“What is the best way to teach a language?”
Originally uploaded by klattu01
I am often asked, “What is the best way to teach a language?” The only answer that I can give is that I have noticed that effective teaching and learning occurs when students balance meaningful communications with direct teaching. The history of second language teaching is marked with periods where people believe more in one approach, e.g. meaningful communication, than the other way of teaching, direct language teaching for accuracy. Then there are periods when the reverse happens. So it goes in language teaching methodology. There are many methods that have come over the dam and down the stream. But in the end the stream flows in one of these two directions.
Explicit teaching does seem to help students with syntax, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and some norms of social usage. However, students should have many opportunities to use the second language in meaningful and motivating situations. At WAL we try to strike an appropriate balance between the two ways of teaching and make them a part of our interactive teaching. To my knowledge there is no research which confirms the effectiveness of this approach and none falsifies it either. Indeed, the correct balance varies for each student, which precludes a unifying theory and makes language acquisition unlike other school subjects. Generally we can say older adult students benefit more from the first approach (direct teaching) and younger students benefit more from the latter approach which is similar to learning one’s first language. But that is just a generalization, really.
There are parallel discussions of whether grade school youngsters should learn a second language as part of another subject such as social studies (sheltered learning) or should one study the language directly? We are in a period where sheltered teaching is the most popular way of teaching a second language in our public schools. This is not a simple issue though and so a question for another time; but it is related to finding a balance in one’s teaching. Our TESL program concentrates on teaching interactive approaches to teaching in addition to using the most contemporary methodology in teaching the traditional skills such as reading (GLAD!), listening, and writing. Whether we isolate and teach explicitly the language and vocabulary of academic subject areas, teach language directly in a pull-out situation, or integrate the teaching within content lessons, we should understand that all require careful planning and effective instructional practices to achieve one’s objectives.
– Dr. Paul Schneider, Director of Teacher Education Programs, WAL