Techniques in ELT
WHAT IS TECHNIQUE?
 A technique is implementational
which actually takes place in a
classroom.
 According to Edward Anthony’s
model, technique is the level at which
classroom procedures are described.
 At the level of procedure, technique
explains how tasks and activities are
integrated into lessons.
Why do teachers use
techniques in the classroom?
 Teachers use
techniques as a tool for
teaching. Teachers can
achieve the goals of the
lesson by the careful
delivery of techniques.
Using techniques that
appeal to the interests
of students can promote
the success of the class.
TYPES OF TECHNİQUES
Controlled
techniques
TECHNİQUES
SemiControlled
techniques
Free
techniques
TYPES OF TECHNIQUES
 Controlled techniques: They are mostly
teacher centered. Both the teacher and
students know what they will do during
the activities.
 Semi-Controlled techniques: The teacher
interferes only when necessary.
 Free techniques: The teacher doesn’t
direct the students are free in their
activities.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Translation of a literary
passage:
 The translation may be
written or spoken or both.
 The class focuses on
vocabulary and
grammatical structures.
 Students should not
translate idioms and like
the literary, but rather their
understanding of the
meaning is important.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Reading comprehension
questions:
 There are three kinds of group
of questions:
 First group of questions,
students ask for information
contained within the reading
passage.
 Second group of questions,
students will have to make
inferences from the passage.
 Third group of questions,
students are required to relate
the passage to their own
experience.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Anonyms/Synonyms:
 Students might be asked
to find anonyms or
synonyms in the passage.
 Students might be asked
to define a set of words
based on their
understanding in the
passage.
 Students might be asked
to work with the
vocabulary of the passage.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Cognates: (similar
spelling and sound
patterns that
correspond in L1/L2.)
 Students are taught to
recognize cognates in
the passage.
 Students are asked to
memorize cognate
words and their
meaning in target
language.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Deductive
application of rule:
 Grammar rules are
presented with
examples.
 Later students are
asked to apply
grammar rules to
some different
examples.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Fill-in-the-blanks:
 Students are given a
serios of sentences with
words missing.
 They fill in the blanks
with new vocabulary
idioms or with items of a
particular grammar type
such as prepositions or
verbs with different
tenses.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Memorization:
 Students are given lists of target
language vocabulary words and
their native language
equivalents.
 Students are asked to memorize
the given words.
 Students are also required to
memorize grammatical rules
and grammatical paradigms
such as conjugations.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Use words in sentences:
 Students make up sentences in which
they use new words.
GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
METHOD
Composition:
 The teacher gives the students a topic to
write about in the target language.
 The topic is based upon some aspect of
the reading passage of the lesson.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Reading aloud:
 Students take turns
reading sections of a
passage or dialog out
loud.
 Teachers make the
meaning of the section
clear with gestures,
pictures, realia…
THE DIRECT METHOD
Question and answer exercise:
 Students are asked question and
answer in full sentences.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Getting students to
self-correct:
 Students make a
choice between what
they said and an
alternative answer.
 Teachers help students
correct themselves.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Conversation practice:
 The teacher asks students a number of questions in the
target language.
 These questions can be individual.
Fill-in-the-blank exercise:
Little
–
a little
–
enough
1-There weren’t ___________ chairs in the hall, so some of the
members had to stand up for the whole meeting
2-I think we can invest our money in this company. There`s
___________ risk of losing it.
3- There`s __________ cake on a plate in the kitchen, Joe. You can
eat it with your tea.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Dictation:
 The teacher read the passage three times.
*At first at a normal speed,
*Second time phrase by phrase and pausing,
*The last time at a normal speed again.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Map drawing:
 Students are given a
map with geographical
features unnamed.
 Teacher give
directions to students.
THE DIRECT METHOD
 Paragraph writing:
 Students are asked to write a paragraph
in their own words.
THE ORAL APPROACH AND SLT
Listening Practice:
 The teacher obtains his student’s attention
and repeats.
Choral Imitation:
 Students all together or in large groups
repeat what the teacher has said.
Individual Imitation:
 The teacher asks several individual
students to repeat the model.
