CONFLUENCE 2011

Teaching methodology for second language/foreign Language (English) acquisition

Dr. Shivali Singh Reema Srivastava . Dept. !pplied Sciences " #umanities $ollege of Engineering " Technology %orada&ad 'ttar (radesh Technical 'niversity Luc)no*
Abstract:

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English is a difficult language to learn and to teach. Many methods for teaching English as a Second language have developed over the years which provided some kind of stepping stone, towards an approach or theory, which has ultimately aided the progression of teaching methods as a whole. An approach to teach is a theory, a perception based on multiple assumptions about how people learn, and how they respond to new languages. t is the Method, how those theories are put into practice, which sets ob!ectives and presents an organi"ed role, for both teachers and students. A method, a specific strategy, a set task, aims to move the students towards achieving the ob!ective, to learn a second language. #here is no single $best$ way of teaching English as each method has some advantages and disadvantages. #he successful language teacher will not limit himself to one method only, e%cluding all others. A method which is appropriate with one class on one occasion will not necessarily suit the same class at another time. &anguage ac'uisition is the process by which humans ac'uire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. #here are many different methods that have been used for E& ac'uisition throughout history. Each method of E&# has its supporters and its critics, mainly because each method is derived from different perspectives of E&&. Since ancient times, learning a foreign language or second language has been an important activity. (arious teaching methods have been developed to teach second language. #he purpose of this paper is to highlight some basic methods for language ac'uisition like )rammar * ndirect+ Method, ,irect Method, -ral Method, .atural Method, /ilingual Method, 0ommunicative Method, &anguage 0ontrol Method, Audio1(isual2&ingual Method, and Eclectic *Modified+ Method etc.

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"Language acquisition does not require e+tensive use of conscious grammatical rules and does not require tedious drill., Stephen -rashen ,The &est methods are therefore those that supply .comprehensi&le input. in lo* an+iety situations containing messages that students really *ant to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language &ut allo* students to produce *hen they are .ready. recogni/ing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensi&le input and not from forcing and correcting production., Stephen -rashen #he term acquisition is used 3when the emphasis is on the natural, unconscious way in which a learner can assimilate a foreign language as in bilingual conte%ts or when using one of the natural approaches to foreign language teaching. n several approaches, however, ac'uisition and learning are carefully distinguished4 the former is then restricted to what takes place in natural learning situations5 the latter to what takes place in classrooms when following a structured course with a teacher6 *0rystal 789:+. Second language acquisition *SLA+ or second language learning is the process by which people of a language can learn a &; in addition to their native language*s+. <Second language ac'uisition< refers to what the student does5 it does not refer to what the teacher does *see <language education< for work on language teaching+. Sometimes the terms <ac'uisition< and <learning< are not treated as synonyms and are instead used to refer to the subconscious and conscious aspects of this process respectively *see second language learning+. Second language ac'uisition is the process of learning a new language after the ac'uisition of a learner$s native language. t can also incorporate the learning of third, fourth or subse'uent languages as well as heritage language learning. Europe and Asia have had a long tradition of teaching and learning foreign languages. Memori"ation of vocabulary and translation of sentences often formed the ma!or part of such learning processes in the past. #wo scholars during the progress of =eformation stood out as distinguished contributors for the change of language teaching methods4 Erasmus and Comenius. Erasmus, a contemporary of Martin &uther, in the fifteenth and si%teenth centuries, argued that speaking the foreign language should begin early in ones attempt in learning it. )ood and understandable oral communication, he said, was the important thing to master. .e%t in importance was reading, and, then, writing came at last. >e wanted that we learn the language through e%posure to interesting and practical conversations and stories accompanied by visuals such as picture.

