third view of language is the interactional view.
The
language
sees
as
interpersonal
a
relations
vehicle and
for
the
realization
for the performance
txanaactiona between individuals.
Language
"It
of
of
social
seen as a tool
is
far the creation and maintenance of racial relations."
3 . 2 LANOUAOL LEARNING THEORIES
Various theories havr been proposed by researcherr regarding the
language learning activity or process, which
are discussed
below.
3.2.1
Monitor Theory In Monitor Theory, Stephen D Kraehen distinguished the terms and
acquisition
unconscious
proeere
through usage
two
that
Acquisition involves
for communication while
consciou~ process According
learning.
refers
to
the
language
proficiency
learning
refers to a
which involves the study of
to Krashen'r theory, acquisition and
language rules.
are
learning
different processes and they convey two different functions.
While
communicating,
(uncon~cious) and monitor
the
learner
uses
acquired
learned system (conscious) functions
that checks the language.
system
as
But for this to operate
a
the
learner
have aufficient time and then he
must
choose and
can
,991~ e~ learned rule.
3 . 2 . 2 Silent Way
empharis
The
led
revolution teaching Silent
on
a
to
cognition inspired
new
general
termed as cognitive code.
Way did not
approach,
evolve
ite principles
basic tenets o f Silent
to
human
learning".
inevitable
and
way
Another
directly
are is
exploring new areas of the
to
from
Caleb
"the
subordination
principle
is that
the teacher that the
language.
to
language
Grattegnols
cognitive
constituent with it.
shared
are rigns
approach
Although
Chomskyan
by
-
code
One o f
the
of teaching errors
are
learner
is
The teacher tries to help
the etudents to become self-reliant and increasingly
independent
of the teacher. 3.2.3 Bugger topedia
Georgi Lozanov ( 1 9 7 8 ) , the originator of suggestopedia feels that
the
inefficiency in
language
learning
P~Ychological barriers learners rstablieh is
one
of
them.
Teacher
is due
- the fear of
to
the
failure
can help learners to surmount these
barriara and to f u l l y tap thelf mental powrre by desuggesting the
learners' in the
self imposed
authority
limitations.
When the learners
of the teacher, they will reach
-
of infantalization
adopting
a
child
like
trust
a state
If they
role.
f e e l secure, learners can be more spontaneous and less inhibited.
3.2.4 Counreling-Learning/ Community Language Learning According as
to Charles Curran (1976) learners should be seen
"whole personsM, not just cognitive beings.
teachers
understand
concerns.
In addition, teachers
accept
their
atmosphere
students
to provide a secure learning
try
can
be
non-defensive
In such
their
and
positive energies can be channeled towards the language
In community language learning the syllabur
task.
method,
fears and
students'
in which, a sense of community is fostered.
environment an
and
In this
teaching
is
learner
generated. the methods make assumptions, elaborate
All ones,
these
not
about
the
assumptions
been
viewed
learner appear
and the ways
plausible
critically
realities of actual learning.
and
of
detailed
and
learning.
in principle,
systematically
they against
While
have the
Method
a
is
vital
factor
difference between
language teaching and
philosophy
the
of language teaching at the
of theory and principles and a ret of derived procedures
levels
It is a known fact that in most o f the
for teaching a language.
and
the
The central point in describing methods is the
learning Proeenn.
urban
in
elite colleges the Direct Method and SOS Method are in use
in rural colleges
the
teachers
are
still following the
Grammar Translation Method. 3.4 METHOD, APPROACH AND TEC-IQUE
"Linguistic
method
capacity
arouse
to
has
surpassed religion
controversy
Much of the Zielde of language matter
and
method
of opinion rather than of fact.
create
has
in
trends.
become
Method
its
a
meana
mither so little or so much". (Mackey, 1966 : 1 3 5 )
E.M. distinguish to
him,
Anthony the
in
an article published in 1963 attempted to
terms approach, method and technique. According
is a
"the arrangement is hierarchical. ..An Approach set of
correlative assumptions
nature
of
language
teaching
with
the
learning.
