From Unity to Diversity Essays

From Unity to Diversity Essays From Unity to Diversity Essay From Unity to Diversity Essay Diane Larsen-Freeman The way to teach in 1965 is not acceptable in 1987, there are three points that can be represented in a triangle for a better comprehension in the methodology used in 1987, each angle of the transgressions a basic area of the field. Language Learning/Language Learner The prevailing view of the language-learning process in 1962 was that learning was achieved through habit formation. The native language was seen to comprise habits that a second-language learner must overcome. Challenging this characterization of he learning process was NOAA Chomsky that argued that language acquisition could not take through habit formation because language was far too complicated to be learned in such a manner, especially given the brief time available. What is especially significant for us was the learning acquiring English as a second or foreign language were found to be committing the same sort of personalization errors as the children. One cannot fall to note that believing language solution as a process of rule formation had tremendous Implication for the role of learners. We see that In 987 learners are seen to be the bears of responsibility for how much learning take place. What changes since Chomsky first propose it, however, is the view that language learning is solely a process of rule formation. The researches like Hatch, while again not denying that grammatical competence Is achieved through linguistic hypothesis testing, nevertheless believe that nonlinguistic processes may be critical to the learner s success In this endeavor. : Hatch specifically discusses the value of native-speaker / nonnative-speaker interaction in which the native speaker adjusts the level of speech to accommodate he nonnative speakers comprehension. We will return to our considerations of learning and the learner when we discuss the impact of these views on language pedagogy. Language/Culture Syllabus design Influenced by structural linguistic, in 1962 language was seen as consisting of hierarchically organized strata, each dealing with a different linguistic structure. Homes, morphemes, and syntactic patterns Syllabi for a languorously were organize around linguistic structures carefully graded In a sequence from simple to likely work on sentence patterns with the BE verb early on, followed a few lessons eater by yes-no question, followed by short answers. The structural, the notional- functional, and the semantic-based syllabi nicely illustrate the fact that language consists of three interacting dimensions: form, function, and meani ng. Many other syllabus types exist these days, of course. One particularly interesting approach is the procedural syllabus, which does not take language as its basis at all. Instead, students learn language through the performance of certain tasks and activities. The grammar is the means through Which linguistic creativity is ultimately achieved and inadequate knowledge of the grammar would lead to a serious limitation on the capacity for communication. Another syllabus, one that has had impact on the teaching SSL in the United States, is competency-based. This type of syllabus has been developed to each survival skills to refuges who are newly arrived immigrants to the United States. The behavioral outcomes of competency-based instruction are specific survival skills. One final language related development that we should not fail to mention is the expanded view of language to injudiciousness or the structure that exists beyond the sentence level. English for special purposes. Another major trend having to do with language during these past 25 years is the teaching of English for Special Purposes (ESP.). Although all language use has a purpose, teachers of ESP. teach only the English requisite for a particular purpose, be it an occupation or a domain. Thus curriculum designers of ESP. courses conduct rigorous needs analyses, analyzing the situation in which students will likely find themselves and carefully selecting the English necessary for students to meet the language demands of these restricted domains. Content-based approach. Content-based approaches see language as a mean of achieving something else and not as and end in itself, in those approaches the learning of language is integrally linked with the learning of some other subject matter. Although various models exist in this approach, some containing explicit instruction in the target language, the assumption is that both the subject matter and the language can be learned together when De students focus is on acquiring subject-matter information. Other models that share this assumption are those providing sheltered English and those that follow the adjunct model. Sheltered English classes are employed to teach English and subject content using specially modified curricula and materials. Culture The second angle of our triangle embraces both language and culture. Many language teachers acknowledge the need to integrate the two; yet I think it is fair to say that there really is no well-articulated theory of culture that has informed our field during the last 25 years and hence that the means of teaching culture to language students have not been well developed. It is true that many texts contain vulture information in the form of cultural capsules. But knowing a culture involves so much more the transmission of information these cultural notes allow. Many applied linguistics who hold thud perspective value the pluralism that exists in the English-speaking world and feel that one can be bilingual without being bacterial, that one can and should learn English for utilitarian purposes without adopting the dominant target culture. Language Teaching/Teacher This article began with our visit to a class in Which the Audio-lingual Method (ALMA) was is still being practiced. However, it is also true that the ALMA fell into disavow in many irises in the sass. His was due in part to the refutation of the habit-formation theory of language acquisition and in part to the fact that both teachers and students often found the required repetition boring and motivating. Silent way. The