The Audio-Lingual method of teaching had its origins during World War II when it became known as the Army method. It is also called as Aural oral approach. Itis based on the structural view of language and the behaviorist theory of language learning.
The audiolingual approach to language teaching has a lot of similarities with the direct method. Both were considered as a reaction against the shortcomings of the Grammar Translation method, both reject the use of the mother tongue and both stress that speaking and listening competence preceded reading and writing competence. But there are also some differences. The direct method highlighted the teaching of vocabulary while the audiolingual approach focus on grammar drills Read more…
Although writing tasks can be time consuming when assigned in the classroom, it would be a huge mistake to reduce the frequency of its assignment. On the contrary teachers should try hard to make it part and parcel of every classroom activity as they offer an opprtunity to gain feedback, learn more about our students and lead them to reap the fruit of creativity. In my last post I promissed to share some time saving writing tasks that can be integrated with other language activities. Here the are! Read more…
Apart from the fact that it is an opportunity to have a feed back, writing activities are productive tasks that bear some incredible positive learning results. It is a window through which we learn more about our students. Not only their level of language mastery, serving as diagnosis , but also their personality, their interests, their way of thinking … It is an open mine of information that the teacher shouldn’t miss for any reason. Read more…
Breakdowns
Some EFL and ESLclassroom activities don’t work all the time or they may work for some classes but fall apart for others. What is certain is that flexibility and professionalism may be of extreme importance. There are also some techniques that may help teachers overcome teaching breakdowns. Read more…
History
The Direct Method, also called Natural Method, was established in Germany and France around 1900. It appeared as an answer to the shortcomings of the Grammar Translation Method. It is a method for teaching foreign languages that uses the target language, discarding any use of mother tongue in the classroom. As teachers became frustrated with the students inability to communicate orally, they began to experiment with new techniques. The idea was that foreign language teaching must be carried out in the same way people learn their mother tongue! Read more…
The second issue of the Teaching Blog K – 6 Carnival has been posted at the Teaching Challenges blog. I’m honored to be included in this month’s edition, alongside many excellent articles focusing on innovative ideas for teaching and thought-provoking articles .
Thanks to Penny Ryder for her work in putting this together!
History
The Grammar Translation Method is an old method which was originally used to teach dead languages which explains why it focuses mainly on the written form at the expense of the oral form. It was designed according to the faculty psychology approach which was very popular during the 18th and 19th century. Read more…