THE ORAL APPROACH AND SLT
Isolation:
 The teacher isolates
sounds, words, or groups
of words which cause
trouble.
Building up to a new
model:
 The teacher gets students
to ask and answer
questions using patterns.
THE ORAL APPROACH AND SLT
Elicitation:
 The teacher using mime, prompt words,
gestures, etc. to ask questions.
Substitution Drilling:
 The teacher uses cue words (words,
pictures, numbers, names, etc.)
THE ORAL APPROACH AND SLT
Question-Answer
Drilling:
 All the students practice
asking and answering
the new question form.
Correction:
 If there are mistakes or
errors, the teacher
invites the students
correct them.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Dialog memorization:
 Dialogs or short conversations between two
people are often used in lesson.
 In this method, certain sentence patterns
and grammar points are included within the
dialog.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Backward build-up (expansion) drill:
 This drill is used when a long line of a
dialog is giving students trouble.
 The teacher breaks down the line into
several parts.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Repetition drill:
 Students repeat the teacher’s model as
accurately and as quickly as possible to
learn the lines of the dialog.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Chain drill:
 The teacher begins
the chain by greeting
particular student, or
asking him a
question.
 It allows some
controlled
communication, even
though it is limited.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Single-slot substitution drill:
 The teacher says a line from the dialog.
 The students repeat the line, substituting
the cue into the line in its proper place.
Multiple-slot substitution drill:
 The teacher gives cue phrases that fit into
different slots in the dialog line.
 The students must recognize what part of
speech each cue is.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Transformation drill:
 The teacher gives students a certain kind of
sentence pattern.
 Students are asked to transform a sentence
into a negative sentence.
Question-and-answer drill:
 This drill gives students practice with
answering questions.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Use of minimal pairs:
 The teacher works with pairs of words
which differ in only one sound.
 Students are first asked to difference
between the two words and later to be able
to say the two words.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Complete the dialog:
 Selected words are erases from a dialog.
 Students complete the dialog by filling the
blanks with the missing words.
e.g. Lucy: I hear Mary got the first prize in that painting
competition.
Rose: …
Lucy: Did she really?
Rose: Yes she did. I saw her painting and it really was good.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
Grammar game:
 The games are designed to get students to
practice a grammar point within a context.
 Students are able to express themselves.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
Using commands to direct
behavior
 Teacher gives
commands to class
 To clarify meaning,
teacher performs the
actions with class.
 Later, teacher let
perform the actions
alone.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
Role Rehearsal:
 Students commands
to their teachers or
classmates.
 This encourages
students to speak.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
For example:
Action Sequence:
 The more students  Take out pen
 Take out a piece of paper
learn target
 Write a letter (imagery)
language, the longer  Fold the letter
connections can be  Put it in an envelope
given.
 Seal the envelop
 Write address on the
envelop.
 Put stamp on the
envelop
 Mail the letter.
Silent Way
Sound-color chart
 Each color symbolizes one sound.
Silent Way
Teacher is silence:
Peer correction:
 It’s important to
be cooperative
than competitive.
Self-correction:
Silent Way
Word chart:
 Teacher points on the
chart.
 Colors represent the
same sounds.
Silent Way
 Fidel chart:
Silent Way
Structured feedback:
 Students listen each other and learn form each
other.
Community Language Learning
Tape recording students
conversations:
 Students native language is
their common language of the
group.
 In multi-lingual groups
students can use gestures to
get their meaning across.
 The conversation of students
is recorded in the target
language.
Community Language Learning
Transcription:
 Students conversation
in the target language
is transcript by the
teacher.
 Each student translate
his or her utterances
in their native
language and teacher
copy them.
Community Language Learning
Reflection on experience:
 Students reflect on how they feel about the
language learning experience.
 Teacher shows understanding of their
response.
Community Language Learning
Reflective listening:
 Students relax and listen
their own voice speaking
in the target language on
the tape.
 Teacher may read the
transcript,
 Students may mouth the
words as teacher reads
transcript.
Community Language Learning
Human computer:
 The student chooses
some parts to
practice
pronunciation.
 The student say the
word in the control of
teacher.
 Teacher repeats the
word as much as
student wants.