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Martin &uther was opposed to e%cessive drill on rules for producing sentences. nstead of memori"ing rules for the production of sentences, he asked for the actual production of sentences themselves as appropriate practice to learn a language. #he thoughts of 0omenius on methods of teaching languages had influenced generations of European teachers. >e wanted a graded presentation of sentence structures. >e insisted that grammar should be taught through an inductive approach, by giving many e%amples of the same sentence type, so that the students would understand and master the structures. #here are many different methods that have been used for &; ac'uisition throughout history. Each method of &;# has its supporters and its critics, mainly because each method is derived from different perspectives of &;&. >owever, some methods have received wide recognition due to the historical roles they have played in the views encompassed in this sub!ect. The Literary Method ,uring most of ?estern history @&s have been taught in accordance with classical literature. #his stems from the emphasis that has been put on literacy and the aristocracy. #he =enaissance was involved in the return to the classics, particularly in &atin, but importance was placed on written mastery as opposed to speech. #herefore, learners were essentially taught to imitate the classics instead of putting &;s to use in everyday situations.

Grammar Translation (Indirect) Method #his method was sought to reform the older literary method, and became popular in the 79AAs. t was mostly comprised of translating sentences back and forth between the &7 and the prospective &;. )rammar translation re'uired learners to master the grammar and to memori"e e%tensive vocabulary lists, and had little to do with the principles of speaking or listening. &ittle or no attention to pronunciation is re'uired. #he underlying !ustification for such a method rested upon the belief that what should be taught was not the language itself but the faculty of logical thought and provided valuable mental discipline, e'ual to the classics. Ad antages

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form of @& played very little part in the

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#he learner would ac'uire the skill of translating in writing from M# to @& and vice1versa. #he spoken learning process. &anguage was merely a deductive process4 from the data or a set of rules presented, learner had to create sentences in the @& through transfer techni'ues. !isad antages Even if learning a

language by the )rammar1#ranslation method trained the mind in logical thought, there is little evidence to suggest that this faculty is transferable to other walks of life beyond the language classroom. #his method gives pupils the wrong idea of what language is and of the relationship between languages. t is deplorable to assume that language is only ac'uired through translation skills, and this at the e%pense of oral skills *imagine the disaster in comprehensive schools with mi%ed1ability classes+. !irect Method ,M is also known as =eform Method 2 .atural Method 2 Bhonetical Method 2 Anti1grammatical Method. Adult &; learners can learn a second language in essentially the same manner as a child. #his method is based on the idea that people can learn a &; easier if it were taught without any use of the &7. #his way is supposed to simulate the way in which a child learns a &7 because, when a child ac'uires a &7, he or she has no prior language to refer back to. n this method, the learner was to communicate in the &;2@& in realistic conditions. -ne criticism of this method is that it is not easy to achieve in the classroom, which is obviously not a realistic situation. nstead of e%plicit grammar instruction, the ma!or emphasis is on communicating. #his method was indeed an e%tension of the .atural Method, with greater emphasis on and sophistication of knowledge of linguistics !isad antages Ma!or fallacy of ,irect Method was belief that second language should be learned in way in which first language was ac'uired 1 by total immersion techni'ue. s first language learning process really applicable to second foreign language learning at later stageC Effectiveness of verbali"ing skills depends on maturation level of the learner2 on type of environment on intelligence. #his method re!ects use of the printed word 1 but this ob!ection is illogical since second language learner has already mastered his reading skills.

The "atural Method

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Since children learn naturally to speak before they read. Broponents of the method tended to avoid the use of books in class. &ike the child in his home, the student was to be immersed in language and allowed to formulate his own generali"ations. t consists of a series of monologues by the teacher, interspersed with e%change of 'uestion and answer between instructor and pupilDall in the foreign language.

