1

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo

(UASD)
Primada de América
Fundada el 28 de octubre 1548
Facultad de Humanidades
Escuela de Idiomas

DIVISIÓN DE POSTGRADO Y EDUCACIÓN PERMANENTE

Master's Program in Linguistics Applied to English Language Teaching

Subject:
Teaching Methodology

Teaching Method:
The Interaction Method

Teaching Method created by: Gilberto Abreu, Carmen M. Abreu, Wils

Pedro Hernandez, Santo Quiroz & Anyi Hernandez

Presented to:
Professor: Manuel Gregorio Polanco

Date
Nov. 27-2023
 3

The Interaction Method

 4

Tabla de contenido
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 5

EXPERIENCE .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Topic: Food Level: B2 .............................................................................................................................. 6

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE / OBSERVATIONS / PRINCIPLES. ................................... 7

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................................ 9

1. What are the goals of teachers who use the Interaction Method? ......................................................... 9

2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students? ......................................................... 9

Role of the Teacher: .................................................................................................................................. 9

Role of the Students: ............................................................................................................................... 10

3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?........................................................ 10

4. What is the nature of student–teacher interaction? What is the nature of student–student interaction?
How are the students' feelings dealt with? .............................................................................................. 13

Nature of student-teacher interaction ...................................................................................................... 13

Nature of student-student interaction:.................................................................................................... 14

How the students' feelings are dealt with. ............................................................................................... 14

5. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed? ............................................................................. 16

6. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized? .............................. 17

7. How is evaluation accomplished? ...................................................................................................... 18

8. How does the teacher respond to the students' errors? ........................................................................ 20

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES ........................................................................................................... 21

The Activity Types and Procedure in the Interaction Method ................................................................ 22

Activity types: ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 24

Reference ................................................................................................................................................. 25
 5

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Interaction Method of English Teaching. This method is based on total
immersion in the English language, using English as the only language in the classroom. The
Interaction method was born in the Dominican Republic in 2023 and was created by Gilberto
Abreu, Carmen Mariel Abreu, Anyi Hernandez, Santo Quiroz, and Wils Pedro Hernandez. They
based their knowledge on the MD method created by Berlitz and Sauze. This method focuses on
oral teaching, avoiding using the mother tongue, and teaching the language in meaningful and
natural contexts. In this class, we will use techniques such as repetition, imitation, and
immediate error correction to improve oral communication skills in English. The advantages of
the Interaction method include a better understanding of the language and an improvement in
the students' fluency and confidence to express themselves in the language they are learning.
Let's get started!

EXPERIENCE

The interaction method of experience encompasses the following aspects:

-The student's life experience gets tapped through associations, primarily using images, but also
mentally.

-Students practice the spoken language to defend themselves in everyday situations

immediately.

-The learner acts as an active and participatory receiver, able to communicate in everyday
situations.

-It is considered very important that the person has a high competence in listening
comprehension and good pronunciation, which enables him/her to communicate satisfactorily.
 6

-The teacher is responsible for organizing and guiding the class, but not in an authoritarian
manner. He/she provides contextualized and regulated input. Then, gradually involve the student
in the process of oral comprehension/production and written comprehension/production

Activities for the interaction experience may include conversations in English on specific topics,
role-plays to practice everyday situations, and pronunciation activities.

An example of an activity for the experience in The Interaction Method could be:

Topic: Food Level:

B2
Person A: Hi there! Are you hungry? Person
B: Yes, I am! What should we eat? Person A:
How about pizza? I love pizza!
Person B: Oh, great idea! Where can we get pizza around here?

Person A: There's a pizza place called "Tony's Pizzeria" just down the street. It's really good.
Person B: Awesome! What kind of pizza do you like?
Person A: I usually go for pepperoni or margherita. What about you? Person
B: I like cheese pizza. Simple but tasty! Do they have that at Tony's?
Person A: Definitely! They have all the classics. And they make a delicious cheese pizza.
Person B: Perfect! Let's go with that. Should we get anything else?
Person A: Maybe some garlic bread? It's so good with pizza.
Person B: Sounds good to me! Anything to drink?
Person A: How about sodas? They have a variety of flavors.

Person B: Sure, sodas work for me. I'm getting excited about this pizza!
Person A: Me too! Let's head to Tony's Pizzeria and enjoy a yummy meal.
Person B: Agreed! I can almost taste the cheese pizza already.
Students participate in a practical activity in which they practice a conversation about food.
 7

Students can ask and answer questions about their favorite meals, favorite restaurants, and
typical dishes from their country. The teacher guides the conversation and corrects
pronunciation and grammar errors. Students take notes and ask questions to clarify any doubts.
Reflection on the experience takes place, and fundamental principles and concepts applicable to
the activity are identified.

