Learner center method

INTRODUCTION

Many language teachers became doubtful about the effectiveness of language-centered

pedagogy by the late 1960s and early 1970s. They realized that simply teaching the
structures of a language wasn't enough to foster communicative capability in learners.
Applied linguists began to write about the state of language teaching with doubts about the
effectiveness of language-centered pedagogy. Newmark's paper, "How Not to Interfere
with Language Learning," epitomized the doubts among language teaching professionals and
opened up new avenues of pedagogic thought. Newmark doubted that language learning can
be additive and linear as was maintained by language-centered pedagogists. He asserted that
if each linguistic item had to be acquired one at a time, proceeding from simplest to most
complex, the learner would never be able to speak appropriately.

Newmark (1966) believed that language is learned best as whole phrases instead of isolated
words. He argued that language-centered teaching methods were inadequate and interfered
with the language learning process. This idea was ahead of its time but later led to the
development of learning-centered methods. Important developments in linguistics, sociology,
psychology, and other fields in the 1960s further accelerated the search for alternative
language teaching methods. These developments included Chomsky's generative theory,
Halliday's functional perspective, Hymes' communicative competence theory, Austin's
speech act theory, and sociologists' communication models.

The formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) eased trade and travel
restrictions within multilingual Europe, which led to greater interaction among the people of
Western European countries and a need for a new language teaching approach. In 1971, the
Council of Europe commissioned a group of European applied linguists to design a new way of
teaching foreign languages. Wilkins, a British applied linguist, proposed a notional/functional
syllabus that consisted of categories of notions and categories of communicative functions,
providing a new way of exploiting the situational dialogue inherited from the past. This led
to a language teaching movement known as communicative method.

6.1. THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES

Learner-centered pedagogy is based on a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from various

fields such as linguistics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, ethnography,
ethnomethodology, pragmatics, and discourse analysis. The theory of language
communication adopted by learner-centered pedagogists reflects the influence of all these
fields.

6.1.1. Theory of Language

The theory of language developed by learner-centered pedagogists drew from various
linguistic theories, including Chomskyan formal linguistics, Hallidayan functional linguistics,
Hymsian sociolinguistics, and Austinian speech act theory. Chomsky's critique of structural
linguistics led to a new understanding of language as a network of transformations, rather
than a hierarchical structure of structures. However, Chomskyan linguistics was narrow in
its focus on syntax and paid little attention to meaning in communication. Halliday expanded
on this by emphasizing the three macrofunctions of language - textual, interpersonal, and
ideational - and the interplay between them. This highlighted the "meaning potential" of
language.

Hymes questioned Chomsky's idea of grammatical competence and focused on the

importance of communicative appropriateness in speech communities. Austin's work on
language as a series of speech acts fit well with the concept of language as communication,
with the illocutionary force being crucial to understanding the intended meaning of an
utterance.

The article discusses how learner-centered pedagogists approach language learning by

focusing on speech-act theory, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics. They view language
as a means of communication and consider linguistic structures, notional and functional units,
and sociocultural norms of interpretation. Unlike language-centered pedagogists who only
see language as a system, learner-centered pedagogists also view it as discourse.

6.1.2. Theory of Language Learning

Cognitive psychologists derived the language learning theories for learner-centered

pedagogists. They focused on insight formation and rejected the habit formation. They
believed that learner's cognitive capacity mediates between teacher input and learner
output. The mental processes underlying the response are important for cognitive
psychologists. Learner's active involvement in the learning process can only lead to
meaningful learning, not rote learning. Learner-centered pedagogists consider language
communication as a synthesis of textual, interpersonal, and ideational functions. Language
learning is most appropriately seen as communicative interaction involving all the participants
in the learning and including the various material resources on which the learning is
exercised.

The importance of grammar learning was not neglected by learner-centered pedagogists who
emphasized the communicative abilities of interpretation, expression, and negotiation.
Language learning requires the development of both accuracy and fluency. The Five Cs
(communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities) represent a holistic,
communicative approach to language learning. The communication goal area addresses the
learner’s ability to use the target language to communicate thoughts, feelings, and opinions
in a variety of settings; the cultures goal area addresses the learner’s understanding of how
the products and practices of a culture are reflected in the language; the connections goal
area addresses the necessity for learners to learn to use the language beyond the classroom;
and the comparisons goal area are designed to foster learner insight and understanding of
the nature of language and culture.

6.1.3. Theory of Language Teaching

Learner-centered pedagogists stress the importance of a language teacher's role in helping

learners understand and effectively use language in varying situations. Teachers should
foster meaningful communication by designing activities that encourage dialogue, provide a
choice of response, emphasize context, use authentic language, introduce language at a
discoursal level, tolerate natural errors in language development and integrate key skills.
These methods recognize the importance of communicative abilities like negotiation,
interpretation, and expression in a learner-centered pedagogy. Consequently, this approach
requires a reevaluation of the roles of teachers and learners in a communicative context.

The teacher has two roles in the classroom: to facilitate communication and to act as a
participant. This requires them to be an organizer of resources and a guide for learners.
The learners also have to take an active role in their own learning process.

