Teaching English
4. From methods to principles
Nancy Grimm – Michael Meyer – Laurenz Volkmann
0. Table of contents
1.
Approach – method – technique
2.
Teacher-orientation
2.1 Grammar-Translation Method: the knowledge of rules
2.2 Direct Method: situated listening and speaking
2.3 Audiolingual/Audiovisual Method: habit formation
3.
Student-orientation
3.1 Communicative Language Teaching: authentic
communication
3.2 Task-based Language Teaching: problem-solving
3.3 Collaborative and Participatory Methods: social and
critical agency
Chapter 4: From methods to principles
4.
Subject-orientation: Bilingual Teaching or Content and
Language Integrated Learning
5.
Age and stage: early language learning and transition
6.
Individual differences and factors
7.
Postmethod principles in a nutshell
8.
9.
Recommended reading
Acknowledgments
2
Discuss:
Take a look at the cartoon and
spell out the problems of
learning and teaching English
at the beginner level. Find
similarities and differences
between the situation in the
cartoon and your most
enjoyable and successful
experience of learning English.
Could your experience serve as
a model for learning and
teaching English?
Chapter 4: From methods to principles
3
1. Approach – method
– technique
Approach
Good teaching needs to
arrive at a fit between
principles, goals, methods,
and content, as well as the
context and individuals
involved in teaching and
learning.
1. Approach – method – technique
theory about
principles &
functions of
language,
learning,
education
Method
roles of
teachers &
learners,
content,
material,
activities
Technique
smallest step in
ordered
sequence of
procedure
4
2.1 GrammarTranslation Method:
the knowledge of rules
17th
to
20th
centuries
 Grammar and vocabulary
 explicit and teacher-fronted instruction
 Roles of teacher and student
 teacher = master, student = apprentice
 Comparison and contrast of L1 and L2
 highlighting the particular structures of the L1 and L2
 Declarative knowledge, accuracy
 rules and patterns explicitly taught, memorized
 Translating discrete written samples
 models of good language
 preparing learners to read texts from the target culture
 writing compositions: grasp of the target language and
culture
 Canonical literary, philosophical texts
 cultivation of the individual
2. Teacher-orientation
5
2.1 GrammarTranslation Method:
the knowledge of rules
Discussing the method
Vocabulary &
grammar first
Listening &
speaking
neglected
Instruction in
mother
tongue
3. Teacher-orientation
Ideas of interest
second
Grammatical
rules ≠ correct
language
output
6
2.2 Direct Method:
situated listening and
speaking
Late
19th
century until today
 Training in what learners actually need
 oral communication skills
 More ‘natural’
 ‘direct’ use of target language as medium of
instruction
 Objects, pictures, demonstrations
 directly connecting words with meaning
 Vocabulary
 chunks and sentences
 Grammar
 not central
 inductive: from examples to rule
 Oral skills
 imitation, immediate correction of errors
 embedded in everyday situations
2. Teacher-orientation
7
2.2 Direct Method:
situated listening and
speaking
Example
Teacher (T) to students (S): ‘Let’s suppose we are in
New York City and have heard about delicious
Southern food at Sylvia’s Soul Food in Harlem. Let’s
have a look at what’s on the menu and make a
reservation for the weekend.’



S google the restaurant, read the online menu; S ask
T to help them out with the kind of food on offer
S talk about which dishes they might like or dislike
S simulate a phone call
 place a reservation
 get online directions about the location

 discuss the best way of getting there
role play
 ordering meals
 practicing conventional expressions: ‘I will have
…,’ ‘I think I will go for …,’ ‘I would like to order …’
2. Teacher-orientation
8
2.2 Direct Method:
situated listening and
speaking
Discussing the method
Everyday
language
Neglects
reading &
writing
Complex
grammatical
concepts?
