Teaching

Whats teaching ?

Functions of teaching ?

Characteristics of a good teacher ?

Relationship teacher/learner ?

Suggetions for classroom management

Teaching is a process of arranging conditions under which the learner changes his/her ways
consciously in the direction of his/her own goals.

1/ The first effective teacher is the learner himself. To have a real teaching, the learner must be
evolved. The professional reaches the height of his craft when the students become their ownselves
teachers. In other words the good teacher is always trying to work himself out of the teaching role
by getting learners to assume that role for themselves.

2/ The main function of the teacher is to intellectualy lead a social group (a group of learners) to
achieve this leadership he needs to. To have an intellectual preparation in the subject matter. Be
alert to body expressions as signs of mental conditions in learners like puzzlements, boredom,
pretended attention, tendency to show off, understanding. Dominate the group in the sense that
a teacher knows more than the learners and is the one to take decisions and to impose his will.

3/ It is believed that a good teacher is not necessarily the one who uses good teaching methods
and has a wide knowledge. A good teacher is the one who has most of:

-The teacher should create a healthy environment for agreement and disagreement to take
place. A healthy environment is a positive climate where thinking can take place in order to create
this healthy environment the teacher should give the opportunity to all students to make their
own contributions that should be handled with logic rather than emotion.

-The teacher should be interesting in the sense that he keeps interest alive and knows what suits the
learner.

-The teacher should be secure and confident in what he says and does.

-The teacher should be respectful towards the students and their knowledge.

-The teacher should have a contagious enthausiasm for his teaching.

-The teacher should be creative.

For this purpose many teachniques resulted to: games, songs, information gap exercise,
problem solving questions... and so on.

-The teacher add pace and humour to the class.

-The teacher should challenge the learners without discouraging them.

-The teacher should be encouraging and patient.

-The teacher should take a minute or two to answer questions after class.

The teacher should treat the learner as a person on an equal basis with all his/her classmates
regardless of sex, race, social class...

-The teacher should leave his/her emotional baggage outside the classroom. The classroom is a
stage and to be effective, the teacher must be enact.

Relationship teacher/learner

How to create a good relationship with learners needs to be worked out personaly, patiently and
skillfully. However there are some general rules agreed on and wich are a good contribution of
teacher/learner.

-Be strict in your attitude. A strict teacher often proves to have a friendly class than the easy
going teacher however paradoxical this may seem. A permissive teacher often adopts this attitude
in search of imidiate popularity which is often followed by a loose of esteem and bad behaviour
in the medium of long run the strict teacher shouts less than the permissive teacher and has a
fewer rous with learners. He/she creates the piece which is necessary for any positive relationship.

-Respect the conventions of retelassence. These conditions are there for the necessities of a
professional relationship.

-The teacher must keep behind a berrear precisely for the sake of this relationship.

-Be consistent, in other words, follow the same rules all the time: Do not accept one thing one
day and refuse it the next day.

Be determined and never give up.

never make threats you cannot cary on; if you do learners will not listen to you.

-Praise and pay attention to all learners. Ligitemate praise is very important to reinforce learning;
attention secures interest in learners and motivates them. However it is sometimes better to ignore
regular troublemakers, for attention maybe felt as rewording bad behaviour by taking notice of it
in such case, a stare can serve as a diterrent.

Suggestions for classroom management

-Pupils of all ages respond eagerly to the influence of a pleasent dignified, humourous and
tolerent personality.

-Firmness and order are accepted by learners from a teacher they trust and respect.

To avoide disciplinary problems:

Prepare the lessons thoroughly.

Make a close of those who have difficulties in understanding.

Show confidence and act as somebody who expects the learner to do what she/he requests of
them speak convincingly and clearly, never monotonous using language learners understand.
Avoid noticable manor reasons; they distract the learner attention and become object of fun at
your expense.

Do not start a lesson before you have the attention of everybody.

Never continue to teach when the class is talking; stop working and insist on order befoer
resuming the work.

Keep the pupils busy all the time.

Stop misbehaving and ignore pity.

Give a task to pupils whose attention in wavering.

Make sure your rules are understood by the whole class and that they become a part of class
routine.

Show interest in learners.

Systematic Approach To Teaching

Defintion

Elements of the system

Teaching is a system. A system is a complex unity formed of many diverse parts subjects to a
common plan an aggregation of objects joined in regular interaction.

Teaching is a comprehensive system in the sense that all the elements are related to each other,
contribute to achieve a common goal, and where a change in one element may cause a change in
other elements or the whole system.

There are 10 elements which make up the system of teaching:

1/ Objectives: As the system begins, the teacher specifies what the learner should be able to do by
the end of the course.

2/ Selection of the content: The teacher selects the knowledge, the attitudes, the values which
help the learner attain the objectives.

