Alternative English teaching methodologies

Alternative English teaching methodologies
(Part two)
By KEITH WRIGHT
June 2, 2010, 3:00pm
Over the last six to seven decades, a wide range of approaches to teaching English to speakers of other languages have evolved.
This week, six additional and different methods are briefly considered.
• LEXICAL APPROACH contends that the knowledge of words and phrases is a far better foundation to build a new language than learning grammatical structure.
Emphasis is given to the studies of lexemes, the fundamental units of English. Learners are taught how an English word can sometimes represent one or more than one lexeme, e.g. oxygen = one lexeme (one meaning, one use – a colourless, odourless gas); bank = more than one lexeme, e.g. a bank of computers; an investment bank; the bank of a river, etc.
• NOTIONAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH focuses on notions, i.e. time, place, cost, person, quantity, emotional attitudes, beliefs – and emphasizes the use of language for a specific function, i.e. asking, questioning, enquiring, describing, applauding, criticizing, requesting, explaining, etc.
This approach is common in basic conversational language courses and publications where everyday, notional words and functional sentences are used, e.g. What time is it? Is this the train to Paris? My name is Maurtia.
• DIRECT APPROACH places its teaching focus on speech with a major emphasis on phonetics for pronunciation proficiency. Using the principles of visualization, association and learning through the senses, the Direct Approach teaches with pictures, activity and play in a similar way that a child learns their native language.
Grammar is learned by practice rather than by rules or precepts to develop natural, automatic responses. While the Direct Approach advocates that teaching be conducted by a native speaker, it contends that the mother tongue should be avoided in the learning situation as much as possible.
• PHONIC APPROACH teaches the relationship between particular sounds and symbols (letters) or symbol combinations (clusters). A characteristic of the English language is that symbols and symbol combinations can often make more than one sound just as different symbols and symbol combinations can make the same sound, e.g., the sound k… can be made by “c”, “k”. “q” and “ck”.
Phonics is widely used for teaching how to decode written words for pronunciation purposes and spoken words for spelling and writing purposes. While different phonics methods vary in what they teach, their commonality is their teaching how the sounds and symbols of sub-parts of words are connected to form spoken and written words.
The 4S Approach To Literacy And Language is also a phonic-based, teaching methodology but is one that goes to greater heights in imparting literacy and language-related skills. 4S focuses also on the relationship that exists between words in English, on the multi-meaning attributes of numerous words in context, on the symbol combination-syllabic structure of words, as well as on the provision of Keys.
• PRESENTATION, PRACTICE AND PRODUCTION (PPP) adopts a three-stage approach. First, teachers present the context and the language situation when the meaning and the structural form of the new language components are explained and demonstrated.
Second, learners use the new language contextually by practicing making sentences, both verbally and in writing, in a controlled, directed way, using models to work from as required.
It is at the third, production stage that learners are given the opportunity to be more creative in the application of what has been learnt, either working individually or in pairs.
While many teachers use this method today, critics contend the approach can lack flexibility and that lessons can become too ‘teacher-centred’. PPP is also the basis of the traditional method uses for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) that is commonly known as ESA – Engage – Study – Activate.
• GRAMMAR - TRANSLATION METHOD teaches learners to systematically find equivalent or similar words and grammatical concepts in sentences and word lists in their own native language and then translate them to the foreign language being learned, e.g. English, and vice versa.
Teachers applying the Grammar – Translation Method need to be bilingual with a high level of proficiency in the native language. Some critics argue that the method can stifle learners from getting the kind of natural language input necessary to acquire the language. However, its acceptance and success made it the main language teaching and learning method for two centuries and it is still practiced in many varying forms today, in some cases blended with less systematic literary methods.
Unlike the Literary Method that used classical literary texts to teach learners to imitate the writing style of a foreign language, the Grammar-Translation Method, as its name suggests, sought to expose learners to both foreign and native text that exhibited key grammatical concepts and could be translated in both directions. It was, in part, a system of translation.
Next week: The Silent Way, the Situational Approach, the Suggestopaedia method, Task-Based Learning, the Whole Word, and Look And Say Approach.
To obtain a free copy of PDF teaching Chart: Symbol Combinations That Make different Sounds, e-mail your request to: contact@4Sliteracy.com.au
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Physical communication and body language