The #honetic Method #his method emphasi"ed 3oral e%pression as the basis of instruction, stressing pronunciation, avoiding grammatical rule giving, and seeking to impart a practical mastery of language forms for use in1country6. #he teacher reads a passage aloud, e%plaining unfamiliar words. After discussing 'uestions on the passage, students paraphrase the story aloud and ne%t come written answers to 'uestions, phonetic work on new words, and ultimately recitation. )estures, pictures, and interesting conte%ts were to be used in making applications of familiar material. #his method demanded 3heavy re'uirements for linguistic e%pertise on the part of the teachers.6 Audio$Lingual%&isual Method #he method was developed in the 78EAs, based on behaviorist psychology with the idea that language is habit forming process. Mid 78FA$s 1 three new technological aids came into general use in the classroom1 language laboratory, portable tape1recorder and film1strip pro!ector. All these were greeted with euphoria in all modern language departments. E%tensive use of tapes and e'uipment was revolutionary for language teachers. #he focus is mainly on oral discussion and very little on grammar rules. #his method provides very little room for creativity in comparison to what most language learners would hope to get out of @&&. #his method in some sense represents a return to the direct method, as its main goal is to develop native1 like speaking ability in its learners. t is an e%tension as well as a refinement of the ,irect Method. Audiolingualism had its theoretical roots in the ,irect Method.6 #he Audio1lingual method used e%haustively the linguistic structures identified in the descriptive analysis of the target language. /asic method of teaching is repetition, speech is standardi"ed and pupils turn into parrots that can reproduce many things but never create anything new or spontaneous. Bupils became better and better at pattern practice but were unable to use the patterns fluently in natural speech situations.

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/ut Audio1&ingual2(isual approach did mark start of the technological age in language teaching and it did introduce important new elements Emphasi"ed need for visual presentation and possibility of eliciting language from visual cues. t placed far more weight on use of foreign language in classroom by both teacher and pupil, and the language used was of far greater practicality. Communicati e A''roach #his method is based on the idea that the goal of learning a &; is to gain communicative competency. t is thought that learners need to have knowledge of the rules of use in order to generate language appropriately for certain situations, and to have strategies to communicate effectively. #his approach focuses on the use of language in everyday situations, or the functional aspects of language, and less on the formal structures. #his approach argues that 3merely knowing how to produce a grammatically correct sentence is not enough. A communicatively competent person must also know how to produce an appropriate, natural, and socially acceptable utterance in all conte%ts of communication. >owever, critics believe that there needs to be some sort of <bridge< between the two in order for effective language learning. Total #hysical (es'onse A''roach t takes into consideration the silent period deemed necessary for some &; learners. ,uring the first phase of total physical response, students are not re'uired to speak. nstead, they concentrate on obeying simple commands in the second language. #he ob!ective of this approach is to connect physical activity with meaningful language use as a way of instilling concepts6. *-)rady, et al. 788G+. Language Immersion #he goal of language immersion is to provide learners with an environment in which they have to learn the &; in order to do well. nstruction is usually begun in the second language and eventually incorporates the native language. #he main ob!ective of any immersion program is that all students ac'uire a high level of proficiency in oral, listening, and literacy skills. @undamental to an immersion program is the belief that normal children have the inherent capacity to learn a second language without !eopardi"ing their native language e%pertise. #otal immersion involves the instruction of all sub!ects in the second language, including physical education and e%tracurricular activities. Bartial immersion involves instruction in the second language for half the school day and in the native language for the other half6. *-)rady et al. 788G+. ISSN: 2250-138X Page 185

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mmersion programs have been greatly used in several missionary training programs, and in field studies done in north1eastern ndia, and the Andaman and .icobar islands by the students of linguistics. Eclectic Methods Many teachers use a mi%ture of both ndirect and ,irect Methods. )rammar Method is easy for the teacher, but too intellectual an approach for the average pupil4 may kill off his enthusiasm for language learning gives little chance to master spoken language which would be of greater use to him pupil cannot gain true insight into grammatical rule unless he has previously mastered the spoken aspect Some teachers therefore try to veer away from pure ndirect Method, hoping to reduce the intellectual content of their lessons and to give pupils some opportunity of speaking the language. /ut ,irect Method teaching cannot supply the number of active speaking contacts re'uired for pupil to begin to $think$ in the language, so that any $eclectic$ method lying between the two poles will afford even fewer contacts. t is also true that a second language learner needs to have some knowledge of the grammatical blocks of language to help speed up the development of his oral proficiency. !ilemma 1 #oo much veering towards ndirect Method4 increases the intellectual content of lessons *condemning those pupils whose H isn$t sufficiently high+ decreases the number of active oral contacts the pupils re'uire #oo much veering towards the ,irect Method4 denies the pupil the help which a knowledge of comparative grammar can give him in his development towards oral proficiency still means the teacher is unable to provide for the pupil the re'uired number of oral contacts *thus leading to incomplete2inaccurate responses+ Any eclectic method teacher therefore falls between two stools. Either way he faces obstacles which make teaching2 learning both difficult2 unpleasant. ?hat is needed, therefore, is a completely different method, which lies outside the range of ndirect2,irect methods, which takes into account data obtained from investigations into second language learning, which uses old2new teaching2learning activities in such ISSN: 2250-138X Page 186