3/ Assessment of entering behaviour (Pre-test): At the beginning of the school year. The teacher
needs to know what the learners bring to the course. For this reason, a pre-test organised to
determine the learners ability in the subject matter and to what extent she/he has acquired the basic
skills needed for the course.

4/ Determination of the approach/method and techniques: There are three terms often used
interchangibly. However they do not have the same reasoning. Edward A.Anthony states "
Techniques caryout a method which is consistent with an approach".

5/ Organisation of groups: There is no definite number of learners to form an ideal group. The
number to be choosen depends on

A- Objectives.
B-Approach to be followed.

C-Administrative reasons (the number of tables, the space).

For group work activities there are three main grouping strategies.

A-Entirely mixed ability grouping: Using an alphabetic order or sitting arrangements. This type
of grouping is favoured when the purpose is to encourage the verbal interactions of less able
learners.

B- Choosen for a specific quality (emotional and intellectual reasons) grouping: Shy or
withdrawen/corners may find it difficult to work on certain activities with talented extroverts.
Thus separate groups are advicable. Sometimes able and less able groups are recommended to
give special attention to the less able ones. Decisions about the grouping strategy to adopt is
governed by whether the learner will gain or have more difficulty in a particular group.

C- Friendship grouping: For certain activities (research work, reports...etc) acquintances or

friendships will help by offering security and support. It is advicable not to break a new class into
groups too early. A teacher should wait until she/he feels she/he knows the class, can handle it
properly, and when she/he has had enough individual work with the learners.

6/ Allocation of time (for the course, the lesson, the group work): It varies according to:

A- Subject matter.

B- Objectives.

C- Space available (administrative task).

D- Abilities and interests of the learners.

E- Activities to be performed.

In some areas it maybe best to spend most of the time in large groups, in some others more time
is best spent in group work. A teacher should plan his/her teaching according to the time
constrains impossed on him/her.

7/ Allocation of learning spaces (classrooms): The Ideal room should be longer than larger so
that most learners are in the teacher's visual scope, this is very important.

8/Selection of resources (media): Resources can be classified into four categories.

A- Visual material: Blackboard, slides, films...

B- Audia material: Radio, tape recorder...

C- Printed material: Books, texts, newspapers, magazines...

D- Display material: Charts, maps...

9/ Evaluation of performance (assessment):

A/ Achievement
B/ Reasoning

C/ Practice of the language

D/ Motivation

The evaluation of performance gives significance to the objectives, the selection of content, the
resources adopted...

10/ Analysis of the feedback: In teaching the teacher presents information, the learner reacts to
the information in tests, then the teacher confirms their answers as correct or incorrect with
explanations.

Objectives

Nature and function of objectives

Categories of behavioural objectives

Terminology related to objectives

A- Objectives are the outcome, the goal, the purpose, the end result of a successful instruction.
They are expressed on the statement of behaviours (intellectual ones expected from learners).
What they are expected to be able to do at the end of a course or a lesson.

Objectives should be clearly expressed at the beginning of the course. It is important to write them
in terms that are not ambigious, i.e. not vague and not open to various interpretations.

B- The functions of the objectives are:

1/ To describe what the learner does/produces (the behaviour).

2/ To state the conditions under which the objective is to occur (specific tasks, methods...).

3/ To determine the standard to be achieved (the degree of performance).

Therefor when writing objectives four questions should be answered:

Who? i.e. the learner (what type of learners)

What? i.e. the behaviour (what the learner will be able to do at the end)

Where? i.e. the condition (in what learning teaching condition the objective is to occur)

How well? i.e. the standard (criteria of accepted performance)

Objectives usually include verbs such as describe, identify, estimate, compare, define, select,
plan, use, construct, argue, analyse...

Objectives are written by the teacher, the learner and the institution.

S.M.A.R.T

SPECIFIC--MEASURED--ACHIEVABLE--REALISTIC/RELEVANT--TIME-BOUND
Categories of behavioural objectives:

1/ To identify i.e. indicate membership or non-membership of an item to a class of items.

2/ To name i.e. give a label to an item.

3/ To describe i.e. report necessary characteristics of a given item.

4/ To order i.e. to structure, to arrange two or three items in a specific sequence; arranging
words in sentences.

5/ To construct i.e assemble several items together on a unity like a paragraph.

Content

Definition

Criteria of content selection

Organising a course

Content is the knowledge, the skills, the attitudes, the values to be learned inorder to achieve the
objectives.

There are several attitudes to what content is, the role it plays in education:

1/ Knowledge for knowledge, anything we learn is worth learning.

2/ For the use we want to make of it, i.e. knowledge developed for a specific purpose.

3/ For the development of intellectual abilities.

