English teaching methods

Grammar translation: 

... it was felt that translation itself was an academic exercise rather than one which would actually help learners to use language, and an overt focus on grammar was to learn about the target language rather than to learn it. As with many other methods and approaches, Grammar Translation tended to be referred to in the past tense as if it no longer existed and had died out to be replaced world-wide by the fun and motivation of the communicative classroom. If we examine the principal features of Grammar Translation, however, we will see that not only has it not disappeared but that many of its characteristics have been central to language teaching throughout the ages and are still valid today.

The Grammar Translation method embraces a wide range of approaches but, broadly speaking, foreign language study is seen as a mental discipline, the goal of which may be to read literature in its original form or simply to be a form of intellectual development. The basic approach is to analyze and study the grammatical rules of the language, usually in an order roughly matching the traditional order of the grammar of Latin, and then to practise manipulating grammatical structures through the means of translation both into and from the mother tongue. The method is very much based on the written word and texts are widely in evidence. A typical approach would be to present the rules of a particular item of grammar, illustrate its use by including the item several times in a text, and practise using the item through writing sentences and translating it into the mother tongue. The text is often accompanied by a vocabulary list consisting of new lexical items used in the text together with the mother tongue translation. Accurate use of language items is central to this approach.

Generally speaking, the medium of instruction is the mother tongue, which is used to explain conceptual problems and to discuss the use of a particular grammatical structure. It all sounds rather dull but it can be argued that the Grammar Translation method has over the years had a remarkable success. Millions of people have successfully learnt foreign languages to a high degree of proficiency and, in numerous cases, without any contact whatsoever with native speakers of the language (as was the case in the former Soviet Union, for example). There are certain types of learner who respond very positively to a grammatical syllabus as it can give them both a set of clear objectives and a clear sense of achievement. Other learners need the security of the mother tongue and the opportunity to relate grammatical structures to mother tongue equivalents. Above all, this type of approach can give learners a basic foundation upon which they can then build their communicative skills.

Applied wholesale of course, it can also be boring for many learners and a quick look at foreign language course books from the 1950s and 1960s, for example, will soon reveal the non-communicative nature of the language used. Using the more enlightened principles of the Communicative Approach, however, and combining these with the systematic approach of Grammar Translation, may well be the perfect combination for many learners. On the one hand they have motivating communicative activities that help to promote their fluency and, on the other, they gradually acquire a sound and accurate basis in the grammar of the language. This combined approach is reflected in many of the EFL course books currently being published and, amongst other things, suggests that the Grammar Translation method, far from being dead, is very much alive and kicking as we enter the 21st century. Without a sound knowledge of the grammatical basis of the language it can be argued that the learner is in possession of nothing more than a selection of communicative phrases which are perfectly adequate for basic communication but which will be found wanting when the learner is required to perform any kind of sophisticated linguistic task. 

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/teaching-approaches/teaching-approaches-the-grammar-translation-method/146493.article

Direct method

The direct method of teaching was developed around 1900 in Germany and France. It is sometimes called the natural method because the aim is to teach students in a similar way that they acquire their first language. It came as a response to the shortfalls of the grammar-translation method, which works to teach grammar and translate vocabulary from the native language of the student.

Therefore, the grammar-translation method relies heavily on the written language, whereas the direct method places the emphasis on both listening and speaking. Although the direct method isn’t limited to teaching foreign language, it is however, often used for this purpose. In fact, you can see evidence of it being used in many English classrooms around the world today. The aim of this method for teaching English is to immerse the students in English, the teacher would use realia, visual aids and demonstrations to teach English to students.

The teacher would in this instance focus on repetitive patterns of teaching with grammar being taught inductively. This means that the rules of grammar are not taught directly, instead students would learn to change different parts of the sentence. For example, “I go to school”, the word go could be changed for other verbs like walk, run, jog, drive, etc.

The direct method of learning English is fairly simple. In consists, primarily, of just five parts.

• Show – The student is shown something so that they understand the word. For example, they might be shown realia or other visual aids such as flash cards for nouns. The teacher might use gestures to explain verbs, and so on.
• Say – The teacher verbally presents the word or sentence, taking care to pronounce the word correctly.
• Try – The student then tries to repeat what the teacher is saying.
• Mould – The teacher corrects the students and ensures that they are pronouncing words correctly.
• Repeat – Finally, the students repeat the word a number of times. Here the teacher uses a number of methods for repetition, including group repetition, single student repetition and other activities designed to get the students to repeat the word.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jReX7qKU2yc

Audio-lingual method

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 the Aural oral approach. It is 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 competences preceded reading and writing competences. But there are also some differences. The direct method highlighted the teaching of vocabulary while the audiolingual approach focus on grammar drills. 

The objective of the audiolingual method is accurate pronunciation and grammar, the ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations and knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns. Particular emphasis was laid on mastering the building blocks of language and learning the rules for combining them. It was believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. Here are some characteristics of the method:

• language learning is habit-formation,
• mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they are considered bad habits,
• language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form,
• analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis,
• the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.

The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling. Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds. Lessons in the classroom focus on the correct imitation of the teacher by the students. Not only are the students expected to produce the correct output, but attention is also paid to correct pronunciation. Although correct grammar is expected in usage, no explicit grammatical instruction is given. It is taught inductively.  Furthermore, the target language is the only language to be used in the classroom. 

http://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/the-audiolingual-approach/