ING303 Teaching Language Skills I

1. ING303Teaching Language Skills I Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü Lecture 1: EnglIshteachIngtoday: what do I needtoknow?

2. Introduction: TeachingPriorities What do wewanttoteach in thelanguageclassroom? • FluencyandAccuracy • Wewantourstudentstospeak English fluently ____________________ andaccurately ___________________. • It is importantforstudentstouse English fluentlyandaccurately in orderto ______________________. (do Task 1) • DifferentstylesandEnglishes • It is importanttonotethatthere is not onlyone ‘style of English’ as a result of English beingusedworldwideforallsorts of purposes. • Whataresomestyles of English & examples of World Englishes? ______________________________________________________. (do Task 2)

3. Introduction: TeachingPriorities(cont’d) • Vocabulary • Teaching/learningnewwords is a significantpart of teaching/learning a newlanguage, particularlyfor ___________________. • Vocabularylearningshould be givenspecialimportance as courses do not providelearnerswiththeamount of vocab. theyneed. (do Task 3) • Writing • Writing is generallyused as a meansforlanguagepracticeandtesting, ratherthanteachingstudentshowtowritewell. • Writing has not beengivenenoughattention as much as otherlanguageskills (i.e. speakingandlistening). • Informalwriting is becomingmore popular duetotheuse of ___________ (do Task 4)

4. English as an internationallanguage • English has undergone a dramaticchangefrombeingthelanguge of certaincountriestobeing a global means of communication. • Thisdevelopment has caused a number of changes in theprinciplesandpractice of Englishlanguageteaching. (do task 5)

5. English as an internationallanguage (cont’d) • LanguageStandards • A majorissue: whichEnglishshould be taught in theclassroom? British, Americanorsomething else? Therearedifferences in terms of ________. • Thisissue is not relevant as theattention has shiftedtowhichlexical, grammatical, phonologicalandspellingformsareusedworldwide. • Twoweeks / fortnight • The [r] sound in wordscar, brotherandever! • Thepronunciation of thewordslikebinoculars, directorandcan’t! (do Task 6) • TheNativeandNon-nativeEnglishTeacher • Englishteacherswhoare not nativespeakers of Englishoutnumberteaherswhoarenativespeakers. • Theyshould be fullycompetent in Englishand set a goodexample!

6. English as an internationallanguage (cont’d) • Theplace of EnglishLiteratureandCulture • Thetendencywasthattheteachingmaterialshould be takenfrom ‘authentic’ textsfromEnglish-speakingcountries. • This is nowchanging as textsadaptedfromnon-English-speakingworldareused. Studentsshould be taughtdifferentcultures. (do Task 7) • Theplace of the L1 • Theaim of an Engishcoursewastomakelearnerscommunicatelikenativespeakers. • This is not a realisticone since English is basically a tool, likemathorcomputerskills, an abilitytheneedtohavetofuction in today’sworld. • The L1 is learner’sprimarylanguageandtheonetheyidentifywith. There is no reasonto ban theuse of L1 in theclassroom. (do Task 8)

7. Language acquisition theories and teaching methodologies • Theories of language acquisition: How do we learn a second lang.? • Intuitive acquisition: we learn a second language the same way we learn our first language. Acquisition by way of exposure to the language in authentic communicative situations. • Habit-formation: Language is a set of habits. We mimic and memorize and drill the patterns of language until we learn to produce the correct form. • Cognitive Process: Language involves the understanding of underlying rules: if we master these rules, we will be able to apply them in different contexts. • Skill-learning: Language is a skill. We learn it in school just as we learn other skills: someone explains the rules to us, we understand and practice them until we use them fluently and skillfully.

8. Languageacquisitiontheoriesandteachingmethodologies (cont’d) • Themaincontrastingideasunderlyingthesefourtheories: explicitvs. implicitteachingandlearning. • An implicit model: Welearnlanguagesthroughsubconsciousacquisitionwithoutactuallyworkingoutrulesortranslatingwords. Theimplicit model is expressed in the ____________ items. • An explicit model: weneedtoconsciouslyunderstandhowthelanguageworks, expressed in the ___________________ items. • Allthesetheorieshavesometruth in them! None on itsowncoverthecomplexity of second-language-learningprocess. • Whichsecondlanguageacquisition model makesmore sense toyou?

9. Languageteachingapproachesandmethodologies • What is an approachtolanguagelearning? • Your thoughtsandbeliefs about how languageworksandhow it is learned. • An approach to language learning consists of the techniques and activities you decide to use in orderto learn a language. • What is a methodology? • A methodology is a collection of teachingproceduresthatarecompatiblewith a particularapproach • Therehavebeenquite a number of approachesandmethodologiesusedforlanguageteaching in thetwentiethcentury (e.g. grammar-translationmethod, audio-lingualmethodetc…)

10. Language teachingapproachesandmethodologies (cont’d) • Grammar-translationmethod: • Itwashistorically used in teaching LatinandGreek. • Classes are taught in the students' mother tongue, with little active use of the target language. •  Elaborate explanations of grammar are always provided. Grammar instruction provides the rules for putting words together. • Subject + am/is/are + Verbing (+Object) • Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue, and vice versa.  • Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.