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opportunity to reach a level whereby he can $think$ in that language.

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a way as to enable the learner to learn a language more 'uickly and with less effort, which gives pupil the

The "eed )or an Eclectic A''roach 4 At present, teachers of English around the world prefer some form of communicative teaching and learning, rather than the audio1lingual method and its derivatives. #he successful &; teacher is not necessarily biased in favor of one method or another. She2he should be first of all competent in and comfortable with the methods she wants to use. She tends to select different teaching strategies from different methods, and blends them to suit the needs of her materials and students. t is important that the students are given ample opportunities to practice English in the class as well as outside the classroom. A diligent teacher continually learns new techni'ues from her peers and needs to know the new directions in teaching of English to speakers of other languages which are debated in the !ournals and demonstrated in new te%tbooks. >er own English speech, pronunciation, and writing should be as close to the 3standard6 as possible, or native1like, if she is not a native speaker of English. (E*E(E"CES /owen, I. ,onald, >arold Madsen, and Ann >ilferty. TES0L Techniques and (rocedures. /oston4 >einle J >einle. 789E. /owen, I. ,onald. 0onte%tuali"ing Bronunciation Bractice in the ES-& 0lassroom. n Teaching English as a Second or 1oreign Language. Marianne 0elce1Murcia and &ois Mc ntosh. Eds. =awley, MA4 .ewbury >ouse Bublishers, nc. 78:8. 0elce1Murcia, Marianne, and &ois Mc ntosh. Eds. Teaching English as a Second or 1oreign Language . =awley, MA4 .ewbury >ouse Bublishers, nc. 78:8. 0elce1Murcia, Marianne. Ed. Teaching English as a Second or 1oreign Language . /oston4 >einle J >einle. 7887. 0ronnell, /ruce. Spelling English as a Second Language. 2n Teaching English as a Second or 1oreign Language. Eds.Marianne 0elce1Murcia and &ois Mc ntosh. =owley, MA4 .ewbury >ouse Bublishers, nc. 78:8. 0rystal, ,avid. The $am&ridge Encyclopedia of Language . 0ambridge, England4 0ambridge Kniversity Bress. 789:.

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0rystal, ,avid. The $am&ridge Encyclopedia of Language. 0ambridge Kniversity Bress, 788:. )leason, >. A. !n 2ntroduction to Descriptive Linguistics. .ew Lork4 >olt, =inehart J ?inston. 78EE. Mrashen, Stephen ,. (rinciples and (ractice in Second Language !cquisition. Brentice1>all nternational, 789:. Mrashen, Stephen ,+ Second Language !cquisition and Second Language Learning. Brentice1>all nternational, 7899. &a"ar, )illian. Literature and Language Teaching3 ! 4uide for Teachers and Trainers . 0ambridge, England4 0ambridge Kniversity Bress. 788G. Morley, Ioan. &istening 0omprehension in Second2@oreign &anguage nstruction. n Teaching English as a Second or 1oreign Language. Ed. Marianne 0elce1Murcia. /oston4 >einle J >einle. 7887. -)rady, ?illiam, Michael ,abrovolsky, and Mark Aronoff . $ontemporary Linguistics3 !n 2ntroduction. .ew Lork4 St. Martins Bress. 788G. #hirumalai, M. S. Language Thought and Disorder. Mysore4 0entral nstitute of ndian &anguages. 78::. (ygotsky, &. S. Thought and Language. 0ambridge, MA4 #he M. .#. Bress. 78F;.

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