any departures from traditional structuralist positions on the nature of
ing practices that are seen as humanistic. Moskowitz defines the techniques within this language. However, the writings of CLL proponents deal at great length with what they
approach as those that call an alternative theory of language, which is referred to as Language as Social Process.
La Forge (1983) begins by suggesting that language as social process is “different from lan-
learning in the target
blend what the student feels, thinks and knows with what he is guage as communication.” We are led to infer that the concept of communication that La
ization
language. Rather than self-denial being the acceptable way of life, self-actual Forge rejects is the classic sender-message-received model in information theory, which
] help build
and self-esteem are the ideals the exercises pursue. [The techniques considers the transfer of information in only one direction. The social-process model is
caring that far transcend what is already there ... help
rapport, cohesiveness, and different from earlier information-transmitting models, La Forge (1983: 3) suggests, because
, to accept themselves , and be proud of themselves ... help
students to be themselves
foster a climate of caring and sharing in the foreign language class. communication is more than just a message being transmitted from a speaker to a
(Moskowitz 1978: 2)
listener. The speaker is at the same time both subject and object of his own message
++ communication involves not just the unidirectional transfer of information to the
In sum, humanistic techniques engage the whole person, including the emotions and other, but the very constitution of the speaking subject in relation to its other ...
feelings (the affective realm) as well as linguistic knowledge and behavioral skills. Communication is an exchange which is incomplete without a feedback reaction from
Another language teaching tradition with which CLL is linked is a set of practices the destinee of the message.
(1972) as
used in certain kinds of bilingual education programs and referred to by Mackey
in
“language alternation.” In language alternation, a message/lesson/class is presented first The information-transmission model and the social-process model of communication are
Students know the meaning and
the native language and then again in the second language. compared in Figure 17.1.
Li message.
flow of an Lo message from their recall of the parallel meaning and flow of an
They begin to holistically piece together a view of the language out of these message sets.
into L2 Verbal Verbal/Nonverbal
In CLL, a learner presents a message in Li to the knower. ‘The message is translated
learner
by the knower. The learner then repeats the message in La, addressing it to another
Sender —> Message —> Receiver Sender—> Message — Receiver

to communicat e. CLL learners are encouraged to attend to

with whom he or she wishes
“overhears” they experience between other learners and their knowers. ‘The result of
the Figure 17.1 Comparison of the information-transmission model (left) and the social-process
what any given learner
the “overhear” is that every member of the group can understand model (right) of communication
306 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
7 17 Gommunity Language Learning 307

‘The social-process view of language is then elaborated in terms of six qualities or sub- a putative learning view long popular in Western culture. In this view, “the intellectual and
processes that include verbal and nonverbal messages: factual, or cognitive, processes alone are regarded as the main intent of learning, to the
neglect of engagement and involvement of the self” (Curran 1972: 58). The second view of
1. The whole-person process learning is the behavioral view. Curran refers to this kind of learning as “animal learning,’
2. The educational process
in which learners are “passive and their involvement limited (Curran 1976: 84).
3. The interpersonal process In contrast, CLL advocates a holistic approach to language learning, since “true”
4, The developmental process human learning is both cognitive and affective. This is termed whole-person learning. Such
5. The communicative process
learning takes place in a communicative situation where teachers and learners are involved
6. The cultural process in “an interaction ... in which both experience a sense of their own wholeness” (Curran
Explanation of these is beyond the scope of this chapter, which focuses on the communica- 1972: 90). Within this, the development of the learner’s relationship with the teacher is cen-
tive process and, indeed, appears to involve elements outside a theory of language. tral. The process is divided into five stages and compared to the ontogenetic development
La Forge also elaborates on the interactional view of language underlying CLL (see of the child from birth to maturity.
Chapter 2): “Language is people; language is persons in contact; language is persons in In the first, “birth,” stage, feelings of security and belonging are established. In the
response” (1983: 9). CLL interactions are of two distinct and fundamental kinds: inter- second, as the learner's abilities improve, the learner, as child, begins to achieve a measure
actions between learners and interactions between learners and knowers. Interactions of independence from the parent. By the third, the learner “speaks independently” and
between learners are unpredictable in content but typically are said to involve exchanges of may need to assert his or her own identity, often rejecting unasked-for advice, The fourth
affect or emotional content, which includes such areas as motivation, self-confidence, and stage sees the learner as secure enough to take criticism, and by the last stage, the learner
the level of anxiety. Learner exchanges deepen in intimacy as the class becomes a commu- merely works on improving style and knowledge of linguistic appropriateness. By the end
nity of learners. The desire to be part of this growing intimacy pushes learners to keep pace of the process, the child has become adult. The learner knows everything the teacher does
with the learning of their peers. Tranel (1968: 159) notes that “the students of the experi- and can become knower for a new learner. The process of learning a new language, then, is
mental group were highly motivated to learn in order to avoid isolation from the groups.” like being reborn and developing a new persona, with all the trials and challenges that are
Intimacy, then, appears to be defined here as the desire to avoid isolation. associated with birth and maturation. Insofar as language learning is thought to develop
Interaction between learners and knowers involves five stages. The first is initially through creating social relationships, success in language learning follows from a success-
dependent (stage 1). The learner tells the knower what he or she wishes to say in the target ful relationship between learner and teacher, and learner and learner. “Learning is viewed
language, and the knower tells the learner how to say it. In later stages, interactions between as a unified, personal and social experience.” The learner “is no longer seen as learning in
learner and knower are characterized as self-assertive (stage 2), resentful and indignant isolation and in competition with others” (Curran 1972: 1-12).
(stage 3), tolerant (stage 4), and independent (stage 5). These changes of interactive relation- Curran in many places discusses what he calls “consensual validation,’ or “convali-
ship are paralleled, therefore, not only by five stages of language learning, but also five dation? in which mutual warmth, understanding, and a positive evaluation of the other
stages of affective conflicts (La Forge 1983: 50). person's worth develop between the teacher and the learner, A relationship characterized
The changes that occur between learners and knowers may be said to be microcosmi- by convalidation is considered essential to the learning process and is a key element of CLL
cally equivalent to the two major classes of human interactions - interaction between equals classroom procedures. A group of ideas concerning the psychological requirements for
(symmetrical) and interactions between unequals (asymmetrical) (Munby 1978). They also successful learning are collected under the acronym SARD (Curran 1976: 6), which can be
appear to represent examples of (a) interaction that changes in degree (learner to learner) and explained as follows, again using some analogies from child development:
(b) interaction that changes in kind (learner to knower). That is, learner-learner interaction is Ss stands for security. Unless learners feel secure, they will find it difficult to enter
held to change in the direction of increasing intimacy and trust, whereas learner-knower interac-
into a successful learning experience.
tion is held to change in its very nature from dependent to resentful to tolerant to independent. A stands for attention and aggression. CLL recognizes that a loss of attention should
be taken as an indication of the learner's lack of involvement in learning, the
Theory of learning implication being that variety in the choice of learner tasks will increase attention
Curran’s counseling experience led him to conclude that the techniques of counseling and therefore promote learning. Aggression applies to the way in which a child,
could be applied to learning in general (this became Counseling- Learning) and to language having learned something, seeks an opportunity to show his or her strength by
teaching in particular (CLL). The CLL view of learning is contrasted with two other types taking over and demonstrating what has been learned, using the new knowledge
of learning, which Curran saw as widespread and undesirable. The first of these describes as a tool for self-assertion.
308 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 17 Community Language Learning 309

R stands for retention and reflection. If the whole person is involved in the learning learners can be expected to do and say at that level. In this sense, then, a CLL syllabus
process, what is retained is internalized and becomes a part of the learner’s new emerges from the interaction between the learner's expressed communicative intentions
persona in the foreign language. Reflection is a consciously identified period of and the teacher’s reformulations of these into suitable target-language utterances. Specific
silence within the framework of the lesson for the student “to focus on the learning grammatical points, lexical patterns, and generalizations will sometimes be isolated by the
forces of the last hour, to assess his present stage of development, and to re-evaluate teacher for mare detailed study and analysis, and subsequent specification of these as a ret-
future goals” (La Forge 1983: 68). rospective account of what the course covered could be a way of deriving a CLL language
D denotes discrimination. When learners “have retained a body of material, they syllabus. Each CLL course would evolve its own syllabus, however, since what develops
are ready to sort it out and see how one thing relates to another” (La Forge 1983: out of teacher-learner interactions in one course will be different from what happens in
69). This discrimination process becomes more refined and ultimately “enables another.
the students to use the language for purposes of communication outside the
Types of learning and teaching activities
classroom” (La Forge 1983: 69).
As with most methods, CLL combines innovative learning tasks and activities with conven-
These central aspects of Curran’s learning philosophy address not the psycholinguistic and
tional ones. They include the following: -
cognitive processes involved in second language acquisition, but rather the personal com-
mitments that learners need to make before language acquisition processes can operate. CLL e Translation. Learners form a smail circle. A learner whispers a message or meaning he
learning theory hence stands in marked contrast to linguistically or psycholinguistically ot she wants to express, the teacher translates it into (and may interpret it in) the target
based learning theories, such as those informing Audiolingualism (Chapter 4) or the Natural language, and the learner repeats the teacher's translation.
Approach (Chapter 14). © Group work, Learners may engage in various group tasks, such as small-group discussion
of a topic, preparing a conversation, preparing a summary of a topic for presentation
to another group, preparing a story that will be presented to the teacher and the rest of
Design the class.
Objectives « Recording, Students record conversations in the target language.
Since linguistic or communicative competence is specified only in social terms, explicit e Transcription. Students transcribe utterances and conversations they have recorded for
practice and analysis of linguistic forms.
linguistic or communicative objectives are not defined in the literature on CLL. Most of
Analysis. Students analyze and study transcriptions of target-language sentences in order
what has been written about CLL describes its use in introductory conversation courses
in a foreign language. The assumption seems to be that through the method, the teacher to focus on particular lexical usage or on the application of particular grammar rules.
can successfully transfer his or her knowledge and proficiency in the target language to the e Reflection and observation. Learners reflect and report on their experience of the class,
as a class or in groups. This usually consists of expressions of feelings - sense of one
learners, which implies that attaining near-native mastery of the target language is set as a
goal. Specific objectives are not addressed.
another, reactions to silence, concern for something to say, and so on.
« Listening. Students listen to a monologue by the teacher involving elements they might
have elicited or overheard in class interactions.
The syllabus Free conversation. Students engage in free conversation with the teacher or with other
learners. This might include discussion of what they learned as well as feelings they had
CLL is most often used in the teaching of oral proficiency, but with some modifications it
may be used in the teaching of writing, as Tranel (1968) has demonstrated. CLL does not about how they learned.
use a conventional language syllabus, which sets out in advance the grammar, vocabulary,
and other language items to be taught and the order in which they will be covered. If a Learner roles
course is based on Curran’s recommended procedures, the course progression is topic- In CLL, learners become members of a community - their fellow learners and the teacher ~
based, with learners nominating things they wish to talk about, as mentioned earlier, and and learn through interacting within the community. Learning is not viewed as an indi-
messages they wish to communicate to other learners. The teacher's responsibility is to vidual accomplishment but as something that is achieved collaboratively. Learners are
provide a conveyance for these meanings in a way appropriate to the learners’ proficiency expected to listen attentively to the knower, to freely provide meanings they wish to
level. Although CLL is not explicit about this, skilled CLL teachers seem to sift the learn- express, to repeat target utterances without hesitation, to support fellow members of the
ers’ intentions through the teacher's implicit syllabus, providing lessons that match what community, to report deep inner feelings and frustrations as well as joy and pleasure, and
310 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 17 Community Language Learning 31:

to become counselors of other learners. CLL learners are typically grouped in a circle of may intervene directly to correct deviant utterances, supply idioms, and advise on usage
six to twelve learners, with the number of knowers varying from one per group to one per and fine points of grammar. The teacher's role is initially likened to that of a nurturing
student. CLL has also been used in larger school classes where special grouping arrange- parent, The student gradually “grows” in ability, and the nature of the relationship changes
ments are necessary, such as organizing learners in temporary pairs in facing parallel lines. so that the teacher’s position becomes somewhat dependent upon the learner. The knower
Learner roles are keyed to the five stages of language learning by La Forge, outlined derives a sense of self-worth through requests for the knower’s assistance.
earlier (see p. 308). The view of the learner is an organic one, with each new role growing One continuing role of the teacher is particularly notable in CLL. ‘The teacher is
developmentally out of the one preceding. These role changes are not easily or automati- responsible for providing a safe environment in which clients can learn and grow. Learners,
cally achieved. They are in fact seen as outcomes of affective crises: “When faced with a new feeling secure, are free to direct their energies to the tasks of communication and learn-
cognitive task, the learner must solve an affective crisis. With the solution of the five affec- ing rather than to building and maintaining their defensive positions. Curran (1976: 6)
tive crises, one for each CLL stage, the student progresses from a lower to a higher stage of describes the importance of a secure atmosphere as follows:
development” (La Forge 1983: 44), Learning is a “whole-person” process, and the learner at
As whole persons, we seem to leam best in an atmosphere of personal security.
each stage is involved not just in the accomplishment of cognitive (language learning) tasks
Feeling secure, we are freed to approach the learning situation with the attitude of
but in the solution of affective conflicts and “the respect for the enactment of values” as well
willing openness. Both the learner’s and the knower’s level of security determine the
(La Forge 1983: 55). Moreover, as noted above, CLL compares language learning to the stages
psychologicat tone of the entire learning experience.
of human growth.
Many of the nontraditional language teaching methods we discuss in this book stress teacher
Teacher roles
responsibility for creating and maintaininga secure environment for learning; probably no
At the deepest level, the teacher's role derives from the functions of the counselor in method attaches greater importance to this aspect of language learning than does CLL. Thus,
Rogerian psychological counseling, as mentioned earlier, A counselor's clients are people it is interesting to note two “asides” in the discussion of learning security in CLL.
with problems, who in a typical counseling session will often use emotional language to First, security is a culturally relative concept. What provides a sense of security in one
communicate their difficulties to the counselor. The counselor's role is to respond calmly and cultural context may produce anxiety in another. La Forge gives as an example the different
nonjudgmentally, in a supportive manner, and help the client try to understand his or her patterns of personal introduction and how these are differentially expressed and experi-
problems better by applying order and analysis to them. ‘The counselor is not responsible for enced in early stages of CLL among students of different backgrounds. “Each culture had
paraphrasing the client's problem element for element but rather for capturing the essence of unique forms which provide for acquaintance upon forming new groups. These must be
the client’s concern, such that the client might say, “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” “One of carefully adopted so as to provide cultural security for the students of the foreign language”
the functions of the counseling response is to relate affect ... to cognition. Understanding the (La Forge 1983: 66).
language of ‘feeling, the counselor replies in the language of cognition” (Curran 1976: 26). It Second, it may be undesirable to create too secure an environment for learners. “The
was the model of teacher as counselor that Curran attempted to bring to language learning. security of the students is never absolute: otherwise no learning would occur” (La Forge
There is also room for actual counseling in CLL. Explicit recognition is given to the 1983: 65). This is reminiscent of the teacher who says, “My students would never learn
psychological problems that may arise in learning a second language. “Personal learn- anything if the fear of examination failure didn’t drive them to it” How much insecurity is
ing conflicts ... anger, anxiety and similar psychological disturbance - understood and optimal for language learning in CLL is unfortunately not further discussed in the literature.
responded to by the teacher’s counseling sensitivity — are indicators of deep personal invest-
ment” (J, Rardin, in Curran 1976: 103). In this case, the teacher is expected to play a role
very close to that of the “regular” counselor. The teacher’s response may be of a different The role of instructional materials
order of detachment, consideration, and understanding from that of the average teacher in Since a CLL course evolves out of the interactions of the community, a textbook is not con-
the same circumstances. sidered a necessary component. A textbook would impose a particular body of language
More specific teacher roles are, like those of the students, keyed to the five develop- content on the learners, thereby impeding their growth and interaction. Materials may be
mental stages that were indicated by La Forge. In the early stages of learning, the teacher developed by the teacher as the course progresses, although these generally consist of little
operates in a supportive role, providing target-language translations and a model for imita- more than summaries on the blackboard or overhead projector of some of the linguistic
tion on request of the clients. Later, interaction may be initiated by the students, and the features of conversations generated by students. Conversations may also be transcribed and
teacher monitors learner utterances, providing assistance when requested. As learning distributed for study and analysis, and learners may work in groups to produce their own
progresses, students become increasingly capable of accepting criticism, and the teacher materials, such as scripts for dialogues and mini-dramas.
312 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods } 17 Community Language Learning 313

In early accounts of CLL, the use of teaching machines for pronunciation and vocabu- that learners and teachers have agreed upon and that specify what they agree to accomplish
lary, such as the Chromachord? Teaching System, is recommended for necessary “rote-drill within the course), personal interaction, feelings toward the knower and learner, and the
and practice” in language learning. “The ... design and use of machines ... now appear to sense of progress and frustration.
make possible the freeing of the teacher to do what only a human person can do .., become Dieter Stroinigg (in Stevick 1980: 185-6) presents a protocol of what a first day’s CLL
a learning counselor” (Curran 1976: 6). In later CLL descriptions (e.g., La Forge 1983), class covered, which is outlined here:
teaching machines and their accompanying materials are not mentioned, and we assume
that contemporary CLL classes do not use teaching machines at all. 1 Informal greetings and seff-introductions were made.
2. The teacher made a staterrient of the goals and guidelines for the course :
3. A conversation in the foreign language took place.
Procedure
i a A circle was formed. so that everyone had visual contact with each other.
Since each CLL course is in a sense a unique experience, description of typical CLL pro-
oy b) One student initiated conversation with another student by ae. a a in the
cedures in a class period is problematic. Stevick (1976) distinguishes between “classical”
ui English): / as x ;
CLL (based directly on the model proposed by Curran) and personal interpretations of it,
such as those discussed by different advocates of CLL (e.g., La Forge 1983). The following
description attempts to capture some typical activities in CLL classes.
“message In the L2 (German).
“@), The. student then es the
Generally, the observer will see a circle of learners all facing one another. The learners
are linked in some way to knowers or a single knower as teacher. The first class (and subse- ““Fecorder as well. an : ;
quent classes) may begin with a period of silence, in which learners try to determine what
9) Each student hada chance toc conipose ‘and record a iat mameitee
is supposed to happen in their language class. In later classes, learners may sit in silence
“"f) The tape recorder was rewound and. replayed at intervals.-:
<.'Q). Each student repeated the meaning in English of: w rat he orshe had saidi in the 2
while they decide what to talk about (La Forge 1983: 72). The observer may note that the
and helped to refresh ti memory of
| ores
awkwardness of silence becomes sufficiently agonizing for someone to volunteer to break
the silence. The knower may use the volunteered comment as a way of introducing discus- 4. b Students then participated i in: a reflection per d, in whieh ‘they. w re9 asked to xp
sion of classroom contacts or as a stimulus for language interaction regarding how learners “+ their feelings about the previous experience with totalfrankness: ° Boe
felt about the period of silence. The knower may encourage learners to address questions 5. From the materials just recorded the. instructor chose sentences to write on the blackboard
to one another or to the knower. These may be questions on any subject a learner is curious that highlighted elements of grammar, spelling, and peculiarities of cepieleaton in the £2,
enough to enquire about. The questions and answers may be recorded for later use, as a . Students were encouraged to-ask questions about any of the items above.
reminder and review of topics discussed and language used. Students were encouraged to-copy sentences fromm the oar with notes on meaning

Ls
‘The teacher might then form the class into facing lines for three-minute pair con- and usage. This became their “textbook” for home study...” wy
versations. These are seen as equivalent to the brief wrestling sessions by which judo
students practice. Following this the class might be re-formed into small groups in which This inventory of activities encompasses the major suggestions for classroom practices
a single topic, chosen by the class or the group, is discussed, The summary of the group appearing in the most recent literature on CLL. Other procedures, however, may emerge
discussion may be presented to another group, which in turn tries to repeat or paraphrase fortuitously on the basis of learner-knower interactions in the classroom context.
the summary back to the original group.
In an intermediate or advanced class, a teacher may encourage groups to prepare a
paper drama for presentation to the rest of the class. A paper drama group prepares a story Conclusion
that is told or shown to the counselor. The counselor provides or corrects target-language Community Language Learning is the most responsive of the methods we have reviewed in
statements and suggests improvements to the story sequence. Students are then given mate- terms of its sensitivity to learner communicative intent. It should be noted, however, that
rials with which they prepare large picture cards to accompany their story. After practicing this communicative intent is constrained by the number and knowledge of fellow learners.
the story dialogue and preparing the accompanying pictures, each group presents its paper A learner's desire to understand or express technical terms used in aeronautical engineer-
drama to the rest of the class. The students accompany their story with music, puppets, and ing is unlikely to receive adequate response in the CLL class. CLL places unusual demands
drums as well as with their pictures (La Forge 1983: 81-2). on language teachers. They must be highly proficient and sensitive to nuance in both Li and
Finally, the teacher asks learners to reflect on the language class, as a class or in L2, They must be familiar with and sympathetic to the role of counselors in psychological
groups. Reflection provides the basis for discussion of contracts (written or oral contracts counseling. They must resist the pressure “to teach” in the traditional senses. As one CLL
 oT
17 Community Language Learning 315
314 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods

something s. CLL sees learners as progressing through five stages: initially dependent, self-assertive,
teacher notes, “I had to relax completely and to exclude my own will to produce
resentful and indignant, tolerant, and independent. Do you recognize these stages in
myself, I had to exclude any function of forming or formulating something within me, not
your learners? Do you think they are particular to language learning?
trying to do something” (Curran 1976: 33).
‘The teacher must also be relatively nondirective and must be prepared to accept and even There is a strong emphasis on the affective aspect of learning in CLL. Think of a group

»
ce. The
encourage the “adolescent” aggression of the learner as he or she strives for independen of learners you are familiar with. How would they respond to a class such as the one
teacher must operate without conventional materials, depending on student topics to shape described below?
hos-
and motivate the class. In addition, the teacher must be prepared to deal with potentially Students then participated in a reflection period, in which they were asked to express
tile learner reactions to the method. The teacher must also be culturally sensitive and prepared their feelings about the previous experience with total frankness.
to redesign the language class into more culturally compatible organizational forms. And the
teacher much attempt to learn these new roles and skills without much specific guidance from y. “A learner's desire to understand or express technical terms used in aeronautical engineer-
CLL texts presently available. Special training in CLL techniques is usually required. ing is unlikely to receive adequate response in the CLL class” (p. 313). Why would this be so?
which it
Critics of CLL question the appropriateness of the counseling metaphor on . One of the key characteristics of CLL is its emphasis on providing a secure environ-
is predicated, asking for evidence that language learning in classrooms indeed parallels the

oo
ment for learning. To an extent, this focus on the learner’s affective experience is visible
whether
process that characterizes psychological counseling, Questions also arise about in other current approaches to language teaching. However, as described on page 31,
teachers should attempt counseling without special training. CLL procedures were largely interpretations or experiences of “security” differ across cultures. Work with a colleague
developed and tested with groups of college-age Americans. The problems and successes to do the following:
experienced by one or two different client groups may not necessarily represent language
learning universals. Other concerns have been expressed regarding the lack of a syllabus, e Describe your ideal language learning environment, giving special attention to the
which makes objectives unclear and evaluation difficult to accomplish, and the focus on ways in which the environment is made to feel comfortable and safe, for example by
l the teacher, the kinds of activities that take place, or even the furnishings.
fluency rather than accuracy, which may lead to inadequate control of the grammatica
system of the target language. Supporters of CLL (eg., Samimy 1989), on the other hand, © Now compare your answers with those of your colleague. How are they different?
emphasize the positive benefits of a method that centers on the learner and stresses the How are they similar?
humanistic side of language learning, and not merely its linguistic dimensions. While CLL ® Now describe to what extent your own classrooms match these descriptions.
isn’t discussed much today, the affective dimension of language learning is widely accepted
as relevant to the learner’s success in mastering the target language. References and further reading
Brown, H. D. 1977, Some limitations of C-L/CLL models of second language teaching. TESOL
Discussion questions
Quarterly 11(4): 365-72.
1. CLL is heavily influenced by ideas from psychology, and in particular counseling. As Curran, C. A, 1972. Counseling-Learning: A Whole-Person Model for Education. New York: Grune
mentioned earlier, motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety are other ideas from psy- and Stratton.
chology that also impact language learning. What impact have such factors had among Curran, C. A. 1976. Counseling-Learning in Second Languages. Apple River, IL: Apple River Press.
your own students or in your own language learning? La Forge, P. G, 1971. Community language learning: a pilot study. Language Learning 21(1): 45-61.
La Forge, P. G. 1975a. Research Profiles with Community Language Learning. Apple River, IL: Apple
2, Explain to a colleague what language alternation is. What do you think might be some River Press.
of the benefits of language alternation in a CLL class? La Forge. P. G. 1975b. Community language learning: the Japanese case. In F C. C. Peng (ed.),
3. CLL emphasizes language as a social process, which goes beyond the mechanical aspects Language in Japanese Society. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. 215-46,
of communication to incorporate its relationship to the interlocutors and their identi- La Forge, P. G. 1977. Uses of social silence in the interpersonal dynamics of Community Language
verbal Learning. TESOL Quarterly 11(4): 373-82.
ties, Review the six qualities or sub-processes mentioned on page 306 that include
La Forge, P. G. 1983. Counseling and Culture in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.
and non verbal messages. While the details of these processes were not discussed, can
Lim, K. B. 1968. The unified language project. RELC Journal 9(1): 19-27.
you think of ways in which they are reflected in teaching situations you are familiar with. Mackey, W. F. 1972. Bilingual Education in a Binational School. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
4. Look again at the SARD model on page 307 of the chapter. Do you think that reflection and Moskowitz, G. 1978. Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
discrimination are given enough attention in current classrooms and teaching materials? Munby, J. 1978. Communicative Syllabus Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4
316 Alternative twentieth-century approaches ahd methods
18 Suggestopedia
Rardin, J. 1976. A Counseling-Learning model for second language learning. TESOL Newsletter
10(2): 21-2.
Rardin, J. 1977. The language teacher as facilitator. TESOL Quarterly 11(4): 383-7.
Rardin, J., and D. D, Tranel. 1988. Education in a New Dimension. Cliffside Park, NJ: Counseling
Learning Institutes.
Rogers, C. R. 1951. Client-Centered Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Samimy, K. K. 1989. A comparative study of teaching Japanese in the audiolingual method and the
counseling learning approach. Modern Language Journal 73(11): 169-77.
Samimy, K. K., and J. Rardin. 1994, Adult language learners’ reactions to community language learn- Introduction
ing: a descriptive study. Foreign Language Annals 27(3): 379-90.
We have seen several instances in this book of language teaching methods that have been
Stevick, E. W. 1973. Review article: Charles A. Curran’s Counseling-Learning: a whole person model
for education. Language Learning 23(2): 259-71.
developed by educators from outside mainstream language teaching, such as the Silent Way
Stevick, E. W. 1976. Memory, Meaning and Method: Some Psychological Perspectives on Language (Chapter 16), and Community Language Learning (Chapter 17). Methods such as these
Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. sometimes interest teachers. who may be attracted by their novelty and the results they
Stevick, E. W. 1980. Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. are said to deliver. Many of the “innovative” methods of the 1980s and 1990s are mainly of
Stevick, E. W. 1998. Working with Teaching Methods: What's at Stake. Boston: Heinle and Heinle. historical interest today, although they may still have some practitioners in different parts
Taylor, B. P. 1979. Exploring Community Language Learning. In C. Yorio, K. Perkins, and J. Schachter of the world. Suggestopedia is another method of this type and was developed by the
(eds.), On TESOL ’79. Washington, DC: TESOL. 80-4, Bulgarian psychiatrist-educator Georgi Lozanov. Suggestopedia is a specific set of learning
Tranel, D. D. 1968. Teaching Latin with the chromachord. The Classical Journal 63: 157-60. recommendations derived from Suggestology, which Lozanov describes as a “science ...
concerned with the systematic study of the nonrational and/or nonconscious influences”
that human beings are constantly responding to (Stevick 1976: 42). Suggestopedia tries
to harness these influences and redirect them so as to optimize learning. The most con-
spicuous characteristics of Suggestopedia are the decoration, furniture, and arrangement
of the classroom, the use of music, and the authoritative behavior of the teacher. Music is
an especially important element of Suggestopedia, and both intonation and rhythm are
coordinated with a musical background, which helps to induce a relaxed attitude. The
method has a somewhat mystical air about it, partially because it has few direct links with
established learning or educational theory in the West, and partially because of its arcane
terminology and neologisms, which one critic has unkindly called a “package of pseudo-
scientific gobbledygook” (Scovel 1979: 258).
Hansen (2011: 403), a current advocate of Suggestopedia, provides this commentary:

Suggestopedia (SP) ... was received with incomprenension when it surfaced in the
1960s because its claims of prodigious learning could not be explained in a way
consistent with the science of the time. Nor could it be explained by its founder,
psychiatrist Dr Georgi Lozanov working at the University of Sofia during the
Communist regime, because as a therapist he worked from intuition, following subtle
indications that emerged from interactions. Healing victims of the regime, and obliged
to use hypnosis for the worst cases, he sought to find a means to bring profoundly
traumatised patients “back to life”. What he developed through very delicate sugges-
tion was a way of resuscitating the very essence of life — and it was the polar opposite
of hypnosis, which in his experience drains away the life force. To banish the damaging

317
318 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 18 Suggestopedia 319

implication of “sick” people who needed “help,” he gave his therapeutic method the central and in which lexical translation rather than contextualization is stressed. However,
new goal of teaching a foreign language, and it was at that point that he discovered Lozanov does occasionally refer to the importance of experiencing language material in
its extraordinary efficiency: not only did the trauma vanish but the learners learned “whole meaningful texts” (Lozanov 1978: 268) and notes that the suggestopedic course
English incredibly fast! Word spread, the government rushed in to seize the benefit of directs “the student not to vocabulary memorization and acquiring habits of speech, but
his work. to acts of communication” (1978: 109).
Lozanov recommends home study of recordings of “whole meaningful texts (not of
The claims for suggestopedic learning are dramatic. “There is no sector of public life a fragmentary nature)” that are, “above all, interesting” ‘Ihese are listened to “for the sake
where suggestology would not be useful” (Lozanov 1978: 2). The extraordinary efficiency
of the music of the foreign speech” (1978; 277). The texts should be lighthearted stories
described by Hansen seems to refer to a claim by Lozanoy (1978: 27) that “Memorization in
with emotional content. Lozanov’s recommendation of such stories seems to be entirely
learning by the suggestopedic method seems to be accelerated 25 times over that in learn- motivational, however, and does not represent a commitment to the view that language is
ing by conventional methods.” Lozanov acknowledges ties in tradition to yoga and Soviet preeminently learned for and used in its emotive function. In class, on the other hand, the
psychology. From raja-yoga Lozanov has borrowed and modified techniques for altering
focus of a lesson is a dialogue, supported by music and other soothing accompaniments,
states of consciousness and concentration, and the use of rhythmic breathing. From Soviet as mentioned.
psychology Lozanov has taken the notion that all students can be taught a given subject In describing coursework and text organization, Lozanov refers most often to the lan-
matter at the same level of skill. Lozanov claims that his method works equally well whether guage to be learned as “the material” (e.g., “The new material that is to be learned is read
or not students spend time on outside study. He promises success through Suggestopedia or recited by a well-trained teacher”: 1978: 270). One feels that the linguistic nature of the
to the academically gifted and the ungifted alike. Soviet psychology also stresses the learn- material is largely irrelevant and that if the focus of a language course were, say, memoriza-
ing environment, and Lozanov similarly specifies the requirements of an optimal learning tion of grammar rules, Lozanov would feel a suggestopedic approach to be the optimal one.
environment in great detail. The sample protocol given for an Italian lesson (Lozanov 1978) does not suggest a theory of
A most conspicuous feature of Suggestopedia is the centrality of music and musical language markedly different from that which holds a language to be its vocabulary and the
rhythm to learning. Suggestopedia thus has a kinship with other functional uses of music, grammar rules for organizing vocabulary.
particularly therapy. One of the earliest attested uses of music therapy is recorded in the Hansen (2011: 411) highlights the role of grammar in working with texts:
Old Testament of the Bible: “When the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took up
his harp and played with his hand; so Saul found relief; and it was well with him, and the The major slot for overt grammatical presentation in the Lozanov cycle [of imitation and
evil spirit departed from him” (1 Samuel 12:23). Lozanov might have described this incident reading, described below] is in the first elaboration during the choral reading of the text.
as the use of music to assist in the “liberation from discrete micro psychotraumata, for After the repetition of a certain sentence, there will be a momentary and apparently spon-
destruction of incompatible ideas about the limits of human capabilities” (1978: 252). In taneous (but carefully planned and prepared) focus on a grammatical item. This must:
other words, the relief provided by music will vanquish the evil spirit. a} come from the text, so that the learner’s mind remains focused on the drama rather
Gaston (1968) defines three functions of music in therapy: to facilitate the establish- than on the linguistic structure;
ment and maintenance of personal relations; to bring about increased self-esteem through b) be brief so that the leamers do not get a chance to switch into analytical mode.
increased self-satisfaction in musical performance; and to use the unique potential of Thus, it is never followed by an exercise or drill, which may occur at a later stage;
thythm to energize and bring order. This last function seems to be the one that Lozanov c) be incomplete so that there is still material for the unconscious to puzzle over and
calls upon in his use of music to relax learners as well as to structure, pace, and punctuate work on; the mind is a compulsive pattern maker, positively stimulated by challenge.
the presentation of linguistic material. Grammar never appears to be dwelt upon for its own sake, but to arise spontaneously
as a textual puzzle.
Approach
Theory of language Theory of learning
Lozanov does not articulate a theory of language, nor does it seem that he is much Suggestion is at the heart of Suggestopedia. To many, suggestion conjures up visions of the
concerned with any particular assumptions regarding language elements and their penetrating stare, swimming cat’s eye, and monotonically repeated injunctions of the hypno-
organization. The emphasis on memorization of vocabulary pairs - a target-language tist. Lozonov acknowledges the likelihood of this association to Suggestopedia but claims that
item and its native-language translation - suggests a view of language in which lexis is his own views separate Suggestopedia from the “narrow clinical concept of hypnosis as a kind
320 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
—
of static, sleeplike, altered state of consciousness” (1978: 3). Lozanov further claims that what
18 Suggestopedia 321

Lozanov refers to the relaxed attitude induced by music as concert pseudo-passiveness.

distinguishes his method from hypnosis and other forms of mind control is that these other This state is felt to be optimal for learning, in that anxieties and tension are relieved and
forms lack “a desuggestive-suggestive sense,’ as explained below, and “fail to create a constant power of concentration for new material is raised. Because the role of music is central in
set up access to reserves through concentrative psycho-relaxation” (1978: 267). (We inter- suggestopedic learning, it needs to be considered in somewhat more detail.
pret reserves as being something like human memory banks. Desuggestion seems to involve The type of music is critical to learning success.
unloading the memory banks, or reserves, of unwanted or blocking memories. Suggestion,
then, involves loading the memory banks with desired and facilitating memories.) There are The idea that music can affect your body and mind certainly isn’t new ... The key was

six principal theoretical components through which desuggestion and suggestion operate to find the right kind of music for just the right kind of effect ... The music you use in

and that set up access to reserves. We will describe these briefly following Bancroft (1972). superlearning [the American term for Suggestopedia] is extremely important. If it does not
have the required pattern, the desired altered states of consciousness will not be induced
Authority and results will be poor ... It is specific music — sonic patterns — for a specific purpose.
People remember best and ate most influenced by information coming from an authori- (Ostrander, Schroeder, and Ostrander 1979: 73-4)
tative source. Lozanov dictates a variety of prescriptions and proscriptions aimed at hav-
ing Suggestopedia students experience the educational establishment and the teacher as At the institute Lozanov recommends a series of slow movements (sixty beats a minute) in
sources having great authority. Lozanov talks of choosing a “ritual placebo system” that is 4/4 time for Baroque concertos strung together into about a half-hour concert, He notes
most likely to be perceived of by students as having high authority (1978: 267). The ritual that in such concerts “the body relaxed, the mind became alert” (Ostrander et al. 1979:
placebo system that Lozanov refers to might be yoga, it might be hypnosis, it might be bio- 74). As a further refinement, “East German researchers of Suggestopedia at Karl Marx
feedback, it might be experimental science. “Ritual placebo systems will change dramati- University in Leipzig observed that slow movements from Baroque instrumental music
cally in accordance with the times” (ibid.). In other words, Lozanov appears to believe that featuring string instruments gave the very best results” (Ostrander et al. 1979: 115).
scientific-sounding language, highly positive experimental data, and true-believer teachers The rate of presentation of material to be learned within the rhythmic pattern is
constitute a ritual placebo system that is authoritatively appealing to most learners. Well- keyed to the rhythm. Superlearning uses an eight-second cycle for pacing out data at slow
publicized accounts of learning success lend the method and the institution authority, and intervals. During the first four beats of the cycle, there is silence. During the second four
commitment to the method, self-confidence, personal distance, acting ability, and a highly beats, the teacher presents the dialogue, known as “the material.” Ostrander et al. present a
positive attitude give an authoritative air to the teacher. variety of evidence on why this pacing to Baroque largo music is so potent, They note that
musical rhythms affect body rhythms, such as heartbeat, and that researchers have noted
Infantilization that “with a slow heartbeat, mind efficiency takes a great leap forward” (1979: 63). They cite
Authority is also used to suggest a teacher-student relation like that of parent to child, In experimental data such as those which show disastrous learning results when the music
the child’s role the learner takes part in role playing, games, songs, and gymnastic exercises of Wagner was substituted for slow Baroque. They reflect that “the minute is divided into
that help “the older student regain the self-confidence, spontaneity and receptivity of the sixty seconds and that perhaps there’s more to this than just an arbitrary division of time”
child” (Bancroft 1972: 19). They further report that “the Indian vilambita, for instance, has the required rhythms of
Double-planedness sixty beats a minute” and suggest that Indian yogis may have built the sixty-beat rhythm
‘The learner learns not only from the effect of direct instruction but from the environ- into yogic techniques. Finally, they observe that not only human but vegetable subjects
ment in which the instruction takes place. The bright decor of the classroom, the musical thrive under sixty-beat stimulation. “Plants grown in the chambers given Baroque music
background, the shape of the chairs, and the personality of the teacher are considered as by Bach and Indian music by Ravi Shankar rapidly grew lush and abundant ... The plants
important in instruction as the form of the instructional material itself. in the chamber getting rock music shriveled and died” (1979: 82). Suggestopedic learning
is consequently built on a particular type of music and a particular rate of presentation.
Intonation, rhythm, and concert pseudo-passiveness
Varying the tone and rhythm of presented material helps both to avoid boredom through
Design
monotony of repetition and to dramatize, emotionalize, and give meaning to linguistic
material. In the first presentation of linguistic material, three phrases are read together, Objectives
each with a different voice level and rhythm. In the second presentation, the linguistic Suggestopedia aims to deliver advanced conversational proficiency quickly. It apparently
material is given a proper dramatic reading, which helps learners visualize a context for the bases its learning claims on student mastery of prodigious lists of vocabulary pairs and,
material and aids in memorization (Bancroft 1972: 19). indeed, suggests to the students that it is appropriate that they set such goals for themselves.
322 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
7 . 18 Suggestopedia 323

Lozanov emphasizes, however, that increased memory power is not an isolated skill but a Types of learning and teaching activities
result of “positive, comprehensive stimulation of personality” (2978: 253). Lozanov states We have mentioned a variety of activities in passing in the discussion of the syllabus.
categorically, “The main aim of teaching is not memorization, but the understanding and These include imitation, question and answer, and role play - which are not activities “that
creative solution of problems” (1978: 251). As learner goals, he cites increased access to other language teachers would consider to be out of the ordinary” (Stevick 1976: 157). The
understanding and creative solutions and problems. However, because students and teach- types of activities that are more original to Suggestopedia are the listening activities, which
ers place a high value on vocabulary recall, memorization of vocabulary pairs continues to concern the text and text vocabulary of each unit. These activities are typically part of the
be seen as an important goal of the suggestopedic method. “pre-session phase,” which takes place on the first day of a new unit. The students first look
at and discuss a new text with the teacher, who answers questions about the dialogue. In
The syllabus
the second reading, students relax comfortably in reclining chairs and listen to the teacher
A Suggestopedia course lasts 30 days and consists of ten units of study. Classes are held read the text in a certain way. Stevick (1976) suggests that the exact nature of the “special
four hours a day, six days a week. The central focus of each unit is a dialogue consisting of way” is not clear. Bancroft notes that the material is “presented with varying intonations
1,200 words or so, with an accompanying vocabulary list and grammatical commentary. and a coordination of sound and printed word or illustration” (1972: 17). During the third
The dialogues are graded by lexis and grammar. reading, the material is acted out by the instructor in a dramatic manner over a background
‘There is a pattern of work within each unit and a pattern of work for the whole course. of the special musical form described previously. During this phase students lean back in
Unit study is organized around three days: day 1 - halfa day, day 2 - full day, day 3 — halfa their chairs and breathe deeply and regularly as instructed by the teacher. This is the point
day. On the first day of work on a new unit, the teacher discusses the general content (not at which Lozanov believes the unconscious learning system takes over.
structure) of the unit dialogue. The learners then receive the printed dialogue with a native-
language translation in a parallel column. The teacher answers any questions of interest or
Learner roles
concern about the dialogue. The dialogue then is read a second and third time in ways to
be discussed subsequently. This is the work for day 1. Days 2 and 3 are spent in primary Students volunteer for a Suggestopedia course, but having volunteered, they are expected
and secondary elaboration of the text. Primary elaboration consists of imitation, question to be committed to the class and its activities. The mental state of the learners is critical to
and answer, reading, and so on of the dialogue and of working with the 150 new vocabulary success; learners must avoid distractions and immerse themselves in the procedures of the
items presented in the unit. The secondary elaboration involves encouraging students to method. Learners must not try to figure out, manipulate, or study the material presented
make new combinations and productions based on the dialogues. A story or essay paral- but must maintain a pseudo-passive state, in which the material rolls over and through
leling the dialogue is also read. The students engage in conversation and take small roles in them. Students are expected to tolerate and in fact encourage their own “infantilization”
response to the text read, This is accomplished partly by acknowledging the absolute authority of the teacher and
‘The whole course also has a pattern of presentation and performance. On the first day partly by giving themselves over to activities and techniques designed to help them regain
a test is given to check the level of student knowledge and to provide a basis for dividing the self-confidence, spontaneity, and receptivity of the child. Such activities include role
students into two groups - one of new beginners and one of modified (false) beginners. The playing, games, songs, and gymnastic exercises (Bancroft 1972: 19). To assist them in the
teacher then briefs the students on the course and explains the attitude they should take role plays and to help them detach themselves from their past learning experiences, stu-
toward it. This briefing is designed to put them in a positive, relaxed, and confident mood dents are given a new name and personal history within the target culture, as mentioned.
for learning. Students are given a new name in the second language and a new biography in Groups of learners are ideally socially homogeneous, 12 in number, and divided
the second culture with which they are to operate for the duration of the course. The new equally between men and women. Learners sit in a circle, which encourages face-to-face
names contain phonemes from the target culture that learners find difficult to pronounce. exchange and activity participation.
For example, a student of English might be “the actress Anne Mackey from Kansas”
During the course there are two opportunities for generalization of material. In the Teacher roles
middle of the course, students are encouraged to practice the target language in a setting The primary role of the teacher is to create situations in which the learner is most suggestible
where it might be used, such as hotels or restaurants. The last day of the course is devoted
and then to present linguistic material in a way most likely to encourage positive reception
toa performance in which every student participates. The students construct a play built on
and retention by the learner.
the material of the course. Rules and parts are planned, but students are expected to speak
Lozanov (1978: 275-6) lists several expected teacher behaviors that contribute to these
extempore rather than from memorized lines. Written tests are also given throughout the
presentations.
course, and these and the performance are reviewed on the final day of the course.
 324 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods
| 18 Suggestopedia 325

1. Show absolute confidence in the method. decoding and then a freer and more creative session ... Each lesson cycile follows this
. Display fastidious conduct in manners and dress. structure, but there will be one or more “recapitulation” days to consolidate grammar,
wn

. Organize properly and strictly observe the initial stages of the teaching process ~ this and the course finishes with the students planning, writing and delivering their own
includes choice and play of music, as well as punctuality. group performance. Each student takes on a new personality and name, framed in the
4. Maintain a solemn attitude toward the session. target language, for the duration of the course. The teacher also takes on roles from
5. Give tests and respond tactfully to poor papers (if any). time to time and mirrors fluidity of personality, changing as learning advances: being at
6. Stress global rather than analytical attitudes toward material. first an authority figure to define and support the group interaction and set parameters
7. Maintain a modest enthusiasm. of safety, gradually fading into the background as students gain in confidence and
knowledge, and finally retreating to a back seat to let them take over.
As Stevick (1976) points out, there are certain styles of presentation of material that are
important, intricate, and inaccessible. It appears that teachers have to be prepared to be The third part - the séance or concert session — is the one by which Suggestopedia
initiated into the method by stages and that certain techniques are withheld until such time is best known. Since this constitutes the heart of the method, we will quote Lozanov as to
as the master teacher feels the initiate is ready, In addition, Bancroft (1972) suggests that how this session proceeds.
teachers are expected to be skilled in acting, singing, and psycho-therapeutic techniques
and that a Lozanov-taught teacher will spend three to six months training in these fields. At the beginning of the session, all conversation stops for a minute or two, and the
teacher listens to the music coming from a tape-recorder. He [sic] waits and listens
The role of instructional materials to several passages in order to enter into the mood of the music and then begins to
Materials consist of direct support materials, primarily text and audio, and indirect support read or recite the new text, his voice modulated in harmony with the musical phrases.
materials, including classroom fixtures and music. The students follow the text in their textbooks where each lesson is translated into the
‘The text is organized around the ten units described earlier. The textbook should have mother tongue. Between the first and second part of the concert, there are several
emotional force, literary quality, and interesting characters. Language problems should be minutes of solemn silence. In some cases, even longer pauses can be given to permit
introduced in a way that does not worry or distract students from the content. “Traumatic the students to stir a little. Before the beginning of the second part of the concert, there
themes and distasteful lexical material should be avoided” (Lozanov 1978: 278). Each unit are again several minutes of silence and some phrases of the music are heard again
should be governed by a single idea featuring a variety of subthemes, “the way it is in life” before the teacher begins to read the text. Now the students close their textbooks and
(ibid.). listen to the teacher’s reading. At the end, the students silently leave the room. They
Although not language materials per se, the learning environment plays such a central are not told to do any homework on the lesson they have just had except for reading it
role in Suggestopedia that the important elements of the environment need to be briefly cursorily once before going to bed and again before getting up in the morning.
enumerated, The environment (the indirect support materials) comprises the appearance of {Lozanov 1978: 272)

the classroom (bright and cheery), the furniture (reclining chairs arranged in a circle), and
the music (Baroque largo, selected for reasons discussed previously). Conclusion
Suggestopedia has probably received both the most enthusiastic and the most criti-
Procedure cal response of any of the so-called new methods of the 1970s and 1980s. A rave review
Hansen (2011: 408) describes a typical lesson cycle in a Suggestopedia course: appeared in Parade magazine of March 12, 1978. Since Parade has a weekly circulation of
some 30 million Americans, the story on Suggestopedia probably constituted the single
Lessons are considered in terms of a cycle: first comes the presentation, when learn- largest promotion of foreign language teaching ever. Suggestopedia also received a scath-
ers absorb the material in three different ways, carefully orchestrated. The first, an ing review in the TESOL Quarterly, a journal of somewhat more restricted circulation than
informal, dramnatised introduction to the vocabulary of the text, is followed by two for- Parade (Scovel 1979). Having acknowledged that “there are techniques and procedures in
mal but very different “concerts,” when the teacher reads the text aloud in synchrony Suggestopedy that may prove useful in a foreign language classroom,” Scovel notes that
with a piece of music. These “input” sessions spark an unconscious “incubation” Lozanov is unequivocally opposed to any eclectic use of the techniques outside of the full
process in each student that will continue throughout the course. Input can be com- panoply of suggestopedic science. Of suggestopedic science Scovel comments, “If we have
pleted in one long session, depending on circumstances, but it needs to be followed learnt anything at all in the seventies, it is that the art of language teaching will benefit very
by at least one night’s break. Then the “elaboration” of the text begins, at first a little from the pseudo-science of suggestology” (1979: 265).
 7
326 Alternative twentieth-century approaches and methods 18 Suggestopedia 327

Scovel takes special issue with Lozanov’s use (and misuse) of scholarly citations, References and further reading
terminological jargon, and experimental data and states that “a careful reading of [Suggestology Bancroft, W. J. 1978. The Lozanov method and its American adaptions. Modern Language Journal
and Outlines of Suggestopedy] reveals that there is precious little in suggestology which is 62(4): 167-75.
scientific” (1979: 257). And yet, from Lozanov’s point of view, this air of science (rather than Blair, R. W. (ed.). 1982. Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
its substance), as captured by Lozanov’s concept of a ritual placebo system, is what gives Educational Courier (February): 16-19.
Suggestopedia its authority in the eyes of students and prepares them to expect success. Gaston, E. T. (ed.). 1968. Music in Therapy. New York: Macmillan.
One of the tasks of the suggestopedic leader is to determine which current ritual placebo Hammerly, H. 1982. Synthesis in Second Language Teaching. Vancouver, B.C.: Second Language
system carries most authority with students because the strength of a current choice (for Publications.
example, yoga) may weaken with the years. “New times create conditions for building up Hansen, G. H. 2011. Lozanov and the teaching text. In B. Tomlinson (ed.), Materials Development in

new desuggestive-suggestive ritual ‘placebo’ systems” (Lozanov 1978: 267). Just as doctors Language Teaching. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 403-13.
Lozanoy, G. 1978. Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy. New York: Gordon and Breach.
tell patients that the placebo is a pill that will cure them, so teachers tell students that
Ostrander, S., L. Schroeder, and N. Ostrander. 1979. Superlearning. New York: Dell.
Suggestology is a science that will teach them, And Lozanov maintains that placebos do
Scovel, T. 1979. Review of Suggesiology and Outlines of Suggestopedy. TESOL Quarterly 13: 255-66.
both cure and teach when the patient or pupil credits them with the power to do so.
Stevick, E. W. 1976. Memory, Meaning and Method: Some Psychological Perspectives on Language
Perhaps, then, it is not productive to further belabor the science/non-science, data/ Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House,
double-talk issues and instead, as Bancroft and Stevick have done, try to identify and Stevick, E. W. 1980. Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
validate those techniques from Suggestopedia, such as a focus on rhythm and intonation,
that appear effective and that harmonize with other successful techniques in the language
teaching inventory.

