The Situational Language Teaching

Chapter Five

ContentsContents

1. General Ideas1. General Ideas2. 2. Background

3. Theoretical Basis4. Basic principles5. Summary and Comments6. Discussion

QuestionsQuestions

1.What is the Direct Method?2. How did it come into being?4. What are its main features, objectives,

classroom teaching procedures and techniques, and its theoretical basis?

5. What are your comments on this method?

The Oral Approach and Situational Language

Teaching is a language teaching method

derived from the Direct Method and developed

by British applied linguists between 1930s and

1960s. The Method is no longer in fashion, but

some techniques from the Method can still be

found in language teaching activities and

especially in many textbooks. 

The Oral Approach / Situational Language

Teaching means an approach to language

teaching developed by British applied linguists

from the 1930s to the 1960s.

General IdeasGeneral Ideas

It is a grammar-based method in which

principles of grammatical and lexical gradation

（词类分级） are used and new teaching

points presented and practiced through

meaningful situation-based activities.

General IdeasGeneral Ideas

Although no longer in fashion, techniques

derived from this approach have shaped the

design of many widely used EFL/ESL

textbooks.

It is of significance to understand the practices

and principles of this approach.

BackgroundBackground

1) This approach originated in Britain in the

1920s.

2) Harold Palmer and A. S. Hornby were the

most important and influential figures.

BackgroundBackground

3) They were dissatisfied with the Direct Method.

4) Another objective was to develop principles of vocabulary control.

5) Frequency counts （ 频 度 统 计 ） showed that a core of 2000 words occurred frequently in daily use and written texts.

BackgroundBackground

6) Organization of the grammar content of a language course should be based on the principle of gradation.

7) Their view of grammar was very different from that of the Grammar-Translation Method.

8) Students acquire a little information at a time and learn to make meaningful statements.

9) Sentence patterns are used to have oral practice.

Theoretical Basis

Theory of languageTheory of language

1) It can be characterized as a type of British

“structuralism”.

2) Language as speech. Language was identified

with speech, and speech ability was approached

through oral practice of structure.

3) Language as rule-governed. British linguists

believe that elements in a language were rule-

governed and lower level systems of word classes

(nouns, adjectives, and so on) led to higher level

systems of phrases and sentences.

Theory of languageTheory of language

4) Emphasis on the close relationship between

the structure, context and situation.

5) Primary importance attached to meaning,

context and situation.

Theory of learningTheory of learning

1) Behaviourist habit formation. Foreign language

learning was considered basically a process of

habit formation.

Theory of learningTheory of learning

2) The habit formation of real life and language

learning in the classroom: the acquisition of

spoken language and the foreign language speech

patterns

3) Naturalistic principles for classroom teaching

4) Direct and spontaneous （自然的） uses of the

target language

Basic principles

Main featuresMain features

1) Language teaching begins with the spoken

language

2) The target language is the language of instruction.

3) New language is introduced and practiced in

situations.

4) Speech habit is formed in the initial period of a

language course.

Main featuresMain features

5) Accuracy is maintained.

6) Common core words are covered.

7) Simple forms of grammar are taught before

complex ones, and inductively.

8) Reading and writing are introduced later.

Teachers’ roleTeachers’ role

Deciding on the content of learning

Setting the pace

Setting up situations

Model in the presentation stage

Error detector in the practice stage & grammar.

ObjectivesObjectives

to get a practical command of the four basic

skills of a language;

to obtain accuracy in pronunciation

The objectives of language teaching are to help the students:

TechniquesTechniques

1) New sentence patterns presented in situations

2) Drill-based practice

3) Guided repetition

4) Substitution （替换） activities

5) Dictation

6) Controlled reading and writing tasks

ProceduresProcedures

Procedures usually move from controlled to freer practice of structures and from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading and writing.

1) Revision

2) Presentation of new structure or vocabulary

3) Oral practice (Choral imitation, then individual imitation)

4) Reading of material on the new structure, or written exercises.

Summary and Comments

AdvantagesAdvantages

Suitable for introduction to the language.

Oral production without risk.

Values practical grammar and vocabulary.

An accessible method for teachers...if they

have good curriculum.

Inexpensive to use.

DisadvantagesDisadvantages

Boring

Inauthentic

Ineffective

Teacher-controlled

Conflicts with natural acquisition

DiscussionDiscussion

1) What is the goal of teachers who use the Oral

Approach?

2) What are some of the characteristics of this

approach that make it so distinctive from the

Direct Method?