On the whole, content is developed because it is necessary to the understanding of something else
(link with another knowledge) or because it might be of a useful use later.

Characteristics of content:

1/ Validity (authenticity and the relationship with objectives):

A- Authenticity: A content is valid in the sense that it is authentic, realistic, true. The material
used should not contain information which is no longer true due to knowledge developed, new
discoveries in the field. Teachers need to be aware of this problem and must be aware of new
changes in their field.

B- Relationship with the objectives: A content is valid if it is possible for the objectives to be
achieved through its use.

2/ Interests: A content is interesting in the sense that it stimulates the students' attention and
concentration.

These two factors are important in the process of learning.

3/ Learnability: Learnable content is a content which is adjusted to the students' abilities, which
makes a connection with something they have already learned.

Organising a course:

We organise a course in order to make it easy and quick to learn.

When we organise a course, we have to consider three points:

A- sequence: The ordering of the new teaching points we usually order according to what is easy
comes first and what is difficult comes next.

B- Exact course: How much to expect from the students in a given course, and how much to
teach.

C- Revision: What points need to be represented, re-explained; revision in language teaching is

important for reinforcement

purposes because we do not acquire aspects of a language after only one exposure.

Note: Revision without causing boredom: Variety of presentation is recommended.

D- time constrains: This is another criterion not to be overlooked when arganising a lesson or a
course.

Conclusion: A content which is up-to-date related to the objectives, to the students' interests and
capacities is likely to make the students achieve the set of objectives.

Language teaching approaches and methods

Definition

Major language teaching approaches and methods

The grammar translation method

The direct method

The reading method

The audio-lingual method/approach

The oral/situational approach (SLT)

The natural approach

The communicative approach (CLT)

The competency-based approach

Definition:
 The nature of language teaching approaches has been the object of different studies as early as the
19th century (Sweet 1845-1912, Jesperson 1860-1943, Palmer 1877-1949). However, Anthony
(1963) was the first to present a scheme of analysis in which he distinguished between "Approach,
Method, technique". By approach is meant a theory of language and language learning; by
techniques is meant classroom procedures; methods is an intermediate level between the
approach and technique, where specifications are made about the content, skills, the order of
presentation of the teaching items. Richards and Rodgers (1986) elaborated another modal in
which they refer to "Approach", "Design" and "Procedure". By design they make preference to
the definition of the objectives, the selection and organisation of the syllabus, the specification of
the activities, the description of the role of the learner, of the role of the teacher, of the role of the
instruction of materials. By procedure Richards and Rodgers mean the description of the
techniques and practices expected to take place in the classroom.

A. The Grammar/Translation Method:

To begin with, language teaching in the 16th century had as its tenet the traditional Grammar
Translation method. This method was developed to teach Latin, a language which was no longer
used for communication, as an intellectual discipline. During that time, textbooks were written
by people of Literature helped by grammarians, and largely consisted of abstract grammatical
rules, lists of vocabulary and sentences to be translated from and into the target language. The
goal was to develop the writing and reading skills. Speaking was neglected, and oral practice
consisted only in reading aloud the translated sentences. The sentence was considered as a basic
teaching unit, and its accurate production was emphasized. The deductive approach was followed
in grammar teaching, i.e. grammar rules were first presented and explained then practised
through translation exercises. Furthermore, the instructing process was carried out in the
students mother tongue. In short, knowledge of the grammatical rules was regarded as more
important than communication, and the focus was on teaching about the language.

The Grammar Translation method was severly critisized on the grounds that authentic spoken
language as used in communication was ignored, and that the aspect of variety in language as
used in social situations was neglected. Because it was based upon the analysis of classical
languages like Latin, the grammar it taught was abandoned for two reasons: first, it was irrelevant
to the contemporary languages (17th century European Vernacular) and second, it was believed that
too much emphasis on grammar would lead to learning about the language rather than learning to
use it in actual situations. Innovations in the mid and end of the 19th century contributed to the
rejection of the Grammar Translation method. There was an increasing demand for the ability to
communicate orally in a FL throughout Europe. Contemporary scholars responded to that change
through what came to be known as the (Reform Movement). It was strengthened by the
revitalisation of Linguistics which highlighted the oral aspect of language. Gouin (cited in Richards
and Rodgers, 1986) was one of the 19th century reformers whose initial attempts to teach language
in context, and to use paralinguistic and non-verbal means of communication in the language class
provided later the cornerstone for the Situational approach and Total Physical Response method. He
was also the first to attempt to apply principles derived from first language (L1) acquisition to (L2)
learning. This ultimately led to the direct method.
 B. The Direct Method

Principles such as the study of speech, the emphasis on accurate pronounciation, the use of
dialogues to introduce conversational phrases and idioms, the inductive teaching of grammar
and the association of target language items to real objects rather than to their native language
counterparts constitute the foundation of the direct method. The reading and writing skills were
deferred for months and sometimes even for years for fear that the written symbols would
interfere with the learners acquisition of sounds.

