Popular Methodology in English Language Teaching
Concepts of Approach, Method, Procedure, and Technique
Educational methodology attempts to establish framework practices for language instruction, combining theoretical models of learning with beliefs regarding language acquisition.
Discarded or unfashionable methods frequently leave behind procedures and techniques that remain standard components of contemporary teaching practice.
Approach:
Refers to theories concerning the nature of language and language learning.
Provides explicit theoretical justifications for classroom practices and structural choices.
Offers a model of language competence, detailing how language is used and how its constituent parts interlock.
Describes how learners acquire knowledge of the language and specifies conditions promoting successful learning.
Method:
Represents the practical classroom realization of an approach.
Consists of decisions made to operationalize a theoretical approach in instructional settings.
Encompasses specific procedures and techniques as standard operational practices.
Easily described when procedures are fixed and tied to a clearly articulated approach; less distinct when drawing eclectically from diverse, conflicting sources.
Procedure:
An ordered sequence of techniques, summarized sequentially as "First you do this, then you do that…"
Intermediate in scale: smaller than a method, larger than a single technique.
Example Procedure (Group Dictation): Students are placed in small groups. Each group sends one representative to the front of the room to read and memorize the first line of a poem on a desk. Representatives return to dictate the line to their groups. A second representative from each group goes up to read the second line, repeating until one group completes the poem.
Technique:
A single, discreet instructional activity rather than a sequence of actions.
Example 1 (Silent Viewing): Playing a video or film clip with the audio muted, requiring students to infer and guess the spoken dialogue.
Example 2 (Finger Technique): The teacher holds up a hand, allocating one word of a sentence to each finger (e.g., "He" [thumb], "is" [index], "not" [middle], "playing" [ring], "tennis" [pinky]). The teacher brings the "is" and "not" fingers together to visually represent verb contraction into "isn't".
Example 3 (Murmuring): Directing all students in a group to murmur a new word or phrase to themselves simultaneously for a few seconds to achieve articulatory fluency prior to individual oral production.
Interrelationships and Methodological Evaluation:
Misuse of terms creates confusion in comparative methodology (e.g., claiming method status for a single technique, or developing an approach retroactively to justify effective procedures).
When evaluating new methods, educators must assess:
How theories of language and learning are incorporated.
Whether constituent procedures are appropriate and effective for specific classroom contexts.
Whether techniques and activities are satisfying to learners/teachers and successfully achieve their intended learning outcomes.
Historical Methodology: The "Three and a Half" Methods
Historical developments in methodology stemmed from debates over formal versus informal language exposure, as well as the role of the learner's native language () in target language () instruction.
Prior to the nineteenth century, formal language study was reserved for scholars analyzing grammar rules and dictionary word lists, alongside practical acquisition by migrants and traders.
Nineteenth-century integration of foreign languages into school curriculums necessitated formal, systematic methodologies.
Grammar-Translation Method:
Direct explanation of grammar points in the students' , accompanied by illustrative target language sentences.
Primary activity: Translating discrete sentences from to and vice versa.
Key Characteristics:
Language analyzed almost exclusively at the isolated sentence level, with minimal study of extended texts in early stages.
Neglect or complete omission of spoken language practice.
Strict insistence on linguistic accuracy as an absolute requirement.
The Direct Method:
Developed at the end of the nineteenth century as a reform movement against Grammar-Translation restrictions.
Completely abandoned translation in favor of continuous interaction between teacher and students.
Meaning established by directly associating grammatical forms with concrete objects, pictures, and demonstrations.
Inductive vs. Deductive Learning:
Grammar-Translation utilizes deductive learning (conscious, deliberate focus on rules prior to language production).
The Direct Method utilizes inductive learning (learners discover underlying grammatical rules through exposure to language input).
Utilized dialogues to demonstrate natural conversational styles.
Absolute prohibition of in the classroom. This strict -only mandate was driven by reaction against constant translation, reinforced by the global movement of native-English-speaking teachers.
Audiolingualism:
Developed in the USA during the 1920s and 1930s by combining Direct Method practices with Behaviorist psychology.
Based on the Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement model to form correct linguistic habits through continuous positive reinforcement.
Relied heavily on mechanical pattern drills with incremental substitution to shield learners from committing errors.
Verbatim Audiolingual Drill Example:
Teacher: There's a cup on the table… repeat.
Students: There's a cup on the table.
Teacher: Spoon.
Students: There's a spoon on the table.
Teacher: Book.
Students: There's a book on the table.
Teacher: On the chair.
Students: There's a book on the chair.