3. Student-orientation
Conceptual
schemata
Ignores
different
cultural frames
L1 – L2
9
2.3 Audiolingual /
Audiovisual Method:
habit formation
1950s-1960s
 Language as formal system of sounds, words, sentences
(Structural Linguistics) and habit formation (Behaviorism)
 imitating / practicing sounds, words, and syntactic patterns
 habitualization
 Listening, speaking in dialogs preferred to reading, writing
 Instruction
 monolingual teaching: L1 should not interfere with habit
formation in L2
 stimulus – response – reinforcement

correct usage: positive feedback

mistake: immediate correction
 Input
 teacher, audio files: language model
 language laboratory: repeating, practicing dialogs
 Practicing
 rote learning, repetition drills, transformation exercises,
substitution drills
2. Teacher-orientation
10
2.3 Audiolingual /
Audiovisual Method:
habit formation
 Repetition drill
 Chain drill
 Transformation drill
 Single-slot substitution
drills
2. Teacher-orientation
Identify the kind of drills and explain their functions
in this lesson for early beginners:
After an introduction to animals on a farm, the
teacher (T) plays the song “The Farmer Takes a
Wife” to the students (S).
T sings the song line by line and all the S repeat
the lines.
T sings the song line by line and individual S repeat
the line one-by-one.
T sings the song line by line but leaves out the
object of the first line and later the subject of the
following line and has the class fill in the words:
‘The farmer takes a […]. The […] takes a […].’
T says: ‘I like horses. I don’t like rats.’ T asks an
individual S which animals he/she likes and
dislikes. S responds and asks the same question of
the S beside her. This continues until all S have had
the opportunity both to respond and to ask their
neighbor the question.
11
2.3 Audiolingual /
Audiovisual Method:
habit formation
Discussing the method
Time for
practicing
Little room for
flexibility &
cultural
knowledge
Neglects
development of
Interlanguage and
language
awareness
3. Student-orientation
Quick results for
beginners
Ignores learners’
cognitive &
emotional
needs
12
2.3 Audiolingual /
Audiovisual Method:
habit formation
Audiovisual method (1960s)
 Adding visualization and contextualization of
dialog through visual media
 Procedure:
 presentation of sequence of pictures before
corresponding utterances are played
 explanation, aiming at global understanding
of dialog through
 pointing, imitation, paraphrasing
 imitation of recorded utterances
 practice pronunciation and phrases
 exploitation of input
 questions and answers, role play
 learners’ transposition of dialog to a new
topic or situation
Reinfried 2004: 61-64
2. Teacher-orientation
13
2.3 Audiolingual /
Audiovisual Method:
habit formation
Discussing the method
Uses more
visualized and
situated dialogs
Listening &
speaking before
reading &
writing
Disregards
language
awareness
3. Student-orientation
Ignores
motivational &
practical needs
Rigid
proceeding
14
3.1 Communicative
Language Teaching:
authentic
communication
Focus on
 meaningful & appropriate
communication
 flexibility
 language awareness
 fluency &
comprehensibility before
accuracy
3. Student-orientation
 Communicative competence: the ability
 to interact in meaningful ways
 to express one’s intentions in a socially
appropriate form in specific situations
and within a framework of cultural norms
 Basic principles
 Communication is the means to and the
purpose of language learning.
 Conveying meaning is the aim of
communication.
 Meaning should be negotiated among
learners with little intervention by
teachers.
15
3.1 Communicative Language Teaching: authentic communication
based on Canale & Swain 1980, Canale 2013
3. Student-orientation
16
3.1 Communicative Language Teaching: authentic
communication
Strong CLT
 Uses communication as the
means of learning how to
communicate
 covering shopping as a topic,
then performing a role play
Weak CLT
 Teaches the linguistic means of
communication in order to
facilitate communication
 offering learners notions and
functions to express intentions
 ‘May I borrow your pen, please?’
