Popular English teaching methods

Languages have always been among the disciplines required for study in schools, gymnasiums, colleges and universities. Of course, over time, the approach to teaching and learning languages, including English, has changed -something new has been added, and something has been abandoned. Let's look at the main and most famous methods of teaching English.

Grammar-Translation. This is the oldest way of teaching a language that is already considered classic. As the name implies, the basis of this method is the study of grammar and dense work with translation. Although at present many educational institutions have abandoned it in favor of a communicative methodology, it is still used at least partially.

Audiolingual Method. Sometimes the audio-lingual method is also called the Army method. It is based on the postulate of behaviorism that learning and remembering different things is possible and necessary with the help of constant repetition. The method involves oral presentation of the material and repeated repetition of various lexical and grammatical structures under the guidance of a teacher.

Direct Method. This method originated in France and Germany in the 1900s in order to quickly teach the military how to communicate in a foreign language. It is also called the Natural Method. It is somewhat similar to the audio lingual approach, as it involves repeated repetition and testing of various structures. However, the main difference is that the language is presented inductively, that is, the teacher does not explain the rule to students, but rather helps them to understand and derive it on the basis of language material. It is also worth noting that in the audio-lingual, and in the direct method, the teacher uses exclusively the studied language; mother tongue is not allowed.

The Structural Approach. As the name implies, the basis of this method is the structure and its study. The main idea of the approach is the hypothesis that any language consists of complex grammatical rules, and they need to be studied in a certain order. For example, before studying Present Continuous time, you need to study the verb to be, with the help of which this time is formed.

Suggestopedia. Although this method is often considered pseudoscientific, it has been quite popular for some time. It is built on the student’s confidence that the approach will work; light hypnosis techniques are used. Much attention is paid to ensure that the student does not experience the slightest discomfort during the lesson. Also, the use of music is widely used in the method.

LEARN AND PERFORM THESE ACTIONS IN CLASS

The Silent Way. In this method, much attention is paid to the independence of students: the teacher, as the name implies, practically does not speak (for example, does not give detailed and lengthy explanations of grammar). Instead, he acts as an assistant who guides students. Of great importance is the pronunciation -he takes a lot of time in each lesson. The vocabulary and grammar passed are also regularly repeated. Often, students do not even write formal tests on the material studied; instead, the teacher evaluates their progress from lesson to lesson.

The Lexical Approach. Here the focus is on the study of vocabulary. Initially, a list of the most frequently used words and lexical constructions is determined, and the study moves gradually, from simple to complex. Grammar is given much less attention than other methods.

Task Based Learning. In this method, language learning is based on the performance of a communicative task. For example, a teacher instructs students to play a dialogue on the topic "In a restaurant. " Students in pairs or groups perform it using only the lexical and grammatical means at their disposal. Then an analysis of what language is necessary for the successful completion of the assignment is carried out, the teacher gives students the necessary vocabulary and grammar, after which a similar task is performed using new language tools.

Community Language Learning. Here the basis is the work of students in a group; they help each other and share existing language knowledge. The teacher again acts only as an assistant, and not as a teacher in the classical sense of the word.

Communicative Language Teaching. The communicative technique is currently the most popular. It is based, as we see from the name, communication: a teacher with students, students in pairs or groups, the whole group together. The main objective of the training is to teach students to communicate, and not to thoroughly learn the whole grammar or to be able to translate texts. The teacher communicates with students in full or almost entirely in the language being studied. Student communication is also encouraged in any way; even if there are errors or inaccuracies in the speech, they are not as important as the process of communication.

Obviously, each teacher is guided in accordance with his personal experience in choosing methods and techniques of work. But, based on the results of the experimental work, it can be argued that the use of a variety of techniques in the framework of communicative, inductive, deductive methods gives a positive result and, of course, helps to increase the effectiveness of grammar learning.