Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: CLT, TPR

Teaching a foreign language can be a challenging but rewarding job that opens up entirely new paths of
communication to students. It’s beneficial for teachers to have knowledge of the many different
language learning techniques including ESL teaching methods so they can be flexible in their instruction
methods, adapting them when needed.

Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about the most popular foreign language teaching
methods. Some of the ones covered are the communicative approach, total physical response, the direct
method, task-based language learning, suggestopedia, grammar-translation, the audio-lingual approach
and more..

#1: The Direct Method

In the direct method, all teaching occurs in the target language, encouraging the learner to think in that
language. The learner does not practice translation or use their native language in the classroom.
Practitioners of this method believe that learners should experience a second language without any
interference from their native tongue.

Instructors do not stress rigid grammar rules but teach it indirectly through induction. This means that
learners figure out grammar rules on their own by practicing the language. The goal for students is to
develop connections between experience and language. They do this by concentrating on good
pronunciation and the development of oral skills.

This method improves understanding, fluency, reading, and listening skills in our students. Standard
techniques are question and answer, conversation, reading aloud, writing, and student self-correction for
this language learning method.

#2: Grammar-Translation

With this method, the student learns primarily by translating to and from the target language.
Instructors encourage the learner to memorize grammar rules and vocabulary lists. There is little or no
focus on speaking and listening. Teachers conduct classes in the student’s native language with this ESL
teaching method.
This method’s two primary goals are to progress the learner’s reading ability to understand literature in
the second language and promote the learner’s overall intellectual development. Grammar drills are a
common approach. Another popular activity is translation exercises that emphasize the form of the
writing instead of the content.

Although the grammar-translation approach was one of the most popular language teaching methods in
the past, it has significant drawbacks that have caused it to fall out of favour in modern schools.
Principally, students often have trouble conversing in the second language because they receive no
instruction in oral skills.

#3: Audio-Lingual

The audio-lingual approach encourages students to develop habits that support language learning.
Students learn primarily through pattern drills, particularly dialogues, which the teacher uses to help
students practice and memorize the language. These dialogues follow standard configurations of
communication.

There are four types of dialogues utilized in this method:

Repetition, in which the student repeats the teacher’s statement exactly

Inflection, where one of the words appears in a different form from the previous sentence (for example,
a word may change from the singular to the plural)

Replacement, which involves one word being replaced with another while the sentence construction
remains the same

Restatement, where the learner rephrases the teacher’s statement

This technique’s name comes from the order it uses to teach language skills. It starts with listening and
speaking, followed by reading and writing, meaning that it emphasizes hearing and speaking the
language before experiencing its written form. Because of this, teachers use only the target language in
the classroom with this TESOL method.
Many of the current online language learning apps and programs closely follow the audio-lingual
language teaching approach. It is a nice option for language learning remotely and/or alone, even
though it’s an older ESL teaching method.

#4: Structural Approach

Proponents of the structural approach understand language as a set of grammatical rules that should be
learned one at a time in a specific order. It focuses on mastering these structures, building one skill on
top of another, instead of memorizing vocabulary. This is similar to how young children learn a new
language naturally.

An example of the structural approach is teaching the present tense of a verb, like “to be,” before
progressing to more advanced verb tenses, like the present continuous tense that uses “to be” as an
auxiliary.

The structural approach teaches all four central language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
It’s a technique that teachers can implement with many other language teaching methods.

Most ESL textbooks take this approach into account. The easier-to-grasp grammatical concepts are
taught before the more difficult ones.

#5: Total Physical Response (TPR)

The total physical response method highlights aural comprehension by allowing the learner to respond
to basic commands, like “open the door” or “sit down.” It combines language and physical movements
for a comprehensive learning experience.

In an ordinary TPR class, the teacher would give verbal commands in the target language with a physical
movement. The student would respond by following the command with a physical action of their own. It
helps students actively connect meaning to the language and passively recognize the language’s
structure.
Many instructors use TPR alongside other methods of language learning. While TPR can help learners of
all ages, it is used most often with young students and beginners. It’s a nice option for an English
teaching method to use alongside some of the other ones on this list.

An example of a game that could fall under TPR is Simon Says.

#6: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

These days, CLT is by far one of the most popular approaches and methods in language teaching. Keep
reading to find out more about it.

This method stresses interaction and communication to teach a second language effectively. Students
participate in everyday situations they are likely to encounter in the target language. For example,
learners may practice introductory conversations, offering suggestions, making invitations, complaining,
or expressing time or location.

Instructors also incorporate learning topics outside of conventional grammar so that students develop
the ability to respond in diverse situations.

CLT teachers focus on being facilitators rather than straightforward instructors. Doing so helps students
achieve CLT’s primary goal, learning to communicate in the target language instead of emphasizing the
mastery of grammar.

Role-play, interviews, group work, and opinion sharing are popular activities practiced in communicative
language teaching, along with games like scavenger hunts and information gap exercises that promote
student interaction.

Most modern-day ESL teaching textbooks like Four Corners, Smart Choice, or Touchstone are heavy on
communicative activities.