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE / OBSERVATIONS / PRINCIPLES.

Observations Principles

The student's life experience is leveraged The experience in the GADU method
through associations, primarily with images focuses on oral communication and
and mental ones. pronunciation.

Students practice oral language to navigate Students act as active and participative
themselves immediately in everyday receivers, capable of communicating in
situations. everyday situations.

Students reflect on their experiences and Guided reflection on knowledge and

observations during the practical activity. observations is an essential aspect of the
Interaction Method.

Students identify the fundamental principles Identifying the key principles and
and concepts that apply to the activity, such concepts applicable to the activity is an
as the use of specific vocabulary and the important aspect of The Interaction
conjugation of verbs in the simple past. Method.

The teacher explains in detail the key The detailed explanation of key principles
principles and concepts of the English and concepts is an essential aspect of the
language and provides additional examples Interaction Method.
to reinforce understanding
 8

Students practice repetition, imitation, and The techniques used in the Interaction
immediate error correction. method include repetition, imitation, and
immediate error correction.

Students participate in role-playing games to Activities in the Interaction Method

practice everyday situations related to food. include role-playing games to practice
everyday situations.
 9

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES

Now let us consider the principles of the Interaction Method as they are arranged in 8
questions:

1. What are the goals of teachers who use the Interaction Method?

When using the Interaction method, the teacher aims to teach students to think and
communicate in the target language, which, in this case, is English. To achieve this, students
must associate meanings with the target language without relying on their native language. The
teacher employs the target language to instruct and offers additional examples to reinforce the
understanding of key principles and concepts in English. Furthermore, the teacher guides
activities, fostering a more active role for the students than the Grammar-Translation method. In
this method, the teacher and students operate more like partners in the teaching-learning process.
In summary, the teacher's objective with the Interaction method is to facilitate students'
communication and thinking in the target language, utilizing it for instruction and providing
extra examples to solidify their understanding of essential principles and concepts in English.

2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
Role of the Teacher:

-Encourage, nurture, and challenge the students.

-Spend class time working closely with students, providing each learner with the support they
need.

-Use the target language (in this case, English) to teach and provide examples.

-The teacher guides the activities, but the students’ role is less passive than in the Grammar-
Translation method.
 10

-Work with students alone or in small groups while others learn through videos or self-guided
group work.

-Review the principles and fundamental concepts of the language while providing examples to
reinforce students’ understanding.

Role of the Students:

-Act as active and participative receptors, capable of communicating in situations related to

the language.

-Practice speaking the language to enable immediate communication in everyday situations.

-Actively engage in the learning process.

-Identify the principles and key concepts that apply to the activity.

-Reflect on their experience and observations during the activity and how the principles and
key concepts apply to it.

-Practice repetition, imitation, and immediate correction of errors to reinforce the principles and
concepts key.

3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

Dialogs are mainly done through imitation and repetition to provide students with a range of
vocabulary.
-Many types of drills are done by considering the speech pattern in the dialogue.
 11

-Translation is never used; only the target language is used.

-Grammar is taught in a practical manner; students are expected to learn grammar in a context,
for example, usages.

-Students practice vocabulary with whole sentences.

-Students are positively reinforced with a proper response.

-Grammar is provided through the dialogues.

-Cultural information is used as the content of a lesson.

-Reading and writing activities are based upon the oral activities carried out before.

-Students must be comfortable, which is provided by ergonomic chairs, dim lighting, and soft
music.

-Posters are hung around the door, which enhances grammar learning.

-Students develop and shape their identity throughout the lesson.

-Handouts are given to students, which contain dialogues, also some notes are written down
about grammar and vocabulary.

-Active learning techniques.

-Great learning environment.

 12

-Clear communication.

-Good relationship between teacher and student.

-Students enjoy their accomplishments and keep focus, persisting through challenges.

-Children investigate and experience things to ‘give it a go.’

-Children have and develop their own ideas, make connections between ideas, and develop
strategies for doing things.

-Teachers have the most significant responsibility regarding the quality of education.

-Teaching requires commitment, educational leadership, and the ability to convey knowledge.

-Teaching also depends on the quality of the school, its organization, and its staff, who can
provide students with all the help they need regarding educational challenges.

-To achieve significant success in education, students and teachers must develop mutual trust.

