Teaching Methods

• Circle errors and allowing the students to determine how to correct them
• Directing the students to read and write silently to herself to correct the errors
• Instructing the students to read the writing to the class for peer editing
• Reading the writing to the student and allowing her to listen for errors
• Achievement assessment- may include evaluation of mastery of content, cognitive and affective gains (e.g., general knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, behaviors
• Proficiency assessment- the process of documenting the ability of an individual to speak or perform in an acquired language.
• Diagnostic assessment- provides instructors with information about student's prior knowledge and misconceptions before beginning a learning activity.
• Placement assessment- the process of documenting the ability of a language learner before starting a language program.
• The Linguistic approach- Linguists are interested in explaining what kinds of rules people unconsciously follow, regardless of the social status of their speech.
• Language Experience approach- First, the learner tells a story or recounts a personal experience, and the teacher or another helper writes down everything he or she has said, word for word, including every sound and without trying to fix anything. Second, this original transcript becomes the text for the teacher to go over together with the learner, focusing on grammar and word choice, leaving the paper marked up as needed. Third, the learner writes the text again, taking care to incorporate all the changes and corrections. Fourth, the learner reads the revised text out loud to the teacher, experiencing what it is like to express him or herself with enhanced clarity.
• Basal-reader approach- are textbooks used to teach reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called "reading books" or "readers" they are usually published as anthologies that combine previously published short stories, excerpts of longer narratives, and original works. A standard basal series comes with individual identical books for students, a Teacher's Edition of the book, and a collection of workbooks, assessments, and activities.
• Sight-word approach- Sight words and the whole-word approach to reading are a significant teaching technique considering 65% of the population identify themselves as visual learners.
• Bottom-up reading strategies- analyzing relationships between words in a sentence and deciphering the meanings of individual words in a sentence.
• Audiolingualism- Utilize drills and pattern practice frequently; play a tape of two students talking about buying clothes, then distribute a page with the taped dialogue written out, then ask the students to repeat the dialogue several times as the teacher models it. Lastly, for homework, the students memorize the dialogue for class the next day.
• Direct Method- Second language learning should model first language learning in that it should be learned 'directly'; grammar is taught inductively with no explanations, the learner's first language is not used in the class, and new vocabulary is introduced by demonstration.
• Suggestopedia- Rather conventional, memorization of whole meaningful text is recommended; learning occurs through suggestion when learners are deeply relaxed with baroque music is used; learners are required to master prodigious lists of vocabulary pairs with the goal of understanding not memorization; a passive state and allow the materials to work on them.
• Community language learning- Learners in a classroom are considered not a class but a group. The social dynamics of such a group were of primary importance. Group members need to interact in an interpersonal relationship in which students and teacher join together to facilitate learning in a context of valuing each individual in the group. In this case, members lower their defenses that prevent open interpersonal communication. Anxiety is replaced with support of the community. Teachers are not received as a threat but to impose limits and boundaries as a true counselor and center the clients/group members on their needs. Defensive learning was made unnecessary by the empathetic relationship between the teacher and the students. CLL’s principles of discovery learning, student-centered participation, and development of student autonomy (independence) all remain viable in their applications to language classrooms.
• Project-based learning and portfolio assessment
• Self-directed study in independent learning centers
• Visually rich classrooms and a focus on familiar experiences are good for ESOL students with limited formal schooling.
• Self-monitoring strategies- A metacognative learning strategy (think about what one is learning) that could be modeled for ESOL students.
• Performance-based assessments- “Students will be able to>>>”
Used for formative or summative evaluations, include demonstrations/artistic interpretations, and used in place of multiple-choice assessments.
• Behavioral objectives
• Informal assessments
• Communicative Language Teaching- integrative test in which students are asked to write a letter to a friend; encourages interaction with others in the target language
• The Writing Process: 1- Brainstorm, 2- First Draft, 3- Peer Review, 4- Revise, 5- Proofread, 6- Submit Final Draft
• Beginner language learners that make mistakes in conversation should only be corrected when it interferes with communicating meaning.
• Discussing a student’s prior experiences related to the topic at the beginning of a unit is a good way to identify semantic (meaning of words) and syntactic gaps (order of words).


http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages: Teaching Methods

• The Language Experience Approach- students orally relate their personal experiences to the teacher; teacher transcribes these experiences complete with errors and then develops other reading and writing activities based on the transcription.

• Bottom-up Reading Strategies- the strategies that focus primarily on actual words in a text instead of general meanings. For example, analyzing relationships between words in a sentence and deciphering the meanings of individual words in a sentence.

• Suggestopedia- a relaxed approach to learning a foreign language where a student’s first language may be used freely during instruction. “Make sure the students feel comfortable and confident.”

• Community Language Learning- students work together to develop what aspect of a language they would like to learn. Teacher acts as a counselor and a paraphrase. Students act like a collaborator. A student’s first language may be used freely during instruction.

• The Writing Process- 1- Brainstorm, 2- First Draft, 3- Peer Review (feedback about changes), 4- Revise, 5- Proofread, 6- Submit final draft

• Correcting Speech Errors- for beginners, correct only those errors that interfere with communicating meaning

• Home Language Survey- a federal law that requires school administrators to determine if a language other than or in addition to English is spoken at student’s home.

• Identifying semantic and syntactic gaps- prior to the beginning of a unit discuss student’s prior experiences related to the topic. By doing this, the teacher can identify specific gaps in the student’s understanding and build-them into the development of a lesson.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-10

Is it OK to use their first language during instruction?

It is often debated whether or not an English Language Learner can use their first language during instruction. Here are two teaching methods that support the use of their first language while receiving English language instruction.

Suggestopedia- a relaxed approach to learning a foreign language where a student’s first language may be used freely during instruction. “Make sure the students feel comfortable and confident.”

This method is carried out in four steps.

1. Decipher: The grammar point of the day in introduced. I prefer doing this by presenting the following:
A. What the grammar point is
B. How it is used
C. Displaying a grammatical formula of some kind

2. Concert: The teacher reads examples of the grammar point, the students repeat.

3. Elaborate: Songs are sung and games are played with the grammar point as the focus.

4. Production: In a structured environment, the students use the grammar point spontaneously.

This was the preferred teaching method of one of my team teaching partners when I was a teacher in Japan. This method worked really with with the EFL students. Sadly, the teacher was reprimanded for using this method since it only referenced the book and there wasn't much focus on passing the standardized test. But, the students could communicate with native English speakers and retained what they learned with this method and did well on standardized test. Being a maverick in Japan is unacceptable and this method definitely was nonconforming to the Japanese way of presenting English.

Community Language Learning- students work together to develop what aspect of a language they would like to learn. Teacher acts as a counselor and a paraphrase. Students act like a collaborator. A student’s first language may be used freely during instruction. This method encourages interaction with others in English as well as allows students to interact meaningfully with each other in English.


http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-10