Maintained focus at the isolated sentence level without real-world context; aimed for mistake-free habit formation via deliberate, highly repetitive practice.
The Oral-Situational Approach:
British variant of Audiolingualism prioritizing spoken language primacy.
Fundamental sequence principle: Nothing said before being heard; nothing read or written before being spoken.
Grammar structures were graded and systematically sequenced.
Distinct from Audiolingualism: Introduced target language structures within specific situational contexts (e.g., "at the post office", "at the hospital").
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Teaching Unplugged
Originating in the 1970s and 1980s, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) shifted focus from formal linguistic structures to functional language use.
CLT functions as a broad family of diverse approaches sharing common core tenets rather than a single prescriptive, uniform method.
Core Strands of CLT:
Functional Emphasis: Shifted focus from formal grammar/vocabulary mechanics to functional output (David Wilkins 1976; Munby 1978). Taught communicative functions (e.g., inviting, apologizing, agreeing, disagreeing) alongside grammatical structures (e.g., past perfect, second conditional).
Meaning-Focused Communication: Operates on the premise that if language is communication, engaging in meaning-focused tasks enables acquisition to take care of itself. Task completion is prioritized alongside linguistic accuracy.
Utilization of interactive simulations and role-plays simulating authentic real-world communication.
The Communication Continuum:
\begin{array}{|c|c|}\n \hline\n \textbf{Non-communicative Activities} & \textbf{Communicative Activities} \\\n \hline\n \text{No communicative desire} & \text{A desire to communicate} \\\n \text{No communicative purpose} & \text{A communicative purpose} \\\n \text{Form not content} & \text{Content not form} \\\n \text{One language item only} & \text{Variety of language} \\\n \text{Teacher intervention} & \text{No teacher intervention} \\\n \text{Materials control} & \text{No materials control} \\\n \hline\n \end{array}
Communicative activities often utilize an information gap, wherein two participants hold differing information and must interact to complete a missing dataset.
Implementation Challenges: CLT has frequently been treated as a general philosophy or reduced to supplemental "add-on" activities alongside traditional structural instruction, partly due to external exams remaining focused on discrete language items.
Traditional practices can be rendered communicative through proper framing; conversely, role-plays can degrade into simple dialogue memorization if executed non-communicatively (Beaumont and Chang 2011).
Integration of traditional and communicative models is complementary (Griffiths 2011), giving rise to a principled communicative approach combining genuine interaction with explicit focus on form, controlled practice, and declarative input (Dörnyei 2013).
Teaching 'Unplugged' (Dogme ELT):
Inspired by the Dogme 95 film manifesto (Lars von Trier 1995); adapted to language teaching by Scott Thornbury (2000) and Luke Meddings (Meddings and Thornbury 2009).
Opposes over-reliance on published materials, published syllabi, and technical devices in favor of a materials-free, dynamic classroom environment.
Core Features:
Conversation-driven: Interactive classroom dialogue between students and teacher drives instruction; teacher scaffolds language by exploiting emergent affordances (unplanned learning moments).
Materials-light: Rejects pre-packaged coursebooks, operating directly on learner-generated topics, needs, and texts.
Focus on emergent language: Works directly with spontaneous learner output and treats errors as primary learning opportunities.
Criticisms and Concerns:
May inherently privilege native-speaker teachers.
Unrealistic or unmanageable in large class sizes.
Ignores the structural utility of syllabi and coursebooks valued by learners and institutions.
Classroom interaction alone may be insufficient; direct teacher instruction extends beyond classroom talk (Clemente 2001).
Unstructured group talk does not automatically produce language learning; classroom interaction should be recorded and analyzed to verify learning mechanisms (Chappell 2014).
Task-Based Learning (TBL)
Task-Based Learning (also TBI or TBLT) operationalizes CLT principles: CLT provides the theoretical rationale ("why"), while TBLT provides the pedagogical execution ("how") (Nunan 2014).
Prioritizes the execution of meaningful tasks over the presentation of pre-selected grammatical forms (Willis and Willis 2003).
Early application (Prabhu 1987): Problem-solving exercises, such as extracting train arrival/departure times from a timetable (e.g., "When does the Brindavan express leave Madras/arrive in Bangalore?"), where structural forms (e.g., present simple) emerge naturally from task completion.
The Willis TBL Framework:
Pre-task Stage: Teacher introduces topic and task boundaries, highlights useful lexical items/phrases, clarifies instructions, and may play an audio recording of native speakers performing the same task.
Task Cycle Stage:
Task: Students perform the task in pairs or small groups while the teacher monitors from a distance.