The Direct method was reported to have many shortcomings. First, the use of L1 was strictly
forbidden though it is sometimes needed to help gain time and save effort. Second, the
teaching goal the Direct method set was over-demanding in the sense that the learners
speaking and conversational skills were expected to be developed in the rather limited time
available at school, and in an artificial classroom setting where teachers not always as
competent as the method required them to be (namely, to be native speakers or have native
like proficiency in L2). It follows that this method over-emphasized the similarities between L1
acquisition and L2 learning, and failed to consider the practical realities of the classroom. Third, the
Direct method lacked a strong theoretical foundation. It suggested innovations at the level of
teaching procedures which were not underlied by rigorous methodological principles. The exclusive
use of L2 and the mere exposure to it were viewed as an unsystematic way to teach/learn a
language.

C. The Reading Method:

The report of the American Professor Coleman (1929) (cited in Richards and Rodgers, 1986)
advocated the emphasis on reading in language teaching as a more appropriate and realistic goal
for school learners. That gave birth to the Reading method which was prominent in the USA from
the beginning of the 20th century until World War Two. It was purported to teach intensive and
extensive reading. Reading comprehension was in fact, the only important language skill,
according to the proponent of this method. Translation was restored as a respectable classroom
procedure. Only the grammar useful for reading comprehension was taught. Vocabulary was at
first controlled according to frequency and usefulness criteria. During that time, a special interest
towards vocabulary and its importance in language learning began to raise. The prominence of the
Reading method in some parts of the world encouraged more and more vocabulary studies. Among
the latter, we mention Faucett, Palmer and Thorndike (1936), Ogden (1930) and West (1226)
(cited by long and Crookes (1993) in Crookes and Gass, eds, (1993)). Syllabus design in language
teaching, indeed, owes its inception and principles to these first attempts to select the vocabulary to
be taught on scientific grounds. We note that recent vocabulary studies have been motivated by the
use of the computer for analysis of authentic texts. This attempt has eventually led to the modern
lexical syllabus.

D. The Audio-Lingual Approach/Method:

In the 1940s, major occurances in America led to a change in the reading only objectives. During
the Second World War, it was found that there were few people who could speak a FL a very
needed ability at that time. That was the beginning of full programmes teaching the aural oral
skills, using intensive drilling among the military personnel, and the successful results of this
teaching experience encouraged its generalisation in schools and universities. Developments in
Psychology and Linguistics had a major impact on language teaching. It was the first time that this
field responded to theoretical insights pertaining to these disciplines rather than merely to practical
experiences of classroom language teachers. Reference is made here to Skinners (1957) insights
about language learning in Behavioural Psychology and to Bloom-fields (1933) and Fries (1945)
Structuralism and Contrastive Analysis in Linguistics (Scholars cited in Prator, 1991, in Cecle
Murcia, ed. 1991). These factors gave rise to a new language teaching approach, the Audio-Lingual
approach, which claimed to hold the key for effective language mastery, being based on scientific
principles.

Psychologically speaking, language learning was viewed as a habit-formation process, following

the behaviourist pattern: stimulus-reinforcement. Linguistically speaking, structure was
considered as the core of the language, the sentence patterns and the grammatical rules that govern
speech. It was believed that structure can be mastered through intensive practice, and that early
practice should concentrate on the grammatical and the phonological structures of the language
rather than its Lexis. Grammar was to be taught inductively. Language was essentially based
upon speech, and writing delayed until complete mastery of speech patterns was achieved.
Language as a whole should be linked to its cultural context. As to the types of activities, the
Audio-Lingual method was founded on techniques such as dialogues based on pattern practice were
also indispensable.

Audio-Lingualism flourished in the fifties and sixties. Then, it was critisized and rejected on the
basis that the students who followed this approach found themselves unable to speak the
language fluently when communicating with others. Newmark, 1966 (in Brumfit and Johnson,
1979, 160-161) wrote that if language had to be learned (bit by bit) and each structural item had to
be drilled intensively and focused on separately, (the child learner will be old before he could say a
single approapriate thing and the adult learner would be dead). At the level of theoretical
foundations, Audiolingualism was mainly attacked by Chomsky [(1957) and (1965)] who
instroduced notions of (creativity), (innateness), rules of (great abstractness and intricacy) in the
framework of his Transformational Generative Grammar. In his (Review of skinners Verbal
Behaviour), Chomsky asserted that children are endowed with a natural biologically-conditioned
predisposition to acquire language, and that the presence of a language in the surrounding
environment is necessary and sufficient to activate the latent capacity. His mentalistic view gave
rise to the Cognetive Code Learning theory which advocated the conscious learning of structures,
emphasized the role of the mental processes in language learning and served to raise the
acquisition/learning distinction. However, Chomsky did not suggest a practical alternative to the
Audio-Lingual method. He spoke about ones ability to produce an (infinite) number of sentences
with (finite) means. This is indeed the ultimate goal of language teaching, but we need to have a
plan with gradual stages to reach this aim.