Discussion questions
1. Music plays an important role in Suggestopedia. What role does it play in your classes
for supporting language learning (e.g., through the vocabulary in the songs); making
learners feel more comfortable?
2. Vocabulary has a strong emphasis in Suggestopedia. How do advocates of the method
approach the teaching of vocabulary?
3. “The textbook should have emotional force, literary quality, and interesting characters.
Language problems should be introduced in a way that does not worry or distract students
from the content” (p. 324). To what extent does your current textbook meet these qualities?
4. What difficulties do you think teachers would face using Suggestopedia? What difficul-
ties might it pose for students?
5. Although easily - and in practice, often ~ dismissed, Suggestopedia’s focus on the
unconscious as having an impact on learning is not without basis in fact. Many of our
actions are governed by our beliefs, emotions, and values, often without us being aware
of them. To what extent is it the teacher’s role to take account of these aspects of the
learner? How can he or she do so? Examine your own teaching and identify ways in
which when designing and teaching your lessons you take into account learners’
« beliefs
® values
e emotions
PartIV ‘The teaching and learning
environment

The chapters in Part IV focus on the contributions of the learner and the teacher to learning
and teaching processes as well as the status of approaches and methods in the curriculum
development process. Chapter 19 examines the roles of the learner and how these roles
intersect with approaches and methods, In this chapter, we look at learner autonomy, learner
strategies, learning styles, and the role of technology. Part of the message of this chapter is
that learning is not the mirror image of teaching. The learner-autonomy movement as well
as research on learning strategies and learning styles emphasize that learners can be actively
involved in managing and directing their own learning and that one of the goals of teaching
is to enable learners to take more responsibility for their own learning. Technology can play
an important role in facilitating self-directed learning on the part of learners, allowing them
to personalize their learning further; it can also increase motivation.
Chapter 20 looks at the role of the teacher and issues that teachers confront in relation
to how they approach their teaching. One strategy is for teachers to adopt the prescriptions
of an approach or method and to try to match their teaching style to that of the method. This
involves changes in beliefs as well as practice. A second approach is to adapt the method to
the teacher’s local needs and context, perhaps drawing on principles and procedures from
different methods. A third strategy is for the teacher to develop his or her own teaching
approach based on beliefs, experience, and the theorization of practice. Implications of each
of these positions for both teaching and teacher training are explored in this chapter.
Chapter 21 then considers approaches and methods from the perspective of curricu-
lum development. Traditionally, syllabus design was a forward development process, where
the language, or input, was first determined, and the teaching process and output, or goals,
followed. Alternatively, the teaching process itself may be the starting point in curriculum
planning and the syllabus an outcome of teaching, which is referred to here as central design.
A third curriculum development strategy involves identification of learning outcomes as
the starting point in a process called backward design. Audiolingualism, Communicative
Language Teaching, Content-Based Instruction, and CLIL are all examples of forward
design. Methods such as the Natural Approach, the Silent Way, and Community Language
Learning are described here as examples of central design. Competency-Based Language
Teaching, the standards movement and versions of Task-Based Language Teaching
beginning with the outcomes, or tasks to be performed, are examples of backward design.

329
19 Learners, approaches, and methods

Introduction
Learners occupy a prominent role in the description of approaches and methods presented
in this book. At one level, this is seen in the learning theory that supports the teaching strate-
gies recommended in each method, since learning theories describe the processes learners
are assumed to make use of in second language learning (Atkinson 2011), At another level,
the roles assumed for learners in each approach or method, as described throughout this
book, also account for the kind of learning expected of learners, the ways they are expected
to interact with the teacher and other learners in the classroom, and the ways in which they
use the learning arrangements and resources the method makes use of (see also Senior 2006).
Learners are, of course, at the center of all theories of teaching, and their role in learning
has been studied from many different perspectives, including those seen in the disciplines
of psychology, education, and second language acquisition (Ortega 2009; Alsagoff 2012).
A focus on learners and their contribution to learning appeared in many fields of education
in the 1980s with the notion of learner-centeredness - an educational philosophy that has
had a wide impact on education in the last 50 years in both general education and language
teaching (Nunan 1988; Breen 2001; Blumberg 2004). This represents a broader view of the
contribution of learners to learning - one that can be seen as either complementing the
views implicit in different approaches and methods or prompting a rethinking of some of
the assumption of methods. One of the assumptions underlying a learner-centered perspec-
tive is that learning is not necessarily a mirror image of teaching, Learners bring dispositions
to language learning that may operate in tandem with the assumptions of an approach or
method, or independently of it, as we have seen with the theory of Multiple Intelligences
(Chapter 12). Successful learners create their own learning pathways, and effective teachers
seek to recognize learners’ approaches to learning, to help them acquire effective learning
strategies and to build a focus on the learner into their lessons.
In this chapter we will examine the notions of learner autonomy, learner strategies,
and learning styles and how these relate to our understanding of approaches and methods.
We will then consider the role of technology in supporting the learner’s role in language
learning.

Learner autonomy
‘The notion of learner autonomy emphasizes the role that learners can play in their own
learning. While approaches and methods often prescribe the learner’s role in learning,

331
332 The teaching and learning environment ) 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 333

learner autonomy emphasizes that successful learners often learn in ways that may be autonomy. The portfolio has three components: a language passport, which provides the
independent of the methods that are used to teach them or that may be important for the means for the learner to summarize his or her linguistic identity; a language biography,
success of these methods. The effectiveness of teaching can thus be enhanced by giving which provides an opportunity for the learner to describe and reflect on his or her language
learners a more active role in managing their own learning as well as providing the means learning experience with the foreign language; and a dossier, in which the learner docu-
for learners to connect their in-class and out-of-class learning. A learner-autonomous per- ments different forms of evidence of how his or her proficiency in the language is develop-
spective contrasts a “top-down” teacher-managed view of learning, in which the learner is ing. Regular goal setting and self-assessment is also included in the ELP.
viewed as an empty vessel waiting to receive the input provided by the teacher, with more of Other applications of learner autonomy in language teaching (Reinders 2009) include
a “bottom-up” understanding in which the learner is seen as engaged in constructing his or the following:
her own understanding of language and language learning (Benson 2001; Benson and Nunan
© Needs analysis. After consultation and assessment, the teacher may help the learner
2005). Traditional methods such as Audiolingualism and Situational Language Teaching can
develop a profile of his or her strengths and weaknesses and suggest independent learn-
be characterized as presenting a top-down approach to learning, one in which learners do
ing approaches to address the weaknesses identified. Nunan (1995: 145) comments:
not have a choice in what or how to learn. Some of the methods of the 1980s such as Silent
“Learners who have reached a point where they are able to define their own goals and
Way (Chapter 16) and Total Physical Response (Chapter 15) reflect a similar role for learners:
create their own learning opportunities have, by definition, become autonomous.’
the learner is expected to submit to the prescriptions of the method and is not consulted
e Learner training. This can involve short courses or training activities that seek to intro-
or involved in making decisions about how to approach learning. This could also be said
duce strategies for independent learning.
to characterize the role of learners in more recent methods such as Task-Based Language Self-monitoring. Another aspect of autonomous learning is for learners to develop skills
Teaching (Chapter 9), where the learning theory underlying the method drives the teaching
needed to monitor their own learning, A learning diary or portfolio can be used for this
process and determines the kinds of classroom activities that the teacher makes use of.
purpose, but technology offers many other options. For example, students can video
‘The notion of learner autonomy suggests a different role for learners. According to record themselves performing different tasks (e.g., a recount or narrative task) and com-
Benson (2001), this means involving learners in decisions concerning setting objectives
pare their performance on the same tasks over time.
for learning, determining ways and means of learning, and reflecting on and evaluating
© Learning-counseling. This refers to regular meetings between teachers and learners to
what they have learned. Autonomous learning is said to make learning more personal and
help learners plan for their own learning.
focused and, consequently, to achieve better learning outcomes since learning is based on ¢ Learning resources. The institution may provide links to online or print resources such as
learners’ needs and preferences (Victori and Lockhart 1995). It contrasts with the traditional
the ELP referred to above or other resources that foster autonomous learning.
teacher-led approach in which most decisions are made by the teacher. Benson (2001)
« Self-access centers, Many institutions have a facility available online or in a dedicated
outlines five principles for achieving autonomous learning:
center where a variety of self-directed learning resources are available, both to comple-
1, Active involvement in student learning ment classroom instruction and for independent self-directed learning. Staff support is
2. Providing options and resources often provided to facilitate the choice and use of learning resources.
3. Offering choices and decision-making opportunities e Follow-up and support. Successful implementation of the development of learner
4. Supporting learners autonomy involves provision of ongoing support and encouragement. This may involve
5. Encouraging reflection. student-directed group discussion sessions as well as opportunities for reflective review
Classes that encourage autonomous learning entail the following: involving students and teachers,
e Self-study. There are a number of commercial language-learning packages presently
‘The teacher becomes less of an instructor and more of a facilitator. intended entirely for self-study. These are in a sense exclusively learner-centered and
Students are discouraged from relying on the teacher as the main source of knowledge. teacher-free. However, all of these do involve a “Method” and are marketed with a
Students’ capacity to learn for themselves is encouraged. principal focus on “The Method” (e.g., Rosetta Stone*, TELL ME MORE’, the Pimsleur*
Students are encouraged to make decisions about what they learn. Method, Languageio1.com., etc,).
Students’ awareness of their own learning styles is encouraged.
Students are encouraged to develop their own learning strategies. In reviewing strategies for developing learner autonomy, Reinders (2009: 53) comments:

The Council of Europe has developed the European Language Portfolio project Although implementing [an approach to learner autonomy] ... will not guarantee students
(ELP) (Little 2002) which aims to provide a practical application of the notion of learner develop autonomy, the activities do involve a shift of focus from you onto the learners.
334 The teaching and learning environment 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 335

Knowing that they are valued as individuals and are supported in their learning will mean 4. ‘They are prepared to attend to form, constantly looking for patterns in the language.
that students are more likely to develop this mind set, and knowing this, teachers are 5. They practice and also seek out opportunities to practice.
more likely to consider the importance of student ownership of the learning process. 6. They monitor their own speech and the speech of others, constantly attending to how
well their speech is being received and whether their performance meets the standards
The concept of learner autonomy suggests that teachers using a particular approach or they have learned.
method should review their use of the method to determine if it can be used in conjunction 7. They attend to meaning, knowing that in order to understand a message, it is not suf-
with activities that develop autonomous learning or whether it limits the learners’ capacity ficient to attend only to the grammar or surface form of a language.
to manage and direct their own learning. What types of approaches and methods might lend
The concept of strategies has attracted some degree of controversy since Rubin’s work,
themselves best to learner autonomy? Essentially, the more flexibility the approach provides because some researchers feel it overlaps with other constructs. For example, Cohen and
in terms of ways it may be interpreted and implemented, the more amenable it will be to
Dérnyei (2002) give the following examples of reading strategies:
encouraging learner autonomy. Therefore, Communicative Language Teaching, an approach
which has persisted because it lends itself to “strong” (less traditional) and “weak” (more a) With regard to reading habits in the target language:
traditional) forms, was cited as early as the 1970s as one that would be particularly suitable e Making a real effort to find reading material that is at or near one’s level.
to promoting learner autonomy (Chapter 5). Content-based approaches or CLIL (Chapter 6) b) As basic reading strategies:
likewise aim to increase motivation and develop an active, autonomous approach to learning, ¢ Planning how to read a text, monitor to see how the reading is going, and then check
to see how much of it was understood
e Making ongoing summaries either in one’s mind or in the margins of the text.
Learner strategies c) When encountering unknown words and structures:
Learning strategies represent another approach to considering the learner’s role in language ¢ Guessing the appropriate meaning by using clues from the surrounding context
learning. Some methods prescribe the kinds of strategies learners are encouraged to make e Using a dictionary to get a detailed sense of what individual words mean.
use of in learning. Communicative Language Teaching and Cooperative Language Learning The relevance of strategy theory to teaching is that some strategies are likely to be more
(Chapter 13), for example, encourage the use of communication strategies as a basis for effective than others, and by recognizing the differences between the strategies used by
developing fluency in language use as well as the use of interactional strategies that enable expert and novice language learners or between successful and less successful learners, the
learners to learn through the negotiation of meaning. The Silent Way (Chapter 16) is based effectiveness of teaching and learning can be improved. Methods and approaches impli-
on the role of cognitive strategies in learning (see below). But what exactly do we mean by citly or explicitly require the use of specific learning strategies; however, the focus of much
learning strategies? Cohen's (2011: 682) depiction of strategies captures the concept as the strategy research is on self-managed strategies that may be independent of those favored
term is commonly understood: “Language learning strategies can be defined as thoughts and by a particular method.
actions, consciously selected by learners, to assist them in learning and using language in A well-known classification of strategies distinguishes four different kinds of strate-
general, and in the completion of specific language tasks.’ However, learning strategies have gies according to their function (Chamot 1987, 2001; Oxford 1990): cognitive strategies,
a broader role in language learning and suggest an active role for learners in managing their metacognitive strategies, social strategies, and affective strategies.
own learning - one that may be used in conjunction with, or independently of, the method
or approach the teacher is using (Cohen 2011). The notion of learning strategies is sometimes © Cognitive strategies. These refer to the processes learners make use of in order to bet-
viewed as.an aspect of learner autonomy; however, it has had an independent history in lan- ter understand or remember learning materials or input and in retrieving it, such as
guage teaching since the 1980s and can be conveniently reviewed in its own terms. by making mental associations, underlining key phrases in a text, making word lists to
Early discussion of the role of strategies in language learning is often linked to the review following a lesson, and so on.
work of Rubin on characteristics of the good language learner. Rubin (1975: 45-8) identified
© Metacognitive strategies. These are ways in which learners “control their language learn-
ing by planning what they will do, checking on progress, and then evaluating their
seven characteristics that she claimed distinguished good language learners:
performance on a given task” (Cohen 2011; 682). For example, a student might focus on
1. They are willing and accurate guessers who are comfortable with uncertainty, the following kinds of questions in relation to a listening text that a teacher uses during
2. ‘They have a strong drive to communicate, or to learn from communication, and are will- a lesson:
ing to do many things to get their message across.
3. They are often not inhibited and are willing to appear foolish if reasonable communication “How should I approach this listening text?” (planning)
results. “What parts of the text should I pay more attention to?” (planning)
336 The teaching and learning environment 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 337

“Am I focusing on the appropriate parts of the text?” (monitoring) and appropriate strategy use is often the key to successful language learning. Important
“Did I understand correctly the words the writer used?” (monitoring) questions for teachers to ask in relation to approaches and methods therefore include: What
“Did I perform the task well?” (evaluating) learning strategies does this method develop? What learning strategies do my learners use?
“What caused me to misunderstand part of the text?” (evaluating) What other learning strategies would be useful for my learners to use? Within an approach
or method, learning strategies, as illustrated by the examples of reading and listening strate-
e Social strategies. These are “the means employed by learners for interacting with other
gies given above, often combine with the teaching of specific skills. Since learning strategies
learners and native speakers, such as through asking questions to clarify social roles and
may be viewed as an aspect of learner autonomy, as mentioned, it stands to reason that
relationships, asking for an explanation or verification, and cooperating with others in
here, too, flexible approaches and methods will lend themselves well to the development
order to complete tasks” (Cohen 2011: 682). For example, a learner may prepare a set of
of learning strategies. In addition, methods such as Cooperative Language Learning that
questions that he or she could use when meeting speakers of English to enable him or
encourage group interaction and success lend themselves naturally to encouraging the use
her to have more opportunities to use English.
of learning strategies.
« Affective strategies. These are actions the learner takes to manage the emotions they expe-
rience when learning a language or when they try out what they have learned in com-
munication. For example, a learner may find it less stressful to first try out their language Learning styles
skills by talking to more proficient second language users than with native speakers, Another dimension of learner-centeredness is known as learning styles. Whereas strategies
Research on learning strategies is useful to the extent that it leads to insights that can tefer to specific actions learners take to address particular learning tasks or language
be used in teaching or in developing learner autonomy. Cohen (2011: 683) suggests that in use situations, learning styles refer to a general predisposition or preference to approach
order to give learners a better understanding of the nature of strategies and to help them learning in particular ways. Although there are many different ways of conceptualizing
develop effective strategy use, four issues need to be addressed: and defining learning styles (see, e.g., Griffiths 2008), Reid’s characterization of learning
styles as “an individual's natural, habitual and preferred ways(s) of absorbing processing,
1. Raising awareness of the strategies learners are already using
and retaining new information and skills” (1995: viii) is often used in relation to language
2. Presenting and modeling strategies so that learners become increasingly aware of their teaching. Differences in learning styles may be reflected in the preferences learners have
own thinking and learning processes for particular kinds of classroom activities, for particular roles for the teacher and for the
3. Providing multiple practice opportunities to help learners move toward autonomous use learners, for particular grouping arrangements, and for particular modes of learning both
of the strategies through gradual withdrawal of teacher scaffolding, and inside and outside the classroom. ‘The notion of learning styles can help capture the diver-
4. Getting learners to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used and any efforts that sity of types of learners we meet in language classrooms and the different ways in which
they have made to transfer these strategies to new tasks. learners respond to teaching methods based on their learning style preferences, These pref-
In teaching strategies, both direct and indirect strategies are used. With a direct approach, strat- erences will influence how learners respond to different learning situations. For example:
egy training is a feature of a normal language lesson and a training session includes five stages: e Some learners like to work independently, while others prefer working in a group.
preparation, presentation, practice, evaluation, and expansion. As described by Gu (2012: 321):
¢ Some learners like to spend a lot of time planning before they complete a task, while others
Strategies are first introduced and modeled by the teacher, before students are given spend little time planning and sort out problems that arise while they are completing
tasks to practice using the taught strategies. Teachers and learners reflect along the a task.
way about the reason for choosing and the effectiveness of using the strategy in ques- ® Some people can focus on only one task at a time, while others seem to be able to do
tion. Learners are finally encouraged to extend the use of the taught strategies similar several different tasks at once.
to language learning and language use tasks. in this way, the responsibility for stra-
e Some learners feel uncomfortable in situations where there is ambiguity or uncertainly,
tegic decision-making shifts gradually from the teacher to the learners as classroom while others are able to handle situations where there is conflicting information and
instruction moves from stage to stage, resulting in full learner responsibility in strategy opinions.
choice and use at the end of training.
© When solving problems, some people are willing to take risks and to make guesses without
worrying about the possibility of being wrong, while others try to avoid situations where
‘The concept of learning strategies adds an important dimension to what we understand there is such a risk.
by “teaching,” since while approaches and methods are generally conceptualized as instruc- ® Some people learn best when they use visual cues and write notes to help them remember,
tional designs for second language teaching, in reality they are designs for language learning, while others learn better through auditory learning, without writing notes.
 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 339
338 The teaching and learning environment

them assumptions about preferred learning styles. Some such as Communicative Language
These kinds of differences are often observable over time in a teacher’s class and can
Teaching, Community Language Learning (Chapter 17) and Task-Based Language Teaching
also be revealed through interviews, journal writing, questionnaires, and other activities
instru- favor a group-based interactive learning style which, critics have pointed out, reflects a
in which teachers explore their learners’ view of learning. Many different research
approaches have been used to investigate the notion of learning styles, and con- Western-based view of learning (Holliday 1994a, 1994b, 2003, 2009). Students from other
ments and
sequently there are many different lists and taxonomies of learning styles. The following are educational traditions may prefer teaching that is more teacher-led or which depends more
on individual than group-based learning.
commonly referred to (Reid 19955 Richards and Lockhart 1994):
However, research has not been able to establish that some learning styles are more
prefer
© Visual learners, These learners respond to new information in a visual fashion and effective than others (Griffiths 2012), and some researchers question the notion of learning
and graphic representat ions of experience. ‘They benefit most from reading
visual, pictorial, styles (Cassidy 2004). Griffiths (2012: 162) concludes that “no particular style can be isolated
learn
and learn well by seeing words in books, workbooks, and on the board. They can often as being important for success in language learning. Instead success rather depends on
on their own with a book, and they take notes of lectures to remember the new informatio n.
learners choosing a style which suits their own individual and contextual needs.”
e Auditory learners, These learners learn best from oral explanatio n and from hearing
The usefulness of the concept of learning styles is in how it can provide a better under-
words spoken, ‘They benefit from listening to recordings, teaching other students, and standing of the diversity of learners that may be present in a single class. And as we noted
by conversing with their classmates and teachers. above, it also accounts for the fact that learners from different cultural backgrounds may
Kinesthetic learners. Learners of this type learn best when they are physically involved have different learning style preferences because of the type of teaching they have experi-
participate in
in the experience. They remember new information when they actively enced in the past. In terms of how learning styles combine with approaches and methods, the
activities, such as through field trips or role plays. important consideration is the following: students who come from educational backgrounds
© Tactile learners. These learners learn best when engaged in “hands on” activities. They where the teacher plays a more dominant role and where the individual is not encouraged
like to manipulate materials and like to build, fix, or make things, or put things together. to stand out in a group, as in the example cited above from China, may prefer more con-
stu-
© Group learners. These learners prefer group interaction and classwork with other ventional teaching methods, including Audiolingualism (Chapter 4), Situational Language
dents and learn best when working with others. Group interaction helps them to learn
Teaching (Chapter 3), or even Grammar-Translation (Chapter 1). It is very important for the
and understand new material better. teacher to be sensitive to the cultural environment when choosing an approach or method.
Individual learners. Learners of this type prefer to work on their own. They are capable
if they
of learning new information by themselves and remember the material better
learned it alone. The impact of technology
Authority-oriented learners. These learners relate well to a traditional classroom. They ‘The movement toward a learner-centered approach to teaching in recent years reflects a
prefer the teacher as an authority figure. ‘They like to have clear instructions and know - philosophical reorientation and change in thinking about the roles of learners as well as
exactly what they are doing. They are Jess comfortable with consensus-building discussion. a response to changed opportunities for learner-initiated learning through the use of the
Learning style preferences also reflect the learner's cultural background since con- Internet and other forms of technology. Waters (2012: 448) comments:
In some
ceptions of both teaching and learning differ from culture to culture (Tsui 2009).
a research shows that the use of the interactive whiteboard can have a significant effect
cultures a good teacher is one who controls and directs learners and who maintains
or less
respectful distance between the teacher and the learners. Learners are the more
on teaching methodology, by making it possible for new kinds of learning oppor-
and tunities to occur. There is also evidence that the increasing ubiquity of web-based
passive recipients of the teacher's expertise. Teaching is viewed as a teacher-controlled
directed process. In other cultures the teacher may be viewed more as a facilitator. The abil- teaching and learning resources has the potential to redistribute the balance between

ity to form close interpersonal relations with students is highly valued and there is a strong
teacher-led and learner-led interaction. in addition, many course books are nowadays
be
emphasis on individual learner creativity and independent learning. Students may even
already accompanied by an ever-widening range of linked e-resources and these are

encouraged to question and challenge what the teacher says. Similarly, in some cultures likely to increase the opportunities for learners to work more independently as well ...

students may be more willing to communicate in front of their peers in the classroom Technology thus provides opportunities for learners to be less dependent on classroom
ss
than in other cultures. Wen and Clement (2003) suggest that in China, group cohesivene learning and the teacher's approach or method. It does this by:
communica tion patterns in
and attachment to group members influence Chinese students
the classroom. A. student may believe that if he or she speaks up in class, this may not be ® providinga wider exposure to English, including authentic example of language use;
valued by other students since it is judged as “showing off” and an attempt tomake other e increasing opportunities for interaction both with other learners and with native-speakers
into and second language users of English worldwide;
students look weak. Language teaching approaches and methods often have built
340 The teaching and learning environment 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 341

supporting different learning styles, allowing students to find learning resources that work in the media lab or on the computer and work with real examples of the interactions
match their preferred way of learning (e.g., visual or auditory styles); and transactions they practiced in the classroom. Technology similarly offers support for
providing learners with opportunities to focus on particular skills, such as reading or Content-Based Instruction and CLIL (see Chapter 6). Content-focused instruction is con-
speaking; tent-driven and integrates language learning and content learning. Authentic content can
providing support that is suitable for learners of different proficiency levels, enabling learners be accessed on the Internet, providing examples of natural language use. Students can also
to choose activities that range in difficulty from beginner to advanced; explore websites, watch online videos and news clips, and share their reactions to these with
encouraging more active learning through changes in the roles of students that technology other learners. They may be given specific tasks to carry out (e.g., in the form of webquests),
makes possible: students are no longer the passive recipients of instruction but are actively they can prepare their own materials either individually or in groups and record blog posts
engaged in furthering their own knowledge and skills and are more in control of the or podcasts. They can share these with other students, all while using the target language.
process and the learning outcomes; With task-based and text-based teaching, technology provides many opportunities to create
encouraging learner autonomy through giving learners a greater level of choice over what texts or tasks that reflect real-world uses of language, that require them to integrate skills,
they learn and how they learn it, thus developing a greater sense of learner autonomy; that engage them in negotiation of meaning with other learners, and that also require a
providing a stress-reduced environment, since for some learners technology-based learning focus on form. Communicative online tasks support second language acquisition through
is a less stressful way to practice using English than classroom-based activities where they providing opportunities for noticing and for restructuring language as students engage with
feel they are being compared with their peers; the production of both spoken and written texts (Pellettieri 2000). Task-Based Language
providing a social context for learning by allowing learners to join a learning community Teaching emphasizes the need for a broad, or holistic, approach to language development
in which they interact socially with other learners; in this way technology encourages and makes use of tasks that require the integration of different skills. Similarly, integrative
collaborative learning (with some activities students provide peer-tutoring, helping each CALL provides for the integration of skills, and technology is now increasingly seen as a
other accomplish tasks); useful medium for the creation and delivery of task-based teaching.
e increasing motivation, since motivation often increases and discipline problems decrease However, regardless of the support for autonomous learning available through
when students are engaged in technology-based learning; technology, it has been pointed out that language learning and language use is primarily a
® providing access to more engaging material, since through the Internet learners can access social endeavor. Nielson (2011: 110-11) comments:
content that is often very engaging for them, such as digital games, YouTube content,
There is no existing emplrical research on learning outcomes from foreign language
and so on;
self-study using commercially available, stand-alone CALL materials. There is, how-
© supporting learning outside of the classroom, such as through the use of mobile techno-
ever, research from related areas that suggests the most effective learning is not
logies that can be helpful in supporting learners to use English at the point of need, for
achieved by learners working alone, and that any materials designed as stand-alone,
example when traveling;
self-study solutions will have to compensate for this lack of interpersonal Interaction.
offering opportunities for more and alternative types of feedback as with programs that
For example, researchers investigating learner autonomy, or “the ability to take charge
include immediate or relayed feedback to learners, and collaborative tools such as email
of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981, p. 3), make it clear that achieving autonomy - a
and chat that allow learners to work with other learners to get peer-feedback, or to get
condition argued to be beneficial to the language acquisition process - does not
help from a (remote) teacher.
necessarily come about as a result of self-study. In fact, according to Benson's (2007)
Technology can also support many of the approaches and methods discussed in this literature review on autonomous learning, “learners do not develop the ability to self-
book. For example, it can be used as a component of Communicative Language Teaching, direct their fearning simply by being placed in situations where they have no other
Task-Based Language Teaching, Text-Based Instruction, as well as Cooperative Language option” (p. 22). That is, autonomy is learner-internal, and not a situational condition.
Learning, by providing opportunities for authentic interactions during which learners have
to employ and expand their communicative resources, supported by the ability to link
Conclusion
sound, word, texts, and images in the process. There are many possibilities, such as through
chat rooms and discussion boards. Technology also provides easy access to a rich range of While approaches and methods generally contain defined roles for learners and reflect
authentic materials, and it enables learners in different locations to work together on collab- specific assumptions about the strategies and processes learners should make use of in lan-
orative tasks and to make use of a variety of different modes of communication ~ including guage learning, learners’ contributions to language learning should not be constrained by
print, audio, and visual. The classroom textbook.can be enriched by making links to topics, the practices of a particular teaching approach or method. A focus on learner autonomy,
functions, and activities that appear in the book. Similarly, students can engage in follow-up learning strategies, learning styles, and the opportunities for learner-focused learning
 7
19 Learners, approaches, and methods 343
342 The teaching and learning environment

8. The first stage in developing strategy use is raising learners’ awareness of the strategies
provided by technology expands our understanding of the role of learners in language
learning. It reminds us that language teaching is not simply about teaching language. A they are already using. How would you go about this? Specifically, how would you cre-
learner-centered approach to teaching has as its goal to provide learners with learning ate an environment in which learners are most likely to use a cognitive, a metacognitive,
a social, and an affective strategy?
resources that they can use both in and outside the classroom and ways in which learners
can focus and manage their own learning. A good teacher takes account of learners’ preferred learning styles. However, these

°
may run counter to the tenets of some of the approaches and methods described in
Discussion questions this book. For example, in some countries learners are used to teachers being firmly
L Respond to the following statements by saying “yes” or “no” and giving reasons for your in control, but the teacher may want to use a more learner-centered approach. What
answers. would you do in such a situation?
Learners should always be given a choice about what to learn. 10. What teachers aim for and what learners actually learn can be two vastly different
Learners should always be given a choice about how to learn. things. Similarly, what teachers mean and what learners understand are not necessarily
All language courses should include the flexibility to meet learners’ diverse and the same. As a mini research project, identify one class that you have a detailed lesson
changing needs. plan for with well-worked-out goals. At the end of the lesson give your students a short
questionnaire asking them the following:
. “Learning is not necessarily a mirror image of teaching” (p. 331). Exchange experi-
ences with a colleague about the mismatches you have experienced between what you e What they thought they had to do during one of the main activities
intended to teach and what learners ended up learning. e Why they think they had to do this — ie., what the learning purpose was
e What they thought the three main purposes of the overall lesson were (you can
. The European Language Portfolio (ELP) embodies the concept of learner autonomy and is
include a list of options), in order of importance
provided by the Council of Europe at the following website: http://www.coeint/portfolio. Look
e Upto three things they learned from the class, in order of importance.
at this portfolio, or search for a similar one on the Internet, and answer the following questions:
How did these match with your own goals?
Who completes the portfolio?
Is it assessed by a teacher? 11. Work with a colleague and observe each other’s class. To what extent do each of you do
What is the purpose of the portfolio? the following?
Do you think using the portfolio might work with your learners? Why (not)?
1 (not at all) How is this done?
. What are some examples of strategies for independent learning and learner autonomy? 5 (all the time)
(Review pp. 332-3.) Which of these do you think might be most effective? Take active involvement in student
learning
. How would you respond to a teacher who asks students to set their own goals, only to
have students respond that the teacher isn’t actually teaching them? Would you encout-
Provide options and resources

age the teacher to change his or her teaching style?

Offer choices and decision-making
Many teachers feel that their learners’ experiences and beliefs do not predispose them toward opportunities
a

learner‘autonomy and that it may be a concept that works better in some, mostly Western, Support learners
cultures than others, Do you think your students would be comfortable with taking more
responsibility for their learning? If not, how could you gradually accustom them to this idea? Encourage reflection

. Review the four types of strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, social, and affective,
mentioned on pages 335-6. What types of strategies are the following examples of? 12. As you read in the chapter, it is important for teachers to ask the following questions in
Using flashcards to memorize new vocabulary. relation to approaches and methods:
Joining a sports club to meet more target language speakers. e What learning strategies does this method develop?
Keeping a learning diary. e What learning strategies do my learners use?
Creating a relaxing learning environment. © What other learning strategies would be useful for my learners to use?
344 The teaching and learning environment 19 Learners, approaches, and methods 345

Answer these questions for your own teaching method and learners or for a language Ortega, L. 2009. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London: Hodder Education.
class where you have been a student. Oxford, R. 1990. Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. Rowley, MA:
Newbury House.
Pellettieri, J. 2000. Negotiation in cyberspace, In M. Warschauer and R. L. Kern (eds.), Network-Based
References and further reading Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press. 59-86.
Alsagoff, L. 2012. Identity and the EIL Learner. In L. Alsagoff, S. L. McKay, G, Hu, and W. A. Reid, J. (ed.). 1995. Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom. New York: Heinle and Heinle.
Reinders, H., and S. Wattana. 2012. Talk to me! Games and students’ willingness to communicate.
Renandya (eds.), Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an Internatianal Language,
New York: Routledge. 104-22. InH. Reinders (ed.), Digital Games in Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan. 156-88.
Atkinson, D. (ed.), 201. Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition. New York:
Reinders, H. 2009. Technology and second language teacher education. In A, Burns and J. Richards
Routledge.
(eds.), Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education, Cambridge: Cambridge
Benson, P. 2001. Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. London: Longman,
Benson. P, and D. Nunan (eds.). 2005. Learners’ Stories: Difference and Diversity in Language University Press, 230-7.
Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C,, and C. Lockhart. 1994. Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Blumberg, P. 2004, Beginning journey toward a culture of learning centered teaching, Journal of
Student Centered Learning 2(1): 68-80, Rubin, J. 1975. What the good language learner can teach us. TESOL Quarterly 9(1): 41-51.
Senior, R. 2006. The Experience of Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Breen. M. P, (ed.). 2001. Learner Contributions to Language Learning. London: Longman.
Cassidy, $. 2004. Learning styles: an overview of theories, models, and measures. Educational Tsui, A. B. M. 2009. Teaching expertise: approaches, perspectives and characteristics. In A, Burns
Psychology 24(4): 419-44. and J. Richards (eds.), Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge:
and J. Rubin (eds.), Cambridge University Press. 190~7.
Chamot, A. U. 1987. The learning strategies of ESL students. In A. Wenden
Tudor, I. 1996. Learner-Centredness as Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 71-84.
Victori, M., and W. Lockhart. 1995. Enhancing metacognition in self-directed language learning.
Chamot, A, U. 2001, The role of learning strategies in second language acquisition. In Breen (ed.), 25-43.
System 232: 223-34.
Cohen, A. D, 2011. Second language learner strategies. In Hinkley (ed.), 681-98.
Waters, A. 2012. Trends and issues in ELT methods and methodology. ELT Journal 66(4): 440-9.
Cohen, A. D., and Z, Dornyei. 2002, Focus on the language learner: motivation, styles, and strategies.
Wen, W. P, and R. Clement. 2003. A Chinese conceptualisation of willingness to communicate in
InN. Schmitt (ed.), An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. London: Arnold. 170-90.
ESL. Language, Culture and Curriculum 16(1): 18-38.
European Language Portfolio (ELP). http://www.coe.int/portfolio; accessed May 17, 2013.
Griffiths, C. (ed.), 2008, Lessons From Good Language Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Gu, Y. B. 2012. Language learning strategies: an EIL perspective, In Alsagoff et al. (eds.), 318-34.
Hinkley, E. (ed.), 2011, Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, Vol II.
New York: Routledge.
Holliday, A. 1994a. Appropriate Methodology and Social Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holliday, A. 1994b. The house of TESEP and the communicative approach: the special needs of state
English language education. ELT Journal 48(1): 3-1.
Holliday, A. 2003. Social autonomy: addressing the dangers of culturism in TESOL. In D. Palfreyman
and R. Smith (eds.), Learner Autonomy across Cultures: Language Education Perspectives.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 110-26.
Holliday, A. 2009, The role of culture in English language education: key challenges. Language and
Intercultural Communication 10(2): 165-77.
Little, D. 2002. The European Language Portfolio: structure, origins, implementation and challenges.
Language Teaching 35(3): 182-9.
Nielson, K. 20u. Self-study with language learning software in the workplace: what happens?
Language Learning & Technology 15(3): 20-29.
Nunan, D. 1988. The Learner-Centred Curriculum: A Study in Second Language Teaching. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, D, 1995. Closing the gap between learning and instruction. TESOL Quarterly 29: 133-58.
 7 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 347
20 Teachers, approaches, and methods
At any given time, some approaches and methods have become widely accepted and
practiced, while others may have attracted much more limited interest. Some proposals
are given wide support at local, national, and international levels when they are adopted
as the framework for the national curriculum or supported by educational organizations,
teacher-training institutions, academics, and decision-makers in ministries of education.
Such was the case with Communicative Language Teaching (Chapter 5) and has also
been true in some contexts for Task-Based Language Teaching (Chapter 9), Text-Based
Instruction (Chapter 10), CLIL (Chapter 6), and the Common European Framework of
Introduction Reference (Chapter 8). From the descriptions given in this book, it is also clear that some
We have seen throughout this book that approaches and methods reflect particular approaches and methods are unlikely to be widely adopted because they are difficult to
assumptions and beliefs about how learners should learn - assumptions that may need to understand and use, lack clear practical application, require special training, are not
be reviewed based on the roles of autonomous learning, learning strategies, learning style readily compatible with local traditions and practices, and necessitate major changes in
preferences, and technology-mediated learning. Approaches and methods also prescribe teachers’ practices and beliefs.
how teachers should teach. They reflect assumptions about the nature of good teaching, the However, approaches and methods generally offer very different proposals for how
practices and techniques teachers should make use of, the teacher's role in the classroom, to teach. This sometimes creates a dilemma for teacher educators, teachers, program
the kinds of language and resources they should use, and the kinds of grouping arrange- coordinators, and decision-makers in ministries of education: on what basis should
ments and interactions that should occur in their classrooms. When new approaches or an approach or method be selected? And what are the alternatives? In this chapter we
methods are introduced, they are promoted as reflecting sound theory and principles and will consider three options that are available to teacher-educators, teachers, and other
as being the best solution to the language teaching problem. They are often based on the decision-makers and consider the assumptions and implications of each. These options
assumption that the processes of second language learning are fully understood. Many are (a) to match teaching to the method; (b) to adapt the method to local needs; or (c) to
of the books written by method gurus are full of claims and assertions about how people develop a personal approach or method.
learn languages, few of which are based on second language acquisition research or have
been empirically tested. Researchers who study language learning are themselves usu- Match your teaching to the method
ally reluctant to dispense prescriptions for teaching based on the results of their research,
An assumption of all of the instructional designs discussed in this book is that the
because they know that current knowledge is tentative, partial, and changing. As Atkinson
chosen approaches or methods work, that they are more effective than other approaches
(2011: xi) comments: “It is increasingly apparent ... that SLA is an extremely complex and
and methods, that they are applicable in many different situations, and that adopting
multifaceted phenomenon. Exactly for this reason, it now appears that no single theoretical
them will produce successful learning outcomes in language programs. Hunter and
perspective will allow us to understand SLA adequately,”
Smith (2012) comment on the fact that historical accounts of methods and current
Much of SLA research does not support the often simplistic theories and prescriptions
debates about appropriate methodology tend to present new methods as evidence
found in the literature supporting some approaches and methods. For example, in making
of progress ~ as one set of theories, ideas, and practices is replaced by another and
their case for CLIL, Coyle, Hood, and Marsh (2010: 153-4) comment:
presumably more appropriate and up-to-date set. Presented with a new approach or
CLIL has a significant contribution to make not only to providing learners of all ages method such as Task-Based Language Teaching, CLIL, or Text-Based Instruction, the
with motivating experiences which are appropriate for knowledge creation and shar- teachers’ task is to study the method and its principles and then apply the procedures
ing, but also, fundamentally, to cultivating the “cosmopolitan identity’ ... where learn- it recommends to their own teaching. To be able to do this, teachers need to acquire
ing and using languages for different purposes generates tolerance, curiosity and new beliefs and practices.
responsibility as global citizens.
New beliefs
Commenting on this grandiose claim, Paran (2013: 140) observes: “Quite apart from the Before changing his or her practices, the teacher needs to acquire a new set of beliefs -
difficulty of any teaching programme to achieve this, it is not clear why CLIL can do this some of which may run contrary to the teacher's own beliefs and understandings (Borg
better than any other teaching, unless we accept that CLIL is ‘better’ than other language 2006). Based on the assumption that practices will not change unless the teacher's
teaching, which is where the circularity of the argument comes in” beliefs also change, those promoting the adoption of new approaches and methods face

346
348 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 349

the task of bringing about changes in a teacher's beliefs. This is normally addressed in based on the principles of approaches and methods such as Communicative Language
a number of ways: Teaching, Cooperative Language Learning (Chapter 13), Total Physical Response (Chapter
15), Text-Based Instruction, or Task-Based Language Teaching. Videos are often available
e Bypersuasion: philosophical or ideological reasons may be used to support the new beliefs, demonstrating how the method should be used. Teachers may later be assessed according
such as arguments in favour of the value of learner autonomy or collaborative learning. to how closely their teaching reflects the model they are being trained to use (Barduhn and
e By citing theory and research that supports the new method: this has characterized pro- Johnson 2009). When teachers have difficulty in applying the method correctly, from a
motion of the Natural Approach and Task-Based Language Teaching as was also true of training perspective the issue is either to improve the system of transmission and delivery
earlier methods such as Audiolingualism. (how teachers are taught about the method), or to find out what went wrong at the receiv-
e By citing evidence of successful learning outcomes: this is often seen in discussions of ing end. Did the teacher use the correct procedures? Did the teacher follow the correct
CLIL and Content-Based Instruction. sequence of stages recommended. when using the method? Accounts by teachers using
By appeals to authorities: support from credible experts and authorities can also be the new method can also be used to induct novice teachers into the method. For example,
persuasive, such as recommendations from leading academics, “gurus,” educational in Edwards and Willis (2005: 3) accounts are provided of how teachers implement TBLT.
authorities and organizations, and so on. Support of this kind was crucial to the accept- Donald Freeman, endorsing the book, cited in the book comments:
ance of Communicative Language Teaching in the 1970s (Richards 1984).
In adopting task-based teaching ... the contributors to this collection write about their
Much of the focus of graduate courses in language teaching is directed toward reshaping
classroom practices from a common point of view, creating in a sense a shared “gram-
teachers’ knowledge and beliefs through the study of some of the vast body of research and
mar” of the classroom. This approach then makes their accounts very readable, and i
theorizing on second language learning and teaching. However, teachers’ beliefs are often
resistant to change. Clark and Peterson (1986) noted the following: would think, very replicable by readers. :

® The most resilient or “core” teachers’ beliefs are formed on the basis of teachers’ own The metaphor of a “shared grammar’ is interesting since it suggests how the method is con-
schooling as young students while observing teachers who taught them. Subsequent ceived as a system of rules that teachers need to internalize and apply in their own practice.
teacher education appears not to disturb these early beliefs, not least, perhaps, because
it rarely addresses them. Criticisms of matching teaching to the method
® Ifteachers actually try out a particular innovation that does not initially conform to their But a number of objections can be made to the practice of presenting teachers with the
prior beliefs or principles and the innovation proves helpful or successful, then accommo- “pre-packaged expert-designed” teaching product that methods often seem to represent
dation of an alternative belief or principle is more plausible than in any other circumstance. and inviting teachers to adopt it as the source of their classroom teaching. One criticism is
For the novice teacher, classroom experience and day-to-day interaction with colleagues that methods are suitable for only inexperienced teachers. Another is that they restrict the
has the potential to influence particular relationships among beliefs and principles and, teacher’s contribution to teaching.
over time, to consolidate the individual’s permutation of them. Nevertheless, it seems
that greater experience does not lead to greater adaptability in our beliefs and, thereby, Methods are only suitable for novices
the abandonment of strongly held pedagogical principles. Quite the contrary, in fact. It could be argued that presenting teachers with a pre-packaged method may be appropri-
‘The more experience we have, the more reliant on our “core” principles we become and ate for novice teachers but not for more experienced teachers, Many experienced teachers
the less conscious we are of being so. typically began their professional training with a certificate-level training course in which
they were taught to teach according to the methodology presented in their course — be it
New practices the PPP lesson model of the older RSA Certificate or an integrated-skills “communicative”
In addition to acquiring a new set of beliefs and understandings, teachers adopting a new lesson format found in more recent training programs (Richards, Ho, and Giblin 1996). As
method also need to acquire a new set of practical skills. They may need to become familiar they gain experience, many teachers report that they no longer use the methods they were
with a new set of procedures for teaching lessons, to learn to use different kinds of teach- trained to use but adapt a much more flexible approach to methodology (Richards, Gallo,
ing materials and resources, or to change the kinds of interactions they have with learners. and Renandya 2001). For entry-level teachers with little professional or practical knowledge,
A shift from teacher-directed teaching to the use of group-based activities, for example, the use of methods in programs like these is intended to provide trainees with a level of
requires not only a change in the teacher's mind set but the learning of new routines for security. Methods, it could be argued, solve many of the problems beginning teachers have
organizing a lesson. Practices of this kind are often the focus of training sessions, micro- to struggle with because many of the basic decisions about what to teach and how to teach
teaching, workshops or demonstrations designed to show teachers how to teach a lesson it have already been made for them. Therefore, for novice teachers, methods are probably
350 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 351

necessary. Moreover, method enthusiasts create together a professional community with a With this view of methods, the ways in which teachers individualize, localize, personalize,
common purpose, ideology, and vernacular. This provides adherents with a cohort group and adapt methods is valued. Although the use of a particular method or approach might
of like-minded teachers with whom they can share ideas and experiences. Like the “PPP” be part of the overall teaching philosophy of a school, teachers are encouraged to develop
prescription of Presentation, Practice, and Production (Chapter 3), a method offers to the their own personalized interpretations of it. Teacher development may focus on how teach-
novice teacher the reassurance of a detailed set of sequential steps to follow in the class- ets achieve their individual uses of a method. An example of how this can take place is
room. Nevertheless, in recent years, even for novice teachers, schools are somewhat less with the Lesson Study Approach (Lewis and Tsuchida 1998; Tasker 2009). Teachers work
rigid than they had been in the past in prescribing a method and teaching techniques, together in a group and co-plan a lesson that focuses on a particular piece of content or unit
In the case of experienced teachers, methods can restrict the teacher's options and of study and that reflects their shared philosophy of teaching and the method that they or
choices and discourage the teacher from developing a personal teaching approach. They their school has adopted. During this process they engage in extended conversations while
can limit creativity and encourage teachers to focus on the method rather than on the focusing on student learning and the development of specific outcomes. Once the plan has
learners. ‘Therefore, the practice of encouraging experienced teachers to match their teach- been developed, one member of the team volunteers to teach it, while the others observe.
ing to a method has come under significant criticism. (Sometimes outsiders are also invited to observe.) After the lesson, the group discuss their
findings in a colloquium or panel discussion. Typically, the teachers who planned the les-
Methods presents a deficit view of teaching
son focus on their rationale for how they planned the lesson and their evaluation of how
A “follow the method” strategy has also been described as reflecting a deficit view of teach-
it went, particularly focusing on student learning. The planning group then re-convene to
ing, one that suggests that teachers are generally deficient in their understanding of teach-
review the lesson and revise it, and then a different teacher teaches it to a different class,
ing and that this problem can be rectified through the use of a method that was designed by
‘The cycle culminates in the team publishing a report that includes lesson plans, observed
experts. Teachers have to accept on faith the claims or theory underlying the method and
student behavior, teacher reflections, and a summary of the group discussions. These are
apply them to their own practice. They are therefore seen as involved in the application of
then made available to others.
other people's theories and principles, rather than engaged in developing theories and prin-
When teachers adapt methods to their local contexts of use, the adaptations they make
ciples of their own. The roles of teachers and learners, as well as the type of activities and
will reflect both the teacher’s personal understandings, beliefs, and teaching style but also
teaching techniques to be used in the classroom, are generally prescribed and not open to
adjustments due to local factors such as the class size, classroom resources, learners’ proficiency
negotiation. Absent from the traditional view of methods, described above, is a concept of
level, age, backgrounds, needs, learning styles, goals, and so on. The teacher's role is to align
learner-centeredness and teacher creativity: an acknowledgment that learners bring differ-
the method to their classroom and school context. In this way there is a better fit between the
ent learning styles and preferences to the learning process, that they should be consulted in
method and the contexts of its use - the culture of learning in which a teachers works. Jin and
the process of developing a teaching program, and that teaching methods must be flexible
Cortazzi (2011: 571) describe this in relation to the learning in Chinese classrooms:
and adaptive to learners’ needs and interests and reflect the teacher’s thinking.
“Cultures of learning” describes taken-for-granted frameworks of expectations, atti-
Adapt the method to your teaching context tudes, values and beliefs about successful learning and teaching, about learning and

A more flexible way of considering approaches and methods is to see them as a resource using different language skliis in classrooms, and about how interaction should be
that can be tailored to the teacher’s needs. This view of the relationship between teachers accomplished. For students, this includes ways of preparing for English exams, self-
and methods assigns a greater role to teacher creativity and individuality and positions a study practice and classwork. It includes giving great importance to the teacher, to the
method in a supporting rather than a controlling role. The method is viewed as providing book, to modeis and explanations, to mimicking and memorizing, to practising and
a core set of principles and procedures that can be adapted and modified according to the performing ... It also includes deeper values of the importance of learning and study;
teacher's teaching context. Questions teachers might ask from this perspective, ones where their respect for teachers for their knowledge, cultivation of learning and morality; their
the answers may require some creativity, would include: awareness of teachers’ guidance, care, concern, devotion and sacrifice (cognitive,
soclal and affective dimensions). It Includes a deep belief that making a continuous
How can I use a communicative approach ina class of 70 students? effort leads to success (not just having talent), that success is possible, and that dif-
How can I use Cooperative Language Learning in an exam-driven curriculum? ficulties and hardships can be endured and surmounted.
What principles from the Silent Way can I use in teaching speaking?
How can I adapt Total Physical Response to use in a business English course? Thus, an important task for the teacher is to adjust the methods he or she has been trained
How can Task-Based Language Teaching be used with young learners? to use to the culture of learning in which they are used.
352 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 353

Develop a personal approach or method In comparing form-based and meaning-based methods, Lightbown and Spada (2006: 180) rec-
ommend eclecticism: “it is not necessary to choose between form-based and meaning-based
Another way of characterizing the relationship between teachers and methods is to shift the focus
instruction. Rather, the challenge is to find the best balance between these two orientations.”
from methods to the teacher. This can be seen as a change in agency — ftom methods that change
teachers, to teachers that are engaged in the process of developing their own teaching methods Using personal principles and practical knowledge
and approaches. This changed perspective on methods has been characterized as “post-method” Another post-method approach to teaching is when teachers are encouraged to develop
(Kumaravadivelu 1994, 2003). The following are characteristics of a post-method philosophy. their own teaching philosophy, teaching style, and instructional strategies. This leads to
a knowledge base that is sometimes referred to as “principles” or as “personal practical
Using principled eclecticism knowledge” (PPK) (Golombek 2009). PPK has been characterized as “a moral, affective,
In language teaching the blending of methods into the teacher's own method has long and aesthetic way of knowing life’s educational situations” (Clandinin and Conelly 1987: 59).
been a recommendation of methodologists. Jin and Cortazzi drawing on Brown, Larsen- The concept of PPK describes how from their experience and understanding of teaching as
Freeman, and others offer the following summary (2011: 561): well as from the methods they have experienced, teachers develop a set of personal values
and beliefs that shape their approach to teaching. We see these in the following example of
This approach would be flexible, based on an analysis of local circumstances and
a teacher’s account of how she approaches her teaching (author data):
needs, with a theoretical rationale and coherent principles and a philosophy of explo-
ration and reflection. Interestingly, there is'some tradition of being eclectic in this way | think it’s important to be positive, as a personality. | think the teacher has to be a
among prestigious language teachers. It was advocated by Rivers, who cites Henry positive person. | think you have to show a tremendous amount of patience. And |
Sweet (1889): “A good method must, before ail be comprehensive and eclectic. It think if you have a good attitude, you can project this to the students and hopefully
must be based on a thorough knowledge of the science of language” and general establish a relaxed atmosphere in your classroom, so that the students won’t dread to
principles rather than the “one absolutely invariable method” and Harold Palmer’s come to class, but have a good class. | fee! that it’s important to have a fesson plan
“multiple line of approach”, which “embodies the eclectic principle”; “we use each and of some sort ... because you need to know what you want to teach, and how you
every method, process, exercise, drill, or device ... to select judiciously and without are going to go from the beginning to the end. And also taking into consideration the
prejudice all that is likely to help us in our work. Conversely, inflexibility is likely to students, what their ability is, what their background is and so on. | have been in situ-
become dysfunctional” And “Any method ceases to be efficient when it is applied ations where | did not understand what was being taught, or what was being said, and
inflexibly, according to set procedures, in every situation” (Rivers, 1981, 27). how frustrating it is, and so when | approach it, | say, “How can | make it the easiest
way for them to understand what they need to learn?”
Ina survey of teachers’ view of methods in Turkey, Griffiths (2012: 473) reports:
Teacher training, teaching experience, as well as the teacher's personal philosophy
Although the need to be aware of a variety of methods was acknowledged, several
and understanding serve as a source of principles and practical knowledge that can be
respondents also stressed the need to be able to choose methods appropriate to the
applied across different situations as well as in specific situations, such as when teaching
needs of their students. Overall, the prefererice of the teachers in this study seemed to be
large classes, teaching young learners or adults, teaching mixed-ability classes, or teaching
for an eclectic approach to methodology, which leaves the teacher free to choose from a
specific content such as grammar or reading skills. The following are examples of principles
variety of methods in order to help their students achieve success in language learning.
that are part of teachers’ PPK (Bailey 1996; Richards 1996):
Howeéver, with an eclectic approach of the kind referred to here the principles the *#*eeeesesesevke¢ Engage all learners in the lesson.
teacher draws on are derived from external sources - from the methods the teacher is Make learners, and not the teacher, the focus of the lesson.
familiar with. The teacher's task is to review, select, and blend different principles and Provide maximum opportunities for student participation.
practices. For example, a teacher might ask the following: Develop learner responsibility.
Are there aspects of Audiolingualism that are compatible with Communicative Be tolerant of learners’ mistakes.
Language Teaching? Develop learners’ confidence.
How can Grammar-Translation be used in a text-based approach? Teach learning strategies.
How can I combine a task-based and a text-based approach? Respond to learners’ difficulties and build on them.
Can cooperative learning and competency-based approaches be used together? Use a maximum amount of student-to-student activities.
354 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 355