Planning: Students prepare oral or written reports explaining task outcomes and procedures.
Report: Groups present their reports to the class and compare findings.
Language Focus Stage:
Analysis: Students examine specific structural/lexical features present in the task material or recordings.
Practice: Teacher conducts targeted language practice provoked by the task and delivers offline corrections.
Task Repetition: Re-planning and re-delivering presentations based on feedback acts as a powerful driver of linguistic consolidation.
Nunan's Task Sequence Variant:
Schema building pre-task Controlled practice of key target vocabulary Listening to native speakers perform the task and analyzing language used Free language practice Pedagogical task completion.
This variant moves systematically from reproductive language use to creative language use.
Task Definition and Critical Perspectives:
Definition: A holistic activity engaging language use to achieve a non-linguistic outcome while meeting a linguistic challenge (Samuda and Bygate 2008).
Criticisms:
Concept is difficult to define precisely, leading to calls to abandon the terminology entirely (Littlewood 2004a).
Typical task interactions elicit restricted, utilitarian "task-solving" forms, failing to generate complex discussion, debate, or social interaction (Seedhouse 1999).
Ignores non-transactional human language use, such as play, games, humor, affection, songs, aggression, and religion (Cook 2000).
Effective for automatizing known language, but inefficient for systematic teaching of new linguistic structures (Swan 2005b).
Unrealistic for time-constrained state school curricula (e.g., 3--4 hours per week), where explicit, structured syllabus instruction is required for vocabulary acquisition (Ur 2006).
The Lexical Approach
Developed by Dave Willis (1990) and formalized by Michael Lewis (1993, 1997).
Premise: Language does not consist of traditional grammar plus vocabulary, but rather prefabricated multi-word lexical chunks.
Fluency depends on mastering a vast repertoire of fixed and semi-fixed expressions that serve as the foundation for creative output.
Lexical Chunks Examples: How are you?, See you later, You must be joking, I'll give it my best shot, changing the subject slightly…, might as well…, if it'll help.
Shifts instruction away from syntax patterns with slot-in vocabulary toward teaching generative phrases and archetypical utterances (e.g., replacing abstract rules for future "will" by teaching: I'll give you a ring, I'll be in touch, I'll see what I can do, I'll be back in a minute).
Methodological Practices in the Lexical Approach:
Adding intensifiers to semi-fixed expressions (e.g., inserting "quite": It's [quite] obvious something's gone wrong).
Text analysis tasks: Underlining nouns in a text and identifying collocating verbs.
Reordering word sequence exercises focused on phrase components.
Exposure to comprehensible input as the primary vehicle for lexical acquisition rather than formal teaching.
Emphasizing naturalness and teaching words alongside their collocational partners (Dellar and Walkley 2016).
Criticisms and Modern Reassessments:
Storing tens of thousands of lexical phrases is extremely time-consuming ("trying to empty the sea with a teaspoon") (Swan 2006b).
Lacks clear theoretical principles for selecting which chunks to teach, relying excessively on learner noticing ("all chunks but no pineapple") (Timmis 2008; Thornbury 1998).
Modern Reassessment:
Integration of a "lexical dimension" focused on raising awareness of collocations within broader frameworks (Timmis 2008).
Applying internal structural analysis to a chunk only when the learner needs to vary its form to generate new messages (e.g., teaching I'd like as a single chunk for initially) (Woolard 2013b).
Four Old Humanistic Methods
Community Language Learning (CLL):
The teacher acts as a "knower" standing outside a circle of seated learners.
Learners express what they wish to say in ; the knower translates or prompts the equivalent phrasing.
Student utterances are recorded for subsequent structural analysis and linguistic reflection.
Includes explicit debriefing sessions where learners express emotional reactions to the learning activities.
Suggestopaedia:
Created by Georgi Lozanov (1978); focuses on optimizing the physical learning environment to lower the learner's affective filter.
Learners assume alternate identities/names and enter a parent-child dynamic with the teacher ("infantilisation"); traumatic topics are strictly avoided.
Features a three-part presentation procedure: teacher reads pre-studied dialogues synchronized to Baroque music, followed by several minutes of solemn silence, exiting the room in silence.
Total Physical Response (TPR):
Formulated by James Asher (1977); models second-language acquisition on initial command processing.
Teachers issue physical directives (e.g., "pick up the triangle from the table and give it to me" or "walk quickly to the door and hit it").
Learners execute bodily movements responding to commands without speaking until they feel internally prepared to issue directives themselves.
Highly effective for kinaesthetic learners.
The Silent Way:
Created by Caleb Gattegno (1976); based on the principle that learning is maximized when students discover and create language rather than repeat instruction.
The teacher remains virtually silent, pointing to target sounds on a colored phonemic chart and utilizing silent gestures or facial expressions to guide student self-correction.
Employs Cuisenaire rods (wooden blocks of varying colors and lengths) to set up language problems and evoke structural communication.
Forces cognitive processing and learner autonomy by requiring students to solve linguistic challenges independently.
Presentation, Practice, and Production (PPP) and Its Alternatives
PPP is a foundational structural procedure historically derived from Audiolingualism and the Oral-Situational Approach.
Sequence: Contextualized Presentation Controlled Practice (repetition, drills) Autonomous Production.
Detailed PPP Instructional Exemplar (Target: Present Simple for Routines; Level: GSE ):
Stage 1: Presentation:
Display sequential visual prompts showing the daily routine of Meera, a hospital doctor.
Establish occupation ("She's a doctor"). Point to a clock showing 6:00 and prompt: "What time does Meera get up?"
Elicit response: "She gets up at six o'clock."
Model sentence Isolate grammar target ("gets") Explain rule (, , , but , ) Distort sound ("gets… sss… gets") Board notation Reassemble Final natural modeling ("Listen… She gets up at six o'clock").
Stage 2: Practice:
Choral repetition followed by individual student nomination and immediate error correction.
Model additional routine sentences using visual prompts ("She works at a hospital", "She travels to work by car", "She has lunch at one o'clock").
Conduct a Cue-Response Drill: Teacher provides cue before nominating a student to ensure class-wide attention.
Teacher: Can anyone tell me? (Points to picture of a car [Cue]) Yes, Sergio (Nomination).
Student: She travels to work by car (Response).
Teacher: Good.
Pair-work drill practice for consolidation.
Stage 3: Production:
Direct students to apply target structures to their own lives (Personalization): "I get up at nine o'clock", "I study at the university".
Alternative context framing: Apply structures to imaginative or subversive personas (e.g., routine of a prisoner, freedom fighter, corrupt official, refugee camp worker, wheelchair user).
Limitations and Structural Alternatives:
Criticisms: Linear assumption ("straight-line learning") fails to reflect actual non-linear acquisition dynamics; highly teacher-centered.
Deep-End Strategy / Boomerang Procedure: Reverses the PPP sequence (). Students are immediately placed in a production task; teacher diagnoses breakdown areas and delivers targeted instruction afterward (Johnson 1982; Byrne 1986).
Harmer's ESA Trilogy (Engage, Study, Activate):
Engage (E): Arousing emotional involvement and interest.
Study (S): Focusing on construction elements (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, discourse features) via direct focus on forms or task-based noticing.
Activate (A): Encouraging uninhibited use of all available linguistic knowledge in communicative tasks, reading, or authentic interaction.
ESA Lesson Sequences:
Straight Arrows:
Boomerang:
Patchwork:
Methodological Choice, Post-Method Era, and Cultural Context
Practitioner Eclecticism:
Methods serve as valuable instructional tools rather than rigid prescriptive mandates (Swan 2012).
Teachers combine techniques eclectically based on professional theoretical knowledge, empirical research, and personal sense of plausibility (Prabhu 1990; Sowden 2007; Bell 2007).
Pedagogical techniques must be continuously evaluated against verified learning outcomes (e.g., "Hangman" is inefficient for spelling accuracy [Ur 2008]; "Wordsearch" lacks validity unless target items are contextualized in follow-up tasks [McBeath 2006]).
Post-Method Frameworks:
Rigid method adherence is restrictive; instructional environments require alternatives to method rather than alternative methods (Kumaravadivelu 2001, 2006).
Kumaravadivelu's 10 Macrostrategies: Maximize learning opportunities, facilitate negotiated interaction, foster language awareness, contextualize linguistic input, integrate language skills, promote learner autonomy, ensure social relevance, minimize perceptual mismatches, raise cultural consciousness, build local expertise.
Exploratory Practice: Prioritizes classroom quality of life over raw instructional efficiency. Teachers identify, investigate, and solve localized "learning puzzles" through collaborative data collection (Allwright 2003).
Context Analysis: Methodologies must emerge from systematic evaluation of local cultural and institutional contexts prior to teaching (Bax 2003, 2006).
Cultural Factors and Native-Speakerism:
Importing Western methodologies (e.g., communicative group-work) into different cultural traditions can generate methodological culture clashes, learner resistance, and compromised acquisition (Pennycook 1998; Holliday 2006).
Teachers must respect local learning cultures and negotiate an explicit instructional compromise between teacher and student expectations (Maley 2013).
Principled Eclecticism: Systematic integration of explicit learning theories transformed into consistent classroom practices.
Coursebooks and Materials: Evaluation, Adaptation, and Design
Arguments For and Against Coursebook Use:
\begin{array}{|p{7cm}|p{7cm}|}\n \hline\n \textbf{Arguments For Coursebooks} & \textbf{Arguments Against Coursebooks} \\\n \hline\n \text{Provide coherent syllabi and structured language control.} & \text{Impose rigid learning styles unsuited to specific cohorts.} \\\n \text{Visually attractive with curated topics and texts.} & \text{Default to restrictive PPP routines, stifling teacher creativity.} \\\n \text{Offer crucial reference materials for independent learner revision.} & \text{Content is often sanitized, bland, or culturally irrelevant.} \\\n \text{Pedagogic artifice provides necessary intermediate scaffolding (Gilmore 2004).} & \text{Topics lack immediacy regarding real-world student interests.} \\\n \text{Comprehensive Teacher's Books supply reliable procedures.} & \text{Predictable layout units reduce ongoing learner motivation.} \\\n \text{Companion websites and digital tracking tools reduce teacher workload.} & \text{Static materials are obsolete compared to dynamic web search/BYOD.} \\\n \hline\n \end{array}
Coursebooks function optimally as a flexible starting point rather than a rigid script (Levrai 2013).
Coursebook Adaptation Techniques:
Omission: Leaving out irrelevant, misaligned, or poorly leveled material (requires verifying that omitted items are excluded from assessment).
Replacement: Substituting weak coursebook activities with teacher-designed material that fulfills identical underlying learning aims.
Adaptation and Addition Strategies:
Students perform coursebook dialogues adopting altered character personas (e.g., police officer, superhero, ballet dancer).
Dialogue expansion.
Critical evaluation of texts/exercises by students.
Sentence entry into web search engines to locate real-world occurrences.
Changing character genders in texts to analyze shifts in narrative meaning.
Truncating texts by removing final paragraphs for predictive inferencing.
Web searching for additional factual data on text topics.
Performing simulated interviews with characters featured in reading texts.
Converting text propositions into absolute opposites.
Reassembling scrambled text sentences or predicting whole text content from randomly extracted words.
Summarizing texts under strict progressive constraints ().
Retelling narrative texts from alternate participant perspectives.
Delivering dialogues under varied emotional states (angry, happy, sad) or acoustic parameters (fast, slow, loud, quiet).
Coursebook Selection Criteria Checklist:
Price and Availability: Affordability of student components and timely access to support materials.
Layout, Design, and Navigation: Visual clarity and functional digital component operation.
Instructions (Rubrics): Unambiguous language clear to both learners and teachers.
Methodology: Alignment with the institutional framework and theoretical principles.
Syllabus: Balanced distribution of structural elements, vocabulary, and macro-skills.
Topics and Cultural Appropriateness: Non-offensive, engaging content suited to the target cultural context.
Teacher Support: High-quality Teacher's Books and technical support channels.
Selection Procedure: Consult experienced colleagues, conduct single-class trial piloting, and collect direct student evaluations.
Designing Original Materials:
Outcome Clarity: Define exact target performance outcomes.
The TITO Test: Verify that "Time In" (preparation duration) yields proportional "Time Out" (classroom pedagogical value).
Usability: Ensure practical layout and clear instructions.
Reusability: Design multi-purpose or multi-level adaptability.
Engagement: Ensure intrinsic appeal and motivational alignment.
Future Directions in Language Methodology
Adaptive Learning and Data Analytics:
Continuous automated tracking of individual learning interactions allows software programs to deliver customized content chunks tailored to immediate learner needs, potentially replacing static coursebooks.
Personal Mobile Devices (BYOD):
Integration of student-owned smartphones and tablets directly into classroom inquiry and dynamic research tasks.
The Flipped Classroom Model:
Theoretical and structural input is completed independently online prior to class; in-class time is dedicated exclusively to collaborative practice, communicative application, and problem solving.
Radical variations propose replacing specialist instructors with adult facilitators guiding self-organized discovery learning (Sugata Mitra).
Automated Translation Technology:
Advances in digital translation tools challenge traditional rationales for target language mastery.
Enduring Fundamentals:
Technological delivery systems cannot replace core psychological components of language acquisition: intrinsic motivation, collaborative human interaction, professional teacher guidance, and communicative practice.