The nature of approaches and methods 1

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The different realities within a classroom make the teacher’s role a complex matter to accomplish. Linguists and language specialists have tried to study the nature of approaches and methods to find a guide to facilitate the teaching-learning process.

There are three levels of conceptualization and organization: Approach, method and technique.

v  Approach is a set of correlative assumptions. It describes the nature matter to be taught.

v  Method is a plan for the orderly presentation of language material.

v  Technique is a particular tactic used to accomplish an immediate objective.

Approach

Approach refers to theories about the nature of language and language learning that serve as the source of practices and principles in language teaching.

Theory of language

Three different theoretical views of language and the nature of language skill inform current approaches and methods in language teaching.

v  Structural view: language is a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning.

v  Functional view: language is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning. It emphasizes the semantic and communicative dimensions.

v  Interactional view: language is a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals.

Theory of language learning

Learning theories associated with a method at the level of approach may emphasize either one or both of the following dimensions:

v  Process-oriented theories build on learning processes, such as habit formation, induction, inferencing, hypothesis testing, and generalization.

v  Condition-oriented theories emphasize the nature of the human and physical context in which language learning takes place.