Promote cooperation among learners. Thus, the ordered hierarchy that Swaffer refers to involves assigning greater or lesser priority
Practice both accuracy and fluency. to tasks, according to the approach chosen — a hierarchy that tends to disappear as the class
Address learners needs and interests. gets underway or as the language level of the students increases. It is, perhaps, for this reason
Make learning fun. that video samples of different approaches and methods typically demonstrate the first lesson
(or an early lesson) of a foreign language class. There are no convincing video “demonstra-
Teachers refer to these principles and core beliefs at different stages of teaching ~ prior to teach-
tions” with intermediate or advanced learners, perhaps because, as Brown points out, at that
ing, during the planning phase ofa lesson, during the lesson itself (Le., interactive or on-the-spot
level there is nothing distinctive to demonstrate.
unplanned decisions), and after teaching a lesson when they reflect on what happened during
the lesson. Golombek (2009: 157) cites research by Tsang on how teachers access PPK:
Theorization of practice
Tsang (2004) investigated how the PPK of three pre-service “English as an addi- A related dimension of teacher learning involves the theorization of practice. While method-
tional language” teachers of ESL in Hong Kong affected their interactive decision based teaching can be seen as.an application of theory to practice, a different way of con-
making. The results showed that the teachers referred to their PPK in describing ceptualizing teacher learning is to view it as involving the theorization of practice, that is,
their interactive decision making in the classroom in approximately half of the the development of a theoretical understanding of teaching from experiences of teaching.
instances. On the other hand, teachers more frequently called upon their PPK while
A theory of practice reflects a teacher's negotiation of multiple sources of knowledge
describing their post-active decision making, enabling changes to be made in future
including personal beliefs and values, pedagogical and content knowledge, knowl-
lesson plans and future on-line teaching, and new understandings of their teaching
edge of children, and the expectations of the school culture where he or she works
philosophies.
when making instructional decisions. Itis continually tests and modified as the teacher
attempts to maintain coherence between what she or he thinks and what she or he
It is perhaps due to the influence of teachers’ core beliefs and PPK that teachers
transform the methods they may have been trained to use. Research on teachers’ use of practices.
(Dubetz 2005: 235)
methods has often found that at the level of classroom practices, methods are often more
similar than different. Swaffar, Arens, and Morgan (1982: 25) commented: “One consist-
Teachers begin their experience of teaching with varying levels of theoretical as well as
ent problem is whether or not teachers involved in presenting materials created for a practical knowledge, and their familiarity with one or more approach or method is part of
particular method are actually reflecting the underlying philosophies of these methods in this knowledge base. Over time, however, the teacher's knowledge and beliefs change as a
their classroom practices.” Swaffar and her colleagues studied how teachers using differ- result of new understandings of themselves and their learners, their understanding of their
ent methods implemented them in the classroom and found that many of the distinctions classroom context and the curriculum, as well as their acquisition of new kinds of profes-
used to contrast methods, particularly those based on classroom activities, did not exist sional knowledge obtained from reading, from the Internet, from workshops, and from
in actual practice: colleagues as well as other sources. The classroom thus becomes a site for learning and
for the development of deeper and more extensive theoretical understandings of teaching.
Methodological labels assigned to teaching activities are, in themselves, not informa-
These may lead the teacher to develop new teaching strategies. As they try them out and
tive, because they refer to a pool of classroom practices which are used uniformly. The
review their impact on learning, they become part of the teacher's knowledge base. The
differences among major methodologies are to be found in the ordered hierarchy, the
teacher now has a more fully developed schemata to support his or her teaching through
priorities assigned to tasks.
the theorization of practice in this way.
, (Swaffar et al, 1982: 31)

Brown (1997: 3) makes a similar point:

Options for teacher education
Generally, methods are quite distinctive at the early, beginning stages of a language Teacher education courses reflect a variety of different positions concerning the role they
course, and rather indistinguishable from each other at a later stage. In the first few attribute to the study of teaching approaches and methods. Some of these differences reflect
days of a Community Language Learning class, for example, the students witness whether the course has a “teacher-training” approach and is intended for pre-service teach-
a unique set of experiences in their small circles of translated language whispered ers or a “teacher-development” perspective and is aimed at experienced teachers complet-
in their ears. But within a matter of weeks, such classrooms can look like any other ing more advanced courses, perhaps at the MA level. The contexts where the trainees will
learner-centered curriculum. work after completing a course also affect the status of method analysis in the curriculum.
356 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 357

Some courses contain international students who will work in very different teaching Familiarity with a variety of different methods and a focus on
contexts from those courses after they complete their program, often in situations where a eclecticism
particular teaching approach is recommended by the ministry of education. Some courses This approach is seen in many graduate programs designed for teachers who may teach
may be targeted at teachers who will work within a particular institution (such as a pri- in many different locations after completing the course. The focus is typically on prepar-
vate institute) or in a school system that has a mandated curriculum and an established ing teachers to teach flexibly and creatively, drawing on relevant methods and procedures
approach or method in use. Other teacher education programs may be for experienced according to the teaching contexts they find themselves in. The typical “methods” courses
teachers who have well-developed understandings and practices and are interested in how in such programs consist of a survey of current and past approaches and methods, obser-
these can be better understood or evaluated in the light of current theory and research. A vation of the methods in use (either through video or through the use of micro-teaching),
number of options are available as outlined below. practical experience in teaching lessons using the procedures of different methods, criti-
cal reflection on the method, and discussion of how to adapt them to different teaching
Familiarity with one established method contexts. (The present book is often used in this way to support the teaching of methods
courses.) Since approaches and methods have played a central role in the development
One option for teacher education programs is immersing teachers in a particular approach
of our profession, we believe it will continue to be useful for teachers and student teach-
or method (such as Communicative Language Teaching or Text-Based Instruction), This
ers to become familiar with the major teaching approaches and methods proposed for
strategy is more typical with entry-level courses for new teachers, as mentioned earlier,
second and foreign language teaching. Mainstream approaches and methods draw on
Training is designed to develop teachers who are skilled users of a particular method.
a large amount of collective experience and practice from which much can be learned.
Assessment may be based on how well the teacher can use the principles and procedures
Approaches and methods can therefore be usefully studied and selectively mastered in
of a method such as CLT. For example, Richards et al. (1996) describe a study of five trainee
order to:
teachers completing what was then called the UCLES/RSA Certificate in TEFLA — a short
introductory teacher-training program based on a blend of CLT and the use of a PPP ¢ learn how to use different approaches and methods and understand when they might
lesson format. During the course the trainees study the required teaching principles and be useful;
procedures, apply them in lessons during teaching practice, and receive feedback on their e understand some of the issues and controversies that characterize the history of lan-
performance by the trainer and other trainees, This strategy is also common in contexts guage teaching;
where a curriculum reform or change requires teachers to familiarize themselves with a ® participate in language learning experiences based on different approaches and methods
new approach or method, such as when Singapore adopted TBI as the basis for a national as a basis for reflection and comparison;
English language curriculum. Courses and workshops are provided to familiarize teachers e be aware of the rich set of activity resources available to the imaginative teacher;
with the method. © appreciate how theory and practice can be linked froma variety of different perspectives.
However, teachers and teachers in training need to be able to use approaches and
methods flexibly and creatively, based on their own judgment and experience. In the pro- A post-methods approach
cess, they should be encouraged to transform and adapt the methods they use to make them This strategy is also favored in some graduate programs or in courses for experienced
their own. Training in the techniques and procedures of a specific method is probably essen-
teachers. The focus is on developing a framework of theory and principles that can be
tial for novice teachers entering teaching, because it provides them with the confidence they used to support an individual and personal teaching approach. Methods are looked at
will need to face learners and with techniques and strategies for presenting lessons. In the critically in order to detect the assumptions they are based on and the interests they are
early stages, teaching is largely a matter of applying procedures and techniques developed seen to represent. Alternatively, the study of methods may have no role in the program
by others. An approach or a predetermined method, with its associated activities, principles, at all. Sometimes the stance of Critical Language Pedagogy (CLP), a philosophy that
and techniques, may be a useful starting point for an inexperienced teacher, but it should eschews reliance on methods, underlies this approach. As described by Allwright and
be seen only as that. As the teacher gains experience and knowledge, he or she will begin to
Hanks (2009: 54):
develop an individual approach or personal method of teaching, one that draws on an estab-
lished approach or method but that also uniquely reflects the teacher’s individual beliefs, CLP questioned why the world of language teaching was so full of competing meth-
values, principles, and experiences. This may not lead to abandonment of the approach or ods, and speculated about whose interests this served ... The conclusion was that the
method the teacher started out using but to a modification of it as the teacher adds to and dominant interests were commercial and political (introducing the controversial notion
adjusts the approach or method to the realities of the classroom. of “linguistic imperialism”) rather than educational.
358 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 359

‘This theme has been elaborated by Kumaravadivelu (2012: 18-19). Discussion questions
These Center-based [or Western] methods [see Chapter 1] (such as audiolingual,
1. Does the country where you teach have a prescribed national curriculum? If so, does it
communicative) have been aptly characterized as product of “interested knowledge”
favor or require the use of one particular teaching method or approach? On what basis
(Pennycook 19889) ... That is, these methods highlighted and promoted the native-speak-
was this selected?
e’s language competence, learning styles, communication patterns, conversational 2. If your country does have a national curriculum, which of the methods of changing
maxims, cultural beliefs, and even accent as the norm ... These assumptions have since teachers’ beliefs on page 348 was used when the latest version of the national curriculum
come under severe strain leading to calls for an alternative to the concept of method. was implemented?

This alternative to the study of approaches and methods, in a CLP approach, involves hav- 3. It is said (p. 348) that teachers’ core beliefs are resistant to change. Consider your own
ing teachers engage in critical reflection, exploratory practice, classroom research, and development as a teacher. ~
related procedures. They are encouraged to develop a healthy skepticism concerning the e How have your beliefs about learning changed over the years?
claims of methods, and they take part in activities that help them identify and review the e And your beliefs about teaching? .
basis of their own knowledge, beliefs, and practice and to develop a personal methodologi- e How are these different from the ways in which you were taught and learned when
cal framework that is relevant to their own teaching context (Allwright and Hanks 2009). you were young?
e Ifyou have been teaching for a while, when was the last time in your career that you
Conclusion — made a significant change in the ways you teach?
In this chapter, we have considered three major ways in which teachers can approach the
Share your experiences with a colleague.
selection of an approach or method. They may consider matching their teaching to the
method, adapting a method to their teaching context, or developing a personal approach 4. Read the experience of one teacher below (author data). If you are currently teaching,
or method. Each of these philosophies offers various options for teacher education have you ever attempted to change a major aspect of your teaching? How did you experi-
programs. The relationship between approaches and methods and teachers is complex, ence this change?
simply because methods do not teach: teachers do. The extent to which the assumptions
| first became interested in learner autonomy a few years ago after attending a con-
and principles underlying different method philosophies shape the thinking, decision-
ference. | liked the idea of giving my learners more control over their learning, espe-
making, and practices teachers make use of in their teaching depends on a number of
cially as many of my students go overseas and will need to continue to improve by
factors, including the teaching context, the teacher's theoretical and practical knowledge
themselves. After some time | realised that, despite my enthusiasm, in some ways my
base, the teacher’s experience, and his or her core principles and beliefs, Although within
teaching hadn't really changed. | would, for instance, tell students they could choose
the language teaching profession the nature of approaches and methods has had a central
what materials to work on, but in hindsight | only let them choose from materials that
place in accounting for trends and practices in language teaching, at the level of teachers’
| provided. Assessments also didn’t really change — it would still be marking students’
classroom practices teaching is a much more complex and dynamic process than methods
work, not students assessing themselves or each other, for example. It took me a long
often represent. Most teacher-training programs are designed on the assumption that
time to really change my teaching practices, and in some ways | have learned that | am
knowledge of principles and practices of one or methods provides teachers with a useful
still not fully comfortable with giving up too much control of the classroom.
set of techniques and strategies that they can use in their classrooms or adapt for their
own needs. But there is sometimes the underlying assumption that good teaching cannot
5. You have read arguments for and against the adoption by teachers of methods. What is your
be achieved without the structure and guidance that methods are believed to provide. personal view? Is there room for methods? Do you agree that methods might be more suit-
However, the adoption of new practices by teachers is problematic - on both practical and able for novice teachers? In what other situations might you recommend use of methods?
ideological grounds - since it undervalues the contributions teachers make to teaching.
If the study of approaches and methods is included in a teacher education program, an . What would you say to the teachers asking the questions below. Give reasons for and
an

appropriate focus for the inclusion of such study is needed, one in which these approaches against using the approaches and methods mentioned in these situations.
and methods are presented not as prescriptions for best practice but rather as a source “How can I use a communicative approach in a class of 70 students?”
for reflective review of the teacher's own core principles, theoretical understanding, and “How can I use co-operative learning in an exam driven curriculum?”
personal practical knowledge. “What principles from the Silent Way can I use in teaching speaking?”
360 The teaching and learning environment 20 Teachers, approaches, and methods 361

“How can J adapt TPR to use in a business English course?” Use a maximum amount of student-to-
“How can Task-Based Language Teaching be used with young learners?” student activities.

Read the description of the Lesson Study Approach on page 351 of the chapter. Would this Promote cooperation among learners.
approach work in your context where you are teaching or studying a language? Why (not)?
Practice both accuracy and fluency.
. “... an important task for the teacher is to adjust the methods he or she has been trained
to use to the culture of learning in which they are used” (p. 352). Choose another coun- Address learners’ needs and interests,
try you are familiar with. Give an example of how you could adjust a particular method
if you were to teach in that country? Make learning fun.
. On page 352, Rivers talks about a “philosophy of exploration and reflection.” In what
ways do you explore and reflect in your own teaching? What opportunities and encour- 12. “As they gain experience, many teachers report that they no longer use the methods they
agement are there in your place of work for this? were trained to use but adapt a much more flexible approach to methodology” (p. 349). Using
10. Post-method perspectives on teaching consider that teachers develop “personal practi- the comparison of approaches and methods in the Appendix at the end of the book, ask a col-
cal knowledge” (PPK) or a set of principles that guides their teaching. Read the quote
league to observe one of your classes and identify which elements of each of these are used.
by a teacher on page 353. How would you summarize your PPK? Compare your answer
(Aspect of) approach or method Classroom activity
with a colleague’.
ll. Review below the list of teachers’ principles that was presented in the chapter. For each
of these, indicate how strongly you agree with them and believe you implement them
in your teaching. Next, ask your learners to rate your teaching in terms of each of these.
Are there any differences?

Principles 1 (don’t do this) | 1 (My teacher

5 (do this all the | doesn’t do this)
time) 5 (My teacher does
this all the time)
Engage all learners in the lesson.

Make learners, and not the teacher, References and further reading
the focus of the lesson. Allwright, D, and J. Hanks. 2009. The Developing Language Learner: An Introduction to Exploratory
Provide maximum opportunities Practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
for student participation. Atkinson, D. (ed.). 2011. Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition, London: Routledge.
Develop learner responsibility. Bailey, K. M, 1996, The best laid plans: teachers’ in-class decisions to depart from their lesson
plans. In K. M. Bailey and D. Nunan (eds.), Voices From the Language Classroom. Cambridge:
Be tolerant of learners’ mistakes. Cambridge University Press. 115-40.
Barduhn. S., and K. E, Johnson. 2009. Certification and professional qualifications. In A. Burns and
Develop learners’ confidence.
J.C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 155-62.
Borg, S. 2006. Teacher Cognition and Language Education. London: Continuum.
Teach learning strategies.
Brown. H. D. 1997. Teaching by Principles. New York: Longman.
Clandlinin, D. J., and F. M. Connelly, 1987. Teachers’ personal knowledge: what counts as “personal”
Respond to learners’ difficulties
in studies of the personal. Journal of Curriculum Studies 19: 487-500.
and build on them.
Clark, C. M., and P. Peterson. 1986. Teachers’ thought processes, In N. M. Wittrock (ed.), Handbook
(Continued) of Research on Teaching. 3rd edn, New York: Macmillan. 255-96.
362 The teaching and learning environment

21 Approaches, methods, and the

Coyle, D. B. Hood, and D. Marsh. 2010. Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, curriculum
Dubetz, N. E. 2005. Improving ESL instruction in a bilingual program through collaborative,
inquiry-base professional development. In Diane J. Tedick {ed.), Second Language Teacher
Education: International Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 257-60.
Edwards, C., and J. Willis. 2005. Teachers Exploring Tasks in English Language Teaching. London:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Golombek, P. 2009. Personal practical knowledge in L2 teacher education. In A. Burns and J. C.
Richards (eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 91-101.
Griffiths, C. 2012. Focus on the teacher. ELT Journal 66(4): 468-76.
Introduction
Hunter, D., and R. Smith 2012. Unpackaging the past: ‘CLI’ through ELT] keywords. ELT Journal
66(4): 430-43. In describing language teaching approaches and methods in this book, we have focused on
Jin, L., and M. Cortazzi 2011, Re-evaluating traditional approaches to second language teaching and the classroom processes that constitute different instructional designs in language teaching
learning, In E. Hinkley (ed.), Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, and the theories and principles that they are based on.' We have seen that approaches and
Vol. I. New York: Routledge. 558-75. methods reflect different assumptions about what is learned, how it is learned, and what the
Kumaravadivelu, B. 1994. The post-method condition: emerging strategies for second/foreign language outcomes of learning are. In educational planning, issues related to the inputs to teaching,
teaching. TESOL Quarterly 29: 27-48. to teaching processes, and to the learning outputs that result are elements of the process
Kumaravadivelu, B. 2003. A post-method perspective on English language teaching. World Englishes of curriculum development. The term curriculum refers to the overall plan or design for a
22: 539-50, course and how the content for a course is transformed into a blueprint for teaching and
Kumaravidivelu, B. 2012, Individual identity, cultural globalization, and teaching English as an
learning which enables the desired learning outcomes to be achieved.
international language: the case for an epistemic break. In L, Alsagoff, S. L. McKay, G. Hu, and
W. A. Renandya (eds.), Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an International Curriculum takes content (from external standards and local goals) and shapes it into
Language. New York: Routledge. 9-27.
a plan for how to conduct effective teaching and learning. it is thus more than a list of
Lewis, C,, and I. Tsuchida. 1998. A lesson is like a swiftly flowing river: how research lessons improve
topics and lists of key facts and skills (the “input’). It is a map of how to achieve the
Japanese education. American Educator (Winter): 12-17.
“outputs” of desired student performance, in which appropriate learning activities and
Lightbown, P, and N. Spada. 2006. How Languages Are Learned, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
assessments are suggested to make it more likely that students achieve the desired
Paran, A. 2013. Review of CLIL: Content and Language integrated Learning, by D. Coyle, PR Hood and
D. Marsh. EET Journal 67(1): 137-41. results.
Richards, J. C. 1984. The secret life of methods. TESOL Quarterly 18(1): 7-23. (Wiggins and McTighe 2006: 6)
Richards, J. C. 1996. Teachers’ maxims in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly 30: 281-96.
In this chapter, we will examine how the approaches and methods we have examined
Richards, }. C., B. Ho, and K. Giblin. 1996. Learning to teach in the RSA Cert. In D, Freeman and J.
reflect different understandings of how the elements of a curriculum are related and the
C. Richards (eds.), Teacher Learning in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 242-59. processes by which they are arrived at. We will consider three alternative strategies that
Richards, J. C., P, Gallo, and W. Renandya. 2001. Exploring teacher's beliefs and the processes of are reflected in the approaches and methods we have described in this book. As we noted
change. PAVC Journal 1(3): 85-92, in Chapter 8, one strategy is to first make decisions about what to teach (input), then
Swaffar, J. K. Arens, and M. Morgan. 1982. Teacher classroom practices: Redefining method as task to determine how to teach it (process), and finally to assess what was learned (output).
hierarchy. Modern Language Journal 66(1): 24-33. We refer to this as forward design. Another strategy is to start with teaching processes
Tasker, T. 2009. Teacher learning through lesson study: an activity theoretical approach toward or methodology and to let these determine input and output. We refer to this as central
professional development in the Czech republic, In K. E, Johnson and P. R, Golombok (eds.), design. A third strategy is to start with learning outcomes or output and work backward
Research on Second Language Teacher Education. New York: Routledge. 204-22. to determine issues of process and content. This is known as backward design (Wiggins
Tsang, W. K. 2004. Teachers’ personal practical knowledge and interactive decisions, Language
and McTighe 2006).
Teaching Research 8(2): 163-98.
Williams, M. and R. Burden. 1997. Psychology for Language Teachers: A Social Constructivist
Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1 This chapter reproduces material from Richards, J. C. (2013) “Curriculum approaches in language teaching: forward,
central and backward design,’ RELC Journal, 44(1): 5-33.

363
364 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 365

Input, process, and output in a language curriculum Conventional wisdom and practice tend to assume that decisions relating to input, process,
and output occur in sequence, each one dependent on what preceded it. Curriculum devel-
In language teaching, input refers to the linguistic content of a course. It seems logi-
opment from this perspective starts with a first-stage focus on input - when decisions about
cal to assume that before we can teach a language, we need to decide what linguistic
content and syllabus are made; moves on to a second-stage focus on methodology - when
content to teach. Once content has been selected, it then needs to be organized into the syllabus is “enacted”; and then leads to a final stage of consideration of output — when
teachable and learnable units as well as arranged in a rational sequence. The result is
means are used to measure how effectively what has been taught has been learned. However,
a syllabus. We have seen in this book that there are many different conceptions of a this view of the curriculum does not, in fact, reflect how language teaching has always been
language syllabus. Different approaches and methods reflect different understandings understood, theorized, and practiced in recent times. Much debate and discussion about
of the nature of language and different views as to what the essential building blocks effective approaches to language teaching can be better understood by recognizing how dif-
of language proficiency are, such as vocabulary, grammar, functions, or text-types (i.e.,
ferences in the starting points of curriculum development have different implications and
different syllabus types). applications in language teaching. This leads to the distinction between forward design,
Once input has been determined, issues concerning teaching methods and the
central design, and backward design referred to above. Forward design means developing
design of classroom activities and materials can be addressed. These belong to the domain
a curriculum through moving from input, to process, and to output. Central design means
of process. Process, or what is generally referred to in language teaching as methodol-
starting with process and deriving input and output from classroom methodology. Backward
ogy, encompasses the types of learning activities, procedures, and techniques that are
design, as the name implies, starts from output and then deals with issues relating to process
employed by teachers when they teach. Once a set of teaching processes has been stand- and input. The three different processes of curriculum development can thus be represented
ardized and fixed in terms of principles and associated practices, it is generally referred to
in simple form as in Figure 21.2.
as a method, as in Audiolingualism or Total Physical Response. Therefore, it could be said
that a method is the standardization of a methodology. In this book we have suggested

xn
- =a -
Forward design:
how these procedures and principles relate to theories of the nature of language and of
second language learning and the roles of teachers, learners, and instructional materials
found in different approaches and methods. Output refers to learning outcomes, that is,
Central design:
what learners are able to do as the result of a period of instruction. This might be a tar-
geted level of achievement on a proficiency scale (such as the ACTFL Proficiency Scale)
oe —” Ge
or on a standardized test such as TOEFL. Today, desired learning outputs or outcomes are i td
often described in terms of objectives or in terms of performance, competencies, or skills. ay, :
In simple form the components of curriculum and their relationship can be represented
as in Figure 21.1: Backward design:

Pe ee Pe]
iiietiien|
Joontent
(inosine: Pec
CN fermiio

Ea Ufelal tes Methodology

Figure 21.2 Curriculum design processes
Figure 21.1 Dimensions of a curriculum
Each of these curriculum development approaches will now be illustrated and exam-
The relationship between approaches, methods, and the curriculum can be seen to ples given of how they relate to approaches and methods in language teaching.
reflect two important aspects of curriculum development:
e Curriculum development in language teaching can start from input, process, or
Forward design
output.
e Each starting point reflects different assumptions about both the means and the ends of Forward design is based on the assumption that input, process, and output are related
teaching and learning. in a linear fashion. In other words, before decisions about methodology and output are
366 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 367

determined, issues related to the content of instruction need to be resolved. Curriculum Syllabus and methodology
design is seen to constitute a sequence of stages that occur in a fixed order. Wiggins and With a forward design approach, decisions about teaching processes or methodology
McTighe (2006: 15) give an illustration of this process with an example of a typical forward. follow from syllabus specification. Ideally, the planner starts with a theory of language and a
design lesson plan: syllabus derived from it and then looks for a learning theory that could be used as the basis
© The teacher chooses a topic for a lesson (e.g., racial prejudice). for an appropriate pedagogy. In some cases there has been a natural link between input
e ‘The teacher selects a resource (e.g., To Kill a Mockingbird). and process, between content and method, such as the natural link between structural
© The teacher chooses instructional methods based on the resource and the topic (e.g, a linguistics and behaviorist learning theory that led to both the Audiolingual Method and
seminar to discuss the book and cooperative groups to analyze stereotypical images in Situational Language Teaching. However, in theory a syllabus does not necessarily imply a
films and on television). particular methodology. A structural syllabus can be embodied in an audiolingual as well
e The teacher chooses essay questions to assess student understanding of the book. as a task-based course, and there are many different ways in which a text-based or func-
tional syllabus can be taught. The point here is simply that with forward design, decisions
A similar example would be a teacher planning a unit around “narratives” in a writing class. about how to teach follow from decisions about the content of a course, and decisions about
The starting point would be an understanding of the nature of narratives and their linguis- output or learning outcomes follow from decisions about methodology.
tic and discourse features. Models of different kinds of narratives would then be studied as
preparation for students writing their own narrative texts. Assessment tasks might involve
Forward design in language teaching
reviewing and correcting poorly written narratives or writing further texts based on the
features that had been taught and practiced. Many of the approaches and methods in this book, such as Audiolingualism and Communica-
Forward design starts with syllabus design. Syllabus design was a growth indus- tive Language Teaching, reflect the process of forward design. Clark suggests that the commu-
nicative approach still reflects the same assumptions as Audiolingualism since they both start
try from the mid-1920s through to the latter part of the twentieth century and led to
a number of key publications in which different approaches to syllabus design were
with a model of language that is broken down into smaller units - elements of knowledge
proposed (e.g., Wilkins 1976; Munby 1978; Willis 1996). Debate over criteria for the
and part-skills. These are then sequenced from simple to more complex and build toward the
desired learning outcomes. This approach
choice of syllabus items (selection) as well as criteria for their sequencing (gradation)
was a dominant issue in applied linguistics in the early and mid-twentieth century, and has had a powerful influence in recent years on the design of foreign language curriculum.
carefully developed syllabuses are seen in audiolingual, situational, communicative, and. It has given rise to the aucio-lingual, audio-visual/situational, topic-based, and functional-
many other kinds of courses. The Communicative Language Teaching movement in the notional approach to foreign language learning ... All of these approaches have sought to
1980s prompted attempts to shift from grammar and lexis as the primary components bring about an effective communicative ability in learners as their ultimate goal, but have
of a syllabus to communicative units of syllabus organization. This led to proposals for conceptualized this ability and the way to bring it about in different ways, adopting different
a number of different syllabus models, including notional, functional, lexical, text- and organizing principles in the design of the foreign language curriculum. The audio-lingual
task-based models. approach conceptualized a communicative ability in terms of good grammatical habits.
A more recent focus in syllabus design has been on the authenticity of the input The audio/visual situational approach focused on the ability to understand and produce
that is provided as a basis for teaching and the role of corpora in determining linguistic appropriate phrases related to particular situations. Topic-based approaches emphasized
input. Corpus analysis has revealed the importance of units beyond the level of vocabu- the ability to cope with certain topics. The functional-notional approach has focused on
lary (e.g., phrases, multi-word units, and collocations) and provides information that mastery of formal means to interpret and express certain predetermined meanings
can be used to update or replace the earlier generations of lists that have been used (Clark 1987: 23)
in syllabus design. O’Keefe et al. (2007: 22) suggest that “course book dialogues, and
even entire syllabi, can be informed by corpus data.” Another approach that has been Content-Based Instruction and its more recent variant CLIL are also examples of for-
used to provide authentic input to teaching is through the use of discourse analysis - a ward design. They seek to develop language proficiency as well the mastery of subject mat-
procedure for studying the nature of different text-types, the ways they are used, and ter, critical thinking, and other cognitive skills through the use of a syllabus that integrates
their lexical, grammatical, and textual features. This is particularly important in the both language and subject matter (e.g., science, geography, history, environmental studies).
design of courses in English for Special Purposes where the identification of the lexical, As with other forward design models, the process of developing a curriculum typically
syntactic, and textual structures of different genres is a prerequisite to teaching special- starts with the design of a syllabus that contains both content and language components.
ized genres (see Chapter 10). This then leads to the choice of suitable instructional materials as well as selection of
368 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 369

activities for delivering, reviewing, and assessing instruction (Crandall 2012: 150). The fol- the elaboration of a detailed language syllabus or specification of learning outcomes. Issues
lowing example (from Mehisto, Marsh, and Frigolos 2008: 50-69) illustrates in summary related to input and output are dealt with after a methodology has been chosen or devel-
form the procedures used to develop a one-week science unit on volcanoes and is similar oped, or during the process of teaching itself.
to the example from Wiggins and McTighe cited above, Clark (1987) refers to this as “progressivism” and an example of a process approach to
1. Content and language needed for the topic of volcanoes is identified. the curriculum.
2. Aims in terms of content learning, language learning, and skills learning are identified. We communicate, and if it is found useful we can look at the product of our efforts and
3. Resources chosen to facilitate a variety of whole-class, group-based and individual discuss what has occurred by éxamining the exponents and attempting to relate them
activities focusing on different aspects of content and language. to particular notions and functions, or to lexical and grammatical categories. But this is
4. Informal assessment procedures used to assess student learning. an after-the-event way of breaking up the flux and flow of a particular discourse, rather
Like other communicative approaches, the instructional processes used in CBI/CLIL are than the means of predetermining what one may wish to say. This does not deny that
varied and no specific teaching methods are prescribed. A range of teaching activities are the teacher and pupil may need to focus on particular elements of rhetorical, semantic,
used, depending on the type of course and its context: and grammatical content that arise in the discourse. It seems important to insist, how-
ever, that such focuses should arise out of language in use, rather than precede them,
In CoBI [CBI or content-based instruction], teachers can draw on a range of relevant, mean- so that learners are enabled to discover rules of use, form—meaning relationships, and
ingful, and engaging activities that increase student motivation in a more natural manner, formal rules and systems against the backcloth of real contextualized discourse.
activities that involve co-operative, task-based, experiential, and project-based learning ... (Clark 1987: 40)
CoBI lessons include the use of both authentic and adapted oral and written subject
Research on teachers’ practices reveals that teachers often follow a central design approach
matter materials (textbooks, audio and visual materials, and other learning materials)
when they develop their lessons by first considering the activities and teaching procedures
that are appropriate to the cognitive and language proficiency level of the learners or
they will use. Rather than starting their planning processes by detailed considerations of
that can be made accessible through bridging activities.
input or output, they start by thinking about the activities they will use in the classroom.
(Crandall 2012: 151-2)
While they assume that the exercises and activities they make use of will contribute to
Implementing a forward design curriculum successful learning outcomes, it is the classroom processes they seek to provide for their
learners that are generally their initial focus.
The curriculum design process associated with forward design can be represented as in
In general education this approach was advocated by Bruner (1966) and Stenhouse
Figure 21.3:
(1975) who argued that curriculum development should start by identifying the processes of
Forward design: inquiry and deliberation that drive teaching and learning - processes such as investigation,
decision-making, reflection, discussion, interpretation, critical thinking, making choices,
cooperating with others, and so on. Content is chosen on the basis of how it promotes the use
of these processes, and outcomes do not need to be specified in any degree of detail, if at all.
Figure 21.3 The forward design process [The curricutum] is not designed on a pre-specification of behavioural objectives. Of
course there are changes in students as result of a course, but many of the most valued
In some contexts the planning and development of each stage in the curriculum develop- are not to be anticipated in detail. The power and the possibilities of the curriculum can-
ment process is carried out by different specialists who have expertise in each process, such not be contained within objectives because it is founded on the idea that knowledge must
as specialists in syllabus design, methodology, and assessment. be speculative and thus indeterminate as to student outcomes if it is to be worthwhile.
(Stenhouse 1975, cited in Clark 1987: 35)
Central design
And again:
While a progression from input, to process, to output would seem to be a logical approach
to the planning and delivery of instruction, there are other routes that can be taken. The Education as induction into knowledge is successful to the extent that it makes the
second route can be called central design, With central design, curriculum development behavioural outcomes of the students unpredictable.
starts with the selection of teaching activities, techniques, and methods rather than with (Stenhouse 1970, cited in Clark 1987: 35)
370 =The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 371

Clark’s description of the features of “progressivism” (1987: 49-90) captures the essence of it could not provide a framework for the design of instructional materials and textbooks.
central design: Hence, there are no syllabuses or published courses based on the Natural Approach.
Gategno’s Silent Way (1972) can be understood as another example of central design in
e It places less emphasis on syllabus specification and more on methodological principles
language teaching, Language input is not the starting point in the Silent Way. As we saw in
and procedures.
e It is more concerned with learning processes than predetermined objectives.
Chapter 16, rather than beginning with the development of a linguistic syllabus, Gategno’s
starting point was a view of learning which saw it as a problem-solving and creative process
e Itemphasizes methodology and the need for principles to guide the teaching learning process.
of discovery. Curran’s Community Language Learning (Chapter 17) is another central
It is learner-centered and seeks to provide learning experiences that enable learners to
design method. Like other examples of central design approaches, there is no predeter-
learn by their own efforts.
mined syllabus and no specific linguistic or communicative goals. These are specific to each
It regards learners as active participants in shaping their own learning.
class and an outcome of the social interaction that occurs during the lesson. Students typi-
It promotes the development of the learner as an individual.
cally sit in a circle and express what they want to say. Translation by the teacher is used to
It views learning as a creative problem-solving activity.
It acknowledges the uniqueness of each teaching-learning context. help express the learner’s intended meaning. Later, interactions and messages are recorded
and revisited as a source of reflection, analysis, and further practice.
It emphasizes the role of the teacher in creating his or her own curriculum in the classroom.
Some early versions of Task-Based Language Teaching (e.g., Willis 1996) also reflect
a central design approach (Chapter 9). Tasks drive the processes of second language learn-
ing, and linguistic and communicative competence are the outcomes of task work (Willis
Central design in language teaching
1996). There is no predetermined grammatical syilabus and the goals are to develop general
Although language teaching in the first part of the twentieth century was shaped by teach- language ability rather than the ability to use language in specific contexts and for specific
ing methods which reflected a forward planning approach as we saw above, some of the purposes. A more recent example of the use of central design in language teaching has been
alternative methods that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century, such as the labeled “Dogme” (a term taken from the film industry that refers to filming without scripts or
Silent Way, Community Language Learning, and the Natural Approach, rejected the need
rehearsal) by Scott Thornbury — who introduced the approach to language teaching (Meddings
for predetermined syllabuses or pre-planned learning outcomes and were built instead
and Thornbury 2009). It is based on the idea that instead of basing teaching on a pre-planned
around specifications of classroom activities. These new teaching methods and approaches
syllabus, a set of objectives and published materials, teaching is built around conversational
started with process rather than input or output and, as we have seen, were often recognized interaction between teacher and students and among students themselves. As Meddings and
by the novel classroom practices they employed. They reflected central design approach - Thornbury (2009) state: “Teaching should be done using only the resources that the teachers
one in which methodology is the starting point in course planning, and content is chosen
and students bring to the classroom — ie. themselves and what happens to be in the classroom”
in accordance with the methodology rather than the other way round. For example, we Thornbury’s (2012) web posting on the topic clarifies the concept as follows: Thornbury
saw in Chapter 14 that Krashen and Terrel’s Natural Approach (1983) proposed that com- explains that Dogme considers learning as “experiential and holistic” and that language
municative classroom processes engaging the learners in meaningful interaction and com-
learning is “an emergent jointly-constructed and socially-constituted process motivated both
munication at an appropriate level of difficulty were the key to a language course, rather by communal and communicative imperatives.” The syllabus or language focus is not pre-
than building teaching around a predetermined grammatical syllabus. planned, and language and content emerge from the processes of interaction and negotiation
In setting communicative goals, we do not expect the students at the end of a particu- that the teacher initiates,
lar course to have acquired a certain group of structures or forms. Instead we expect ‘The approach we referred to as post-method teaching in the previous chapter also illus-
them to deal with a particular set of topics in a given situation. We do not organize the trates central design. ‘This refers to teaching which is not based on the prescriptions and proce-
activities of the class about a grammatical syllabus. dures of a particular method but which draws on the teacher's individual conceptualizations of
{Krashen and Terrell 1983; 71) language, language learning and teaching, the practical knowledge and skills teachers develop
from training and experience, the teacher's knowledge of the learners’ needs, interests, and
Like other central design proposals, there is no need for clearly defined outcomes or objec- learning styles, as well as the teacher’s understanding of the teaching context (Kumaravadivelu
tives, The purpose and content of a course “will vary according to the needs of the students 1994). The teacher's “method” is constructed from these sources rather than being an appli-
and their particular interests” (Krashen and Terrell 1983: 65). Goals are stated in very gen- cation of an external set of principles and practices. The kinds of content and activities that
eral terms such as “basic personal communication skills; oral” and “basic personal commu- the teacher employs in the classroom as well as the outcomes he or she seeks to achieve will
nication skills: written.” The fact that the Natural Approach was not input- or output-driven depend upon the nature of the core principles that serve as the basis for the teacher's thinking
(ie., not built around a predetermined syllabus and set of learning outcomes) meant that and decision-making.
372 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 373

Tsui (2005, cited in Graves 2008: 168) contrasts approaches of this kind with tradi- Backward design
tional approaches by comparing the kinds of questions a teacher might ask working within ‘The third approach to curriculum design is to begin with a specification of learning outputs
what is described here as a forward design and central design approach. and to use these as the basis for developing instructional processes and input. Backward
e Forward design issues: design starts with a careful statement of the desired results or outcomes: appropriate teach-
What linguistic forms do we want to teach? ing activities and content are derived from the results of learning. This is a well-established
How do we represent these items in the form of tasks or activities? tradition in curriculum design in general education, and in recent years it has reemerged
How do we get learners to use the target items to complete the tasks or activities, either as a prominent curriculum development approach in language teaching. It was sometimes
individually or in pairs/groups? described as an “ends—means” approach, as seen in the work of Tyler (1949) and Taba
Are there any gaps between the target-language structures/functions and those pro- (1962), who viewed instruction as the specification of ends as a prerequisite to devising the
duced by the students? means to reach them. The process consists of:

e Central design issues: Step 1: diagnosis of needs

What opportunities are afforded for learners to participate in meaning making? Step 2: formulation of objectives
What kind of shared understanding needs to be established among the learners? Step 3: selection of content
What kind of participation framework is being set up and what are the role configura- Step 4: organization of content
tions for the group and for the individual learner over time? Step 5: selection of learning experiences
What opportunities have been created by learners in the process of participation? Step 6: organization of learning experiences
Step 7: determination of what to evaluate and of the ways of doing it
Interaction between the elements of central design (Taba 1962: 12)
What central design approaches and methods have in common is the priority they attribute
to learning processes, classroom participation, and the role of the teacher and the learners in The role of methodology was to determine which teaching methods were most effective
creating opportunities for learning. The syllabus or learning input - rather than being some- in attaining the objectives, and a criterion-referenced approach would be used for assess-
thing that is predetermined or prescribed and regarded as essential in initiating curriculum ment (ie., one linked to the attainment of specified levels of performance). There is no
development - is rather an outcome of teaching and learning (Figure 21.4). place for individually determined learning outcomes: the outcomes are determined by the
curriculum designer.
Examples of the use of backward design in language teaching are detailed below.

fl
assessment

Backward design through objectives

From the 1950s, educating teachers in how to describe learning outcomes in the form of
outcomes content objectives became a minor industry, and since then generations of teachers have been
taught to begin lesson planning by first developing statements of objectives rather than
from considerations of methodology. Wiggins and McTighe (2006), who argue for starting
with a clear description of learning outcomes as the basis for curriculum planning, state
Teaching that three steps are required with backward design:
1. Identify desired results.
2. Determine acceptable evidence of learning.
content outcomes 3. Plan learning experiences and instruction.

The planning process begins with a clear understanding of the ends in mind. For Wiggins
and McTighe, it explicitly rejects as a starting point the process or activity-oriented cur-
riculum in which participation in activities and processes is primary. A variety of teaching
assessment
strategies can be employed to achieve the desired goals, but teaching methods cannot be
Figure 21.4 The central design process chosen until the desired outcomes have been specified. From this perspective many of the
374 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 375

central design methods or activity-oriented approaches discussed earlier fail to meet the communicative janguage use, and it is from these that the learners’ need for particular
criterion of good instructional design. aspects of language are derived.
Competency-Based Language Teaching (see Chapter 8) is another widely used
The error of activity-oriented design might be called “hands-on without being example of backward design and one in which the starting point of curriculum design
minds-on” ~ engaging experiences that lead only accidentally, if at all, to insight or is a specification of the learning outcomes in terms of “competencies” - the knowledge,
achievement ... activity-oriented curricula lack an explicit focus on important ideas skills, and behaviors that are involved in the performance of everyday tasks and activities
and approach evidence of fearning ... [learners] are Jed to think the learning is the and which learners should master by the end of a course of study. Like other backward
activity instead of seeing that the learning comes from being asked to consider the design approaches, CBLT makes no assumptions about teaching methods, since any set of
meaning of the activity ... The shift, therefore, is away from starting with such ques- classroom activities can be used that enables students to master the desired competencies.
tions as “What book will we read?” or “What activities will we do?” or “What will However, since student learning is assessed on the basis of performance and the ability to
we discuss” to “What should [the learners] walk out the door able to understand [or demonstrate mastery of pre-specified skills and behaviors, teaching is generally based on
do] regardless of what activities or tests we use? And “What is evidence of such helping learners acquire the communicative skills needed for specific situations, tasks, and
ability?” and, therefore, “What texts, activities, and methods will best enable such activities. As with other backward design approaches, needs analysis is the starting point
a result?” in curriculum development.
(Wiggins and McTighe 2006: 16, 17)
A related approach to backward design is through the use of standards (also known
as benchmarks, core skills, performance profiles, and target competencies; see Chapter 8).
In language teaching a number of curriculum approaches have been advocated that reflect
Standards are descriptions of the outcomes.or targets students should be able to reach in
the principles of backward design.
different domains of curriculum content, including language learning, and are generally
specified in very general terms. The primary motivation for an increased emphasis on
Needs analysis statements of learning outcomes in the design of language programs and particularly the
Identifying learning outcomes or objectives is often seen to depend upon a systematic use of “standards” as ways of identifying learning targets across a curriculum is described
analysis of the learners’ communicative needs, and this approach emerged in the 1960s by Leung (2012: 162):
as part of the systems approach to curriculum development ~ an aspect of the preva-
the prominence of outcomes-based teaching in the past thirty years or so can be
lent philosophy of educational accountability from which the use of objectives was also
derived (Stufflebeam et al. 1985). Needs analysis is part of the process by which aims associated with the wider public policy environments in which the twin doctrines
of corporatist management (whereby the activities in different segments of society
and objectives are determined: needs analysis is also the starting point for curricu-
um development in some versions of Task-Based Language Teaching and is used to are subordinated to the goals of the state) and public accountability (which requires
professionals to justify their activities in relation to declared public policy goals) have
determine an inventory of target-tasks learners need to be able to master in the target
predominated.
language.
The use of standards in curriculum planning thus involves the following sequence of
The design of a task-based syllabus preferably starts with an analysis of the students’
needs. What do these students need to be able to do with the target language? What
activities:
are the tasks they are supposed to perform outside of the classroom? Using differ- © Identifying the domains of language use the learners need to acquire (e.g,, listening,
ent sources and different methods (such as interviews, observations, and surveys) a speaking, reading, writing)
concrete description of the kinds of tasks students will face in the real word is drawn © Describing standards and performance indicators for each domain
up. This description, then, serves as the basis for the design and sequencing of tasks e Identifying the language skills and knowledge needed to achieve the standard
in the syllabus. e Selecting teaching activities and materials.
(Van den Branden 2012: 134)
Perhaps the most widespread example of backward design using standards in current
Thus, if a task-based program begins with a cataloguing of outcomes, or tasks to be use is the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages (Council of Europe
performed outside the classroom, it would be an example of backward design. The 2001), which is designed to provide a “common basis for explicit description of objec-
methodology of this approach to TBLT is then built around activities or tasks that require tives, content and methods of the study of modern languages, within a wider purpose of
376 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 377

elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks across A forward design option may be preferred in circumstances where a mandated curriculum
Europe” (Council of Europe 2001: 1) - see Chapter 8. CEFR describes learning outcomes in is in place, where teachers have little choice over what and how to teach, where teachers
terms of “can do” statements linked to six levels of achievement. No specifications are given rely mainly on textbooks and commercial materials rather than teacher-designed resources,
for input or process. It is the teacher's or course designer's responsibility to work out how where class size is large, and where tests and assessments are designed centrally rather than
the outcomes can be achieved and to develop teaching strategies and materials and content by individual teachers, Since forward design can be used to develop published materials,
relevant to the context in which they are teaching. The lack of a syllabus or specification there will generally be a wide range of teaching resources and materials to choose from.
of content that would enable the outcomes in CEFR to be achieved has been identified as Forward design may also be a preferred option in situations where teachers may have limi-
problematic in using the framework and has led to the development of the English Profile ted English language proficiency and limited opportunities for professional development,
project: since much of the planning and development involved can be accomplished by specialists
rather than left to the individual teacher.
The aim of the English Profile is to create a “profile” or set of Reference Level Central design approaches do not require teachers to plan detailed learning outcomes,
Descriptions of English linked to the CEF. These will provide detailed information about to conduct needs analysis, or to follow a prescribed syllabus; hence, they often give teachers a
the language that learners can be expected to demonstrate at each level, offering a considerable degree of autonomy and control over the teacher learning process. In the case of
clear benchmark for progress that will inform curriculum development as well as the method-based approaches, however, teachers may be required to understand the sometimes
development of courses and test materidis to support learners, teachers and other obscure theory underlying the method as well as to master techniques and procedures that
professional involved in the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language. may initially prove difficult. Or they may simply adopt the practices without worrying about
{English Profile n.d.) their claims and theoretical assumptions since they offer a supposedly “tried and tested or
expert-designed” teaching solution. Adoption of a central design approach may also require
Figure 21.5 represents what backward design with CEFR involves.
a considerable investment in training, since teachers cannot generally rely on published
coursebooks materials as the basis for teaching. With post-method and learner-community
approaches, teaching strategies are developed according to the teacher's understanding of
the context in which he or she is working as well as on his or her individual skill and exper-
Figure 21.5 Backward design with CEFR tise in managing the instructional process and in developing teaching materials and forms
of assessment. High levels of professional knowledge as well as of language proficiency are
probably a prerequisite.
Conclusion
A backward design option may be preferred in situations where a high degree of
A question teachers and planners often ask when presented with alternative ways of accountability needs to be built into the curriculum design and where resources can be
addressing an issue is, “Which approach is best?” However, it is safer to assume that there committed to needs analysis, planning, and materials development. Well-developed pro-
is no best approach to curriculum design, and that forward design, central design, and cedures for implementing backward design procedures are widely available, making this
backward design might each work well but in different circumstances. Each approach has approach an attractive option in some circumstances. In the case of large-scale curriculum
advocates and practitioners who can cite examples of their successful implementation. They development for a national education system, much of this development activity can be
might also work concurrently in some circumstances. carried out by others, leaving teachers mainly with the responsibility of implementing the
Each approach, however, makes different assumptions about the context for the cur- curriculum. In other circumstances such as a private institute developing company-specific
riculum. These include, for example: courses, a more bottom-up approach may be adopted and the work required may be carried
whether intended for large-scale or small-scale implementation; out by a well-trained and skillful individual teacher or group of teachers working together.
the role of instructional materials and tests; In conclusion, any language teaching curriculum contains the elements of content,
the level of training of teachers; process, and output. Historically, these have received a different emphasis at different
the roles of teachers and learners; times. Curriculum approaches differ in how they visualize the relationship between
teachers’ proficiency in English; these elements, how they are prioritized and arrived at, and the role that syllabuses,
the demands made on teachers; approaches, methods, materials, teachers, and learners play in the process of curricu-
the level of teacher autonomy assumed for teacher; lum development and enactment. The notion of forward, central, and backward design
the amount of support provided for teachers. provides a useful metaphor for understanding the different assumptions underlying
378 The teaching and learning environment 21 Approaches, methods, and the curriculum 379

each approach to curriculum design as well as for recognizing the different practices 6. Which of the three approaches is most common in commercially published materials?
that result from them. Why?
7. In which of the three approaches do teachers have the greatest degree of freedom?
Discussion questions
Why?
1. Which of the three approaches to curriculum development (forward, central, backward
design) do each of these sequences of steps describe? . Input is often associated with syllabus, process with methodology, and output with

