4.the Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching. Approach

4.The Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching.
Approach
The origins of this approach: British Applied Linguists: Harold Palmer and A.S.
Hornby (1920s to 1930s). Development a more scientific foundation for oral
approach to teaching English than the Direct Method. There are two main contents
of this development: Vocabulary control and Grammar control.
Vocabulary selection:
Vocabulary was seen as an essential component for reading proficiency. The
second emphasis was on reading skills. Development of principles for vocabulary
selection, have major practical impact on the teaching of English in subsequent
decades. Many of words occurred frequently in written texts and that knowledge of
these words would greatly assist in reading a foreign language. The Interim Report
on Vocabulary Selection based on frequency as well as other criteria. This was
later revised by Michael West and published as A General Service List of English
Words which became a standard reference in developing teaching materials.
Grammar control: Focus on the grammatical content of a language course by

teaching basic grammatical patterns through an oral approach. Classify the
grammatical structures into sentence patterns (substitution tables). One universal
logic formed the basis of all languages and the teacher’s responsibility was to show
how each category of the universal grammar was to be expressed in the foreign
language. Palmer viewed grammar as the underlying sentence patterns as
This method involved the systematic principles of Selection by which lexical and
grammatical content was chosen, Gradation by which the organization and
sequencing of content were determined, Presentation by which techniques used for
presentation and practice of items in a course. This was not to be confused with the
Direct Method, although it used oral procedures, lacked a systematic basis in
applied linguistic theory and practice.
The main characteristics of the approach: 1920 onward developed an approach to

methodology that involved systematic principles of selection( the procedures by
which lexical and grammatical content was chosen), gradation(principles by which
the organization and sequencing of content were determined),
presentation(techniques used for presentation ad practice of items in a course) 1.
Language Teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally
before it is presented in written form. 2. The target language is the language of the
classroom. 3. New language points are introduced and practiced situational. 4.
Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general
service vocabulary is covered. 5. Items of grammar are graded following the
principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones. 6. Reading and
writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is
established.
Theory of language underlying Situational Language Teaching can be

characterized as a type of British “structuralism”. Speech was regarded as the
basis of language. Structure was viewed as being at the heart of speaking ability,
and must be linked to the context and situations in which language is used. “Word
order, Structural Words”, the few inflexions of English, and Content 'Words will
form the material of our teaching” (Frisby 1957).In contrast to American linguist,
language was viewed as purposeful activity related to goals and situations in the
real world. Theory of learning is a type of behaviorist habit-learning theory. It
addresses primarily the processes rather than the conditions of learning. There are
three processes in learning a language (Palmer): Receiving the knowledge or
materials. Fixing it in the memory by repetition. Using it in actual practice until it
becomes a personal skill. French likewise saw language learning as habit
formation. Like the Direct Method, Situational Language Teaching adopts an
inductive approach to the teaching of grammar.
Design, Objectives is to teach a practical command of the four basic skills of

language. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar. Basic structures and
sentence patterns is fundamental to reading and writing skills.
The syllabus: Basic to the teaching of English in Situational Language Teaching is

a structural syllabus and a world list. A structural syllabus is a list of the basic
structures and sentence patterns of English.
Types of learning and teaching activities: A situational approach to presenting new

sentence patterns. o Use of concrete objects, pictures, and realia, and together with
actions and gestures. A drill-based manner of practicing new sentence patterns. o
guided repetition and substitution activities, including chorus repetition, dictation,
drills, and controlled oral-based reading and writing tasks.
The role of instructional material Situational Language Teaching is dependent

upon: Textbook: Contains organized lessons planned about different grammatical
structures. Visual aids: They are produced by the teacher or commercially
produced. They consist on wall charts, flashcards, pictures and so on.
Learner roles: The learner is required simply to listen and repeat what the teacher
says and to respond to questions and commands.
Teacher roles. (timing, oral practice, testing, revision) Serves as a model; Setting
up situations; Modeling the new structures for students to repeat. The role of
instructional materials is dependent of both a textbook and visual aids. The
textbook should be used “only as a guide to the learning process and become
skillful conductor”. The teacher is expected to be master of his textbook”. Visual
aids may be produced by the teacher or may be commercially process.
Procedure; Vary according to the level of the class, but at any level aim to move
from controlled to freer practice of structure and from oral use of sentence patterns
to their automatic use in speech, reading, and writing. Example for the pattern
being practiced: “There’s a NOUN+ of + (noun) in the box. Procedures associated
with Situational Language Teaching in the 1950s and 1960s were an extension and
further development of well-established techniques.
“P-P-P” lesson model was the essential feature in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Presentation: Introduction of a new teaching item (audio, visual or text) in context
used by teacher to present the grammar in a controlled situation. Practice:
Controlled practice of the item where learner says the structure correctly, using
such activities as drills and transformations, gap-fill or cloze activities and
multiple-choice questions. Production: learner transfers the structure to freer
communication through dialogues and other activities. A typical situational
Language Teaching lesson would start with stress and intonation practice. Then the
main body of the lesson might consist of: pronunciation, revision (to prepare for
new work if necessary), presentation of new structure or vocabulary, oral practice
(drilling), reading of material on the new structure, or written exercises. Sequence
of Activities by Davies et.al. (1975) -Listening practice(students repeat patterns or
word isolation several times) -Choral imitation(all together in large group repeat)
-Individual imitation(teacher asks individually and isolate sounds, words)
-Building up a new mode(using patterns they already know in order to bring about
the information for to introduce new model) -Elicitation(use mime, prompt,
gestures) -Substitution drilling (use cue words to mix examples of the new pattern)
-Question- answer drilling(one student asks to another) -Correction(if any student
have errors invite another one and asks correction).

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4.The Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching.

Grammar control: Focus on the grammatical content of a language course by

The main characteristics of the approach: 1920 onward developed an approach to

Theory of language underlying Situational Language Teaching can be

Design, Objectives is to teach a practical command of the four basic skills of

The syllabus: Basic to the teaching of English in Situational Language Teaching is

Types of learning and teaching activities: A situational approach to presenting new

The role of instructional material Situational Language Teaching is dependent

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