 politeness
3. Student-orientation
17
3.1 Communicative
Language Teaching:
authentic
communication
Proceeding
 From simplified, comprehensible input
(with focus on a particular new
structure) to more authentic input
 Time
 for practicing authentic communication
 negotiating meaning in interaction
 Address learners’ needs
 interest in talking or writing about a
relevant topic
3. Student-orientation
18
3.1 Communicative
Language Teaching:
authentic
communication
 Presentation
 introduction of a topic with pictures and texts
(specific forms and speech functions)
 Practice
 exercises that focus on language form
Proceeding in textbooks
 Production
 tasks addressing specific skills
 aiming at using specific functions in situated
communication
 Metacognitive reflection
 on communicative or learning strategies
 Further practice and differentiation
 additional material or tasks
3. Student-orientation
19
Compare and evaluate the units on a topic of your choice, such as pets,
friends, or sports, in two textbooks for grade 5 from different publishers:
1. How do they address the learners’ interests?
2. Is the input appropriate or inappropriate, didactic or authentic?
3. Which vocabulary, speech functions, and communicative competences would you
need to express yourself in the situated tasks?
4. Do the tasks promote both the practice of relevant speech functions and authentic
communication at the same time?
5. Which of the material and activities would you select if you were to teach the
unit? Would you adapt material and tasks or add others?
3. Student-orientation
20
3.1 Communicative
Language Teaching:
authentic
communication
Discussing the method
Meaning &
sociocultural
appropriateness
Often TTT
& IRE prevail
3. Student-orientation
Effective verbal
& non-verbal
communication
Functions
&
notions
Language
awareness
21
3.2 Task-based
Language Teaching:
problem-solving
Focus on
 communicative tasks
 Often considered a strong version of
CLT
 authentic and ‘natural’ language learning
 learner-driven interaction
 But TBLT avoids practice of specific
forms
 more comprehensive and holistic tasks
 Tasks focus on
 meaningful and appropriate interaction
 how to travel to New York, where to stay,
what to do there
 process- and product-oriented
performance
 Learner as social agent
3. Student-orientation
22
3.2 Task-based
Language Teaching:
problem-solving
Task as a work plan vs. task as
a process
adapted from Ellis 2003: 244, 257-58, 276-78; Ellis 2012: 200-02; Keller 2013: 77
3. Student-orientation
23
3.2 Task-based
Language Teaching:
problem-solving
TBLT and errors
 Focus on meaning risks fossilization of errors
 Prevent fossilization by
 proactive focus on form
 anticipating learners’ errors
 providing input that creates awareness of
problems before output
 reactive focus on form after output
 intermittent
 retrospective
 Assessment
 measured in relation to subject content
 multidimensional (reliability, validity)
 complement by discrete-item tests
3. Student-orientation
24
3.2 Task-based
Language Teaching:
problem-solving
Discussing the method
Practical
problemsolving
Authentic
learner-driven
interaction
Holistic &
comprehensive
learning
Accuracy?
Time?
3. Student-orientation
25
3.3 Collaborative and Participatory Methods: social and critical agency
What are the benefits and problems of group work? Consider the
potential effects on cognitive, social, and language learning. What is
your preferred role in groups (e. g., leader, questioner, or mediator)?
How do you support others, and what do you learn from them? What is
necessary to improve the cognitive, social, and linguistic effects of
group work?
3. Student-orientation
26
3.3 Collaborative and
Participatory Methods:
social and critical agency
Collaborative Method
focuses on cooperation
 Interaction, controversy, cooperation
 Cooperation before competition
 reasoned judgments
 higher-level reasoning
 critical thinking processes
 Structured controversy
 negotiating pros and cons
 respectful but challenging controversy
 involving learners
 stimulating cognitive processing, social skills
 facilitating greater mastery and retention of
subject matter
 facilitating greater ability to generalize the
principles learned to a wider variety of
situations
3. Student-orientation
27
3.3 Collaborative and
Participatory Methods:
social and critical agency
Principles of teamwork
Group processing
Positive
interdependence
Individual
accountability
3. Student-orientation
Face-to-face
promotive
interaction
Social
skills
28
3.3 Collaborative and
Participatory Methods:
social and critical agency
Discussing the method
Social skills:
cooperation vs.
competition
Sociopolitical &
educational:
citizen
Language
learning?
3. Student-orientation
Heterogeneous
learners vs.
groups
Cognitive
Processing &
critical
thinking
29
3.3 Collaborative and
Participatory Methods:
social and critical agency
Participatory or Critical
Method – focus on
 participation
 critical agency
 Insights into politics of power, language,
and knowledge
 Learner participation
 topics of education
 relevance for life  motivation
 improving their living conditions and society
 Raising awareness
 social injustice
 economic discrepancies
 Empowering learners
 change inequality and discrimination
 Critical discourse analysis
 bias often implied in language use
 manipulation & domination
 ‘human capital’, ‘problem of migrants’
3. Student-orientation
30
3.3 Collaborative and
Participatory Methods:
social and critical agency
Discussing the method
Participation &
empowerment
Focus on
learner issues:
motivation
Progressive
political
agenda
3. Student-orientation
Critical
incidents &
touchy issues:
trust?
Graded
input &
learning?
31
4. Subject-orientation: Bilingual Teaching or Content and Language Integrated
Learning
Bilingual Teaching or CLIL
Short-term
intensive
exposure
4. Subject-orientation
Long-term
immersion
programs
32
4. Subject-orientation:
Bilingual Teaching or
Content and Language
Integrated Learning
‘Two for the price of one’?
 Bilingual speaker
 BICS
 CALP
 Teaching academic subjects in L2
 but: concepts & subject-specific discourse
need to be learned in both L1 & L2
 problem of interference  raise awareness
of different conceptual mappings in different
Ls: ‘bird’, ‘friend’
 CLIL in Europe
 political interest: advancing intercultural
understanding
 economic interest: applied knowledge in FLs
 educational interest: boosting language skills
4. Subject-orientation
33
4. Subject-orientation: Bilingual Teaching or Content and
Language Integrated Learning – Implementation in Germany
Bilingualer Zug
Bilinguale Module
 More intensive language classes
in grades 5 & 6
 Continuous teaching of several
subjects in the L2 from grade 7
until end of school
 Primary school: topics of interest
 ‘animals and pets,’ ‘the
seasons,’ ‘my home and town’
 Secondary school: teaching
topics in L1 or L2 in one subject
 ‘the British Empire’ in English
and ‘Fascism’ in German
4. Subject-orientation
34
4. Subject-orientation: Bilingual Teaching or Content and Language Integrated
Learning – principles
Double
focus
Concepts
and skills
Crosscurricular
Raising
language
awareness
Active, cooperative,
taskbased,
holistic
Authenticity
Principles
Principles
Scaffolding
Comprehensible
input &
output
Language
across
curriculum
Message
before
accuracy
Learner
strategies
Media
literacy
cf. Mehisto et al. 2008: 29, 69, 138-71
4. Subject-orientation
35
4. Subject-orientation: Bilingual Teaching or Content and Language Integrated
Learning
Research British online newspapers, British and
German historical sources on the Great War (Erster
Weltkrieg), and watch the episode Blackadder Goes
Forth from the British satire in order to come up
with arguments for and against the British
celebrations of the beginning (!) of the Great War
in 2014. Select and critically reflect on material that
highlights different perspectives within Great
Britain and between British and German views of
the Great War. Reflect on the difference between
this comparative approach and the idea of a
modular concept that teaches one topic in one
language and from ‘one’ cultural point of view.
With regard to the principles mentioned above,
suggest tasks and materials for working on the
topic in grades 11 or 12.
4. Subject-orientation
36
5. Age and stage: early
language learning and
transition
Great
capacity to
acquire
Ls
The earlier, the better’?
