Unit 2 HISTORY OF EFL TEACHING:

APPROACH & METHOD IN ELT

68548 FUNDAMENTOS DE DISEO INSTRUCCIONAL Y
METODOLOGAS DE APRENDIZAJE EN LA
ESPECIALIDAD DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS (INGLS)
 Introduction
Introductory questions:
Do you think English has always been taught in the
same way? Previously it was based on grammar
Can you see a difference between when you
started and now?
Why has the way to teach English changed
through history?
(See next slide to answer the last question)
 Introduction: A brief history
Read A Brief History of ELT & SLA
Changes in methods have reflected:
Changes in the kind of proficiency leaners need
Changes in theories of the nature of language and
of language learning
Task Re-read A Brief History of ELT and SLA and
identify these changes
 Approach & Method
Task: See Components of Method figure (Richards &
Rodgers 2001: 33). What is a method? Think of a
simple definition.
 Approach & Method
Approach: a set of assumptions (ideas),
beliefs, theories about the nature of language,
learning, and teaching.
Design: an overall plan for presentation of
language based upon a selected approach.
Procedures: the specific activities used in the
classroom, consistent with a method and with
an approach as well.
 Approach & Method
Your understanding of
What language is
How the learner learns
Will define to a large extent your philosophy of
Education and how you teach English
 Approach: Views of Language
Structural view:
a system of structurally related elements for the
coding and transmission of meaning
Functional view:
a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning
Interactional view:
a vehicle for interpersonal relations and for social
transaction between individuals
 Approach: Views of Language
Structural view:
a system of structurally related elements for the
coding and transmission of meaning
What dimension of language is prioritised? >>>
grammatical dimension
What needs to be taught?
Phonological units: phonemes
Grammatical units: phrases, clauses, sentences
Lexical items: function words and structure words
 Approach: Views of Language
Structural view:
An autonomous system
A system of relation and difference. Language is
seen in terms of oppositions, contrasts,
hierarchical structures.
System along a vertical and an horizontal axis:
paradigmatic (substitution) and syntagmatic
(positioning)
 Example: Alices hat is green

Syntagm

People Clothing to be Color

Paradigm

Alices hat is green.

My coat isnt yellow.
The vicars Pyjamas were pink.

The value of each term is determined by its place in the

syntagm--by the other terms in the sentence that precede and
follow it.
Also by the set of alternative terms that might replace it.
 Approach: Views of Language
Functional view:
a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning
What dimension of language is prioritised? >>>
semantic and communicative dimension of language
What needs to be taught?
Functions (e.g. describing sthg. Requesting info.
etc.)
Notions (e.g. time, frequency, duration)
 Approach: Views of Language
Interactional view:
a vehicle for interpersonal relations and for social
transactions between individuals
What dimension of language is prioritised? >>>
interactive dimension of language
What needs to be taught?
Patterns of exchange and interaction (e.g.
negotiation skills)
 Task
a) Analyse this sentence from a structural and
from a functional viewpoint:
Why dont you close the door?
From a structural viewpoint >>> Interrogative
From a functional viewpoint >>> (ambiguous)
[Think of the possible functions it may have]
a) Think of possible expressions (= structures) to
express this (functional) meaning: You want
someone to listen to you
b) Think of new examples as in a) and b)
 Task
a) You want to inform someone that dinner is
ready (= function). Think of the possible
structures you could use and of the social
meanings associated to them:
E.g Dinners ready!
To whom? And why? (social meaning implied)
a) Think of new examples of different social
meanings associated to different structures
for the same function
 Approach: Views of Language

Pragmatics
The subfield of linguistics which studies the way
in which context contributes to meaning.
Pragmatics studies show how the transmission of meaning depends
not only on structural and linguistic knowledge of the speaker and the
listener but also on the context of the utterance, any pre-existing
knowledge about those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker
and listener, and other factors.
The ability to understand another speakers
intended meaning is called pragmatic competence
Approach: Views of Language

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

CURRCULO CEFR
ARAGONS
Morfosintctica Linguistic
Pragmtica Sociolinguistic
Procesual
Pragmatic
Intercultural
 Approach: Theory of Language
Learning
All theories try to respond to two questions:
Psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved
in language learning
Conditions for these processes to be activated
 Conclusion
Methods
Methodology
Curriculum or syllabus:
Once methods fail some people think that we should
concentrate on syllabus design:
Rather than sticking to the kind of procedure which involves an
ordered progression from approach to method to teaching
technique, it is possible to think in terms of syllabus design
(Yalden 1987)
But teachers are generally unprepared to produce an
overall and comprehensive plan or design for a second
language course
 References
RICHARDS, J. & RODGERS, T. 2001 (1986). Approaches and
Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
ROSE, K. R. & KASPER, G. 2001. Pragmatics in Language
Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
YALDEN, J. 1987. The Communicative Syllabus: Evolution, Design
and Implementation. London: Prentice Hall-International.