Contemporary Methods

All the points mentioned above are undergoing further development in contemporary Methods abroad.

There are many methods of language teaching and a considerable amount of controversy as to the best way of foreign languages teaching abroad at present. However it is possible to group them into: 1) traditional methods which have their origin in the grammar – translation method, and 2) audio-lingual method which are considered to be a further development of the direct method line.

The traditional approach to foreign language teaching is characterized by: 1) the use of the native language for explanation retention and checking of grammar;

2) the deductive explanation of grammar exercises; 3) the development of all the language skills, i.e hearing, speaking, reading, writing from the beginning of the course. This approach is called traditional because it has been prevalent in schools for a long time. This methods are often contrasted with audio-lingual methods, and the latter are considered to be contemporary ones, we’ll dwell upon the audio-lingual methods more thoroughly.

The main features of the contemporary methods are:

The development of audio-lingual skill first i.e listening comprehension and speaking, that is why that methods are called audio-lingual.

Great care in teaching speaking so that the learner could use the spoken forms as accurately as possible, that is with native like sentence patterns and pronunciation. For this purpose the student should have some adequate model of speech - preferable in the person of a native or near-native speaker of the language or the form of a faithfully recorded voice of such a speaker. This is now quitepossible because of modern teaching equipment such as radio, television, language laboratories and teaching machines.

3. The rejection of translation as the main tool of instruction. All the exercises performed by the student are usually within the target language. The use of the student’s native language is minimized.

4. Teaching grammar through pattern practice. The grammatical exercises usually take the form of drills in which the student is asked to substitute words for other words, or to make changes in sentences, e.g. from singular to plural, from past to present, from active to passive, following the model.

5. Extensive use of “real- life” communication situations for stimulating the student’s language activity. This is done to involve the student in the act of communication in the target language, and in this way to arouse his interest in language learning and increase his motivation. Modern teaching aids and teaching materials make such situations accessible, e.g. a filmstrip with foreign language round track can represent realistic situations and context and “engage” the student in conversation.

6. The development of reading and writing first using the linguistic material and the student has learned orally, and then the material characteristic of written language with the aim of getting information (reading) and sending information (writing).

The method is known as Saint Cloud audio-visual method. The situations and speech patterns have been carefully selected. All these are reproduced by native speakers. Students “receive” the material through audio and visual perception, i.e. they see a picture (a series of pictures) on a screen or in the book and listen to the conversation from a tape- recorder. They assimilate the material by memorizing the language and the situations in which this material can be used. The work takes the student through the following stages:

receptive stage: the student listens to the conversation 2-3 times and tries to grasp it;

reproductive stage: the student reproduces the phrases and sentences said by the speaker.

Typically the material memorized consists of dialogues that the student can act out. The whole course includes a lot of conversations within a set of everyday situations.

Palmer’s exercises are known to be mechanical and they require “parrot work” on the part of the learner.

In conclusion, it should be said that between the grammar- translation method however modified and the direct method in various modifications there have been mixed or in- between methods. The advocates of the latter methods try to avoid the extremes of the former. “Language Learning” by Peter Hagboldt is an example of such a method.

It is not our purpose here to analyze teaching methods and weigh their relative merits since this may be a subject for special papers and investigations.

The development of engineering has made possible the introducing of new teaching aids and materials: television courses, tape- lessons, audio- visual courses, programmed instruction is being introduced into foreign language teaching. Textbooks have appeared which differ greatly from there used before; each new textbook is only a part of the teaching materials designed for a particular set of pupils.

Considerable attention is given to testing in foreign language teaching, to measuring pupils’ aptitudes and achievements in language learning. Various tests have been suggested for measuring pupils’ knowledge of vocabulary and structures, their comprehension of oral language and written language. The problem of testing, because of the complexity of the subject, is still far from being solved.

In conclusion, we may say that much effort is being expended on the development of more effective methods of foreign language teaching and, although practical results are not yet encouraging, as one can judge from different publications on Methods, one can hope that a scientific approach to foreign language teaching will being considerable improvement.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-05