#7: Natural Approach

This approach aims to mimic natural language learning with a focus on communication and instruction
through exposure. It de-emphasizes formal grammar training. Instead, instructors concentrate on
creating a stress-free environment and avoiding forced language production from students.

Teachers also do not explicitly correct student mistakes. The goal is to reduce student anxiety and
encourage them to engage with the second language spontaneously.

Classroom procedures commonly used in the natural approach are problem-solving activities, learning
games, affective-humanistic tasks that involve the students’ own ideas, and content practices that
synthesize various subject matter, like culture.

#8: Task-Based Language Teaching (TBL)

With this method, students complete real-world tasks using their target language. This technique
encourages fluency by boosting the learner’s confidence with each task accomplished and reducing
direct mistake correction.

Tasks fall under three categories:

Information gap, or activities that involve the transfer of information from one person, place, or form to
another.

Reasoning gap tasks that ask a student to discover new knowledge from a given set of information using
inference, reasoning, perception, and deduction.

Opinion gap activities, in which students react to a particular situation by expressing their feelings or
opinions.

Popular classroom tasks practiced in task-based learning include presentations on an assigned topic and
conducting interviews with peers or adults in the target language. Or, having students work together to
make a poster and then do a short presentation about a current event. These are just a couple of
examples and there are literally thousands of things you can do in the classroom.
It’s considered to be a modern method of teaching English. I personally try to do at least 1-2 task-based
projects in all my classes each semester. It’s a nice change of pace from my usually very communicative-
focused activities.

One huge advantage of TBL is that students have some degree of freedom to learn the language they
want to learn. Also, they can learn some self-reflection and teamwork skills as well.

#9: Suggestopedia Language Learning Method

This approach and method in language teaching was developed in the 1970s by psychotherapist Georgi
Lozanov. It is sometimes also known as the positive suggestion method but it later became sometimes
known as desuggestopedia.

Apart from using physical surroundings and a good classroom atmosphere to make students feel
comfortable, here are some of the main tenants of this second language teaching method:

Deciphering, where the teacher introduces new grammar and vocabulary.

Concert sessions, where the teacher reads a text and the students follow along with music in the
background. This can be both active and passive.

Elaboration where students finish what they’ve learned with dramas, songs, or games.

Introduction in which the teacher introduces new things in a playful manner.

Production, where students speak and interact without correction or interruption.

#10: The Silent Way

The silent way is an interesting ESL teaching method that isn’t that common but it does have some solid
footing. After all, the goal in most language classes is to make them as student-centred as possible.
In the Silent Way, the teacher talks as little as possible, with the idea that students learn best when
discovering things on their own. Learners are encouraged to be independent and to discover and figure
out language on their own.

Instead of talking, the teacher uses gestures and facial expressions to communicate, as well as props,
including the famous Cuisenaire Rods. These are rods of different colours and lengths.

Although it’s not practical to teach an entire course using the silent way, it does certainly have some
value as a language teaching approach to remind teachers to talk less and get students talking more!

#11: Functional-Notional Approach

This English teaching method first of all recognizes that language is purposeful communication. The
reason people talk is that they want to communicate something to someone else.

Parts of speech like nouns and verbs exist to express language functions and notions. People speak to
inform, agree, question, persuade, evaluate, and perform various other functions. Language is also used
to talk about concepts or notions like time, events, places, etc.

The role of the teacher in this second language teaching method is to evaluate how students will use the
language. This will serve as a guide for what should be taught in class. Teaching specific grammar
patterns or vocabulary sets does play a role but the purpose for which students need to know these
things should always be kept in mind with the functional-notional Approach to English teaching.

#12: The Bilingual Method

The bilingual method uses two languages in the classroom, the mother tongue and the target language.
The mother tongue is briefly used for grammar and vocabulary explanations. Then, the rest of the class is
conducted in English. Check out this video for some of the pros and cons of this method:

#13: The Test Teach Test Approach (TTT)

This style of language teaching is ideal for directly targeting students’ needs. It’s best for intermediate
and advanced learners. Definitely don’t use it for total beginners!

There are three stages:

A test or task of some kind that requires students to use the target language.

Explicit teaching or focus on accuracy with controlled practice exercises.

Another test or task is to see if students have improved in their use of the target language.

Want to give it a try? Find out what you need to know here:

#14: Community Language Learning

In Community Language Learning, the class is considered to be one unit. They learn together. In this style
of class, the teacher is not a lecturer but is more of a counsellor or guide.

In general, there is no set lesson for the day. Instead, students decide what they want to talk about. They
sit in a circle, and decide on what they want to talk about. They may ask the teacher for a translation or
for advice on pronunciation or how to say something.

The conversations are recorded, and then transcribed. Students and teachers can analyze the grammar
and vocabulary, as well as subject related content.

While community language learning may not comprehensively cover the English language, students will
be learning what they want to learn. It’s also student-centred to the max. It’s perhaps a nice change of
pace from the usual teacher-led classes, but it’s not often seen these days as the only method of
teaching a class.M

#15: The Situational Approach

This approach loosely falls under the behaviourism view of language as habit formation. The situational
approach to teaching English was popular in England, starting in the 1930s. Find out more about it: