TEFLTEFLMETHODOLOGY

Elih Sutisna Yanto ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Unsika, West-Java, Indonesiaelihsutisnayanto@gmail.com

METHODOLOGYElih Sutisna Yanto

ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAMME Unsika, West-Java, Indonesia

elihsutisnayanto@gmail.com

The Purpose of these Slides1. To define methodology.2. To explain how methodology is related to

curriculum development and syllabus design.

3. To describe the “methods” debate.4. To explain the basic principles of

communicative language teaching, and describe its current importance in language teaching pedagogy.

1. What is Methodology? Language Curriculum Development is

concerned with Principle and procedures for the planning,

delivery, management and assessment of teaching and learning.

Curriculum development processes in language teaching comprise need analysis, goal setting, syllabus design, methodology, and testing and evaluation.

Three main subcomponents of Curriculum Curriculum has three main subcomponents:

Syllabus design, methodology, and evaluation. Syllabus design has to do with selecting,

sequencing, and justifying content. Methodology has to do with selecting,

sequencing, and justifying learning tasks and experiences.

Evaluation has to do with how well students have mastered the objectives of the course and how effectively the course has met their needs.

Figure of subcomponents of a curriculumCurriculum component

Focus Defining questions

Syllabus design Content • What content should we teach?• In what order should we teach

this content?• What is the justification for

selecting this content?

Methodology Classroom techniques and procedures

• What exercise, tasks, and activities should we use in the classroom?

• How should we sequence and integrate these?

Evaluation Learning outcomes

• How well have our students done?

• How well has our program served our students needs?

The Terms of Curriculum, course, and Syllabus Curriculum is the totality of an

organized learning experience; it provides the conceptual structure and a set time frame to acquire a recognizable degree, and describe its overall content, e.g. the curriculum of a five- year degree programme in “Mechanical Engineering: at a certain higher education institution. (Maya & Todor 2003:60)

The Terms of Curriculum, course, and Syllabus

Course is the totality of an organized learning experience in a precisely defined area, e.g. the course of “Fluid Dynamics” within the curriculum “Mechanical Engineering”. (Maya & Todor 2003:60)

The Terms of Curriculum, course, and Syllabus

Syllabus is the prescription of details on a specific course, such as what will be learn (and when) the texts to be read, the areas in which expertise is expected to be demonstrated. (Maya & Todor 2003:60)

The Terms of Curriculum, course, and Syllabus

In conclusionCurriculum is a very general concept which involves considerations of the whole complex of philosophical, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of an educational programme; syllabus, on the other hand, referes to that subpart of curriculum which is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught. (J.P.B. Allen )

Types of Syllabuses in Current English as ESL1. Structural (organized primarily around grammar and

sentence patterns)2. Functional (organized around communicative functions,

such as identifying, reporting, correcting, describing)3. Notional (organized around conceptual categories, such as

duration, quantity, location)4. Topical (organized around themes or topics, such as health,

food, clothing)5. Situational (organized around speech settings and the

transactions associated with them, such as shopping, at the bank, at the supermarket)

6. Skills (organized around skills, such as listening for gist, listening for specific information, listening for inferences)

7. Task or activity-based (organized around activities, such as drawing maps, following directions, following instructions)

(Jack C. Richards 1995:9)

Six types of language syllabus (Reily 1988)1 A structural syllabus. The content of the language teaching is a collection of the forms and

structures of the language being taught. Examples include nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions, subordinate clauses, and so on.

2 A notional/functional syllabus. The content of the language teaching is a collection of the functions or the notions that are performed when the language is used. A notional syllabus may cover functions of the language such as greeting, apologizing, requesting and informing, and it may include the notions of language such as age, color, comparison and time.

3 A situational syllabus. The content of the language teaching is a collection of imaginary situations where the language is used. A situational syllabus may include at a restaurant , at school, meeting a new neighbor and seeding a doctor.

4 A skill-based syllabus. The content of the language teaching is a collection of specific skills in using the target language. Examples of skills in using the target language may include reading for the main idea, writing good paragraphs, and listening for main idea.

5 A task-based syllabus. The content of the language teaching includes a series of purposeful tasks that language learners need to perform; tasks are defined as activities that are needed when using the target language. Examples of a task-based syllabus may include applying for a job, ordering food via the telephone and getting housing information over the telephone.

6 A content-based syllabus. A content-based syllabus in language teaching is actually not a language syllabus. The primary purpose of instruction is to teach some subjects or information using the target language. The subject is primary and language learning occurs automatically while language learners are studying the subject. An example of a content-based syllabus is a science class that is taught in the target language.

The Definition of MethodologyThe Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics defines methodology as1.... the study of the practices and procedures used in teaching, and the principles and beliefs that underlie them.Methodology includesa. study of the nature of language skills (e.g. reading, writing, speaking, listening, and procedures for teaching them)

Cont...b. study of the preparation of lesson plans,

materials, and textbooks for teaching language skills.

c. the evaluation and comparison of language teaching methods (e.g., the audiolingual method)

2. Such practices, procedures, principles, and beliefs themselves.

(Richards, et al. 1985,p177)

A set of definitions that as closely as possible on current usage

Methodology: Pedagogical practices in general (including theoretical underpinnings and related research). Whatever considerations are involved in “how to teach” are methodological.

Approach: Theoretically well-informed positions and beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of language learning, and the applicability of both to pedagogical settings.

A set of definitions that as closely as possible on current usage

Method: A generalized set of classroom specifications for accomplishing linguistic objectives. Methods tend to be concerned primarily with teacher and student roles and behaviors and secondarily with such features as linguistic and subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials. They are sometimes – but not always – thought of as being broadly applicable to a variety of audiences in a variety of contexts.

A set of definitions that as closely as possible on current usage

Curriculum/syllabus: Specifications – or in Richards and Rodgers’s terminology, “designs” – for carrying out a particular language program. Features include a primary concern with the specification of linguistics and subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials to meet the needs of a designated group of learners in a defined context.

(The term “syllabus” is used more customarily in the United Kingdom to refer to what is commonly called a “curriculum” in the United States.)

A set of definitions that as closely as possible on current usage

technique (also commonly referred to by other terms” ): Any of a wide variety of exercise, activities, or tasks used in the language classroom for realizing lesson objectives.

( Harmer:2001; Kumaravadivelu,2006; Richards & Renandya, 2002)

2. Background to language teaching Methodology

For many years , the goal of language pedagogy was to “find the right method: - a methodological magic formula that would work for all learners at all times (Brown, 2002)

The dominant method for much of the last century (in the nineteenth century) was the grammar translation method. This was challenged in the 1950s and 1960s by audiolingualism, a method that is still very popular today, and whose influence can be seen in a variety of drill-based techniques and exercises.

Cont... Audiolinguism was the first method to be based on a

theory of learning- behaviourism, which viewed all learning as a process of forming habits, and on theory of language – structural linguistics.

Behaviorism and structural linguistics provided the following key characteristics of audiolingulism:

Priority is given to spoken rather than written language.

Language learning is basically a matter of developing a set of habits through drilling.

Teach the language, not about the language. (Avoid teaching grammar rules. Get learners to develop their skills through drill and practice – teach through “analogy” not “analysis” (Moulton,1963)

The major characteristics of Grammar Translation

1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.

2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.

3. Long, elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.

4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words.

5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are

treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.7. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected

sentences from the target language into the mother tongue.8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation. Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979,p3)

Cont...

GTM does virtually nothing to enhance a student’s communicative ability in the language.

GTM is a method for which there is no theory. On the other hand, one can understand why

GTM remains so popular. It requires few specialized skills on the part of

teachers. Test of grammar rules and of translations are

easy to construct and can be objectively scored.

The major characteristics of Audio Lingual Method

1. New material is presented in dialogue form.2. There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and overlearning.3. Structures are sequenced by means of constractive analysis and taught one at a

time.4. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills.5. There is little or no grammar explanation. Grammar is taught by inductive analogy

rather than by deductive explanation.6. Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context.7. There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids.8. Great importance is attached to pronunciation.9. Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted.10. Successful responses are immediately reinforced.11. There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances.12. There is a tendency to manipulate language and disregard content.

Adapted from Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979,p3)

Cognitive Code Learning

In the 1960s, behaviorism and structural linguistics were severely criticized as being inadequate representations of both learning process and the nature of language.

Psychologists proposed cognitive psychology while the linguist Chomsky developed a new theory called transformational-generative grammar.

Cont... Both approaches emphasized thinking,

comprehension, memory, and the uniqueness of language learning to the human species. (cognitive code learning)

This approach promoted language learning as an active mental process rather than a process of habit formation.

Grammar was back in fashion, and classroom activities were designed that encouraged learners to work out grammar rules for themselves through inductive reasoning.

Humanistic Approach These method emphasized the important of

emotional factors in learning, and proponents of these methods believed that linguistic models and psychological theories were less important to successful language acquisition than emotional or affective factors.

They believed that successful learning would take place if learners could be encouraged to adopt the right attitudes and interests in relation to the target language and target culture. The best known of these methods were the silent way, suggestopedia and community language learning and Total Physical Response.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

During 1970s, a major reappraisal of language occurred. Linguists began to look at language, not as interlocking sets of grammatical, lexical, and phonological rules, but as a tool for expressing meaning.

This reconceptualization had a profound effect on language teaching methodology.

In the earliest versions of CLT, meaning was emphasized over form, fluency over accuracy.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) In recent years, the broad approach known as CLT has

been realized methodologically by task-based language teaching (TBLT).

In TBLT, language lessons are based on learning experiences that have nonlinguistic outcome, and in which there is a clear connection between the things learners do in class and the things they will ultimately need to do outside of the classroom.

For example: listening to a weather forecast and deciding what to wear; Ordering a meal; Planning a party; Finding one’s way around town In these tasks, language is used to achieve nonlanguage outcomes. For

example, the ultimate aim of ordering a meal is not use correctly formed wh-questions, but to get food and drink on the table.

ReferencesBrown, H.D.2002. English Language Teaching in the “ Post-Methods”Era: Toward

better diagnonis, treatment, and assessment. In Richards, J. and W. Renandya (eds.) Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, H.D.2007. Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane.2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. (2nd eds.) New York: Oxford University Press.

Nunan, D. 2003. Practical English Language Teaching. New York: McGraw-Hill

Pentcheva, M & Todor Shovov.2003. Whole Language, Whole Person: A handbook of

Language Teaching Methodology.

Richards, C Jack. 1995. The Language Teaching Matrix. New York: Cambridge University Press.