Community Language Learning
Small group tasks:
 Students in a small group
are asked to make new
sentences with the words
on transcript.
 The group share sentences
with class.
 Later students work in
pairs to make sentences
with the different verb
conjunctions.
Suggestopedia
Classroom set-up:
Peripheral learning:
 With posters-which
contains
grammatical
structures- on the
wall students learn
effortlessly.
Suggestopedia
Positive suggestion:
 Direct suggestion
 Indirect suggestion
Choose a new identity:
Role-play:
Suggestopedia
First concert:
 Teacher reads a
dialog to call students
attention to some
particular grammar
points
Second concert:
 Teacher simply reads
dialog.
Suggestopedia
Primary activation:
 The students reread the target language
dialog out loud.
Suggestopedia
Creative adaptation:
 This technique helps
students to learn new
metarials and use
them spontaniously.
 The aim is to create
communication rather
than form of linguistic
messages
WHOLE LANGUAGE
Individual and small group reading and
writing:
 The students read literature and they read
from the authentic materials.
 The students create a story, they write
letters etc.
WHOLE LANGUAGE
Ungraded dialogue journals:
 The teacher respond regularly to what
students write.
Writing portfolios/conferences/ a story:
 The students write their own experiences in a
story and put them into portfolios. While they
are writing, they should think through and list
what strategies, background knowledge, and
special resources are needed to reproduce.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Logical/mathematical:
 the ability to use numbers
effectively, to see abstract
patterns and to reason well.
Visual/spatial:
 the ability to orient oneself in the
environment, to create mental
images, and a sensitivity to shape,
size, color.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Body/kinesthetic:
 the ability to use one’s body to
express oneself and to solve
problems.
Musical/rhythmic:
 an ability to recognize tonal
patterns and a sensitivity to
rhythm, pitch, melody.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Interpersonal:
 the ability to understand another
person’s moods, feelings,
motivations, and intensions.
Intrapersonal:
 the ability to understand oneself
and to practice self-discipline.
Verbal/linguistic:
 the ability to use language
effectively and creatively.
NEUROLINGUISTIC
PROGRAMMING
 Teacher should work with students not
against them.
LEXICAL APPROACH
 The collocation of vocabulary teaching
activities.
COMPETENCY-BASED LANGUAGE
TEACHING
 Knowledge and learning
competencies:
 Oral competencies:
 Reading competencies:
 Writing competencies:
Communicative Language
Teaching
Scramble sentences:
 Students are given a
passage in which the
sentences are in a
scrambled order.
 They are told to
unscramble the
sentences so that the
sentences are restored
in their original order.
Communicative Language
Teaching
Language game:
 It is kind of prediction
game.
 During game there must
be information gap.
 The speaker makes
prediction and gets
feedback from his group
members.
 Finally tries to make
comprehensible
prediction.
Communicative Language
Teaching
Picture strip
story:
 Students are given
a story containing
a picture.
 Teacher wants
students to predict
how the second
picture can be
appropriate to
story.
Communicative Language
Teaching
Role Play:
The Natural Approach
 Command-based
activities from TPR
 Direct Method activities
which contains mime,
gesture and context are
used to elicit question
and answer
 Situation-based
activities
 Group work activities
identical to CLT.
COOPERATIVE LANGUAGE
LEARNING
 Three-step interview
 Roundtable
 Think-pair-share
 Solve-pair-share
 Numbered heads
TASK-BASED LANGUAGE
LEARNING
Jigsaw Tasks:
 Learners form a whole from different
information parts.
Information Gap Tasks:
 In order to complete a task, members of
the group negotiate and find out each
others’ information.
TASK-BASED LANGUAGE
LEARNING
Problem Solving Tasks:
 Students solve a problem with a set of
information.
Decision Making Tasks:
 By means of negotiation and discussion
students decide on an outcome given with
a problem.
Opinion Exchange Tasks:
 Learners exchange their ideas, but not to
reach an agreement.
Content-Based Instruction
There are a number of
description activity types
in CBI.
 Language skill
improvement
 Vocabulary building
 Discourse organization
 Communicative
interaction
 Study skills
 Synthesis of content
materials and grammar