Approach, method, procedure and

technique
 by MOHAMMED RHALMI
 November 4, 2018
 4 Comments

The difference between approach, method,

procedure, and technique
English Language Teaching (ELT) terminology can be sometimes confusing. This post
tries to describe the difference
between approach, method, procedure, and technique. It is important, for us
teachers, to be informed about what exactly each of these terms means.

For the difference between methodology and method see this post:

What is the difference between method and methodology in teaching?

Methodological organization of teaching

practices
Methodology informs teachers about different ways to organize teaching practices.
Harmer (2001), for example, suggests that there are four levels of organization at the
level of methodology, namely, approach, method, procedure, and techniques. The
following description is inspired by this framework. Many elements of this framework
are also discussed by Anthony (1963) and Richards and Rodgers (1986).

Before, describing our framework of the organization of teaching practices, let’s first
review briefly Anthony’s and Richards & Rodgers’ models.

The following table shows how approach, method, procedure, and technique have
been viewed by Anthony (1963) and Richards & Rodgers (1986):

o Theory of language
Approach
o Theory of learning

Antony’s model o An overall plan for the orderly presentation of language

Method material, no part of which contradicts, and all of which
upon, the selected approach

Technique o The actual implementation in the language classroom

o Theory of language
Approach
o Theory of learning

o Objectives
o Syllabus type
o Activity types
Richards and Metho Design
Rodgers model d o Learner Roles
o Teacher Roles
o Role of materials

o Techniques
Procedur
e o Practices
o Behaviors

For the sake of the simplification of the above models, approach, method, procedure,
and technique are viewed in the following description as flowing in a hierarchical
model. First, an approach, which provides theoretical assumptions about language
and learning, informs methods. Each method shouldn’t contradict the approach on
which it is based. Similarly, procedures are ordered sequences of techniques that
have to be aligned with the theoretical assumption a method aspires to put into
practice.

Approach
An approach refers to the general assumptions about what language is and about
how learning a language occurs (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). It represents the sum
of our philosophy about both the theory of language and the theory of learning. In
other words, an approach to language teaching describes:

1. The nature of language,

2. How knowledge of a language is acquired,
3. And the conditions that promote language acquisition.

Method
A method is a practical implementation of an approach. A theory is put into practice
at the level a method. It includes decisions about:

o The particular skills to be taught,

o The roles of the teacher and the learner in language teaching and learning,

o The appropriate procedures and techniques,

o The content to be taught,

o And the order in which the content will be presented.

It also involves a specific syllabus organization, choices of the materials that will
boost learning, and the means to assess learners and evaluate teaching and learning.
It is a sort of an organizing plan that relies on the philosophical premises of an
approach.

Procedures
Jeremy Harmer (2001) describes ‘procedures’ as “an ordered set of techniques.” They
are the step-by-step measures to execute a method. A common procedure in the
grammar-translation method, for example, is to start by explaining the grammar
rules and exemplifying these rules through sentences that the students then had to
translate into their mother tongue. According to Harmer, a procedure is “smaller than
a method and larger than a technique.”
Technique
Implementing a procedure necessitates certain practices and behaviors that operate
in teaching a language according to a particular method. These practices and
behaviors are the techniques that every procedure relies on. Techniques, in this
sense, are part and parcel of procedures. They are the actual moment-to-moment
classroom steps that lead to a specified outcome. Every procedure is realized
through a series of techniques. They could take the form of an exercise or just any
activity that you have to do to complete a task. For instance, when using videos,
teachers often use a technique called “silent viewing” which consists of playing the
video without sound and asking students to figure out what the characters were
saying.

The difference between approach, method, procedure, and technique

Conclusion
In a nutshell, according to this framework, an approach informs methods with both
the theory of language and the theory of learning. Methods are actual
implementations of approaches. They are theories put into practice. Procedures, in
turn, are informed by methods. They are ordered step-by-step events that have
specified outcomes. Procedures rely on techniques to achieve desired results.

References
Anthony, Edward M. 1963. Approach, Method, and Technique. English Learning. 17:
63-67. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Brown H. Douglas (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall

Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. Essex, England: Longman.

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in

language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press

Language Teaching Methodology: Approach, Method,

and Technique

Talking about methodology means that we need to know basic concepts related to its
development. The development of methodology in foreign language teaching is inevitable
since the needs of learner will vary in different settings.  The way teachers deliver
information, set some activities, and make evaluations in the classroom are likely to be the
key concept which is necessary to defined. Historically, there are three concepts in foreign
language teaching that are interesting to discuss. They are approach, method, and
technique. These concepts seems to be neglected and interchangeable in practice.
However, as for professional teachers, these are really important to consider.