wo
learning outcomes. For which of the three aspects (input, process, output) of curricu-
¢ Outcomes > syllabus > materials and tests > teaching > assessment lum development will the following be most useful?
« Content > syllabus > methodology > outcomes > assessment
« Teaching > selection and organization of content > selection and organisation of The Academic Word List
learning experiences > outcomes > assessment The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Game-based learning theory
2. If you are currently teaching, which of these three best describes how your curriculum The British National Corpus
was developed?
9. For each of the main approaches and methods described in this book (you can use the
3. List two potential downsides and two advantages of forward, central, and backward table of contents page), choose whether they predominantly used a forward, central, or
design. backward design.
Forward design 10. For each of these groups, describe which curriculum development process you think
Downsides Advantages would be best and give reasons:
1 1
e A group of engineers taking an intensive ESP course
2 2
e A group of primary school students of Spanish as a second language for whom this
Central design
will be their first experience with the language
Downsides Advantages e A group of call center telephone support staff who will be working for a credit card
1 1
company’s helpline.
2 2
nl. Work with a colleague. One of you reads the three statements below while the other
Backward design
responds with a counter-argument. Change roles until you have three counter-arguments.
Downsides Advantages
1 1
“It is impossible to decide what to teach unless you have decided what is worth
2 2
learning”
“It is impossible to know beforehand what learners will learn; learning is a
4. Central design is sometimes said to provide a “learner-centered” approach to cur- creative, unpredictable process and the learners’ needs come first”
riculum development. Explain why this claim is made, and why you agree/disagree “It is impossible to be a successful teacher unless you know exactly what learning
with it. outcomes you are aiming for.”
5. A teacher has called in sick and the substitute is not available either. You have been
asked to look after his or her students for the day. You know very little about them, References and further reading
except that they are 18- to 20-year-old students from overseas on a two-week intensive Basturkmen, H. 2010, Designing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. New York: Palgrave
EFL programin your school, with a focus on communication skills. There is no time Macmillan.
before the class starts to find out more. In terms of the approaches described in this Berwick. R. 1989. Needs assessment in language programming: from theory to practice. In
chapter, which one would you choose, how would you prepare, and why would you use R. K. Johnson (ed.), The Second Language Curriculum. New York: Cambridge University Press.
that approach? 48~62.
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Bruner, J. 1966. The Process of Education, Cambridge MA: Harvard Educational Press, Wiggins G., and J. McTighe, 2006. Understanding by Design: A Framework for Effecting Curricular
Burns, A., and J. C, Richards (eds.). 2009, Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education, Development and Assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Development.
Burns, A., and J. C. Richards (eds.). 2012. The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Language Wilkins D, 1976, Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Teaching, New York: Cambridge University Press, Willis, J. 1996. .A Framework for Task-Based Learning. Harlow: Longman,
Clark, J. L. 1987. Curriculum Renewal in School Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Council of Europe 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crandall, J. 2012. Content-based language teaching. In Burns and Richards (eds.), 149-60.
English Profile. n.d. http://www.englishprofile.org/; accessed August 31, 2012.
Gattegno, C. 1972. Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools: The Silent Way. 2nd edn. New York:
Educational Solutions.
Graves, K. 2008 The language curriculum: a social contextual perspective. Language Teaching 41(2):
147-81.
Krashen, S., and T. Terrell. 1983. The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom.
Oxford: Pergamon.
Kumaravadivelu, B. 1994. The postmethod condition: emerging strategies for second/foreign lan-
guage teaching. TESOL Quarterly 28(1): 27-48.
Leung, C. 2012. Outcomes-based language teaching, In Burns and Richards (eds.), 161-79.
Mackey, W. F. 1965. Language Teaching Analysis, London: Longman.
McKay; P. 2000. On ESL standards for school-age learners, Language Testing 7(2): 185-214.
Meddings, L., and S. Thornbury. 2009. Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching.
Peaslake, UK: Delta Publishing.
Munby, J. 1978. Communicative Syllabus Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mehisto, P, D, Marsh, and M. Frigolos 2008. Uncovering CLIL. Oxford: Macmillan,
Reppen, R. 2010. Using Corpora in the Language Classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C., and T. Rodgers. 2001. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. and edn.
New York; Cambridge University Press.
Stenhouse, L, 1975. An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann.
Stufflebeam D., C. McCormick, R. Brinkeerhoff, and C. Nelson. 1985. Conducting Educational Needs
Assessment, Hingham, MA; Kluwer-Nijhoff.
Taba, H, 1962, Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice. New York: Harcourt Brace and World.
Thornbury, S. 2012 (January 22). A is for approach. An A~Z of ELT: Scott Thornbury’s Blog. http://
scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/a-is-for-approach/; accessed October 8, 2012.
Trim, J. 2012, The Common European Framework of References for Languages and its background:
a case study of cultural politics and educational influences. In M. Byram and L. Parmenter
(eds.), The Common European Framework of Reference: The Globalisation of Language
Education Policy. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 24~34.
Tyler, R. 1949. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tyler, R. 1950, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Van den Branden 2012. Task-based language education. In Burns and Richards (eds.}, 140-8.
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 22 Postscript 383
22 Postscript
interpretation and application. They can be revised and updated over time as new practices
emerge. On the other hand, a method such as Audiolingualism or Community Language
Learning refers to a specific instructional design or system based on a particular theory of
language and of language learning. It contains detailed specifications of content, roles of
teachers and learners, and teaching procedures and techniques. It is relatively fixed in time
and there is generally little scope for individual interpretation. As we discussed in Chapter
20, methods are learned through training. The teacher's role is to follow the method and
apply it reasonably precisely according to the rules. Compared to approaches, methods tend
From the survey of approaches and methods presented in this book, we have seen that to have a relatively short shelf life. They are often linked to very specific claims and to pre-
the history of language teaching in the last one hundred years has been characterized by a scribed practices and tend to fall out of favor as these practices become unfashionable or
search for more effective ways of teaching second or foreign languages. The most common discredited. The heyday of methods - particularly the “innovative” or “designer methods” —
solution to the “language teaching problem” was often seen to lie in the adoption of a new can be considered to have lasted up till the tate 1980s.
teaching approach or method, One result of this trend was the era of so-called designer or However, methods offer some advantages over approaches, and this doubtless explains
brand-name methods, that is, packaged solutions that can be described and marketed for their appeal. Because of the general nature of approaches, there is often no clear application
use anywhere in the world. Thus, the Direct Method was enthusiastically embraced in the of their assumptions and principles in the classroom, as we have seen with a number of the
early part of the twentieth century as an improvement on Grammar Translation, In the approaches described in this book. Much is left to the individual teacher's interpretation,
1950s the Audiolingual Method was thought to provide a way forward, incorporating skill, and expertise. Consequently, there is. often no clear right or wrong way of teaching
the latest insights from the sciences of linguistics and psychology. As the Audiolingual according to an approach and no prescribed body of practice waiting to be implemented.
Method began to fade in the 1970s, particularly in the United States, Communicative This lack of detail can be a source of frustration and irritation for teachers, particularly those
Language ‘Teaching (CLT) as well as a variety of guru-led methods emerged to fill the with little training or experience. Methods tend to be more prescriptive and less open to
vacuum created by the discrediting of Audiolingualism. While minor methods such as interpretation,
the Silent Way, Total Physical Response, and Suggestopedia had declined substantially Yet the notion of approaches and methods has come under criticism since the 1990s
by the turn of the century, new proposals for the organization of language teaching and promoted by ideological objections and by charges of oversimplification, as well as by greater
learning have continued to influence language teaching policies and practices in different recognition of the roles of learners and teachers in the learning process. Ideological objections
parts of the world. As noted in this text, these include Task-Based Language Teaching, often reflect a “critical theory” perspective, arguing that Western-based educational philoso-
Text-Based Instruction, CLIL, and the Common European Framework of Reference. And phies are liable to the charge of “native-speakerism” and “cultural imperialism,” imposing
CLT continues to be considered the most plausible basis for language teaching in many assumptions about teachers and learning that may be incompatible with local cultures. For
contexts today, although, as we saw in Chapter 5, CLT can be applied and interpreted example, we saw in Chapter 5 that attempts to introduce CLT in countries with very different
in a variety of ways. As Waters observes (2012), for some, CLT has taken the form of educational traditions from those in which CLT was developed (i.e., Britain and the United
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), for some, it is best reflected in a CLIL approach, States and other English-speaking countries) have sometimes been unsuccessful. Some have
while for others it is reflected in Dogme ELT, “a materials-light, conversation-driven referred to the import of Western teaching methods as an aspect of “cultural imperialism”
philosophy of teaching that, above all, focuses on the learner and emergent language” because the assumptions and practices implicit in CLT are viewed as “correct,” whereas
(Meddings and Thornbury 2009: 103). Reviewing developments in approaches and those of the target culture are seen as in need of replacement. (See, e.g., Phillipson 1992;
methods since 1995, Waters (2012) concludes that at the level of classroom practice, since Kumaravidivelu 2012.) Similarly, approaches and methods such as Community Language
the 1990s methodology has been relatively stable. Learning, Cooperative Language Learning, and TBLT all make assumptions about the roles
This book describes approaches and methods in language teaching. We have described of teachers and learners that are not necessarily culturally universal.
an approach as a set of beliefs and principles that can be used as the basis for teaching a lan- The charge of simplification has also been made by some observers who have sug-
guage. An approach, however, does not lead to a specific set of prescriptions and techniques gested that describing teaching in terms of approaches and methods - and by labeling
to be used in teaching a language. Approaches such as CLT, Content-Based Instruction teaching proposals as such — presents methods “as fixed sets of procedures and principles,
(CBI) and CLIL are characterized by a variety of interpretations as to how the principles with litle attention being paid to the contexts in which these developed, the way alterna-
can be applied. Because of this level of flexibility and the possibility of varying interpreta- tives were debated at the time, or indeed the extent to which there was continuity with pre-
tions and application, approaches tend to have a long shelf life. They allow for individual vious periods” (Hunter and Smith 2012: 430). The status of methods has also been reviewed

382
384 Postscript 22 Postscript 385

in the light of a focus on both learner and teacher autonomy, as outlined in Chapters 19 and © Influences from academic disciplines, Disciplines such as linguistics, psycholinguistics, and
20, Hence, the term “post-methods era” is sometimes used to describe a current perspective psychology have shaped theories of language and language learning and support particular
on teaching, the characteristics of which are reflected in Chapters 19 and 20, In Chapter approaches to language teaching. As new theories emerge in disciplines such as these, they
20 we also discuss different options for including a focus on approaches and methods in are likely to have an impact on future theories of teaching. Justas in the past Audiolingualism
teacher education courses for language teachers. and cognitive-code learning reflected linguistic theories of their day, so new insights from
functional linguistics, corpus linguistics, psycholinguistics, or sociolinguistics, or from
sources now unknown, may play a dominant role in shaping language pedagogy.
Looking forward ® Research influences. Second language teaching and learning is increasingly a field for
intensive research and theorizing. Second language acquisition research provided
How do we feel the language teaching profession will move ahead in the near, or even more
impetus for the development of the Natural Approach and TBLT, and it will doubtless
distant, future? The approaches and methods surveyed in this book have identified a num-
continue to motivate new language teaching approaches.
ber of issues that we expect to continue to shape the future of language teaching in differ-
« Learner-based innovations. Learner-based focuses recur in language teaching and other
ent ways. Some of the responses to these issues may take the form of new approaches and
fields in approximately ten-year cycles, as we have seen with individualized instruc-
methods; others may lead to a refining or reshaping of existing approaches and methods
tion, the learner-centered curriculum, learner training, learner strategies, and Multiple
as the teaching profession responds to the findings of new research and to developments
Intelligences. We can anticipate a continuation of this trend.
in educational theory and practice. The initiatives for changing programs and pedagogy
© Crossover educational trends. Cooperative Language Learning, Whole Language, and
may come from within the profession ~ from teachers, administrators, theoreticians, and
Multiple Intelligences represent crossovers into second language teaching of movements
researchers. Incentives or demands of a political, social, or even fiscal nature may also drive
from general education and elsewhere. Such crossovers will doubtless continue because
change, as they have in the past. Particular personalities and leaders in the field may also
the field of language teaching has no monopoly over theories of teaching and learning.
shape the future of language teaching. Change may also be motivated by completely unex-
© Crossovers from other disciplines. Encounters with cognitive psychology, psychotherapy,
pected sources. We close, therefore, by identifying some of the factors that have influenced
communication science, ethnography, and human engineering have left their imprint on
language teaching trends in the past and that can be expected to continue to do so in the
language pedagogy and exemplify the way that such diverse disciplines can influence a
future.
field that is always looking for inspiration.
© Government policy directives. Increased demands for accountability on the part of fund-
Despite changes in the status of approaches and methods, we can therefore expect the field
ing agencies and governments have driven educational changes on a fairly regular basis
of second and foreign language teaching in the twenty-first century to be no less a ferment
for decades and are likely to continue to do so in the future, The standards movement, a
of theories, ideas, and practices than it has been in the past.
focus on competencies in language programs, and the Common European Framework
of Reference (CEFR) are examples of top-down influences on language teaching. Discussion questions
© Trends in the profession. The teaching profession is another source for change. Professional
1. Why do you think language teaching practices have often been described in terms of
certification for teachers, as well as endorsement of particular trends or approaches by
approaches and methods? What do you think are the advantages or limitations of this
professional organizations and lobby groups promoting particular issues and causes, can
way of describing teaching?
have an important influence on teaching. CLIL and TBLT are benefiting from support of
this kind in some parts of the world. 2, Examine some recent commercial textbooks, either for the teaching of general English
e Guru-led innovations. Teaching has sometimes been described as artistry rather than or a specific skill area. To what extent do the books claim to reflect the principles of a
science and is often shaped by the influence of powerful individual practitioners with particular teaching approach or method? If so, how is this reflected in the design and
their own schools of thought and followers. Just as Gattegno, Lozanov, and Krashen contents of the book?
inspired a number of teachers in the 1970s and 1980s, as did Gardner in the 1990s, so
3. To what extent do coursebooks in use in your country (or in a context you are familiar
doubtless new gurus will attract disciples and shape teaching practices in the future.
with) reflect local cultural and educational traditions?
Responses to technology. The potential of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and other
computer interfaces and technological innovations is likely to capture the imagination 4. In what ways is technology influencing language teaching in your school or classroom?
of the teaching profession in the future, as it has in the past, and will influence both the Do you see changes in the way an approach or method is implemented (consider areas
content and the form of instructional delivery in language teaching. such as roles of teachers and learners, and procedure) as a result of technology?
386 Postscript 22 Postscript 387

5. Take a look at one of the promotions for computer-based language learning systems Skehan, P. 1996. Second language acquisition research and task-based instruction, In J. Willis and
such as Fluenz, the Pimsleur Method, TELL ME MORE, Rosetta Stone, Transparent D. Willis (eds.), Challenge and Change in Language Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann. 17-30.
Language® (http://www.transparent.com). In terms of descriptions in this text, how Swaffar, J., K. Arens, and M. Morgan. 1982. Teacher classroom practices: redefining method as task
hierarchy, Modern Language Journal 66(1): 24 -33.
would you describe the approach or method underlying the product?
Waters, Alan 2012, ‘Ixends and issues in ELT methods and methodology. ELT Journal 664(4): 440-9.
6. Review the above list of factors that have influenced approaches to language teaching.
Can you give examples of some of these influences from your own experience? Which
of the factors listed do you feel have been the most important?

References and further reading

Bailey, K. 1996. The best-laid plans: teachers’ in-class decisions to depart from their lesson plans. In
K. Bailey and D. Nunan (eds.), Voices from the Language Classroom. New York: Cambridge
University Press. 15-40.
Brown, H. D. 1994, Teaching by Principles. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall/Regents.
Brown, H. D. 1997. English language teaching in the “post-method” era: toward better diagnosis,
treatment, and assessment. PASAA (Bangkok) 27: 1-10.
Clark, C. M., and P. Peterson. 1986. Teachers’ thought processes. In M. Wittrock (ed.), Handbook of
Research on Teaching. 3rd edn. New York: Macmillan, 255-96.
Holliday, A. 1994. Appropriate Methodology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hunter, D,, and R, Smith 2012, Unpackaging the past: ‘CLI’ through ELT] keywords. ELT Journal
66(4): 430-9.
Kumaravadivelu, B. 1994. The post-method condition: emerging strategies for second/foreign lan-
guage teaching. TESOL Quarterly 28: 27-48.
Kumaravadivelu. B, 2012. Individual identity, cultural globalization, and teaching English as an
international language: the case for an epistemic break. In L. Alsagoff, 8, L. McKay, G. Hu, and
W. A. Renandya (eds.), Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an International
Language. New York: Routledge. 104-22.
Meddings, L., and S. Thornbury. 2009. Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching.
Peaslake: Delta Publishing.
Nicholls, A. H., and H. Nicholls, 1972. Developing Curriculum: A Practical Guide, London: George
Allen and Unwin.
Nunan, D. 1989. Understanding Language Classrooms: A Guide for Teacher Initiated Action.
New York: Prentice Hall.
Pennycook, A. 1989. The concept of method, interested knowledge, and the politics of language
teaching. TESOL Quarterly 23: 589-618.
Pennycook, A. 1994. The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Longman.
Phillipson, R. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Prabhu, N. S. 1990. There is no best method - why? TESOL Quarterly 24: 161-76.
Richards, J. C. 1998. Teachers’ maxims. In J. C, Richards, Beyond Training. New York: Cambridge
University Press. 45~62.
Richards, J. C. 2000, Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
389
Appendix

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398
 Author index 401

Author index
Frisby, A. W,, 46, 48, 49 La Forge, P G., 305-6, 310, 311, 312
Frost, R.. 175 Lado, R., 61
Fulcher, G., 167 Lange, D., 15
Langer, S. K., 289
Gardner, Howard, 230-1, 232, 233 Lave, J., 28, 182
Aaron, P., 145 Canale, M., 89
Gaston, 4. T,, 318 Lazear, D., 234
Abbs, B, A,, 103 Candlin, Christopher, N., B4, 85, 94
Carroll, John B., 72-3 Gatenby, B. V,, 46 Leaver, B., 174, 177, 180, 184, 189-90
Abdullah, M., 247-8 Gattegno, Caleb, 30, 289, 290-4, 295-8 Lee, L., 182
Agor, 164 Cassidy, S., 339 Leung, C., 150, 167,375
Gibbons, P., 122
Ahmad, S., 104 Chamot, A. U., 335 Lewis, C., 351
Glaser, R., 162
Alexander, L. G., 31, 44, 47, 103 Chomsky, Noam, 23, 38, 72, 84, 87-8, 89, 264 Lewis, M., 215, 217-18, 222, 224, 225
Golombek, P., 353, 354
Alexander, R., 122 Chowdhry, M. R., 105 Liao, X. Q, 104
Goodman, Kenneth, 139
Allan, R., 223 Christie, F, 200 Littlewood, W., 86, 90-1, 96, 99, 103
Gottiredson, L., 233
Allen, J. P. B., 94 Christison, M., 231, 232, 235-6, 237, 239-40
Gouin, E, 8-9, 278 Liinares, A. 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 129
Allwright, R. L., 357, 358 Clandinin, D. J., 353 Locke, John, 4
Graddol, D., 116
Alsagoff. L,, 331 Clark, C. M., 348, 367, 369-70
Graves, K., 372 Lockhart, C., 338
Anthony, Edward, 21, 22 Clay, Marie, 139 Long, M., 175, 183, 184, 247
Gregg, K., 264, 273
Applebee, A. N., 87 Cohen, A. D., 334, 335-6 Lozanov, Georgi, 317, 318-21, 322, 323-4, 325, 326
Griffiths, C., 337, 339, 352
Armstrong, T., 231, 232 Cole, R., 262
Grognet, A.G., 151 Lugton, R,, 73
Arnold, F, 296 Coles, M., 44 Lyons, C, A., 142
Gu, P., 164, 336
Ascham, Roger, 4 Comenius, 4 Lyster, R., 116, 121, 122, 123, 127, 133
Gumperz, John, 84
Asher, James, 277, 278-80, 281-5, 285-6 Cook, V. J., 155, 168, 169, 178
Gurrey, P,, 46
Astika, G., 185 Coxhead, A., 120
Mackey, W. B, 21-2, 304-5
Atkinson, D., 291, 331, 346 Coyle, D., 118, 119-20, 124, 127-8, 131, 346
Auerbach, E. R., 151, 153, 168 Craik, FI. M., 292 Hagen, P, 160-1 Malinowski, Bronislaw, 87
Halliday, Michael A. K., 25, 48, 84, 87, 88-9, 200, 202 Maljers, A., 132
Austin, John, 84 Crandall, J, 123, 126, 129, 255, 368
Hansen, G, H., 317-18, 319, 324-5 - Mallison, V.,5
Cuisenaire, Georges, 289
Cummins, J., 124
Harel, Y., 252~3 Marcel, C., 8, 9
Bahns, j., 218 McCarthy, M. J. 220, 223
Curran, Charles A., 303, 306-8, 310, 311, 322, 314 Hartley, B., 44
Bailey, K., 264, 353 McGafferty, Steven G., 255
Higgs, T, 104
Baines, L. A. 151
Hilgard, E. R., 87 McGroarty, M., 246
Baloche, L., 255 Dalton-Puffer, C,, 116, 133 McKay, P,, 163
Hill, D., 225
Bancroft, W. Jane, 320, 323 Darian, S. G., 58 McKenzie, W., 232
Hird, B., 104
Barduhn, S., 349 Darwin, Charles, 62 McLaughlin, B., 264,273
Hockett, C.F, 59
Beglar, D., 185 Davies, P., 50, 51, 52, 53-4
Holec, H., 86 Meara, P., 215
Benson, P,, 332 Davies, S,, 125-6
Holliday, A., 15-16, 104, 339 Meddings, L.,371, 382
Beretta, A., 175 Dean, §. T., 201
Hoogveld, A., 151 Mehisto, P, 127, 129
Bergeron, B, $., 140, 143-4 DeKeyeer, R., 154, 155
Hornby, A. S., 44, 45, 46, 47 Mehrabian, A., 289
Berlitz, Maximilian, 12 Derewianka, B., 200 Meidinger, Johann, 6
Howatt, A. P. R., 4, 7, 84, 86
Berman, M., 235 Dewey, John, 27, 244 Mendenhall, R,, 152-3
Hubbard, P,, 54
Billows, F. L., 46, 48 Docking, R., 152, 155-6, 157, 158 Met, M.,, 123, 126
Hunter, D., 15, 347, 383
Bloom, S., 245 Doughty, C., 73 Montaigne, 4,11, 86
Hymes, Dell, 84, 87, 88, 89
Bloomfield, Leonard, 58-9 Doyle, W., 178-9 Morrow, K., 100
Blumberg, P., 331 Dubetz, N. E., 355
Moskowitz, G., 304
Duff, P, 133 Jacobs, G. M., 106, 249
Bobbitt, 158 Moulton, William G., 60, 63
Dulay, H., 264 Jakobovits, L. A., 73
Boers, F,, 215, 216, 218, 221-2, 224, 279 Mrowicki, L., 156-7
Bogaards, P., 215 Duncan, Arne, 152-3 Jespersen, Otto, 20, 44
Jia, G., 255 Munby, J., 95, 106, 306, 366
Bolinger, Dwight, 263
Bomengen, M., 141 Edwards, C., 176, 177-8, 190, 349 Jin, L., 7, 104, 351, 352
Johns, A., 202 Nation, IS. P, 215, 220
Borg, S., 347 Eggins, S., 202 Nattinger, J.. 217, 220
Breen, M., 98, 331 Ellis, R., 175, 180, 194 Johnson, D., 245, 246, 249, 252, 253, 254-5
Newman, F,, 248
Brinton, D. M., 119, 123-4, 125, 128 Erben, T., 102 Johnson, Keith, 85, 88, 90, 100
Jones, Daniel, 44 Newmark, L., 273
Brooks, Nelson, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67-9, 69-70, 70-1
Brown, H. D., 24, 64, 354 Faucett, L., 45 Jupp, T. C., 94 Nicholson-Nelson, K., 234-5
Nielson, K., 341
Brown, Roger. 13, 264 Feez, S., 25, 176, 204-5, 207-9 Northrup, N., 158
Bruméit, Christopher J., 85, 88, 90, 94 Figueras, N., 150 Kagan, 5., 245, 246
Kantarcioglu, E,, 167 Nunan, D,, 99, 177, 184-5, 331, 333
Bruner, Jerome, 291, 369 Finocchiaro, M., 99, 101
Katona, G., 277
Burns, A., 160, 204, 205, 210 Firth, John R., 48, 84, 87
Katz, A. M., 163-4 O'Keefe, A., 25, 216, 217, 221, 366
Burton, G., 223 Franke, F, 11-12
Byrne, D., 51 Franklin, Benjamin, 292
Kelly, 1.4, 6 ONeill, R44
Knapp, M. L., 289 Ollendorf, H. S., 6
French, E G., 46, 48
Krashen, Stephen D., 218, 261-2, 263, 264-8, 270-3, 285, 370-] Olsen, R., 244, 249
Cameron, L,, 184 Friere, Paulo, 168
Fries, Charles C., 31, 48, 59, 60, 66, 263
Kumaravadivelu, B., 16, 105, 352, 358, 371, 383 Ortega, L, 26, 331
Campbell, L., 237

400
402 Author index
Subject index
Ostrander, $., 321 Stoller, F, 126
Oxford, R., 335 Stroinigg, Dieter, 313
Stryker, S., 125, 127, 128
Palmberg, R., 231, 233, 238 Stufflebeam, D., 374
Palmer, Dorothy, 277 Swaffar, J. 354 academic task, 178-9 assessment, in Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT),
Palmer, Harold E., 20, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 215, 277, 278, 285 Swain, M., 28, 122, 181 Access to English (Coles and Lord), 44 155-6
Paltridge, B., 200 Sweet, Henry, 9, 10, 11, 13, 20 accuracy practice, 96-7 Audiolingual Method, 389
Paran, A., 131, 133, 346 Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis, 265 approach in, 62-5
Passy, Paul, 9 Taba, H., 373 activities see learning and teaching activities background of, 58-62
Pattison, B., 46 Tasker, T., 351 adjunct language instruction decline of, 72-3
Pawley, A,, 215, 216, 279 Teele, S., 233 at elementary and secondary levels, 130 design in, 65-70
Pellettieri, J., 341 Terrell, Tracy D., 261-2 at university level, 130 procedure in, 70-1
Phillipson, R., 383 ‘Thomas, M., 189 Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, reasons for dominance of, 74
Piaget, Jean, 27, 280 Thornbury, S., 202-3, 371, 382 46 versus Situational Language Teaching, 73-4
Pittman, George, 47, 49, 50, 51-2, 53 Titone, R., 5-6, 9, 12 Affective Filter Hypothesis, 266 syllabus in, 66
Pitz, Karl, 5-6 Tollefson, S. J., 157-8, 168 affective strategies, 336 textbook lesson in (example), 78-9
Prabhu, N. S., 94, 106, 175 Tranel, D. D., 306, 308 allophones, 63 auditory learner, 338
Prendergast, T, 8,9 ‘Teang, W. K., 354 American Council of Learned Societies, 60 Aural-Oral Approach, 60
Tsui, A.B. M., 39, 338, 372 analogy, 65 Australia, 99, 200, 202, 205-6
Rardin, J., 310 Tyler, R., 373 a posteriori syllabus, 31 Australian Migrant Education Program, 160
Reibel, D. A., 273 applied linguistics, 11 authority, in Suggestopedia, 320
Reid, J., 232, 337, 338 Van Avermaet, P., 179 approaches and methods authority-oriented learner, 338
Reinders, H., 333-4 Van den Branden, K., 174, 175, 177, 183, 185-6, advantages and disadvantages of, 382-3 automatic processing, 27
Richards, J. C., 91-2, 100, 106, 176, 338, 349, 353, 356 187+8, 374 approach, defined, 21, 22
Rigg, P., 139, 140-1, 143 Van Ek, J., 84, 92-3, 165 assumptions of, 14 backward design of curriculum, 150, 363, 365,
Rivers, W. M., 24, 63, 64-5 Van Gorp, K., 181, 182, 183, 190 checklist for adoption of, 39-40 373-6, 377
Rodgers, T. S., 144-5, 244 Vasilopoulos, G., 105 claims and assertions about, 346 BANA (Britain-Australasia-North America)
Rogers, C.R., 303 Victori, M., 332 conceptualizations of, 20-2 contexts, 104
Rouse, W. H. D., 6 Viétor, Wilhelm, 9, 10, 11 criticism of concept of, 383-4 Bangalore Project, 175
Rubin, J., 159, 334-5 Vygotsky, Lev, 27, 248 early linguists and, 20 Bank of English, 223
Rylatt, A., 169 matching teaching to, 347-50 Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS), 124-5
Wakefield, HL, 46 methods concept, 3-4 behaviorism, 26, 63-4, 65,72