E. The Oral/Situational Approach:

As outlined above, dissatisfaction with the direct method led to the development of the Audio-
Lingual approach in the United States of America. A different but related approach took place in
Britain and came to to known as the oral approach or Situational Language Teaching. It was similar
to the Audio-Lingual approach in that it held an identical view of the nature of language and
language learning: language was mainly speech, the order in which language skills were introduced
proceeded from listening and speaking to reading and writing; the focus was on drilling the basic
structures and patterns of the language to reach accuracy. Its contrast with the Audio-Lingual
approach lies in the fact that while the latter was strongly rooted in Structuralism and Behaviourism,
the former developed directly out of the Direct method.

The origins of the Oral approach can traced back to the 1920s and the 1930s attempts of applied
linguists to establish a more (scientific) and systematic basis to the Oral approach of the Direct
method. They adopted Situational Language Teaching, founded on the oral practice of structure
presented in a situation. Focus on the situational contextualisation of language is considered as the
beginning of the functional tendency since the 1930s by British linguists such as Firth and M.A.K
Halliday (cited in Richards and Rodgers, 1986) who described language in association with its
meaning, context and situation. It is worth mentioning that though the approach was situational, the
designed syllabus was not, in that the latter did not consist of a list of situations accompanied by the
language used in them, but it was a Structural syllabus. This means that structures, patterns and
lexis were selected and graded then presented and practical in situations. The meaning of the lexical
items and grammatical structures was not directly explained in L1 or L2, but was induced from the
situation they were used in. As to learning, the oral approach was faithful to the behaviouristic
principles.

In the mid sixties, the Oral/Situational approach declined, like the Audio-Lingual approach, with the
challenge of its theoretical foundation. Change and experimentation were, therefore, urgently
needed. The innovation were two-fold. In the United States, we note that appearance of recent
methedologies like the Total Physical Response, the Silent Way, Counselling-Learning and
Community Language Learning. This trend originated from Humanistic Psychology dependent on
the work of Rodgers (1969), Maslow (1970) and Brown (1971) (cited in Rivers, 1982). In Britain,
and in accordance with current research in Linguistics, largely under the influence of M.A.K
Halliday (1973), and in Sociolinguistics, mainly under the impact of Hymes (1971), a different set
of notions evolved leading eventually to the F/N apporach or CLT. On both sides of the Atlantic,
the basic notion of (communicative competence) began to emerge to have subsequently a
substantial influence. CLT is our central theme of interest and will be dealt with in detail in chapter
two.

F. The Natural apporach:

In harmony with the findings of the research on language acquisition another approach, the
Natural Approach. It was developed out of Terrells (1977 and 1982) experiences in teaching
Spanish and was theoretically advocated by Krashen (1981, 1982) through his (Monitor Model) and
(input Hypothesis). This apporach aims essentially to lower (the affective filter) (i.e. the
learners emotional state or attitudes that may facilitate or impede language acquisition) and
to provide the learner with (comprehension) input so that L2 may be acquired as L1. According to
the proponents of the Natural apporach, comprehension is basic to language acquisition.
Therefore, they emphasize exposure to the L2 and make it possible to use written materials as a
source of comprehensible input. In addition, it is recommended that the learners be given time to
process this input and be invited to speak only when they feel ready to do so. The
correspondence between L1 and L2 acquisition has not fully been investigated. However, the
Natural approach has had a strong impact on language teaching although it lacks a clear theory of
language.
In summary, the language teacher is, in recent years, faced with a number of varying
approaches/methods. Some of these lack a sound theoretical foundation either in language theory or
language learning theory. Some strive to remove the affective hindrance; others force the learner to
overcome it. Many of them focus on form while some strive to shift the emphasis to meaning. As a
consequence, the language teacher finds himself bewildered and lost as to what method to adopt, to
enable the student to know (the structures that the linguist teaches), and more importantly to (know
that the way to get his cigarette lit by a stranger when he has no matches is to walk to him and say
one of the utterances (Do you have a light?) or (got a match?) (not one of the equally wll formed
questions, (Do you have a fire?)) or (Do you have illumination?) or (Are you a matchs owner?)
(Newmark, 1966:161 in Brumfit and Johnson, eds, 1979) i.e. to know how to use the language to
communicate. At this stage, we are led to the conclusion that the development of the various
language teaching approaches and methods has gradually helped foster the notion of student
centred classroom and has created a focus on language meanings and on the affective variables at
work in the language learning process.

