M e t h o d o l ogy for Teaching English-1

M e t h o d o l ogy for Teaching English-1

There is no single correct way to teach English. There are different theories as to how students learn, so there are different ideas as to what can and should be done in the classroom. In this section you will find some basic ideas which are common in modern communicative methodology. We consider the following areas:

• Use of the mother tongue
• Eliciting
• Board work
• Drilling
• Pronunciation
• Organising student practice
• Exploiting listening and reading texts

Use of the mother tongue

Everyone has a different opinion about when, how and how often a teacher should use the mother tongue of her/his students. It clearly makes sense to use English as much as possible in the classroom if we want our students to progress rapidly. It is surprising how little the mother tongue needs to be used if we keep our classroom language to a minimum and use plenty of non-spoken devices such as gesture, mime and pictures.

You may find it necessary to give instructions or explain certain items of grammar in the mother tongue. However, think carefully about how and when you use it and take every opportunity to expose your students to English. Make it clear to students when you expect them to use English and encourage and praise them at all times when they make serious effort to practise their English in class.

Eliciting

This is a popular technique which encourages the learners to become active participants in language production. It involves the teacher encouraging the students to produce the target language rather than supplying it her/himself. If, for example, you were aiming to teach the word ‘chair’, you could point to a chair in the classroom and ask students to say if they think they know the English word. You may well find that one or two students already know the word or have a rough idea.

Approaching the new language like this, rather than immediately telling students, focuses their attention on the item, gets them thinking to see if they know the word in English and motivates them to learn the word when it is finally established. If no students know the word, this is not a problem. You can supply it and students will be equally ready and motivated to learn it.

Eliciting can be done through a variety of techniques depending on the type of language you are teaching.
For example:

• you can draw on the board or use pictures to elicit such things as rooms, methods of transport, etc.
• you can use mime to elicit such things as sports, everyday activities, etc.
• you can work backwards from answers to elicit question forms. e.g. Write ‘She's a doctor’ on the board to elicit ‘What does she do?’

Eliciting is particularly good for keeping students involved in their own learning process and for showing the teacher what the class already knows. Board work

It is generally helpful for students to have a written record of new grammar or vocabulary that is being taught. However, this is often best done after students have been drilled with correct pronunciation as English spelling can be an unhelpful

distractor.

It is important that the teacher doesn’t spend too long writing on the board with their back to the class during the lesson, otherwise the students will lose interest. If possible, have any longer pieces of information for students on a prepared handout, on an OHT, or written, in advance, on the blackboard and covered.

When writing new vocabulary on the board, try to make it clear what part of speech the word is. If you only write single words, students may not remember whether it’s a verb or a noun, for example.
So, instead of writing ‘play’, write ‘to play (with something/someone)’. Then the student can tell that is a verb and also that it can be transiti ve and uses the preposition ‘with’. In the same way you can add articles to nouns that are written on the board. Write ‘a house’ instead of just ‘house’, for instance. Although only a very small thing to remember it does provide far more useful records for the student.

Drilling

‘Drilling’ is a basic technique whereby we can give students the opportunity to practise saying a new word, phrase or structure in a highly controlled environment. Students should always understand the meaning of the target language before they are drilled and at this stage the aim is that they should achieve the best possible pronunciation.

Choral drilling

Having taught the meaning of the new language, it can often be appropriate to drill the students chorally.

1. The teacher ‘models’ the target language or plays the relevant part of the cassette. The students in the class listen
carefully to the correct pronunciation. The teacher should say or play this language at least three or four times.
2. The teacher then asks the students to repeat the target language together. By doing it all together, the students are able to try out the new language without fear of embarrassment at being singled out in front of their peers. Three or four times is probably enough to help build up the students' confidence. (You should not worry about trying to hear the pronunciation of individual students at this stage; that will come during the individual drilling that follows.)

Individual drilling

After the new language has been chorally drilled to build students’ confidence, it should then be individually drilled to enable you to check that each student can pronounce the new language clearly and accurately.

The teacher should ask as many students as possible to repeat the target language. You will need to pay attention to the pronunciation of sounds and word stress of individual words and to the sounds, stress and intonation of longer phrases or sentences. It is generally a good idea NOT to go round the class in order, so that students are all encouraged to remain alert and attentive. It is also important not to spend too much time on one student otherwise the rest of the class will get bored and stop paying attention.

Correction

If a student makes a mistake during the individual drilling stage, it is important that this is highlighted and corrected.

Ideally the student will be able to correct their own mistake.

If a student cannot cor rect their own mistake after encouragement and guidance from the teacher, then other students should be given the opportunity to help the original student and correct the mistake.

Substitution drill
Correction

If a student makes a mistake during the individual drilling stage, it is important that this is highlighted and corrected.
Ideally the student will be able to correct their own mistake.

Pronunciation

When new language is introduced, the meaning must be established. This can generally be done by ‘eliciting’ If students are expected to use the new language, it is essential that the correct pronunciation is taught. This will usually involve ‘modelling’ the pronunciation of new language for students to imitate in the drilling stage. The modelling can either be done by you, the teacher - remember to check the correct pronunciation of words yourself before attempting to teach them - or by playing the course book cassette.

There are different elements of pronunciation which will need to be considered depending on the type of language being taught. When teaching individual words or small words and phrases, the sounds and word stress will require attention. ...........................