6.1.4. Content Specifications

The text discusses how learner-centered pedagogists designed a syllabus that prioritizes
not only grammatical categories but also notional/functional categories of language to meet
the communicative needs of their learners. The communicative needs of learners can be
identified by asking several questions. The 1970s saw several frameworks for content
specifications for learner-centered pedagogy, including Wilkins' notional/functional syllabus
and van Ek's inventory of notions, functions, topics, and grammatical items. Munby's book
Communicative Syllabus Design provides an elaborate taxonomy of specifications for
communicative functions, discourse features, and textual operations.

The text discusses the use of sample units in language teaching to highlight communicative
functions, context, grammatical structures/items, and vocabulary. It also mentions the
positive and problematic aspects of a need-based, learner-centered curriculum for
identifying and meeting learners' language needs, creating learner motivation, and designing
specific purpose courses. However, the difficulty of deriving manageable lists of notions and
functions for groups of learners with diverse language needs and the absence of criteria for
selecting and sequencing language input to the learner are also mentioned as serious
concerns.
6.2.1. Input Modifications

The learner-centered pedagogists pursued a form- and meaning-based approach to language

teaching, connecting form and meaning explicitly in syllabus design, textbook production, and
classroom input and interaction. They recognized that successful communication entails
more than structures and attempted to connect form and meaning.

The assumption that contextual meaning can be analyzed and language input can be modified
for learners is not always accurate because one form can express multiple functions and one
function can be expressed through multiple forms. Learner-centered pedagogy cannot
provide a wide range of contexts for language functions, so it is up to the learner to figure
out how to interpret and reformulate language in different situations. Success in doing so
depends on individual learning styles.

6.2.2. Interactional Activities

Learner-centered pedagogists use the presentation-practice-production sequence, but they

also focus on notional/functional categories of language. They use innovative classroom
procedures to ensure a communicative flavor. Communicative Language Teaching by
Littlewood is a source of communicative activities. The teacher provides precommunicative
and communicative activities to help learners activate and integrate linguistic forms for
meaningful communication and provides corrective feedback at all stages of activities.

The text describes classroom activities that promote a learner-centered approach to

education. Two examples are given, one involving completed tables with missing
information, and the other involving train timetables. The activities require learners to
communicate with each other to fill in missing information or solve a problem. The language
forms used in the activities can be specified by the teacher. The activities are intended to
help learners develop effective communication skills.

Two examples of functional communication activities where the teacher creates a situation
for learners to overcome an information gap or solve a problem. The objective is to help
learners find the language necessary to convey an intended message effectively in a
specific context. The activities involve paired-activity where learners interact with each
other, ask questions, seek information, and pool the information together to carry out the
activities successfully.

The text describes different activities for language learners that focus on social
interaction and require consideration of social meaning. Examples include working together
to find the quickest journey from one place to another and role-playing scenarios such as a
hotel manager and guest. These activities require learners to pay attention to communication
as a social behavior and not just for functional effectiveness. They are part of learner-
centered pedagogy that emphasizes the sharing of information and negotiation of meaning.

The focus of learner-centered pedagogy is on sharing information and negotiating meaning

through various activities including information-gap activities and role-plays. The challenge
for teachers is to help students connect these classroom interactions with real-world
communication. The pedagogy emphasizes form-based activities for textual interactions and
meaning-based activities for interpersonal interactions. A role-play scenario is provided for
practice.

6.3. A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

Learner-centered pedagogists shifted language teaching away from a focus on grammar

structures and towards a communicative approach that emphasized the creative and
purposeful nature of language. They highlighted negotiation, interpretation, and expression
as key aspects of language use and expanded the focus of language-centered pedagogy to
include functional features while still retaining a focus on grammar. This approach has
been found to be more effective in promoting second language learning than programs that
exclusively emphasize grammar.

The learner-centered pedagogists retained some principles from audiolingualism which

were not effective, such as the linear and additive way of language learning and the
presentation-practice-production sequence of language teaching. This pedagogy presented
grammatical, lexical, and functional items one at a time in a pre-selected and pre-
sequenced manner, which is not an effective way of language learning. The acquisition of
language competence is not accumulative, but adaptive, which means that learners proceed
through continual revision and reconstruction. Learning is a process of recurrent
unlearning and relearning where encoding rules and conventions for their use are adapted
to accommodate new language data.

The text discusses the lack of fundamental differences between language-centered and
learning-centered pedagogies in language teaching. The term 'communicative revolution'
often used to describe communicative language teaching is seen by some as an
overstatement. Communication cannot be guaranteed solely through an agenda, and various
investigations have shown that some so-called communicative classrooms focus more on form
and grammatical accuracy than communicative fluency. The conclusion is that interactions in
communicative classrooms may not be very communicative.

The text discusses the belief of learner-centered pedagogists that adult L2 learners do
not possess normal pragmatic skills and cannot transfer them from their mother tongue,
and dismisses this view as false. It suggests that L2 learners bring with them pragmatic
knowledge and ability from their L1, and that this knowledge can be successfully
transferred to the L2. The text cites research that supports this view and recommends
that teachers use the L1 alongside the L2 in the classroom.

6.4. CONCLUSION

The text discusses the theoretical principles and classroom procedures of learner-centered
pedagogy, specifically communicative language teaching. It highlights the innovation and
emphasis on learner motivation in this pedagogy, which has made it popular among language
teachers globally. However, the popularity waned among some professionals due to
limitations in its language learning and teaching approach.