It
dealing
and
indieatem a point of view, an article of faith. ie
..Method presentation
an
overall plan
far
the
of language material, no part
orderly of
which
contradicts and all of which is based upon the selected approach. it ir procedural.
..A
technique
is implementational
-
that
which
actually takes place in a classroom". (Anthony 1963 : 63-67) Halliday,
et
a1 (1964 : 200) , however, used
term
the
"Methodies" for linguistic based teaching. It is the framework of organisation
for practical
teaching,
in which
pedagogical'
techniques and linguistic theory cross fertilize each other.
is not
the same as methodology, which
refers
to
It
pedagogical
aspects of language teaching without necessarily any reference to linguistic
categories.
Methodf es
thus does
not
supersede
Methodology, but relates rather to a different area of the operation.
total
Þ he lexical r e f made by the three terms, method, methodology and methedica can be summarised as follows.
A
Method
specific set of teaching
materials, principles
generally
techniques
backed
stated
by
but not necessarily
and
having
any
reference to linguistics
An
method
alternative term for methodology,
often
less technical and less specific
Prineiplee
Methodology
and techniques of teaching with
no necessary reference to linguistics
A
Methodics
framework of
organisation
for
language
teaching which relates linguistic theory
to
pedagogical principles and techniques
3.5 POPULAR METHOD
The language
popular
teaehrrs,
in
the
li~tenere.
As
teacher
that is being followed by most of the
method,
is no
active
doubt
member
the main
the lecture method, where ths
and
studenta
objectiver
at
are
PU/Inter
the passive level
is
is an outdated one.
in language akills, this method ~ttemptm
therefore be
should
made
to
an informed
evolve
eclecticism as suggested by Richards and Rodgera. In
changing language teaching/ learning
the
~ n d i a , more emphasis is given to language
than
required
to
objectives, teaching
bring
in
coordination
literature.
to
So it is necessary to examine what methodological between
changer the
methods, materials and evaluation procedures in
/learning
ie
are
changed
context. Keeping in view the needs
of
learners it is necessary to examine what is good in old what
OF
context
in new methods and what changes are
new
the the
methods, needed
to
suit the present needs. 3.6 GRAMMAR TRANSLATIOH METHOD
This is language, Sanskrit
oldest
the
It
ia
method
a relic
of
employed teaching
in
the teaching of
Greek,
Latin
based mainly on cramming the grammatical forms
of
and the
language.
of grammatical rules, paradigms, bilingual
Memorization word
-
lists
constitute
the
and
application
essence
of
of
these
this method.
Thin
in
tranrlation is
simply
a
=ombination
Of
the activities of grammar and translation and this
is baaed on the following principles. 1, Grammar is an outline of Formal grammar. 2. Vocabulary based on texts.
3. Teaching
begins
with rules,
isolated vocabulary items,
paradigms, translation. 4. Students native language is the medium of instruction.
5. Pronunciation
either
is
not
taught or i r limited to a
mere introduction. 3.6.1 Drawbrckm of Grammar Trrnrlatian Method
Grammar Translation method ha. the following disadvantages.
1. Mere grammar doer not provide an opportunity to speak. 2. Language
is
a process of communication among the people
of particular tradition, customs and environments. not
po~sible to
completely.
translate
one
language
It is
into another
Hence this method does not fulfill the need
and requirement of aecond/foreign language teaching. 3. It
the
i~ an unnatural method because in learning a language
firnt
step
mhould
be to learn spoken language and
then to practice it through oral expression.
Thia method
violates t h i r natural principle. 4. Learning
takes
keep
which
place on the basis of isolated sentences
out the element of coherion and that can not
be neglected in language learning.
3.6.2
Merits of Grammar Traamlation Method
It would be unfair to condemn the grammar tranelation method outright.