-Teachers have a great responsibility to create a positive classroom atmosphere because their
task is to convey knowledge to students and prepare them for all the challenges that lie ahead.

-The characteristics of effective teaching and learning are playing and exploring, active
learning, creating, and critical thinking.

-Effective teaching and learning emphasize the learning process, the applied thinking, and the
displayed attitudes.
 13

4. What is the nature of student–teacher interaction? What is the nature of student–student

interaction? How are the students' feelings dealt with?

Nature of student-teacher interaction:

-Positive student-teacher interaction is crucial for effective teaching and learning to take place.

-The teacher plays a crucial role in initiating positive interaction, but the relationship depends on
effort from both parties.

-The establishment of a positive teacher-student relationship aids a student's cognitive, social, and
emotional growth and enhances their mental well-being.

-Teacher-student interaction has an impact on classroom management and affects learning and
growth.

-Teachers who interact positively with their students report that their students are more involved
and attentive in studies and have better attendance in the classroom.

-Student-teacher interaction has resulted in a positive classroom environment that affects

the learning and growth of students positively.

-Student-teacher interaction aids students' memory skills, cognitive ability, physiological

development, and emotional growth.

-Student-teacher interaction strongly impacts a student's self-esteem, enthusiasm, and academic

success.

-Schools and colleges that actively promote close and frequent contact between their students and
school members are more likely to reap several advantages from such initiatives.
 14

Nature of student-student interaction:

-Student to student communication is preferable for learning better.

-In general, student-student interaction varies depending on the method and context, but it is
often encouraged as a way to enhance learning and communication skills.

How the students' feelings are dealt with.

-Dealing with students' feelings is an essential aspect of the teaching/learning process. Here are
some ways in which the feelings of students are dealt with:

-Teachers can create an emotionally safe classroom to foster learning and to deal effectively with
students' fears and frustrations.

-Teachers can teach students specific skills to manage their emotions, solve conflicts, and interact
with others.

-Teachers can develop a nurturing learning environment that is free from fear and ridicule, where
students can take chances.

-Emotions have an impact on learning, and they influence our ability to process information and
to understand what we encounter accurately.

-Teachers can learn to develop emotional intelligence and help students gain the skills of
managing their emotions.

-Positive teacher-student interaction is crucial for effective teaching and learning to take place.

-Establishing a positive teacher-student relationship aids students' cognitive, social, and

 15

emotional growth and enhances their mental well-being.

-Student-teacher interaction has an impact on classroom management and affects learning and
growth.

-Student-student interaction varies depending on the method and context, but it is often
encouraged as a way to enhance learning and communication skills.

-Teachers who commit to their work and are enthusiastic can make their students catch the
enthusiasm, too.

-Students experience emotions daily, and creating an emotionally safe classroom can help
students feel free to tell teachers when they are experiencing a problem.

-Teachers can watch for signs of emotional distress in students and provide support and
resources as needed.

-Teachers can encourage students to express their emotions and provide opportunities for them
to do so.

-Teachers can provide a supportive and non-judgmental environment for students to share their
feelings and experiences.

-Teachers can use positive reinforcement to encourage students and build their self-esteem.

-Teachers can provide opportunities for students to work in pairs or small groups to solve
problems and encourage social interactions that provide opportunities for students to explain
their thinking and to understand one another's thinking.

-Finally, dealing with students' feelings is an essential aspect of the teaching/learning process.
Teachers can create an emotionally safe classroom, teach students specific skills to manage their
emotions, and provide a supportive and non-judgmental environment for students to share their
 16

feelings/experiences.

-Positive teacher-student interaction is crucial for effective teaching and learning, and student-
student interaction is often encouraged to enhance learning and communication skills.

5. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language and culture are closely intertwined, and they shape each other in various ways. Here
are some ways in which language and culture are viewed:

-Language is viewed as a cultural tool to relate a community's values and ideals and is shaped
and molded by these residents over time.

-Language reflects culture, and culture shapes the language.

-Language and culture are always intertwined, and the language you speak reflects your values
and beliefs.

-Language teaching should always include explicit references to the culture from which the
particular language originates.

-Learning a language is learning not only the alphabet, meaning, grammar rules, and
arrangement of words but also the behavior of the society and its cultural customs.
-Language always carries meanings and references beyond itself, and the meanings of a
particular language represent the culture of a particular social group.

-The specific usages of a given word are peculiar to a language and its relationship with culture.

-The human communication process is complex, and many of our messages are transmitted
through paralanguage, which is culture-specific.

-Even the slightest differences in language use can correspond with biased beliefs of the
 17

speakers, according to research.

-Each language is unique; both in its structure and in the way it reflects the culture of the people
who speak it.

-Understanding why and how languages differ about the range of what is human.

-Discovering what's universal about languages can help us understand the core of our humanity.

-Language is a product of the thought and behavior of a society.

-An individual language speaker's effectiveness in a foreign language is related to his/her

understanding of the culture of that language.

In addition, it should be noted that every language implies a particular culture and vice versa.
Any culture has its own specific vocabulary. However, language is not merely an instrument of
communication; it is also a mirror of society's culture, values, and beliefs. When we acquire a
language, we also learn cultural customs related to it.

6. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?

All four skills are emphasized, but oral development comes first.

-Reading and writing exercises are done orally.

-Pronunciation carries high importance.

-Vocabulary is more emphasized than grammar.

 18

-The role of the student's native language varies depending on the teaching method and context.
Here are some ways in which the students' native language is perceived and used:

-Research shows that when teachers incorporate students' native languages into classroom
instruction, students increase their metalinguistic awareness, learn more academic content,
increase their English proficiency, and have more well-developed identities and self-esteem.

-Incorporating students' native languages into the classroom can be very difficult in multilingual
classrooms or classrooms where the teacher only speaks English. However, finding strategies
that allow teachers to incorporate students' native languages into the classroom, even when the
teacher does not speak the language, is a vital issue for educators nowadays.

-Collaborating and learning content by reading articles in students' languages works for students
who are literate in other languages. For students who can only speak and understand their
heritage language, learning content is still possible while collaborating with classmates who
speak the same languages.

-Teachers provide support to help students transfer knowledge and skills from their native
language to their non-native language(s).
-Language always carries meanings and references beyond itself, and the meanings of a specific
language represent the culture of a particular social group. Learning a language, therefore, is not
only learning the alphabet, the meaning, the grammar rules, and the arrangement of words, but it
is also learning the behavior of the society and its cultural customs. Thus, language teaching
should always contain some explicit reference to the culture from which the language is
extracted.

7. How is evaluation accomplished?

Evaluation in language teaching is accomplished through various methods and techniques. Here
are some ways in which evaluation is accomplished:
 19

-Evaluation is the task of assigning marks, grades, or percentages that represent how well
students have learned the skills or concepts taught.

-Evaluation can help the teacher look back in retrospect and decide whether the assessment of
the students was accurate and whether the reinforcement of concepts was effective.

-Evaluating the students will give ESL students the feedback they need in regards to their
learning so they can also decide whether their approach to learning the new language is effective
or needs to be changed somehow, it is important to plan ESL lessons carefully and consider
when it is necessary to include assessments to help the students review topics and when it is
necessary to include evaluations to determine whether or not the objectives were met.

-Evaluation in teaching English language is a process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting

information about teaching and learning to make concise decisions that enhance students’
achievement and the success of educational programs.

-Evaluation and assessment are key components in any organization, whether it is education or
corporate.

-Evaluation plays a crucial role in curriculum development as it allows instructors, material

designers, and administrators to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a particular language
program or any of its components and make precise decisions about how to proceed.

-Different assessment techniques are suited to different types of learners, and some may be
more appropriate for assessing particular language skills than others.

-Formal and informal assessment techniques and methods can be used to provide a
comprehensive view of the learners' progress and achievements.

-Using a variety of assessment techniques and providing feedback can help to promote learners’
progress and success.
 20

In summary, evaluation in language teaching is accomplished through various methods and

techniques. Evaluation is the task of assigning marks, grades, or percentages that represent how
well students have learned the skills or concepts taught. Evaluating the students will give them
the feedback they need to decide whether their approach to learning the new are wrong or
showing by language is effective or needs to be changed. Different assessment techniques are
suited to different types of learners, and formal or informal assessment techniques and
methods can be used to provide a comprehensive view of the learners' progress and
achievements.

8. How does the teacher respond to the students' errors?

Based on the research results, here are some ways in which teachers respond to students’
errors:

-Teachers correct the error, either by saying the right answer, telling the students that they
means of body language that the answer is incorrect.
-Teachers may make corrections quickly, highlighting the error and then introducing correct
ideas.

-Teachers may try to avoid having students express their opinions with errors at all and steer
the conversation toward correct contributions.

-Teachers may embrace errors as opportunities for learning and position both errors and
students in productive ways.

-Teachers may acknowledge and discuss students' mistakes, showing error tolerance.

-Teachers may use students' errors to discover misunderstood parts and cover them up.

-Teachers may provide self-correction to students if possible.

 21

-Teachers may diagnose errors and respond to them constructively to avoid making students
feel foolish and to provide a positive atmosphere for errors.

-Teachers' responses to errors are influenced by classroom norms, teachers' beliefs about
mathematical learning and teaching, and teachers' mathematical knowledge.

-Teachers' responses to errors are influenced by their beliefs about handling students'
errors.

In summary, teachers respond to student errors in various ways, including correcting and
avoiding them, embracing errors as opportunities for learning, acknowledging and discussing
students' mistakes, and using errors to find misunderstood parts. Teachers' responses to errors
are influenced by various factors, including classroom norms, teachers' beliefs about learning
and teaching, and teachers' mathematical knowledge. Teachers' responses to errors are crucial to
the learning process, and constructive responses to errors can provide a positive atmosphere for
errors and enhance student achievement.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES

According to the Interaction Method, the teacher responds to student errors by employing
various techniques and tries to get students to self-correct whenever possible. The following are
the techniques used in the Interaction Method:

-Question-answer: The teacher asks questions and rephrases students’ answers so that they can
self-correct.

-Dictation: The teacher chooses a graded text and reads it aloud.

-Reading aloud: Students take turns reading a passage or dialogue aloud.

 22

-Conversation practice: Students ask the teacher or others student questions.

The Activity Types and Procedure in the Interaction Method

The teacher can use the following activity types in teaching-learning activities. These activity
types are adapted from some sources.

Activity types:

Question-and-Answer Exercise: The teacher asks questions, and the students answer. This
activity happens only in the target language. Students ask questions and answer in full
sentences. Students can also ask questions with the purpose of making them practice new words
and grammatical structures.

a. Reading Aloud: Students take turns reading. At the end of each student’s turn, the teacher
uses gestures, pictures, examples, or role-play to help the students understand and develop their
comprehension skills.

b. Getting students to self-correct: Bambang Setiyadi wrote in his book that self-correction is
more effective than teacher correction. This can be done by asking them to make a choice
between what they said and an alternative answer provided by the teacher. Self-correction can
also be done by repeating what they said in a questioning voice to let the student know
something is wrong.

c. Conversation practice: the teacher gives some questions, and the student should be able to
answer the question correctly by using the target language.

d. Fill-in-the-blank exercise: in this kind of activity, students are given a series of sentences in
the target language with some missing words.
 23

Dictation: there are some steps in this activity. The teacher reads the text/passage aloud three
times. The first time the teacher reads, the students only listen. The second time, the teacher read
it phrase by phrase, pausing long enough for students to write down what they had heard. The
third time, the teacher reads but allows the students to compare their written notes with the
original text. This process helps to enhance the listening and comprehension skills and note-
taking abilities. It will enable students to refine their listening and writing proficiency through
repeated exposure to the material.

In addition to these techniques, the Interaction Method emphasizes the use of the target
language as a means of instruction and communication in the language classroom and the
avoidance of using the first language and translation as a technique.
The main goal of the Interaction Method is that the students will learn to communicate in the
target language or in specific areas, such as developing their ability to communicate, increasing
vocabulary during learning, improving pronunciation skills, improving their ability to find
meaning according to their own understanding, and helping students easily understand what is
being said.

The Interaction Method teaches concepts and vocabulary through mime, real-life objects, and
other visual elements, and grammar is taught inductively, which means that learners find out the
rules of the language from examples and interactions with it.
 24

Conclusion

The Interaction Method is a language teaching approach that emphasizes using the target
language as a means of instruction and communication in the language classroom. It seeks to
immerse the learner in the same way as when a first language is learned, and all teaching is done
in the target language.

The Interaction Method teaches concepts and vocabulary through mime, real-life objects, and
other visual elements, and grammar is taught inductively.

The method has its strengths, such as its emphasis on listening and speaking, the use of the
target language for all class instructions, and the use of visuals and realia to illustrate meaning.
However, the method also has its weaknesses, such as its assumption that a second language can
be learned in the same way as a first, when, in fact, the conditions under which a second
language is learned are very different.

Despite its limitations, aspects of the Interaction Method are still evident in many ELT
classrooms, and it has paved the way for more communicative, oral-based approaches. In
conclusion, the Interaction Method is a valuable approach to language teaching. Still, it should be
used in conjunction with other methods and techniques to address all four primary language
skills equally.
 25

Reference

Richard, J. & Rodgers, T. (2014) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge
University. 3rd Ed.