Core Gateway College Inc.

| EL103 – Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

Approaches to
Language Teaching

Artfred M. Fortunato, LPT.

English Instructor
APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE
TEACHING
• Direct Method
• Grammar Translation
• Audiolingual Method
• Total Physical Response
• Communicative Language Teaching
• Cooperative Language Learning
• The Silent Way
• Suggestopedia
DIRECT METHOD
In this language teaching approach, all teaching happens in the target language, forcing
the learner to think and speak in that language. The learner does not use their native
language in the classroom at all.

As a result, students work out key grammar concepts by practicing the language and by
building up their exposure to it. Standard classroom techniques for this approach
include Q+As, conversation, reading aloud, writing and student self-correction.

Aside from grammar concepts, there is an emphasis on building good pronunciation of

the target language
DIRECT METHOD
ADVANTAGES
• The focus is on Oral Practice. Therefore, the pronunciation improves.
• As there is direct relation between thought and expression, it helps the
learners in having good fluency. Using direct method, a teacher helps
students having good command over English.

DISADVANTAGES
• Owing to over-emphasis on oral practice, the other skills namely reading
and writing are ignored to a great extent.
GRAMMAR
TRANSLATION
This is a very traditional teaching approach which prioritises translation from the
students’ mother tongue into the target language and vice versa. To succeed in this
approach, students need to memorize long lists of vocabulary and detailed grammar
formats and rules.

The approach favours accuracy over fluency and tends to favour the development of
reading and writing skills instead of speaking skills. Classroom activities therefore
usually include grammar drills, vocab tests and encouraging students to incorporate
new grammar concepts in standardised writing tasks.
GRAMMAR
TRANSLATION
ADVANTAGES
• It helps teacher much to clear the meaning of a word and sentence to the
students easily by translating them in to the mother tongue.
• The students understand the things very easily if taught using this method.

DISADVANTAGES
• The students don’t develop the power of thinking in the target language.
They become mentally lazy.
• Students try to do everything by translating.
AUDIOLINGUAL

Audiolingualism was developed in response to some of the problems associated with

Grammar Translation. As a result, classes are usually held in the target language as this
approach deliberately seeks to prioritize speaking and listening skills.

Activities typically involve students repeating the teacher’s words (either face-to-face
or through headphones in a language lab) until they get the pronunciations and rhythm
right. There is much practice of dialogue in every situation. Good work is rewarded by
the educator and mistakes are quickly corrected.
AUDIOLINGUAL
ADVANTAGES
• Better pronunciation and increased participation as a result of the drilling
exercises.

DISADVANTAGES
• Too much attention was placed on the teacher, who was limited to
presenting only mechanical aspects of the language.
• The reduction of vocabulary in favor of structure.
TOTAL PHYSICAL
RESPONSE
Total Physical Response or TPR is a way of language teaching in which the teacher
presents language objects as instructions and the students have to do exactly what the
teacher tells them. Students might therefore be asked to sit down, stand up, point to the
clock or walk to the front of the class.

As students improve, such instructions can become more detailed including additional
elements for language comprehension, including adverbs (e.g. talk quickly), adjectives
(e.g put on your red jumper) and prepositions (e.g stand in front of the teacher).
TOTAL PHYSICAL
RESPONSE
ADVANTAGES
• It is fun and easy
• It does not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher.

DISADVANTAGES
• It is not a very creative method. Students are not given the opportunity to
express their own views and thoughts in a creative way.
• It is limited, since everything cannot be explained with this method. It
must be combined with other approaches.
COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE TEACHING
It aims to put students in a variety of real-life situations, so that they can learn how to
use their language skills to communicate in the real world. Educators therefore tend to
focus on fluency in communication rather than accuracy.

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and
appropriately in various situations. Teachers are encouraged to provide the students
with as much opportunity to give and receive meaningful communication as possible.
The use of personal experience is also common in CLT classrooms.
COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE TEACHING
ADVANTAGES
• Communicative approach seeks to personalise and localise language and
adapt it to interests of pupils. Meaningful language is always more easily
retained by learners.

DISADVANTAGES
• CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy. Thus they may
produce incoherent, grammatically incorrect sentences.
COOPERATIVE
LANGUAGE LEARNING
CLL seeks to make the maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and
small groups of learners in the classroom. As such, it is a student-centered, rather than
a teacher-centered, approach to language teaching.

In the CLL classroom, all of the language learning activities are deliberately designed
to maximise opportunities for social interactions. Students should accomplish tasks by
interacting between themselves and talking / working together. The teacher’s role is to
act as a facilitator of and a participant in the learning tasks.
COOPERATIVE
LANGUAGE LEARNING
ADVANTAGES
• Aside from language learning, learners will also foster socializing skills,
confidence, and motivation to learn.

DISADVANTAGES
• Learners who are introverts and have intrapersonal intelligence might have
a hard time learning the language if this approach is in use.
THE SILENT WAY

It’s perhaps hard to imagine a language classroom where the teacher doesn’t actually
say much, but that’s the principle at the heart of this approach. As with CLL above, this
approach deliberately shifts the focus from the teacher’s teaching to the student’s
learning.

Evidently, the Silent Way uses silence as a teaching tool. It encourages students to be
more independent and to discover the target language for themselves. Teachers need to
employ the widest possible range of gestures and facial expressions to communicate.
THE SILENT WAY

ADVANTAGES
• Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates.

DISADVANTAGES
• The Silent Way is often criticized for being a harsh method. The learner
works in isolation and communication is lacking badly in a Silent Way
classroom.
• With minimum help on the part of the teacher, the Silent Way method may
put the learning itself at stake.
SUGGESTOPEDIA
Instead of sitting at tables and desks, students relax in comfortable armchairs or sit on
the floor while the teacher reads to them in the target language.

During the readings, the lights or often dimmed and soft music is played in the
background—usually classical music or the sounds of nature. The purpose of the
background noise is to create a peaceful mood throughout the lesson.

Because Suggestopedia is about creating a positive and pleasant experience, students

are free from many of the negative associations they usually have with learning.
SUGGESTOPEDIA
ADVANTAGES
• Music can facilitate learning
• The environment helps students relax
• Reading out loud helps students remember new content

DISADVANTAGES
• The wrong music can be a distraction
• Suggestopedia lacks a clear structure
• It’s not always feasible to use Suggestopedia
 Core Gateway College Inc. | EL103 – Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

Thank you for listening!

Artfred M. Fortunato, LPT.

English Instructor