LANGUAGE MODEL AND

PARAPHRASTIC APPROACH

Discussion by:
BADILLO, Audrey Livette, V.
PALENCIA, Jonel
THE LANGUAGE MODEL
■ The Language Model is an approach that enables learners
to access a text in a systematic and methodical way in
order to exemplify specific linguistic features, e.g. literal
and figurative language.

– http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature
■ It utilizes the following strategies in language teaching:
– Cloze procedure
– Prediction exercises
– Jumbled sentences
– Summary writing
– Creative writing
– Roleplay
Cloze Procedure Sample
■ These activities are disconnected from the literary
goals of the text in that they can be applied to any
text. There is little engagement of the learner with
the text other than for purely linguistic practice.

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature
Exercise
Which of the following strategies would you employ in
teaching subject-verb agreement? Why?
a) Cloze procedure
b) Jumbled sentences
c) Roleplaying
PARAPHRASTIC APPROACH
■ This approach deals with the surface meaning of the
text (Diana Hwang & Amin Embi, 2007).
■ Rosli (1995) asserts that it allows teachers to use
simple words and sentence structures compared to
the more complicated ones in the texts and
sometimes the teachers can translate it into another
language.
■ The paraphrastic approach is suited to beginners of
the target language.
■ This approach uses the literary text as a stepping
stone in learning the target language.
– Example: A Grade 2 teacher reading “The Turtle
and the Monkey” and then translating it from time
to time into the pupil’s native tongue.
Exercise
■ Using the paraphrastic approach in teaching ESL, what
literary genre would you integrate in your lessons? Why?
Sources

■ http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature