UNIT 15: APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

Approaches in English language teaching have been developed with a view to instructing people in a second language like the communicative approach, which is based on speaking; hence, communicative activities that focus on fluency. In this unit I learned on other methods to teach English. Structural approach, this is based on structures utilized to communicate meaning. Task-based learning (TBL) use functions, vocabulary, structures and discourse to teach a language. Presentation, Practice and production (PPP), it states that grammatical structures and functions are the most important aspect of language. Lexical approach, it establishes that vocabulary, which consists of individual words and different kinds of chunks such as collocations, idioms, and fixed expressions, is the most important aspect of language. There are also other methods such as Functional Approach, Grammar-Translation, Total Physical Response (TPR), Guided discovery, Content-based learning and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) that have contributed in the English language teaching. To apply the knowledge on this unit in the classroom, it is necessary to know the steps that involve each of them in order to find out what could fit in the class, taking into account that that method maybe could not be applied in other class.

1. ESOL (2009), Teaching approaches and strategies, retrieved from: http://esolonline.tki.org.nz/ESOL-Online/Teacher-needs/Pedagogy/ESOL-teaching-strategies/Oral-language/Teaching-approaches-and-strategies

2. Richards, J (2014), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlVZpcan7q0