LECTURE 10
1. The Silent Way: (an approach):
· "Tell me and I forget,
teach me and I remember,
involve me and I learn."
/Benjamin Franklin,
· it advocates less learning by being told and more learning by discovering for oneself various facts and principles.
2. Some principles:
o the teacher - a stimulator but not a hand-holder - was silent much of the time, thus the name of the method,
o (the teacher had to resist their instinct to spell everything out in black and white, to come to the aid of students at the slightest downfall, they had to get out of the way while students worked out solutions),
o from silent awareness to active trial,
o learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned,
o learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects,
o learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.
3. Memory benefits from: (memory is more effective):
· creativity,
· searching,
· discovering.
4. The learner is:
o independent,
o autonomous,
o responsible.
(Silence is considered the best vehicle for learning because in silence students concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the potential means to its accomplishment.)
5. Major principles:
· after each of the teacher's utterances there is a period of silence to make the students put it into their memory,
· pupils decide themselves whether and when to say something,
· analysing the material students make grammatical rules themselves (very inductive teaching method),
· teacher doesn't correct mistakes, pupils have their own inner criteria of correctness,
· native language is completely eliminated,
· they use coloured blocks to illustrate structures,
· language is the product of RULE FORMATION - people use their own thinking to discover the rules, active role ascribed to the learner - cognitive approach,
· (as there are very few teacher's examples, pupil's attention is very concentrated on what he/she says and on what other students say - they learn to rely on one another and on themselves).
6. Theory of language:
o silent way takes a structural approach to the organisation of language to be taught.
7. Theory of learning:
· understanding of the first language learning process is a basis for deriving principles for teaching foreign languages,
· the process, however, is radically different.
8. The syllabus:
o is structural - lessons planned around grammatical items and related vocabulary,
o language items are introduced according to their:
Ø grammatical complexity,
Ø relationship to what has been taught previously,
Ø the ease with which the items can be presented visually.
9. Basic classroom activities:
· responding to commands, questions and visual cues.
10. Learner roles:
o learners are expected to develop independence, autonomy and responsibility,
o the absence of correction and repeated modeling from the teacher requires the students to develop inner criteria and correct themselves,
o the absence of explanations requires learners to make generalisations, come to their own conclusions.
11. Teacher roles:
· to teach, test and get out of the way (do not interfere too much),
· to elicit and shape students production,
· teacher designs materials and teaching sequences,
· neutral observer, disinterested judge supportive but emotionally uninvolved.
LECTURE 11
1. Total physical response (comprehension approach) - TPR:
o James Asher - he created basic principles of TPR,
o coordination of speech and action,
o adult second language learning - parallel to child first language acquisition,
o commands - children respond physically - verbal responses later,
o emotional factors - learner stress reduction and positive mood facilitate learning!
2. Principles:
· comprehension abilities precede productive skills in learning a language,
· the teaching of speaking should be delayed until comprehension skills are established,
· skills acquired listening transfer to other skills,
· teaching should minimise learner stress.
3. Theory of language:
o many resemblances to structuralist or grammar - based views of language,
o verb and particularly the verb in the imperative is seen as a central point around which language use and learning are organized.
4. Theory of learning:
· Sv - R; Sv - verbal stimulus, R - physical movement in response to verbal stimulus,
· three learning hypotheses:
Ø THE BIO-PROGRAM:
v the brain and the nervous system are biologically programmed to acquire language in a particular sequence and in a particular mode,
v the sequence is listening before speaking,
v the mode is to synchronize language with the individual's body,
Ø BRAIN LATERALIZATION:
v TPR is directed to right-brain learning,
v most second language teaching methods are directed to left-brain learning,
v language activities are centralized in the right hemisphere,
v child language learner acquires language through motor movement - a right hemisphere activity,
v right hemisphere activities must occur before the left hemisphere can process language for production,
Ø REDUCTION OF STRESS:
v foreign language acquisition takes place in a stress free environment.
5. Objectives of TPR:
o oral proficiency - whatever goals are set, must be attainable/achievable through the use of action-based drills in the imperative form.
6. Examples of more complex syntax commands:
· draw a rectangle on the board,
· walk quickly to the door and hit it,
· walk slowly to the window and jump, etc.
7. Examples of interrogatives:
o Where is the book?
o Who is John?
Ø (students point to the book or to John).
8. The syllabus (TPR):
· sentence-based, grammatical and lexical criteria primary in selecting teaching items.
9. In an hour it is possible for the students to assimilate 12 - 36 new lexical items depending on the size of the group and the stage of training.
10. Types of learning and teaching activities:
o imperative drills.
11. Learner roles:
· listen and perform,
· respond individually and collectively,
· they have little influence over the content of learning,
· they monitor and evaluate their own progress,
· they are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak.
12. Teacher roles:
o active - decides what to teach, presents material, selects supporting materials,
o must be well-prepared and well-organized - detailed lesson plans,
o provide with exposure to language allowing speaking abilities to develop in learners at the learner's own natural pace.
LECTURE 12
1. Suggestopedia:
· Georgi Lozanow - Bulgarian psychiatrist (the founder of suggestopedia),
· based on SUGGESTOLOGY - science concerned with the systematic study of the nonrational and nonconscious influences.
2. The assumption:
o the human brain can process great quantities of material if given the right conditions for learning, among which are a state of relaxation and giving over the control to the teacher.
3. The most conspicuous characteristics:
· decoration, furniture,
· use of music,
· authoritative behaviour of the teacher.
4. Role of music:
o to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of personal relations,
o to bring about increased self-esteem through increased self-satisfaction in musical performance,
o to use the unique potential of rhythm to energize and bring order.
5. There are some kinds of music which create the kind of "relaxed concentration" that leads to "superlearning" - if music is well-chosen.
6. Authority (of the teacher):
· ...
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