G. Communication Language Teaching (CLT):

CLT has been influential since the early 1970s. Contrary to what some people believe this
apporach cannot be equated with contextual language teaching because it is concerned primary with
(pragmatic meaning) which does not equate (contextual meaning). The (pragmatic meaning) is the
meaning of an item when actually put to use in acts of communication, while the (contextual
meaning) is the semantic meaning of an item as an element of the language system. The former is
also called the (value) and presents an instance of use, whereas the latter is referred to as the
(signification) of language elements and presents an instance of usage. The value of an utterance as
a communicative act derives from its satisfying conditions [as specified by Searle (1969) and Labov
(1969), (1970) cited in Melrose (1995)] provided partly (and not wholly) by the context. Therefore,
if we present language items and practise them in contexts and situations, this does not mean that
we are teaching language communicatively. Contextual meaning may be easier to teach than
pragmatic meaning, but teaching the former without the latter does not lead the learners to
communicate. One reason is that there is no single one-to-one relationship between the
communicative functions and the linguistic forms. Knowledge of how sentences are put to use in
communication does not follow from knowledge of how sentences are composed nor even from
what(signification) they have as linguistic units. Learners should be taught the values of language
items and utterances and how they are used in the performance of different communicative acts. To
illustrate this point, Littlewood (1981, 1) gives the example of the utterance (Why dont you close
the door?). linguistically speaking, this is an interrogative sentence. However, it may be interpreted
as a question, a command, a suggestion, a plea or a complaint. On the other hand, one
communicative function may be expressed in a number of ways. To have the door closed, one can
say. (Close the dorr), (Could you please close the door?), (Would you mind closing the door?),
(Excuse me, could I trouble you to close the door?), (Youve left the door ope,!), (Brrr! Its cold
isnt it?) not all opetions, of course, are possible in the same situation. Each sociolinguistic situation
inh made unique by a complexity of operating factors which entail a speaker to reseort to a
particular language register and style, adjusting the language to the actual speech situation.

The Communicative apporach is thus an apporach to language teaching that involves the learners in
producing meaningful and purposeful utterances in L2, and not merely manipulating language
forms and structures for their own sake, like in the case of the Grammar Translation method. Unlike
the Direct method, CLT allows the resort to a cariety of communicative situations right from the
early stages of the teaching process, to present and clarify meaning, and does not unnecessarily
restrict the teacher and the learners to the classroom context. In addition, in CLT, more freedom is
given to the pupils to say what they want, when they want, but in the Audio-Lingual method, they
are supposed to remain within the limits imposed by the lesson, and are allowed to say only what
they already know how to say under thye control and the guidance of the teacher. Furthermore, the
Audio-Lingual method stresses accuracy of pronounciation and structure right from the beginning
of the course, whereas the communicative approach sees errors as indicators of active learning, and
is conserned with evaluating only the amount of the (communication is not the rapid fire exchange
of linguistically accurate complete sentences. It is the sometimes slow, sometimes painful,
sometimes non-verbal exchange of thoughts between human beings).

CLT is underlain by two main cornerstones. First, language should be viewed and used in its socio-
cultural context, and the communicative values of language should be highlighted. This CLT
dimension can traced back to the work of the anthropologist Malinowski (1923) and the linguistic
Firth (1957) (cited by Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Sensitivity to the individual needs in a Learner-
Centred should be allowed to experience, use and practise language as used in everyday situations,
performing a variety of communicative acts. CLT recognises the differences existing between
individual learners in style, needs, goals, weaknesses etc, and attempts to take them into account in
the design of syllabus and classroom procedures. It is recommended, for example, to design
learning tasks for each pupil or group of pupils that are below or above the level of the amjority of
the pupils. The basic goal of CLT is to enable the learners to communicate using the L2. This was
shared by such approaches as Situational Language Teaching and the Audio-Lingual approach. The
difference, however, is that CLT explored this goal explicitly in specifying what is to be taught and
how.

Competency Based Approach:

Competency based education: is based on the specification of what constitutes competency in a

given field the way in which the agreed-upon level of competency is communicated through the use
of specific behavioural objectives for which criteria level of performance have been established
once the required behavioursve been specified, they are placed in a hyrarchy leading from simple
to complex, and then an instructional sequence is planned that will help the learner achieve the
desire behaviours. When the learner is ready, the test is administrated to determine if the required
level of competencys been achieved. Competence is measured through criterian-referrenced tests
and not through the use of noun-referrenced tests. In CBA, a major concern is to provide many
ways for the learner to accomplish the stated objectives. The mearner may be able to choose from a
lecture, a list of selected neading, a video tape presentation, a slide-tape package, a programmed
instruction manual or numerous other functions.