Little
exposure,
practice
5. Age and stage
37
5. Age and stage: early
language learning and
transition
Goals
Positive
attitude
Communication skills
Learning
strategies
Confidence
& selfefficacy
5. Age and stage
38
5. Age and stage: early language learning and transition – principles
Creative
Interlanguage
Motivation
Metalinguistic
knowledge
Comprehensible
input
Positive
atmosphere
Principles
Addressing prior
knowledge
5. Age and stage
Principles
Rich input
Qualifying
L2
communication only
if necessary
Accurate
pronunciation
Authentic
speech
production
Alternating
proceedings
Tolerating
structural
errors
39
Transition
5. Age and stage: early language learning and transition
Primary school teachers
“have to start all over
Secondary school teachers
Students
5. Age and stage
“neglect learnerorientation,
motivation, and the
knowledge acquired so
far”
again because the
children only play and
do not learn anything
of use”
“exciting, but a change
of school, peer groups,
teachers, methods,
subjects”
40
5. Age and stage: early language learning and transition - differences
5. Age and stage
41
5. Age and stage: early language learning and transition – narrowing the gap
5. Age and stage
42
6. Individual
differences and factors
Structural
conditions
Impact factors on academic
achievement
Achievement
≠
Individual
Learner
We should focus
on the greatest
source of variance
that can make the
difference – the
teacher. – John
Hattie
Postmethod concept
6. Individual differences and factors
43
6. Individual differences and factors – pedagogical principles facilitating
achievement
Setting a personal example and inspiring (life-long) learning
Creating a safe, caring, positive atmosphere and good relationships
Reckoning with heterogeneity in terms of aptitude, skills, and motivation
Diagnosing preconceptions, competences, and needs
Stimulating motivation
Defining specific, proximate, and realistic objectives
cf. Hattie 2009: 33-36, 62-70, 247; Riemer 2010: 168-70
6. Individual differences and factors
44
6. Individual differences and factors – pedagogical principles facilitating
achievement
Selecting multiple and varied topics, methods, and media
Clearly structuring the process of lessons
Providing comprehensible, contextualized, and salient input
Designing clear, activating, and challenging tasks
Offering choices and helping students
Providing much time on task
cf. Hattie 2009: 33-36, 62-70, 247; Riemer 2010: 168-70
6. Individual differences and factors
45
6. Individual differences and factors – pedagogical principles facilitating
achievement
Fostering confidence, responsibility, autonomy, and cooperation
Making learners observe peer models of successful learning
Giving feedback that connects progress to effort and builds self-confidence
Providing clear success criteria and developing appropriate tests
Supporting remedial learning
cf. Hattie 2009: 33-36, 62-70, 247; Riemer 2010: 168-70
6. Individual differences and factors
46
6. Individual differences and factors – interrelated factors
adapted from Dörnyei & Skehan 2003: 619; Dörnyei 2010: 249; Schlak 2010: 258; Ellis 2012: 308-16
6. Individual differences and factors
47
6. Individual differences and factors
Recall particularly motivating and demotivating learning experiences.
Reflect on individual and contextual factors of influence. Establish a list
of recommendations of what to do and what to avoid as a learner and
a teacher to stimulate and maintain motivation.
6. Individual differences and factors
48
6. Individual differences and factors – motivation as dynamic system
adapted from Dörnyei & Skehan 2003: 619; Dörnyei 2004: 429-30; Riemer 2010: 171
6. Individual differences and factors
49
6. Individual differences and factors
Look at every item in the dynamic system of motivation: reflect on your
strengths and your weaknesses and mark these. Think about what you
can do to improve your own cognition/motivation. Work on your three
most important weaknesses and monitor your progress. Discuss with
your peers which topics and activities would stimulate your motivation.
6. Individual differences and factors
50
Recommended reading
Bach, Gerhard & Johannes-P. Timm, eds. (2013). Englischunterricht:
Grundlagen und Methoden einer handlungsorientierten
Unterrichtspraxis. 5th ed. Tuebingen: Francke.
Hallet, Wolfgang & Frank G. Königs, eds. (2010). Handbuch
Fremdsprachendidaktik. Seelze-Velber: Klett/Kallmeyer.
Hattie, John (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact
on Learning. London et al.: Routledge.