Although
certain
elements
situation.
of
Upe
as in
a teaching method it is unsatisfactory,
it
are found
useful
in
Mother tongue o r translation
is
a
teaching useful
in
certain contexts. "When be
the
for
native
foreign word to be demonstrated is known to
all word,
practical purposes the equivalent translation
is
a
better
mode
of
a
than
definition. (Palmer 1917 : 5 8 ) 3.7 DIRECT MTHOD
"There Cansidered
is no am
one
such
thing
as
the
method rays Gauntlett.
Direct
Method",
when
In a broad aenee any
method
doe8
which
method.
direct
not
The
between language.
use
mother
term
direct
thought
and
tongue may be said to be a method
implies,
a direct
expression and experience and
Its main characteristics as stated by Mackey are :
1. The use of everyday vocabulary and structure.
2. Grammar taught by situation.
3. Use
of
many
new items in the same lesson to encourage
normal conversation. 4. Oral teaching of grammar and vocabulary.
5. Concrete
meaning
through
object
lessons,
abstract
ones through the arsociation of ideas.
6. Most
of
the work is done in the classroom and therefore
more class hours are needed. 7. The first few weeks devoted to pronunciation.
8. All reading presented orally.
9. Both apeech and listening compreheneion are taught.
his method aims at developing further abilities and perfect command
over
language,
comprehension,
reading and writing. the natural method.
It is
epeaking with good more or
less based on
The learner is encouraged to use the foreign
language with the same ease which he has while using his
mother
tongue. 3.7.1 Demeritr of Direct Method 1. The
method
natural language
over
first
emphasizes
language
learning
and
the
similarities between
learning
and clrasroom foreign
failr
to consider the practical
realities of the class room.
2. It requires teachers who are native speakers or who had native like fluency in the foreign language. 3. Only
skilled
teachers with
natural
command
over the
language can adopt this method.
4. Over
emphasis on speech leada to neglect of reading
and
writing. 5. Over crowded
classes and paucity
of good
n o t allow the method work effectively.
teachers do
Practical reality o f DU in Indian context
3.7.2
Since direct of
the
class
method demands individual attention, the size
should
not
large.
be
But in reality a general
English class any where in Indian consists of 100 to 150 students where this method is practically an impassibility.
Secondly, linguistically aural/ oral
this method minded,
appeal
is
foreign language. abilities,
But
the Direct
completely
ignorea
suits only
as ita basic principle stronger
Method
week)
can be easy and time saving
bound
second
students not
does
translation which
the
at
ntudents
of
the
times is
varying
(the actual
4 to 5 hours
for explanation. In a
selection
DM
succeed.
language teaching/learning situation
abilities of the students, the
that
is
than the visual. in learning a
in a clase w i t h
contact time of teacher with
of
those students who a r e
a
time
with mixed
grading and requencing
the syllabus can not be left to the discretion of
individual
teachers.
The
critics
of the DM point out that the goal of trying to
teach convereational skills was considered impractical in view of the
restricted
time available for foreign language teaching in
Ich~oln.
has
Since
no
model is given to the students, the tmacher
to build up dialogues artificially on written texts without
=onsidering the principles o f selection and grading. 3.8 STRlfCTUrUL O
"The
W
theory
- SITUATIQNU APPROACH of
oral situational
language
underlying
structural
can be characterised as a
approach
type of Britiah Structuralism".
(Richard & Rodgers: 35) Palmer,
Hornby and other British deeeriptiona af basic
pedagogical English
applied
linguists
grammatical
proposed
structures
of
and there were to be followed in developing methodology.
"Word
order, structure wordr, the few
inflections
and content words will form the
English
material
of of
our teaching".
Structure
lists
considered
speech
as
the
basis
of the
language because a child learns firnt to speak and then to write.
The theory that "Structures must be linked to situations in which they
could
be
uaed"
ia
one
of
the distinctive
features of
sos
approach.
M.K.
Hallidsy
The
developed
contest
meaning,
British
and
Language was viewed
8s
linguists
as
J.R.
powlrful V ~ W Sof language
situation were a
such
purpoaeful
in which
prominent
given
activity
Firth,
place.
related to
the
goals and situations in the real world.
The
term
structure
the definitions
is
difficult
to define.