The thought pattern that gave us the CBA is experimention

1/ The world is in constant change.

2/ Educational practice should be based on evidence provided by psychological data. The finding
researches: exiperimental psychology.
3/ Mans psychological and sociological behaviour is based on the economic and well being notice.

QUESTIONS CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM CBA

Who sets the goal The teacher usually sets the Both the teacher and

And objectives of the goals and the objectives. The students are usually

Instructions? Often theyre not clearly involved. When the

Defined. Students are usually teacher sets the goals

Not told what they are. And the objectives, the

Students do not usually have student is told what

A choice. They are, and allowed

Some choice of goals

And objectives.

Who decides in the the teacher usually controls Students often have a

Means and procedures the situation and presents all choice of alternative

Of instruction? Students with the same materials roots, experiences and

And experiences for the same materials to use in

Amount of time. Persuading a given

Goal and objectives.

The student controls

The amount of time

What learned? Students may learn about Spent on goals or

Some things. Objectives. Students

Usually learn how to do

Who decides on the the teacher usually gives Things. The teacher

Evaluation procedures? A test of her or his own design. Insures that the

Students often dont know what Evaluation procedures

Is expected from them. Are consistent with

Testing procedures tends to be Often the student has a

 Paper-and-pencil-tests. Choice of ways to

To demonstrate that he

Can perform as expected.

When does evaluation when the teacher is through When the student

Take place? Teaching a unit of instruction. Indicates he or she is

Ready.

When does the student When the last unit has been When the student has

Move on to the next set taught and the evaluation of mastered the last set of

Of learning goals and students is completed. Objectives and goals.

Objectives? Students may have passed the student continues

Or failed the last unit at working at the set of

Various levels of proficiency. Goals or objectives

Nevertheless, all students until mastery are

Move on to the new content. Achieved.

Competency based language teaching (CBLT): on the basis of CBT developed CBLT. Features
which some up the essence of this approach is:

1/ a focus on a successful functioning in society. Autonomous, free.

2/ a focus on life skills. Not only language form but language skills.

3/ Task or performance centered orientation.

4/ Modularized instructions. Language will be broken down in small units.

5/ outcomes are made explicit a-priory. Weve specified objectives beforehand.

6/ continuous and ongoing assessment. The evaluation continues.

7/ demonstrated mastery of performance objectives.

8/ individualized students centered. Speed, level, time, content.

Principles underlying CLT: are relevant to CBLT:

1/ learners learn a language through using it to communicate.

2/ authentic and meaningful communication should be the goals of classroom activities.

3/ fluency is an important dimension of communication.

4/ communication involve the integration of different language skills.

5/ learning is process of creative construction and involve trail and errors.

Critics of CBLT: have argued that approach is not easy to apply. They point out that analyzing
situations into tasks and underlying competencies isnt always feasible or possible, and often little
more than intuition is involved. They also suggest that this is a reductionist approach. Language
learning is reduced to a set of lists and things as thinking skills are ignored.

Assessment

Aims of assessment

Categories of tests

Characteristics of a good test

Constructing a test

Some language tests

General testing terminology

Aims of assessment:

1/ to determine readiness for instruction; that is to separate those who are prepared for instruction
from those who are not.

2/ to classify students in appropriate classes and groups; students are assigned to specific groups or
activities on the basis of their level and performance.

3/ to diagnose the students specific strengths and weaknesses; short tests are given from/about
specific points of the course.

4/ to measure the extents of the students achievement of the objectives; that is to say, to find out
how much the students are learning or have learned.

5/ to evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction; anything related to teaching; the same test given
to the students serves this aim. Sometimes, that specific test especially designed for this purpose, in
case of research to test a specific method or course book.

6/ to measure aptitude for learning; to assess the students potential for learning.

This applies especially for young learners with specific problems.

Categories of Tests

There are three basic categories of tests:

1/ The General Proficiency Tests: It measures what a learner is capable of doing now (at the time of
the test), predicting future attainment (1, 2, 3).
2/ Achievement Test: It measures the extent to which learners have mastered specific skill or
information (4, 5).

3/ Aptitude: It measures an individuals facility for acquiring or learning (6).

Characteristics of a Good Test

1/ Validity (what does the test measure): a valid test is one which measures what it is supposed to
measure clearly, which is appropriate to the objectives. There are three types of validity:

A- Face Validity: a test has face validity if it looks appropriate to the

objectives; for example, a multiple choice test is valid for the following objective: to
recognize a word in a specific context.

