Approach and Method in Language Teaching

Lesson 01

September 14^th, 2011

            Basically, every teacher should has four competences in language teaching; namely academic competence, pedagogic competence, personality competence, bla bla competence (sorry, I missed this part).

            Academic competence refers to a competence or ability to understand what to teach, in this context English. It involves elements of English, English skills and English components. Meanwhile, pedagogic competence is ability on how to teach English and personality competence is dealing with social aspects. However, teachers tend to give a very heavy emphasize on pedagogic academic that somehow they are not aware of academic competence.

            This notion brings us to an understanding that techniques on teaching-learning process is more important for teachers as approaches and methods are actually beyond the classrooms. Some experts even often call the term approach interchangeably with method.   

            Teachers who are teaching in front of classrooms will teach based on what they belief about English Teaching Learning. That is why we have the term teacher’s belief. This belief relies on teachers’ view about language, view about language learning and view about education philosophy.  

            ELT has been shifting from the very extreme belief on language form into language function. When a teacher views language as a set of rules that should be memorized, he or she will also view language learning through imitating, Stimulus-Response activities that she or he view the language philosophy through the glasses of behaviorism. In this kind of teachers, she or he will give emphasize on language form rather than function. Thus, we may not expect to have the students are able to communicate in the target language.

            In contrast, when teachers view language as a means of communication, they will view language learning through communicative language teaching activities because constructivism is their state of background knowledge. Here, we may expect to have more successful students in using the target language.

            Brown (2007:17) defines the different term of approach, method and technique as follows:

Approach is theoretically well-informed positions and beliefs about the nature of language; the nature of language learning, and the applicability of both to pedagogical settings.

Method refers to a generalized set of classroom specifications for accomplishing linguistic objectives.

Techniques (in others sources might be called strategies) are any wide variety of exercises, activities, or tasks used in language classroom for realizing lesson objectives.

            As the writer mentions that teachers in the classrooms only need to directly go to know about techniques since they need more implementation rather than theories underlying it.

            Briefly, approach-method-technique can be drawn into diagram that shows the correlation among them, as follows:

           

 

                           

	Philosophical		Procedural

 

Thus, there are three ways in classifying methods:

1.      Language-centered methods; for instance audio-lingual, GTM or Direct Method

2.      Learning-centered methods; such as silent way, suggestopedia etc.

3.      Lerner-centered methods; for example Communicative Language Teaching

The development of language teaching has emerged since some decades ago that methods are also developing. Today’ teaching perspective has changed into what some experts called as “Postmethod Era” when there is no single method that dominates in certain situation. (Later in this article, writer will discuss more about Postmethod Era). There are six perspectives in current TEFL, namely:

a)      Learner-centered

b)      Cooperative and collaboration

c)      Interactive learning

d)     Whole language education means that teachers should not grammar discretely from reading and other aspect.

e)      Content-based instruction, which places English as the instructional language or medium in teaching other content subjects, for instance teaching Mathematics using English. This can be seen in RSBI(Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional) classes in Indonesia.

f)       Task-based instruction, which students learning English integrated during their task. For example, teachers assign students to train their skill in interview that students will go outside classes and do the interview using English. It is quite difficult for Indonesian context because English is treated as a foreign language.

Teachers of EFL are required to create language environment as students only get exposure massively in the classroom where teachers are the role model of foreigner talk.