4.1

• 1. The grammar translation approach

This technique might be the oldest of all of the techniques in this list. We have been using this since we first started teaching people different languages. This technique is all about translating texts from your mother language to the language you want to learn. Texts are also read and rote learning is very important here. The downside to this is that you can only read and write the language and not speak it. [see source 1]

 

• 2. The direct approach

This technique is completely different from the translation approach. The mother tongue is completely left out of the lessons and only the target language is spoken during class. The only things you learn by this approach is everyday conversation, culture and grammar used in speech. The actual rules of grammar are not taught. [see sources 1 and 2]

 

• 3. The audio-lingual method

This technique focuses on copying. You directly copy what someone else does and says. You memorize certain phrases using rote learning and repetitive exercises. According to this method, learning a language is a science- you take the rules and learn them by heart and that means you can use the language. All the different skills like listening, reading, writing and speaking are taught in a specific order and are never mixed together. [see sources 1 and 3]

 

 

• 4. The silent way

 

This technique is based on the absence of the teacher. The teacher might still be in the room, but they won’t say anything. Students have to figure out what to do by themselves with the materials provided to them. The teacher does not help with questions nor will the teacher make an effort to quiet the class down and explain anything. The students are supposed to become independent so they can help each other with problems and learn from each other. The downside to this method is that it is not very popular because of the environment it creates in the classroom. [see source 2]

 

 

• 5. The Communicative Approach

 

This approach is all about improvising and using the words you already know together with your hands and feet to communicate your wants and needs. Students are thrown into unrehearsed situations and the idea is that you learn the language by just trying. [see source 1]

 

Sources

 

• [1]         Thanasoulas, D. (2002). History of English Language Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/history-english-language-teaching.htm

 

• [2]         Kerper Mora, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://moramodules.com/ALMMethods.htm

 

• [3]         Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

4.2

• My personal experience with learning my second language (English) has always been good. Although I have inexplicably been talented at the English language for as far back as I can remember, I was taught using the Stepping Stones method. I remember being far ahead of my class during the entirety of my secondary school experience. Attending class was always just a formality to me since everything that was taught during the lessons was easy and I already knew about it all. I believe I was fluent in English when I was 14 or 15 years old. At some point, I even got permission to do nothing but read fanfiction and books in class because I was so far ahead of my classmates. I remember being 15 and reading a very complicated webcomic called Homestuck. It featured lots of long-winded sentences and difficult words that I had to look up all the time. The webcomic is over 2000 pages long and I have read it twice as of now. 

The methods that I have been taught with were old-fashioned EFL. Rote learning and just stuffing words and knowledge into your brain as much as possible. I do recognize that a lot of students these days do not have the discipline for EFL and rote learning and I believe that language immersion and playful learning would be more fun and practical for the students of this generation. I think that I would be a teacher that just immerses her students in the language, gives them a reason to learn and make it fun at the same time. Textbooks like Stepping Stones will be left out entirely and students would get example situations for which they have to learn appropriate responses and sentences. I am not sure about what kind of teacher I would be, but I am sure I will find the best method for the specific group of students I will teach.

The way I was taught wasn’t conventional or even the same way my classmates were taught since I have basically taught myself.