One
OF
mtrueture is given by Benveniste in 1959 as
of
"An inter ordering of linguistic items".
3 . 8 . 1 The Characteristic8 of SOB Approach
1. Structural
approach
pre-supposea
that
structures, not
mere words, are important in language learning.
2. Language material
teaching
ie
taught
begins
with
orally
before
spoken it
language
and
i r presented in
written form. 3. The
target
language
ia
u ~ e d exclusively in the clasn
room. 4. Well graded grammatical items are used. 5. Language items a r e used aituationally.
6. Reading
and
writing is introduced only after sufficient
lexical and granunatical basis is established. 3 . 8 . 3 Objectivaa of 808 Approach 1. To
teach a practical command of the four b a ~ i cskills of
language.
This goal it shares with most other methods of
language teaching.
But the skills a r r approached through
structures.
2. Accuracy
in both pronunciation and grammar is considered
crucial. 3. Automatic
patterns
control is
of
achieved
basic
rtruetures
and
aentence
through speech work which enables
the learner to read and write fluently. 3 . 8 . 3 Practical Application o f 808 Approach
The carefully and
selected
graded.
meaning
approach
50s
is based
on
structures which
and graded. Vocabulary too muet be
grading
to
and form. Items of vocabulary and grammar are taught
in
appropriate situations. ertablished
by
attention
rslected paid
In
strueturer
are
is
Only one meaning is taught at a time and
practice before another meaning
is
taught.
prill should may
be
the watch word of the teacher and viaual by the teacher like wall charts,
be produced
flash
aids cardr,
pictures, etc. Structural drills proceed from the most mechanical
-
simple repetition and ~ubstitutionto
the
are given more opportunity to uae language
students controlled
situation.
The
teacher
can
choose
freest.
in
lasr
exerciser
considering the students needm. 3.8.4
Merits of SOS Approach over Direct method approach
$08
Both
emphasise
inhibit
has some points in cornon with direct method.
the
the ure
of
importance
speech and habit Formation,
of
the mother
tongue,
situations by use rather than by rule. scores
over
syllabus
.
The
vocabulary Tho
,
SOS
D.M
items
as
teach language
in
However, the SO5 approach
it follows a carefully selected and graded
selection and facilitate
gradation of
atructures
and
learning on the part of the pupil.
approach deals with the three main levela of language
Phonology,
Morphology
a controlled
and
of linguistic
atruetures
and
Syntax and the teachers
definite proeels of input based on the unlike
in D.M.
are given full freedom in the choice of input.
where the
uae ruloa
teachers
Indian Vmrrion o f BOS Approach
3.8.5
The
approach
SOS
aituational/structural 1987).
The
pedagogical
term
is
approach
the to
modified
language
version
teaching
of
(Prabu-
was used by RIE, Banglore t o refer to the
505
it
principles
has been helping to implement.
was a popular method during sixties.
Thia
The characteristics of this
approach are:
1. use
of
graded
etructurer and vocabulery in appropriate
situations. 2. to
teach
the
four
fundamental
ekills,
namely
understanding, speaking, reading and writing.
3. Grammar
to
be taught explicitly in the form of sentence
analysis and parsing,
N observes
S
Prabu (1987) in his book "Second that
language
those who were taught through
SOS
method
pedagogy" several
Years at school still lacked the following abilities,
1. to use
class
(deploy) the language when necessary outside the room.
unnaturally)
.
(They
found
themselves
deliberating
2 , t o achieve an acceptable level of grammatical accuracy in
language use outside the class room. (Though they
their
might achieve euch accuracy in the c l a m room context). 3. to achieve an acceptable level o f situational apgropriacy
in
their language use outside the clarsroom (Though they achieve grammatical accuracy).
might
Keeping regulating system
in view the
through
thesr facts,
learner's planned
attempts
ware
internalization of progreseion,
made
at
the grammatical
pre-selection
and
farm
rchools
in
India
in
clrrrroom
focused activity, which too did not yield good results. The
observations
on
SOS
Pedagogy
in
highlight certain points.
1. Though
the
etudents
situation, their
perform
well
the
language ekilla out side the claarroom
situation is very poor. 2. The
baric
foundation required
to build
up
Further
language experience at the college level is inadequate.
approach
1. SOS
proficiency, clssaee
im
baaed on the principle of oral
mainly
hence,
it
can not
be practiced in large
.
is effective in the hands of trained teachers because
2. It
the method demands proper study and understanding of
tho
theories underlying the practice drills. methods require a well graded syllabus which insists
3. The
not
only
the
grading
of
structures but also a baric
vocabulary within which the etructures should be operated i.e.,
grading
of
structures and vocabulary control are
essential. 3.9 COWblUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
The be
in
found
the
from
tradition "Syntactic theories
of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are to
origin
changes
the
late
Structures"
of
language
in
of
Englieh Noam
1960's.
language
Chommky
Teaching
in his book
(1957) damonstrated that the structural
were
not
fundamental' characterietic of uniqueness
the
individual
capable Language
sentrncen.
of accounting for the
-
the
creativity and
British applied linguir ts
like
John
Hpaa,
Firth,
John
Halliday, American
Gumperz
and
fundamental dimension potential
Labov
William
of
language
of
the
Sociolinguists
-
emphasized
the
language.
another
functional
Consequently
has resulted in C ~ n k m ~ n i ~ a tApproach i~e to Language Teaching
CLT
The
starts
conununication.
(1972)
Hymes
a
theory
of
the
urcd
term
language
and
this
. as
communicative
in order to contrast a comunicative view of language
competence
and
from
as
such
Chomsky's
theory
of
"CornrnunicaEive Competencew, he
is not
In his redefinition of
Competence. said
that
an
what
is crucial in
language
learning
language
is structured but an under~tanding of how a language is
ro
much
understanding of how a
It i a more of an approach rather than a method. It aims to
used.
1. make
communiertivr
teaching
2. develop
skills
competence
the
goal
of
language
and proceduree for the teaching of the four language that acknowledge the interdependence of
language
and conununication (Richards and Radgrrs). It
is
this
comprehensivaness
that
maker
CLT
approach
different in ecope and status from other methods and approaches.
1. Places Paramount
importance on meaning because language
learning is learning to communicate
2. Contexualfzation a basic premiee 3. Any device which hrlpn the learner is accepted.
4. The
criteria
consideration
of of
sequencing content,
is
determined
function,
or
by
any
meaning which
maintains interest 5. Studsntr
are
expected
to
interact
with other people,
teachers help students in any way that motivates them
to
work with the language.
6.
Language ability "lrnguags"
rather
should be simply
achieved through
through "exercises"
the on
the language. 7 . Communicative syllabur should be bared on needs analysis
8. The communicative syllabus should be semantic bared.
3 . 9 . 2 Com~lunicative Syllrbur
The main student8
how
incorporated
to into
of
communicative
express the
things
eyllabus
syllabus
with
ie to teach the
language and
through
texts.
this is
Teaching
of
is done s~atematicallythrough sentences in combination
meaning which
aim
gives
structures.
priority The
to
the meanings
conununieative ayllabus
rather
than
to
the
demands the following
changes : 1. A
semantic
oriented
syllabus
language
an
emphasis from learner
The needs of the learner are given
approach.
importance
demands
taking
into
experience,
consideration
hia
focusing attention on all
previous aspects
of the learner.
2. The
students
can
no longer be paseive as the
syllabus
demands interaction. 3 . Interactive
behaviour.
classroom Students
activities should
demand
unconstrained
be allowed "the liberty of
natural behaviour" [Widdowson 19861.
4. Thm
techniques
applied
to the materials should be task
oriented rather then exerci~eoriented.
5 , The
testa
ahould
be valid i.e.,
they should test
what
has been taught.
Teaching in India in mainly based on the
~ n g l i s h Language fact
that
i s used as library language and a9 a language for
it
eomunication.