Physical communication and body language
(Part Three)
By KEITH W. WRIGHT
December 10, 2009, 9:18am
This week, as we continue our study of body language as a non verbal communication (NVNVC) tool, we will discover that the position and use of the head is one of the NVC keys.
LEANING THE HEAD TO ONE SIDE
Leaning the head may be a sign of disinterest, impatience or boredom, that is, if it not physical and is actually the remedial response to a pain in the neck. If the head is turned and the listener is looking away, it is usually an indication of lack of interest, or even disbelief, in what is being said.
When a listener loses attention or does not agree with what is being said, it is almost natural to look or glance elsewhere. However, one must remember that certain people are more kinaesthetic than auditory and unless they are “doing’’ something with their hands, they can be very easily distracted.
PHYSICAL RESPONSES
When a listener is in disagreement with what is being said, physical responses may include rubbing or scratching the chin, touching the side of the face, scratching the ear, fiddling, doodling or staring away for an indefinite period.
The constant crossing and re-crossing of the legs and shifting one’s seated position can also be a sign of the person feeling mentally threatened, challenged or uncomfortable about the topic being explored.
INTENSE EYE CONTACT
Negatively, making intense eye contact might be a way of the receiver indicating that he or she does not trust the deliverer enough to take their eyes off them even for a moment.
In contrast, lack of eye contact can indicate a negative attitude and opposition or disinterest.
To make the issue a little more confusing, consistent or intense eye contact might indicate that a person is thinking positively about what the speaker is saying or has said. On the other hand, individuals who are basically shy or suffer from low self-esteem or even from mentally-related disorders, may have great difficulty making eye contact without a degree of physical discomfort.
Eye contact can also have a cultural significance. In most western countries, it customary for children to be inculcated at a very early age that eye contact should be made when speaking to someone. In contrast, in some other cultures, it is deemed improper to intensely look at someone or “eye-ball” another person similar to rules that apply in some correctional centers in the West.
The significance of eye contact becomes clouded even further when it is part of an arms–folded response. Some psychologists argue that this is a sign of a person who is bothered by something else at the time and that he or she is hoping that the issue can be discussed.
Again if eye contact is being made but the person is inattentive and is doodling or fiddling with some object, it could mean that their mind is on something else also.
The use of the eyes and specifically what part of the other person’s head is being looked at, is also believed to be of significance by some who have researched the issue of eye contact. For example, looking at one of the speaker’s eyes and then to the other and finally to the forehead, is said by some to be a sign that the receiver is taking a position of authority in a conversation.
If the person, having looked progressively at both eyes then looks at the nose, they are indicating their acceptance of the evenness or equality of the communication. However, if the final object of sight is the lips, it is suggested that the action could have romantic or amorous connotations.
When a person repeatedly blinks during an interview, questioning or a conversation, the issue of his or her veracity arises and the possibility of their not telling the whole truth comes to the fore.
While the above reactions are all believed to have a variety of specific communication-related meanings, it would be unwise not to also take into consideration the fact that some people have physical disabilities and impairments can cause them to physically act or react in a different way in what are, in the main, unexpected or abnormal situations.
In next week’s column we shall consider some possible interpretations of Body Language Actions involving the face, the eyes, the head and the hands.

Important role in intonation in speech

by Lynda Stucky

f you have ever learned another language you know how difficult it is to master. There are different pronunciations of sounds, different grammar rules and some intonation or inflection changes that are complicated and difficult to remember in speech. Unless you are one of the lucky people who is very talented at learning other languages easily, you may find yourself applying the rules of your language to the new language you are trying to learn.