11. Language teachingapproachesandmethodologies (cont’d) • Direct Method: • Itstarted as a reactiontothegrammar-translationmethodin an attempt to use the target language in theclassroom. • Lessons begin with a dialogue using a modern conversational style in the target language. • Material is first presented orally with actions or pictures. The mother tongue is NEVERused in instruction.There is no translation.  • Questions are answered in the target language. Grammar is taught inductively--rules are generalized from the practice and experience with the target language. • Culture is considered an important aspect of learning the language.  The culture associated with the target language is also taught inductively.

12. Language teachingapproachesandmethodologies (cont’d) • Audio-lingualMethod (Audio-lingualism) • Languagelearning is viewed as habit formation. Thusthismethod promotestheuse of repetition, memorization andteacher-leddrilling. • Structures are sequenced and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. • Little or no grammatical explanations are provided; grammar is taught inductively. Skills are sequenced: Listening, speaking, reading and writ. • PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) / Modern Audio-lingualism • It is usedtoteachfunctions, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. • In a PPP lesson there are three stages: first, the teacher presents the target language; then, students practise the new language items; and finally they use their own ideas to talk about themselves /things.

13. Language teachingapproachesandmethodologies (cont’d) • TheCommunicativeApproach • CommunicativeCompetence: Itis the acquisition of the ability to use a language to achieve yourcommunicative purposes. • Communicative competence represents a shift in focus from the grammatical to the communicative properties of the language. • TheCommunicativeapproach is based on theassumptionthatlanguage is forcommunicationandwelearn it throughnaturalisticacquisitionprocesses (i.e. thewaywelearnournativelanguage). • Theclassroom is morelearner-centredandconveyingof meanings is seen as moreimportantthanaccuracy. • Somemethodologiesbased on the CA: task-basedinstructionand CLIL.

14. Language teachingapproachesandmethodologies (cont’d) • The Post-communicativeApproach • Itmaintainsthe idea thatthe main function of language is effectivecommunication. Methodologiesshouldinvolveplenty of comm. tasks. • Itgivesspecialemphasis on teachinggrammar, vocabulary, pronunciationandspelling. • Italsoincludestechniquessuch as translationandlearningdialoguesortextsbyheart. • Thisapproachis a recognition that there is not onespecific ‘best' way to teach a language.Itcovers more than just speaking, or performing functional tasks; italso includesliteratureandotherthings.

15. ComputerizedTeachingMaterials • Amassivedevelopment in thearea of languageteachingmaterialsand a significantincrease in theuse of computers / digitalsources. • Computer-assistedlanguagelearning (CALL) startedto be widelyused in the 1990s and 2000s. • Studentsandteachersstillpreferto do most of theirlearningandteachingthrough a coursebook in theclassroom. • The main question is not whethertousecomputerizedmaterialsor not, but howandwheretousethem.

16. Using technology in theclassroom • Theproduction of newmaterialsbyteachersor of assignmentsbystudentscould be done morequicklyandeasilythrough software. • Data projectorsenablepresentationsandteachingmaterialsto be displayed on a screen. • Theinteractivewhiteboard (IWB) combinesthefunctions of data projectorandthewhiteboard. • Theuse of Internet: communicationthroughemailoutsidetheclassroom, informationgatheringthroughthe World Wide Web.

17. Motivation • Motivation is an internal process that makes a person move toward a goal.Itis an importantfactor in learninglanguagesuccessfully. • IntegrativeandInstrumentalMotivation • IntegrativeMotivation: Itreferstothedesire of thelearnertolearnthelanguage in ordertointegrateintothecommunity of thespeakers of thatlanguage. • InstrumentalMotivation: It is theneedtolearnthelanguageformaterialoreducationalbenefit: toget a (better) job, togotograduateschool. • ExtrinsicandIntrinsicmotivation • Extrinsic (outside) motivationinvolvesexternalconditionssuch as materialrewards (e.g. prize, money), goodgradesandpraise.

18. Motivation (cont’d) • Intrinsicmotivation: Itis self-motivationandcomesfrom ‘inside’. • Intrinsically-motivatedstudentswork on an activitybecausetheyfind it usefulandrelevanttotheir life andtheirobjectives. • Self andPersonal Identity • Itrefersto how weseeourselvesorwishtoseeourselves in thefuture. A studentwhoseeshimselforherself as high-achievingwillmakemoreeffort in learning. • A studentwhowantstogoandliveabroadwilllearn English oranotherlanguagequicklyandeasily. (do thetask on page 11)

19. Whatto do tomotivatelanguagelearners? • Taketheopportunitytoshowthem how important it is tospeak English – furtherstudyandpossibleemployment, free-time activities, gettingtoknowothercultures. • Promotingtheirself-image as successfullearners – teachersshould do theirbesttomake sure studentssucceed in tasks, takeeveryopportunitytoencouragethem! • Ensurethatclassroomactivitiesareinteresting – teachersneedtousecertainstrategies in taskdesigntomaintainstudentinterest.

20. Wrap-up • Whathavewedoneso far? • TeachingPriorities • English as an internationallanguage • Language-acquisitiontheoriesandteachingmethodologies • Computerizedteachingmaterials • Motivation

21. Comingupnext! • TheLesson!