B- Content Validity: a test has content validity if it samples adequately the

content of the subject matter.

C- Construct Validity: the test has construct validity if its results co-relates
with those obtained in another test which is accepted as being a valid test.

2/ Reliability (how will the test measure what is it supposed to measure): a reliable test is a test
which produces consistent scores, scores we can count on for any decision about the students.
Reliability is related to two aspects:

A- Consistency in terms of scores themselves: in the sense that these scores

are the same whatever conditions the test in taken in.

B- Consistency in terms of the score: in the sense that the scores are the same
if the test is scored by different scorers independently.

Reliability is often affected by:

Test conditions.

The students motivation to take the test in question.

Other factors such as illness or personal problems.

Adequacy of sampling tasks.

3/ Practicality: a test is practical when it is easy to administer and to correct.

Constructing a Test

There are several steps to follow:

A- Planning a test: it includes the objectives, general design of the test (form
of the test); it also includes the type of test, the number of items, and the factor of time).

B- Writing the test directions: directions should be brief, simple to

understand and unambiguous. They can be followed by an example if necessary, especially
in the case of a new test and with young learners. Sometimes it is preferable to indicate the
length of time for the sub-parts of the test.
C- Reviewing the items: the items of the test are set aside for a few days
before being reviewed by the teacher or submitted to one colleague with experience in the
subject matter, and discussed.

D- Pre-testing: a new standard test is to be tried on a fairly large number of

students of the same kind as those for whom the test is to be designed. Only items which
prove to be statistically satisfactory in this pre-test are included in the final version of the
test. Items are considered statistically satisfactory if they meet to requirements:

Suitable level of difficulty.

Discriminating between students who know and those who do not know.

Some Language Tests

1/ Translation: it is a highly specialized activity and a complicated one. It is extremely

difficult to evaluate. Hence, it is highly unreliable.

2/ Dictation: it is a useful device to test phonology and spelling. It is quite reliable.

3/ The Composition: it tests students free response to a question set by the examiner.

4/ The Oral Test: it is a parallel test to the composition. It is also an unreliable test.

5/ Multiple Choice Test:

Description of the test: there is a stem, a statement or a question followed by the answers
usually three or four, the right answer and the distracters i.e. the wrong answers.

Advantage: the skills tested are specified. The test can be answered fairly quickly and scored
very quickly.

Disadvantages: there is a percentage of guessing; the learner does not think of his or her own
answer, he or she merely makes a choice. The test requires considerable skill to be prepared
but is it very reliable.

6/ the Short type Items: any test which requires the students to write a short answer within a
specific context, not just opting for one.

Advantages: it is a composite test between the composition and the multiple choice test. It is
quick and easy to write for the teacher (not the case of the multiple choice test) and quick
and easy to score (not the case of the composition). Besides it is quite reliable.

General Testing Terminology

1/ Quiz/Test/Exam

2/ Objective Vs Subjective Testing

3/ Speed Vs Power Tests

4/ Discrete Points Testing Vs Global testing

5/ Norm Reference Testing Vs Criterion Referenced Testing

Lesson Planning

Writing a lesson plan

The main sections of a lesson

Use of a Lesson Plan

When a teacher plans a lesson he/she have to think about the following points:

1. The target/objective.

2. The kind of content; new vocabulary, new structures, new functions, new themes.

3. The skills to be practiced.

4. The main stages of a lesson i.e. how a lesson divides into different activities. Any lesson
is usually divided into the following stages:

a. Presentation: the teacher presents new points; he/she explains, gives examples and so on.
Anything the teacher does falls in this stage.

b. Practice: practice consists in activities done by the learners under the control of the
teacher, whether oral or written activities.

c. Production: it is a free contribution on the part of the learners, for example, talking about
ones own experiences.

d. Review: to review or to sum up the main points of a lesson.

The main sections of a lesson plan:

1. Introductory section (warm up): to organize a favorable mental set, to prepare learners
mentally to the lesson. It usually deals with the title, the plan and the objectives of a
lesson. It may consist in telling a story or asking questions.

2. The main body of the lesson i.e. the stages referred to previously.

3. The final recapitulation: at the end of the lesson teachers should sum up the main points
covered, with an explanation of the logical relationship linking these points or the
relative value of individual points. They may in addition ask key questions to check
whether these points have been assimilated by learners or not.

Use of a lesson plan: a lesson plan should not be written for the sack of the inspector. Rather
its main purpose is to help the teacher: to help the teacher decide on what to do exactly with
the learners and how to do it. It should be looked at after the lesson to be evaluated.

Was it Scrupuzly (thoroughly) followed? To what extent? Where all the stages successful?
There is no one correct way to write a lesson plan. A good lesson plan gives a clear picture
of what a teacher intends to do in a lesson.