Classification of Teaching Methods

Teaching is a creative art that teacher has to use many methods which can meet the learner’s needs and the demands of learning situation. There are many methods throughout the history of teaching English. It is suggested, however, in this essay three common methods, namely, Grammar-Translation, Direct Method and Communicative Language Teaching, clarified into two categories: teacher-centered and student-centered. Teacher-centered here just includes Grammar-Translation. Teacher has the authority to do most activities in the class. Most of the time the teacher lectures the learners and there is just a little interaction between the learners and the teacher and almost no interaction between students (Tetzner. R, 2004) The teacher uses mother tongue to explain lessons with little oral production of the target language. The role of teacher is to exemplify the rules, to present the rules deductively. He/ she encourages the learners’ ‘memorization and provides practice with a focus on form’ (Klapper. J, 2006).

For example, the teacher is explaining a part of present tense for her students whose native speakers are Vietnamese and learn English as a second language, “my mother is a teacher → Mẹ tôi là một giáo viên. My mother là chủ từ số ít nên động từ tobe sẽ là is”. Then the teacher writes the rule on the board S + be + O. The teacher first explains then gives the rule; he/she does not give any opportunities for her student to find the rule. After that, the teacher asks his/her students to produce a new sentence based upon on the rule such as, my father is an engineer. In the example here, the teacher does most activities. Direct method and Communicative Language teaching are clarified in the student-centered. Most of activities and time are done by students. In direct method, Kalan (2012) mentions that students are asked to make a choice and get them to correct their own errors, or students learn by self-correction. Students have to figure out the grammar rule or grammar is taught inductively.

The students may never be received an explicit grammar rule. Take an example of grammar rule , the teacher writes on the board a sentence My sister goes to school every day and asks students to find the rule. Students will work to find the rule with their known knowledge but little support of the teacher. They find the rule of the sentence S + V + Complement. See the quite similar things in the Communicative Language Teaching, students spend less time on the structure of the language; students are encouraged to use the language. Learners have ‘opportunity to say what they want to say and the teacher does not always control over their language’ (British Council, n.d.) which creates the interaction between students and teacher and between students and students. For example, students in a class use target language to introduce themselves and ask their classmates’ information with teacher’s support. The two categories, one focuses on the role of teacher and the other on the communicative skills of learners. Of course, each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. The teacher, therefore, knows how to play her/his role in explaining lesson that can meet the learners’ needs.

References

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). (n.d.). Retrieved Jan. 3, 2013, from British Council: http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/teachers/teaching-articles/methodology/clt Kalan, S. (2012). The Direct method. Retrieved Jan 3, 2013, from Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/SoNeRKaLaN/the-direct-method-in-language-teaching Klapper, J. (2006). Approaches to language teaching. In D. T. Nguyen, Readings in theories of language teaching & learning (pp. 236-337). Ho Chi MInh: Open university of Ho Chi Minh City. Tetzner, R. (2004). The Grammar-Translation Method. Retrieved Jan. 3, 2013, from Grin: http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/53246/the-grammar-translation-method