Sauveur, L., 11, 12 Watcyn-Jones, B, 100 methods, elements of, 36 (see also approach to language Berlitz Method, 12

Savignon, S,, 86, 88, 90, 99, 102, 103 ‘Waters, A., 339, 382 teaching; design in language teaching: procedure in bilingualism, 118
Schenck, E. A. 151 ‘Watson, D,, 140 language teaching) bio program, 279-80
Schmidt, R., 181 Weaver, C., 143 models of, 21-2 brain lateralization, and Total Physical Response (TPR), 280
Schmitt, N., 25, 215 Wells, G., 182 overview of, 382 British Approach see Oral Approach
Wen, W. P., 338 teachers’ acceptance and adoption of, 347 BULATS (Business Language Testing Service), 166-7
Scovel, T., 325-6
Searle, John, 84 ‘West, Michael, 45, 46, 220 teachers’ adaptation of, 350-1
Seidenstiicker, Johan, 5, 6 Whiteson, V., 147 teachers’ personalization of, 352-5 Cambridge English Corpus, 217, 220
Selman, M., 292 Widdowson, Henry G., 84, 85, 89, 93-4 approach to language teaching, 36 central design, 363, 365, 368-72, 377

Senior, R., 331 Wiederhold, C., 245 in Andiolingual Method, 62-5 Certificate in Spoken and Written English framework, 160-1
Shin, D., 219 Wiggins, G., 150, 363, 366, 373~4 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 87-91 China, 164, 338, 351
Short, D., 162 Wilkins, D. A., 85, 88, 92, 93, 94, 366 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 305-8 Chromachord Teaching System, 312
Skehan, P., 90, 179, 180, 183 Williams, M., 27, 74 in Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT), 154-5 chunks, 215-16, 216-17
Skinner, B. F., 26, 64, 65 Willis, D., 174 in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), see also Lexical Approach
Willis, J., 54, 174, 183, 186, 190-1, 220, 222, 366, 371 118-23 COBUILD dictionary, 223
Slade, D., 202
Slavin, R., 255 Winitz, H., 277-8 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 118-23 COBUILD English Course, 220
Smith, D., 178 Wiskin, Joel, 295, 299 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 246-8 Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CAIP), 124-5
Smith, Frank, 139 Woolard, G., 224 in Lexical Approach, 216-18 cognitive-code learning, 26, 72-3, 291
Spencer, Herbert, 158 Wray, A., 216 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 232-3 cognitive model of language, 23
St. Clair, R. N,, 290 in Natural Approach, 262-7 cognitive strategies, 335
Stark, P. P, 192-3 Yalden, J., 86, 94 in Silent Way, 290-3 Coleman Report, 13, 21, 45, 58
in Situational Language Teaching, 47-9 Collaborative Learning (CL) see Cooperative Learning (CL)
Stengers, H., 219
Stenhouse, L., 369 Zandvoort, R. W., 46 in Suggestopedia, 318~21 Collins Corpus, 223
Stevick, E. W., 292, 294, 296, 312, 313, 323, 324 Zhang, Y., 253-4 in Task-Based Language ‘Teaching (TBLT), 179-83 collocation, 215, 216-17, 224-5
in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 201-4 color charts, in Silent Way, 297-8
in Total Physical Response (TPR), 278~80 Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), 100,
in Whole Language Approach, 140-1 165-8, 169, 375-6
a priari syllabus, 31 Communicate (Morrow and Johnson), 100
Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), 58-9 communication principle, 90

403
404 Subject index Subject index 405

Communicative Approach, 86 contemporary models of, 129-31 desuggestion, 320 group formation, 250
communicative competence, 85-6, 87-9, 90 content-driven versus language-driven, 123 dialogues/dialogic talk group learner, 338
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 390 defined, 116 in Audiolingual Method, 66-7 group process manager, teacher as, 99-100
approach in, 87-91 design in, 123-9 in content-based approaches, 122 Guide to Patterns and Usage in English (Hornby), 46
content-related approaches and, 117 as example of forward design, 367-8 Direct Method, 11-14, 21
Cooperative Language Learning (CLL) and, 246-7 procedure in, 132 Natural Approach compared with, 261-2 habit formation, in foreign language learning, 64
criticisms of, 103-5 reasons for expansion of, 117-18 versus Oral Approach, 46 Handbook of English Grammar, A (Zandvoort), 46
design in, 91-101 summary, 132 discourse analysis, 366 humanistic instruction, 32-3
development of, 83-4 contrastive analysis, 66 discourse analyst, 224 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 303-4
procedure in, 37, 101-3 controlled processing, 26 discourse competence, 89 in Whole Language, 141
summary, 105-7 cooperation, benefits of, 246 discourse, spoken versus written, 201-2
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and, 174 Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 395 Dogme, 371, 382 immersion education, 117-18
textbook lesson (example), 114-15 approach in, 246-8 double-planedness, in Suggestopedia, 320 immigrant on-arrival programs, 117
versions of, 84-7 background on, 244-6 drill and pattern practice, in Audiolingual individual accountability, 250
Whole Language and, 140 design in, 248-53 Method, 67-9 individualized instruction, 33
communicative movement, 84 poals of, 245 individual learner, 338
Communicative Syllabus Design (Munby), 95 procedure in, 254-5 elaboration, in Lexical Approach, 221-2 infantilization, in Suggestopedia, 320, 323
Community Language Learning (CLL), 398 summary, 255 “ends-means” approach to curriculum informant method, 58-9
approach in, 305-8 traditional approaches versus, 253-4 development, 373 information gap, 97, 186
background of, 303-5 Cooperative Learning (CL), 244-5 English 900, 61,72 information-transmission model
design in, 308-12 cooperative projects, 251 English as a foreign language (EFL), 59-61 of communication, 305
as example of central design of curriculum, 371 corpora, 220~1, 366 English as a second language (ESL) input, 364-5
lack of syllabus in, 31 Council of Europe, 84, 85, 92, 165, 332-3 advantages of cooperation in, 246 see also forward design of curriculum
procedure in, 312-13 Counseling-Learning, 303 standards for, 162-3 Input Hypothesis, 263, 265-6
summary, 313-14 see also Community Language Learning (CLL) English for Special Purposes (ESP), 95 instructional materials, 34-5
teacher's role in, 313-14 counselor, teacher as, 99 English Language Institute, 59 in Audiolinguat Method, 70
competencies, 156-8 creative-construction hypothesis, 26, 91 English Profile project, 376 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 100-1
Competency-Based Education (CBE), 151, 152-3 Critical Language Pedagogy (CLP), 357-8 English through Actions (Palmer), 278, 285 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 311-12
Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT), 392 Cuisenaire rods, in Silent Way, 289, 297 European Language Portfolio (ELP) project, 332-3 in Competency-Based Language Teaching
approach in, 154-5 curriculum Experience Curriculum, 87 (CBLT), 160
background of, 151-4 defined, 363
in Content and Language Integrated Learning
criticisms of, 168-9 dimensions of, 364-5 feedback, corrective, 121-2 (CLIL), 129
design in, 155-60 curriculum development, 150 Fidel charts, 297 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 129
as example of backward design of curriculum, 375 backward design, 150, 363, 365, 373-6, 377 First Language, A (Brown), 264 in Cooperative Language Leaming (CLL), 253
features of, 153 central design, 363, 365, 368-72, 377 fluency, 96 in Lexical Approach, 223-4
procedure in, 160-1 forward design, 150, 363, 365-8, 372, 377 fluency practice, 96-7 in Multiple Intelligences (MI). 238
and Task-Based Language Teaching, 178 summary, 376-8 forward design of curriculum, 150, 363, 365~8, in Natural Approach, 271
textbook lesson in (example), 173 372,377 in Silent Way, 297-8
Comprehension Approach, 277-8 decision-making tasks, 186 Foundations for English Teaching (Fries and Fries), 66 in Situational Language Teaching, 51
computer-assisted language learning (CALL), 189-90, 341 design in language teaching, 29-35, 36 Four Corners (Richards and Bohlke), 91-2, 100, 103 in Suggestopedia, 324
concert pseudo-passiveness, 321 in Audiolingual Method, 65-70
functional model of language, 23-4, 88-9 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 188-90
consensual validation, 307 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 91-101 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 207
constructivist learning theory, 27 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 308~12
general form, 60 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 283
in Whole Language, 141 in Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT),
General Service List af English Words, A (West), 45 in Whole Language approach, 143
Content and Language Integrated Learning 155-60
integration, in content-based approaches, 121
genre model of language, 25, 201-2
(CLIL), 391 in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), interactional approach
g factor, 233
approach in, 118-23 123-9
Gouin “series,” 8-9 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 306
background on, 116-17 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 123-9
grammar in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL}, 247-8
claims about, 346 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 248-54 in Task-Based Language Teaching, 181
in Audiolingual Method, 62
contemporary models in, 131-2 defined, 22, 29
in content-based approaches, 120 in Whole Language Approach, 140-1
defined, 116-17 in Lexical Approach, 218-24 interactional model of language, 24
transformational, 72
design in, 123-9 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 234-8
universal, 23, 264 interactional theory of learning, 27, 91
as example of forward design, 367-8 in Natural Approach, 267-71 Interchange (Richards, Hull, and Proctor), 100, 103
Grammar of Spoken English on a Strictly Phonetic Basis, A
procedure in, 132 in Silent Way, 293-8 (Palmer and Blandford), 46 interdependence, positive, 249
reasons for expansion of, 117-18 in Situational Language Teaching, 49-51
Grammar-Translation Method, 6-8 Interim Report on Vocabulary Selection, The
summary, 132-3 in Suggestopedia, 321-4 characteristics of, 6~7 (Faucett et al.), 45
textbook lesson (example), 137-8 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 183-90 International Association of Applied Linguistics, 84
popularity of, 7
Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 391 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 204-7
student response to, 7 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), 10
approach in, 118-23 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 280-3
grammatical competence, 89 International Phonetic Association, 10
background on, 116-17 in Whole Language Approach, 142-3
grammatical system, 63 Tnternet see technology
 Subject index 407
406 Subject index

development of, 46
intonation, in Suggestopedia, 320 in Silent Way, 295 Natural Approach (cont.)
design in, 267-71 versus Direct Method, 46
IQ tests, 230, 237 in Situational Language Teaching, 50
as example of central design, 370-1 grammat control in, 45-6
in Suggestopedia, 323
limitations of, 274 origins of, 44
jigoaw activities, 97, 186, 251 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 185-7
procedure in, 271-3 vocabulary selection in, 45
in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 206
in Total Physical Response (TPR), 281-2 summary, 273-4 see also Situational Language Teaching
Kernel Lessons Plus (O'Neill), 44
in Whole Language Approach, 142-3 Whole Language and, 140 outcomes see objectives in language teaching
Kinesthetic learner, 338 see also Total Physical Response (TPR) based approaches see C Furopean F
learning outcomes see objectives in language teaching
Krashen’s language acquisition theory, 264-7 Natural Approach, The (Krashen and Terrell), 261 of Reference (CEFR); Competency-Based Language
jearning strategies, 28
Natural Method, 11-12 ‘Teaching (CBLT); standards movement
Lado English Series, 61, 72
learning styles, 28, 337-9
natural methods, 11 output, 364-5
learning, theory of see theory of learning
language alternation, 304-5 Natural Order Hypothesis, 265 see also backward design of curriculum
lesson plan see procedure in language teaching
language course development see curriculum development needs analysis, 95, 333 Oxford Progressive English Course for Adult Learners
Lexical Approach, 394
language laboratory, 70
approach in, 216-18 in backward design of curriculum, 374-5 (Hornby), 46
language models, 22-5 background of, 215-16 in Competency-Based Language Teaching
language teaching
design in, 218-24 (CBLT), 155 Pair Work (Watcyn-Jones}, 100
changes in, 106-7 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Parallel Texts, in Whole Language Approach, 144-5
procedure in, 224-5
factors influencing future of, 384-5 183-4 Peace Corps Silent Way Syllabus, 294-5
Language Teaching Analysis (Mackey), 21
summary, 225
lexical model of language. 25 needs analyst, teacher as, 99 personal practical knowledge (PPK), 353-4
Language Teaching Must Start Afresh (Viétor), 10 negotiated meaning phonemes, 63
Lexical Syllabus, The (Willis), 220
Language Two (Dulay, Burt, and Krashen), 264 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 96 phonetics, 9~10
lexicon see vocabulary
Latin, 4-6 in content-based approaches, 121 phonics, and Whole Language Approach, 139
lexis, 225
learner autonomy, 331-4 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 247 phonological systern, 63
linguistics
learner-centered approaches, 32-3
applied, 11 in. Task-Based Language Teaching, 181 phonotactics, 63
Jearner-centeredness, 331 New Concept English (Alexander), 44 positive interdependence, 249
learner roles, 32-3
structural, 62-3
notionel-functional approach see Communicative Language post-method teaching and philosophy, 352-5, 371
in Audiolingual Method, 69 ‘Teaching (CLT) PPP (Presentation-Practice-Production) lesson format, 44, 54,
in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 97-8 Mainline Beginners (Alexander), 103
notional-functional syllabus, 31, 92-4 161
in Community Language Learning (CLL), 309-10 Malaysian Communication Syllabus, 85, 175
Notional Syllabuses (Wilkins), 85 versus Task-Based Language ‘Teaching (TBLT),
in Competency-Based Language Teaching materials see instructional materials
numbered heads activity, 252 175, 176
meaningfulness principle, 90
(CBLT), 159
metacognitive strategies, 335-6
Practical Study of Languages, ‘The (Sweet), 10
in Content and Language Integrated Learning objectives in language teaching, 29-30 practice, in Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT), 155
({CLIL), 127-8 methods concept, 3-4
in Audiolingual Method, 65-6 ptior knowledge, in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 122
in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 127 see also approaches and methods
backward design of curriculum and, 150, 363, 365, problem-solving approaches to learning, 186
in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 252 methods of language teaching, 14-16
373-6, 377 procedure in language teaching, 22, 35-7
in Lexical Approach, 222-3 active periods of types of. 15
in Communicative Language Teaching in Audiolingual Method, 70~1
assumptions of, 14
in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 237
checklist for adoption of, 39-40 (CLT), 91-2 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 101-3
in Natural Approach, 269-70 in Community Language Leaming (CLL), 308 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 312-13
in Silent Way, 295-6 critiques of assumptions of, 15-16
emergence of, 3-4 in Competency-Based Language Teaching in Competency-Based Language Teaching
in Situational Language Teaching, 50-1 (CBIT), 155 (CBLT), 160-1
in Suggestopedia, 323 method, defined, 21
in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), 132
in Task-Based Language Teaching (BLT), 187 post-methods philosophy, 352-5
123-5 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 132
reasons for rise and fall in, 37-9
in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 207 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 123-5 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 254-5
in Total Physical Response (TPR), 282 in teacher preparation programs, 355-8
see also approaches and methods; specific methods in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 248 defined, 22
in Whole Language Approach, 143
Monitor Hypothesis, 265 in Lexical Approach, 218-19 in Lexical Approach, 224-5
learners in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 234 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 238-40
characteristics of good, 334-5 motivation, 28
in Natural Approach, 267 in Natural Approach, 271-3
diversity of, 230 Multiple Intelligences (MI), 394
in Silent Way, 293 in Silent Way, 298-99
types of, 338 - approach in, 232-3 in Situational Language Teaching, 51-4
background of, 230-2 in Situational Language Teaching, 49
learner strategies, 334-7 in Suggestopedia, 321-2 in Suggestopedia, 324-5
learning and teaching activities, 31-2 design in, 234-8
model of, 231, 233 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 183-4 in Task-Based Language Teaching (IBLT), 190-3
in Audiolingual Method, 66-9 in 'lext-Based Instruction (TBI), 204-5 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 207-9
in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 95-7 procedure in, 238-40
summary, 240
in ‘Total Physical Response (TPR), 280 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 283-5
in Community Language Learning (CLL), 309 in Whole Language Approach, 142 in Whole Language Approach, 143-5
in Competency-Based Language Teaching types of intelligence, 231
Oman, 163-4 process, 364-5
(CBLT), 158 music, in Suggestopedia, 317, 318, 321
On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 62 see also Central design
in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), 127 opinion exchange tasks, 186 processing, controlled and automatic, 26-7
in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 126 narrative, 203
Oral Approach, 14, 388 pronunciation charts see Fidel charts
in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 249 National Defense Education Act, 61
background of, 44 Prussian Method, 6
in Lexical Approach, 220-2 Natural Approach, 396
British versus US, 60 pseudo-passiveness, in Suggestopedia, 321
in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 234-7 approach in, 262-7 psychology, Soviet, 318
characteristics of, 47
in Natural Approach, 269 background of, 261-2
408 Subject index Subject index 4o9

Question Matrix (Wiederhold), 245-6 Streamline English (Hartley and Viney), 44 ‘Task-Based Language Teaching (IBLT) (cont.) text/textbooks
stress reduction, and Total Physical Response (TPR), 280 as example of central design of curriculum, 371 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 100
reading-based approach, 58 Structural Approach, 60 lesson plan in (example), 199 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI)
Reading Method, 21 structural linguistics, 62-3 needs analysis, backward design, and, 374-5 prominence of methods and, 39
reading strategies, 335 structural model of language, 23, 47-8, 216 Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) strategy in Situational Language Teaching, 51
realia Structural Notes and Corpus (American Council of Learned versus, 175,176 Thailand, 61-2, 294-5
in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 101 Societies), 60 procedure in, 190-3 theme-based language instruction, 129-31
in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 189 structural syllabus summary, 193-4 theorization of practice, 355
recount (text-type), 202-3 first, 8 syllabus in, 94, 184-5 theory of language, 22-5
Reform Movement, 7~8, 9-11, 21 in Situational Language Teaching, 49-50 task-based materials, in Communicative Language Teaching in Audiolingual Method, 62-3
reinforcement, 63-4 structuring and structures, 250, 263 (CLT), 100 in Communicative Language Teaching
representationalism, 23 Students with Limited English Proficiency (SLEP) task principle, 90 (CLT), 87-90
response, 63, 64 programs, 117 teacher practice, theorization of, 355 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 305-6
tetelling, in Lexical Approach, 222 substitution tables, 45-6 teacher preparation programs, 16-17 in Competency-Based Language Teaching
thythm, in Suggestopedia, 320 suggestion, versus hypnosis, 319-20 options for study of approaches and methods, 355-8 (CBLT), 154
Rogerian counseling, 303, 310 Suggestology, 317 teacher roles, 33-4 in Content and Language Integrated Learning
roundtable activity, 251 Suggestopedia, 399 in Audiolingual Method, 69-70 (CLIL), 120-1
approach in, 318-21 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 98-100 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 120-1
scaffolding, 28 background of, 317-18 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 310-11 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 246-7
in content-based approaches, 122-3 design in, 321-4 in Competency-Based Language Teaching learning theory and, 28~9
in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 248 procedure in, 324-5 (CBLT), 159 in Lexical Approach, 216-17
in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 181-2 summary, 325-6 in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), 128-9 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 232
in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 204 syllabus, 30-1, 34 in Content-Based Instruction (CBD, 128-9 in Natural Approach, 262-4
security-attention-retention-discrimination in Audiolingual Method, 66 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 252-3 in Silent Way, 290
(SARD), 307-8 in Communicative Language Teaching in Lexical Approach, 222 in Situational Language Teaching, 47-8
sentence pattern, 45-6, 49 (CLT), 92-5 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 237 in Suggestopedia, 318-19
sheltered content instruction, 130 in Community Language Learning (CLL), in Natural Approach, 270-1 in Task-Based Language ‘Teaching (TBLT), 179-80
Silent Way, 398 308-9 in Silent Way, 296-7 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 201-3
approach in, 290-3 in Competency-Based Language Teaching in Situational Language Teaching, 51 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 278-9
background of, 289-90 (CBLT), 155-8 in Suggestopedia, 323-4 in Whole Language Approach, 140-1
design in, 293-8 in Content and Language Integrated Learning in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 187-8 theory of learning, 25-8
as example of central design of curriculum, 371 (CLIL), 125-6 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 207 in Audiclingual Method, 63-5
procedure in, 298-9 in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 125-6 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 282-3 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 90-1
summary, 300 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 249 in Whole Language Approach, 143 in Community Language Learning (CLL), 306-8
Singapore, 206 design of, 366-7 teachers in Competency-Based Language Teaching
Situational English series, 47 first structural, 8 adoption of teaching methods by, 347-50 (CBLT), 154-5
Situational Language Teaching, 44, 83-4, 388 in Lexical Approach, 219-20 knowledge and beliefs of, 348 in Content and Language Integrated Learning
approach in, 47-9 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 234 relationship between methods and, 347-55 (CLIL), 121-3
design in, 49-51 in Natural Approach, 268 teaching activities see learning and teaching activities in Content-Based Instruction (CBI), 121-3
procedure in, 37, 51-4 in Silent Way, 294-5 Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language (Fries), 60 in Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 247-8
situation, defined, 50 in Situational Language Teaching, 49-50 Teaching Language as Communication language theory and, 28-9
skill learning theory, 26-7, 90-1, 154-5 in Suggestopedia, 322 (Widdowson), 89 in Lexical Approach, 217-18
skills-based approach, 130~1 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 184-5 team practice from common input, 250 in Multiple Intelligences (MI), 232-3
social-process view of language, 305-6 in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 205-6 technique, defined, 21 in Natural Approach, 264-7
social skills, 250 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 281 technology in Silent Way, 291-3
social strategies, 336 Syatactic Structures (Chomsky), 84 in Audiolingual Method, 70 in Situational Language Teaching, 48-9
sociocultural learning theory, 27-8 in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), 101 in Suggestopedia, 319-21
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and, 89, 91 tactile learner, 338 learner-centered approaches and, 339-41 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 180-3
Cooperative Language Learning (CLL) and, 248 tasks) in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), in Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 203-4
sociocultural model of language, 24..5 academic, 178-9 189-90 in Total Physical Response (TPR), 279-80
sociolinguistic competence, 89 characteristics of, 186-7 TESEP (tertiary-secondary-primary settings) contexts, 104 in Whole Language Approach, 141
Solve-Pait-Share activity, 252 defined, 177-8 TESOL, 162-3 Think-Pair-Share activity, 252
Soviet psychology, 318 types of, 186 Text-Based Instruction (TBI), 393 three-step interview, 251
standards movement, 162-4, 392 in vocational training, 178 activities based on, 213-14 Threshold Level English (Van Ek and Alexander), 92
backward design of curriculum and, 375-6 Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 393 approach in, 201-4 Threshold Level specifications, 85, 92-3
Stanford-Binet, 230 approach in, 179-83 background on, 200-1 Total Physical Response (TPR), 397
Starting Strategies (Abbs and Freebairn), 103 assumptions underlying, 176 procedure in, 37, 207-9 approach in, 278-80
stimulus, 63, 64 background on, 174-9 pros and cons of, 209-10 background of, 277-8
stimulus~response view of language, 279 benefits of, 177 texts design in, 280-3
strategic competence, 89 defined, 174 parallel, in Whole Language, 144-5 in Natural Approach, 271-2
strategy theory, 334-7 design in, 183-90 types of, 202, 205-6 procedure in, 283-5
Total Physical Response (TPR) (cont) vocabulary
summary, 285-6 in content-based approaches, 120
see also Natural Approach in Silent Way, 290-1, 294
Touchstone series (McCarthy, McCarten, and Sandiford), 220, in Suggestopedia, 318-19
223 in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), 179-80
trace theory of memory, 277
traditional approaches ‘Whole Language Approach, 392
versus Cooperative Language Learning (CLL), 253-4 approach in, 140-1
defined, 262-2 background of, 139-40
transformational grammaz, 72 criticism of, 145-6
Turkey, 352 design in, 142-3
procedure in, 143-5
unit-credit system, 84-5 usefulness of, 146-7
universal grammar (UG), 23, 264 whole-person learning, 307
Words in Calor (Gattegno), 289
Verbal Behavior (Skinner), 65
visual learner, 338 yoga, 318, 320
 CAMBRIDGE

dition of Approaches and Methods in Language

3 an extensive revision of the popular and accessible

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APPROACHES
avious editions, this book surveys the major approaches
3 in language teaching such as Grammar Translation,
sm, Communicative Language Teaching, and the Natural
examines each approach and method in terms of its

BEET
AND METHODS
iguage and language learning, goals, syllabus, teaching
acher and leamer roles, materials, and classroom

this third edition includes content on the teaching and

IN LANGUAGE
ironment, with chapters on learners and methods, teachers
s, plus approaches, methods and the curriculum. It also
apters on:

TEACHING
tt-based Instruction and CLIL
ised Teaching
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hensive survey and analysis of teaching methods used
world. The book seeks not only to clarify the assumptions
THIRD EDITION
e methods and their similarities and differences, but also

TERE Oi
shers explore their own beliefs and practices in language
Jack C. Richards and
tichards is Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education
Work at the University of Sydney, Australia. Theodore S. Rodgers
: is Professor of Psycholinguistics at the
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