Larsen-Freeman, Diane & Marti Anderson (2011). Techniques &
Principles in Language Teaching. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Chapter 4: From methods to principles
51
Acknowledgments
Canale, Michael (2013). From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy. In: Jack C. Richards & Richard W. Schmidt,
eds. Language and Communication. 7th ed. London et al: Routledge, 2-27.
Canale, Michael & Merrill Swain (1980). Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. In: Applied
Linguistics 1.1, 1-47.
Dörnyei, Zoltán (2004). Motivation. In Michael Byram, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. London: Routledge,
425-32.
Dörnyei, Zoltán (2010). The Relationship between Language Aptitude and Language Learning Motivation: Individual Differences from a
Dynamic Systems Perspective. In: Ernesto Macaro, ed. Continuum Companion to Second Language Acquisition. London: Continuum, 247-67.
Dörnyei, Zoltán & Peter Skehan (2003). Individual Differences in Second Language Learning. In: Catherine J. Doughty & Michael H. Long, eds.
The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 589-630.
Ellis, Rod (2003). Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford et al.: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, Rod (2012). Language Teaching Research and Language Pedagogy. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hattie, John (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London et al.: Routledge.
Keller, Stefan D. (2013). Kompetenzorientierter Englischunterricht. Berlin: Cornelsen Scriptor.
Mehisto, Peeter; David Marsh & María Jesús Frigols (2008). Uncovering CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Bilingual and
Multilingual Education. Oxford: Macmillan.
Reinfried, Marcus (2004). Audio-visual Language Teaching. In: Michael Byram, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.
London et al.: Routledge, 61-64.
Riemer, Claudia (2010). Motivation. In: Wolfang Hallet & Frank G. Königs, eds. Handbuch Fremdsprachendidaktik. Seelze-Velber:
Klett/Kallmeyer, 168-73.
Schlak, Torsten (2010). Sprachlerneignung. In: Wolfang Hallet & Frank G. Königs, eds. Handbuch Fremdsprachendidaktik. Seelze-Velber:
Klett/Kallmeyer, 257-61.
Chapter 4: From methods to principles
52
Acknowledgments
The cartoons at the beginning of each ppt were designed by Frollein Motte, 2014. If not otherwise indicated, the copyright of the figures lies
with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can be found in the references to the units unless given below. All of the websites were
checked on 10 September 2014.
 Slides 6, 9, 12, 14, 22, 25, 29, 31: Open Clipart Vectors, https://pixabay.com/en/comments-discussion-esperanto-151907/
 Slide 10: The New Language Laboratory, 1970, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_New_Language_Laboratory,_1970.jpg
 Slide 16: Model of communicative competence, based on Canale & Swain 1980, Canale 2013
 Slide 23: Methodology and principles of the task as work plan, adapted from Ellis 2003: 244, 257-58, 276-78; Ellis 2012: 200-02; Keller 2013:
77
 Slide 28: Working together teamwork puzzle concept, https://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2137737248
 Slide 36: Left to right – Tim McInnerny, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie (back), Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson (front) in Blackadder Goes Forth,
(original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackadder_Goes_Forth#/media/File:Ba4.jpg (original source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/content/images/2007/02/22/trench_1600_1600x1200.jpg)
 Slide 37, 38, 40 (adapted): Students in line with teacher, http://teachingintheprimarygrades.blogspot.de/2013/09/hallway-procedures.html
 Slide 40: Sign of different school types on a school complex in Germany,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany#/media/File:Schulen_Wegweiser.jpg; teacher, https://pixabay.com/en/teacherbookworm-glasses-professor-359311
 Slide 42: http://www.hsslive.in/2014/08/higher-secondary-general-transfer-2014.html
 Slide 47: Individual learner differences, adapted from Dörnyei & Skehan 2003: 619; Dörnyei 2010: 249; Schlak 2010: 258; Ellis 2012: 308-16
 Slide 49: Dynamic system of motivation, adapted from Dörnyei & Skehan 2003: 619; Dörnyei 2004: 429-30; Riemer 2010: 171
Chapter 4: From methods to principles
53