Professor Ag. Bambang Setiyadi, a lecturer from Lampung University and the author
of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, explains the notion of approach, method, and
technique clearly on his book.  In summary, the differences among them can be seen as
follows:

Approach, method and technique are the three terms which are often overlapped in
language teaching. People often mention one of them but they refer to another. Even,
people tend to use the term "method" for all of the three. Some people think that they refer to
the same concept: a procedure of teaching a language. Are the three terms the same or
different? Anthony (cited in Richards and Rodgers, 1986: 15) attempted to clarify this
difference. According to Anthony, the three have hierarchical arrangement. Approach is the
level of theories, method is the plan of language teaching which is consistent with the
theories, and techniques carry out a method. In other words, the arrangement of the three is
that approach is axiomatic, method is procedural and technique is implementational.

#1 Approach
An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language and the
nature of language learning and teaching. Approach is the level at which assumptions and
beliefs about language, language learning and language teaching. Different people may
agree with different beliefs and assumptions dealing with the nature of language, learning
and teaching. Assumptions or beliefs may be taken for granted. People do not have to come
to an agreement about the assumptions. Therefore, in language teaching there are different
assumptions about language and language teaching. Commonly, the following assumptions
may explain the nature of language.     

* Language is a group of sounds with specific meanings organized by grammatical rules (The Silent
Way).
* Language is the everyday spoken utterance of the average person at normal speed (Audio Lingual
Method).
* Language is a system for the expression of meaning (Communicative Language Teaching).
* Language is a set of grammatical rules and language consists of language chunks (Total Physical
Response).

As mentioned earlier approach also includes assumptions about language learning and
language teaching. Assumptions about the nature of language in themselves are not
complete and need to be completed by theories about learning or teaching. There are many
theories of learning and teaching. Richards and Rodgers (1986: 18) suggest that a learning
theory underlying an approach or method responds to two questions: 1) what are the
psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved in language learning, 2) what are the
conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated. In
general an approach has the answers to the two questions but certain methods may only
emphasize one of the two dimensions. From assumptions about language and language
learning, a method will be developed. There can be many methods within one approach.      

#2 Method
A method, which is developed based on some assumptions of an approach, includes the
whole plan for the presentation of language material. Since the plan is developed based on
the same assumptions, no part of the plan contradicts and all parts make a unity. The unity
of a method makes the method distinctive. Even though some assumptions of two different
methods may derive from the same theories, some other assumptions may be developed
from different theories. How little the difference is will make the unity of a method is different
from others. There have been many methods that have been introduced in language
teaching, to mention some: Audio Lingual Method, the Silent Way, Suggestopedia,
Community language Learning, Natural Approach, Total Physical Response and
Communicative Language Teaching.  This paper will only address procedures of some of
the methods  which may be applicable in the Indonesian context.

Another way of looking at method in language teaching has also been suggested by
Richards and Rodgers (1986: 16). They state that at the level of design the objectives of
language teaching, language syllabus, content are determined. At the level of design the
roles of language teachers, instructional materials are also specified. A method is
theoretically related to an approach, organized by the design, and practically realized in
procedure. Using Richards and Rodgers' terms, method includes approach, design and
procedure. Even though their description of method is different from Anthony's, basically the
two are similar, in the sense that a method should include assumptions about language and
language learning, and it will be realized in a set of techniques of presenting materials to
language learners, which is often called procedure. The difference between methods can be
easily observed from their techniques.

#3 Technique
As mentioned earlier, a technique is implementational, meaning that a technique is
something that actually takes place in language teaching or learning in the classroom. All
activities that take place in a language class are techniques. Techniques are not exclusive to
certain methods. To some extent, different methods may have similar techniques even
though they must have different techniques. Language teachers may develop their own
techniques as long as the techniques are still consistent with the assumptions or theories of
the methods from which the techniques derive. Techniques not only include the presentation
of language material but also the repetition of the material. Therefore, the position of a
technique is at the implementation phase and it is often called procedure while approach and
method are at the level of design (Richards and Rodgers, 1986: 16). The following examples
of techniques in error corrections can be seen below: 

* The teacher does not praise or criticize do that language learners learn to rely on themselves (The
Silent Way).
* The teacher often praise when a student has made a good thing in learning (The Audio Lingual
Method).
* When a student has produced a wrong expression, the teacher just repeats the right one (Total
Physical Response).
* The teacher does not care when a student makes an error as long as it does not hinder
communication (Natural Method).
      

A number of ways of conceptualizing approaches, methods and techniques may have been
proposed. Different people may have different ways of conceptualizing them. Understanding
how people conceptualize the terms will provide language teachers with a clearer picture of
language teaching methods. This understanding may avoid the teachers from
misunderstanding the concepts among themselves. Following certain methods, language
teachers may be expected to develop their own techniques by considering the underlying
principles of the methods. Approaches and methods are relatively permanent but techniques
may be adapted to the environment of the language learners and language teachers. The
procedure of a method, which comprises a set of techniques, may not be fixed even though
the assumptions of an approach and the basic principles of a method are relatively fixed.