One of the most difficult tasks for foreigners to learn is the stress patterns and melody of English. Inappropriate stress can change the entire word or sentence so much that the message is unrecognizable to the listener. When we were babies, we listened carefully to the speech patterns of the people in our environment. We began babbling by imitating the melody of speech we heard the adults around us use. Learning pitch patterns as a child is easier than learning new patterns as an adult. However, mastering intonation will greatly benefit the non-native speaker's intelligibility in conversation.

Our inflection rises when we ask a question and falls when we make a statement. Intonation is the part of speech that creates emphasis, tone, variety and new meaning by making changes in pitch and loudness.

Consider the following sentence. Try to say it in a very staccato way by giving each syllable the same amount of time. Make the sentence in a monotone voice (no changes in pitch or loudness).

"The issue was discussed."

Now, say the sentence and lengthen the vowel in the first syllable of "issue" (ISsue) and the second syllable in "discussed" (disCUSSED). Really exaggerate the length of those vowels. Also, get higher in pitch when you say them. You have just modified the melody of speech!

No matter what country a person comes from, there will be differences between languages. Here are some other examples that often create challenges to overcome for non-native English speakers.

1. Mandarin Chinese relies on tone differences to make different words. One word may have four different tones and each tone has four different meanings. In English that happens some but not as often. (Consider PROject and proJECT.)

2. Some languages have more pitch changes on individual vowels in words to indicate different word meanings.

3. In Japanese, some tone differences signify a change in the grammar of the sentence.

4. Some languages place equal stress on every syllable with limited variation in loudness or pitch so it is more of a monotonic language.

The task of learning the melody of American English comes easily to those of us who grew up speaking it. But for a non- native speaker, it takes time, practice and perseverance. In order to be better understood in the workplace, on the telephone or giving presentations, the melody of speech is a critical piece in order for the listener to understand the speaker's message. It is even considered to be more important than pronunciation of sounds. Mastering this aspect of speech will greatly benefit the communication effectiveness between two speakers.

Six rules of Subject Verb agreement

There are a few of us who could use some quick lessons in the use of subject and verb in English. You may have read a lot of rules and completed many sets of exercises to get them right, but here are six simple rules that will make it easy to comprehend and retain the lesson learnt.

Rule 1 - A singular subject uses a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

How simple can it get?

Ex -The boy plays. ( Singular subject, singular verb)

The boys play. ( Plural subject, plural verb)

Rule 2 - When you use some or all in a sentence, the verb can be either singular or plural depending on whether the subject can be counted or not.

Ex- Some of the chairs in the conference room are wobbly. ( You can count the chairs.)

Some of the tea from the teapot has spilt on the carpet. ( Tea is a non count subject.)

You can count tea if it were served in tea cups and thus if you say ” Six of the tea cups are cracked”, you will be right!

Rule 3 – When you use each, everyone, someone, anyone then the verb is always singular.

Each of you is responsible for the outcome.

Everyone in class has to have completed the exercise by Thursday.

Someone has to pick me up at the station tomorrow.

Rule 4 – When you use together with, along with or as well as even though they behave like conjunctions and link two phrases, the form of the verb will depend on the first subject.

If the first subject is singular, then the verb used is singular too.

The teacher ( First subject)along with the students ( Second subject) was at the marathon.

The students( first subject)together with the teacher( second subject) were at the celebrations after the marathon.

Rule 5 – When you use neither or either without the or and nor then the verb will always be singular. For ex -

Neither of the dresses she showed me was out of the world.

Will you prefer tea or coffee?

Either of them is ok.

Rule 6 - When neither or either is used in a sentence with the or and nor then the verb will always take the form of the second subject.

Neither Rajen nor his colleagues (second subject is plural) were at the meeting.

Either the engineers or Nair ( Second suject is singular) is representing the company at the conference.