emphasis on human cognition inspired by the Chomsky revolution led to a new general approach to language teaching termed cognitive code. Rather tan simply being responsible to stimuli in the environment, learners were seen to be much more actively involved in their own learning. Although Caleb Gadgets Silent Way did not involve directly from the cognitive-code approach, its principles are consisted with it. For example, one of the basic tenets of the Silent Way is the subordination of thieving to learning this principle is in accord to the active role ascribed to the learner in the cognitive-code approach. Another distinguish feature is that the teacher helps students to develop a way to learn on their own. By giving students only what they absolutely need by assisting them to develop their own inner criteria, and by remaining silent move of the time, the teacher tries to help students to come self-reliant and increasingly independent of the teacher. Suggestive George Alizarin the originator of Suggestive believes that language learning can be made more efficient than what usually occurs. Teachers can help learners to surmount these barriers and to fully tap their mental powers, by destining the learners self-imposed limitations. This can be done trough the teachers direct and indirect positive suggestion in an environment that is relaxing and therefore conducive to learning. Counseling-learning/community language learning In Curran s Counseling Learning/Community Language Learning method, teachers understand and accept their students fears and concerns. In addition, teachers try to provide a secure learning environment in which a sense of community is fostered. In such an atmosphere, students can be indecisive and their positive energies can be channeled towards the language-learning task. Another way of putting this is toss ay the syllabus is learner-generated. Comprehension Approach Comprehension Approach also acknowledge insecurities have an adverse effect on language acquisition. As a consequence practitioners of this approach do not put students on the stop by having them speak in the target language. The teacher insures that the language that child uses is comprehensible to the students, Just as parents modify the speech they use with their children. Communicative Approach. Communicative Approach assert that students motivation will be enhanced feel that they working on communicative skills. By interacting with their teacher and fellow students, students receive practice in activating this knowledge in negotiating meaning. The soaker receive feedback from the listener on what the listener has understood. Principled eclectics. None of the methods have dominated language-teaching practice to the same extent as the ALMA once did. Moreover, it is rare that one of these methods is practiced exclusively. It is not uncommon for teachers today to practice a principled eclecticism, combining techniques and principles from various methods in a carefully reasoned manner. Goal. The goal of many language teachers today is to operate their students to students how to learn. Process. Learning is seen to be natural, gradual process, through which students progress at their own rates. At first it is to expected that the students will speak or write imperfect English. The necessary practice is thought to be most successful when students are engaged in the meaningful exchange of information, rather than repeating a teachers model. Learners are thus encouraged to be creative and communicative with the language, often doing so in small-group activities, in which they can practice communication and learn from one another. One specific technique connected to the process approach to writing is personal Journal-keeping, in Which students engage in a written Exchange with their teachers. Assessment Procedures Teacher needs the information that informal, ongoing assessment gives to know whether or not lesson, and therefore course, objectives are being achieved. Indeed, when formal evaluation measures are used, they should be designed to be consistent with objectives and therefore what has been taught. Evaluation measures consistent with a communicative approach to teaching will measure how students use English, not what they know about it. Roles The general pattern in modern-day methodology is for the teaching to be learner- centered. I mean that is the teacher who serves as a guide in the learning process, UT it is the learners who assume some responsibility for the direction of the learning and who bear ultimate responsibility for how much learning takes place. Language teaching today is humanistic. There are many definitions of this term, but in this context I mean that teachers are cognizant of the need to take their students affective needs into consideration. It is recognized that students feelings and attitudes can promote or deter language learning. Subject matter The language that is presented to the students should be meaningful and conceptualized. Students should not be asked to Just manipulate linguistic forms. Students should learn to use English accurately; however, they should also be able to use the language appropriate to a given social context. Students need practice in activating their knowledge of vocabulary, structures and language functions. The language syllabi are sometimes built around language structures sometimes functions, and sometimes topics and situations. Domestics syllabus is set in advance; other times it evolves at the course proceeds either on the basis of the teachers Judgment about what to work on next or on the basis of a learner-generated sequence. Sometimes the syllabus is more tasks-oriented than it is language- oriented. CIA will not doubt play an increasingly important role in methodology as the equipment decreases in costs and therefore becomes more accessible and as the viable software matures to a point where computers full interactive potential can be exploited. Conclusion The science of language teaching has boot retched De point of being able to consistently demonstrate the superiority of one methodology over another for all teachers and all crudeness and all settings And perhaps it never will. For teaching is a combination of science and art.