To
satirfy
this need
in the prenent context
requires specific approach in proficiency of reading and writing.
In this context, the CLT methodology appears to be impracticable. Though
class
informal
atmosphere
is conducive
to learning,
a
teachers' role in a large clareroom in our situation has
to be obviously formal.
Learner
centered
regular feedback in Indian context,
time bound
from with
activities teachera
of
the
require
CLT
regarding students work.
a large elasa o f varying abilities
ayllabusea, this approach is practically
3.10 CLOSURE
to have rxploded
- But and
difficult
to follow.
seem
a
"Recently,
method8
in
directions.
Everything is called a method, whether
all or
not
it
fits in Antony's
definition.
One
these methoda have in common is that they
to be
the
whole
with
practical
spectrum.
Some
are strongly focuaed on one aspect of
basis for a curriculum,
of
tend
concerned
the
eegmentr
element
namely
the
nature
of
the language learner, othera are grounded i n particular education philosophies".
Though practicr goals
today,
and
various
no method is fully successful in achieving
objectives features
approaches
of
and
without
the learners needs. tschniquee
explicit
from
reference
eg
methods
be
learning
Method and Communicative Language Teaching
adopted
for
oral
proficiency
English.
i.e.,
can
phonetics,
vocabulary etc. 508
can
be
ueed for
structural patterns.
reinforcing
and
to course objectives in
.,
Direct
the
But we can adopt
various
to r e a l i ~ ethe specific objectives of
order
For
there a r e various methods and approaches that are i n
grammatical
and
while using these methods and approaches it is necessary to consider how
far t h e m methods
checking
learners goals and objectives and at the same time
the
the
level
the
of
considered. So
method
by
The
combines
their
age
of
also be
various methods, Effective teaching depends
and
and his 'eclectic' ability to adopt
and
adapt
eclectic method is not one hamogeneous method since it in
itaelf all that is good in other methods.
Thus
necessary,
situations for presenting teaching material
and
freely
"Choice of a particular method can b e ' justified only it is clear that there is a close degree
of
Fit
between the program goals and objectives of the method. ~nformation concerning the kinds of gaina in proficiency
that
language
the method has been shown to bring
about in similar circumstances would be needed.
it
makes
uses audio-visual aids.
when
an
approaches to ruit his classroom environment.
makes use of the learner's mother tongue when
use
should
a principled eclecticism, combining techniques and
teacher
methods
approacher be uaeful in
it is neeeasary t o replace the traditional lecture
principles from
the
students and
and
When a
close
degree
objectives
of
fit between
method
program
be made
lacking a choice can
as
and
through
informed eclecticism".
(Finocchiaro and Brumfit
It language
is
necessary
to follow some
.
i e. , either
teaching,
form
of
1983)
eclecticism
informed
eclecticirm
uninformed eclecticism. "Eclectici~m combination
is
of
with
operating
of perceptions or procedures which
different and have
matter
a
a
though
... perhaps ... inconsistent with othero,
nevertheless
found a satisfying balance
mind of, an individual
in
..., the teachers mental mix
the
is
eclectic...
(
"We
would
be
eclecticirm' deterioration swearing
well
advised
to
N
S
opt
Prabhu 1986 : 67)
for
'informed
in our EbT programmes to prevent of
standard#,
inntead
of
by unattainable (and to my mind
further
eloquently underirabls)
in or
norms
and mtandards which when
undoubtrdl~ alienate us
from our
adopted
would
students who
are
basically bilingual". (S.
ir
It
necessary all
Buitrble f o r
keep
occasiono
i n mind
and
the
that no one method is
teacher cannot decide
What
approach
and
is important for the teacher is to find out what what
technique will
enable him
to realise
particular objective under a set of particular situations. i n a strong need to examine the needs of the learners.
needa
a
that a particular method is the only one that he/shr must
priori
use.
to
K. Rangacharya 1985 : 5 )
analysis
should
language proficiency
focus on
a
There
Therefore
the learners present level of
and what the learnar is required to do for
acquiring the necessary language proficiency.
