Assignment 2: Task 1 Observe a teacher teaching. Identify and state teaching methods used and activities carried out.

a) Teaching methods: i. State the level of pupils. Year 3, KSSR students ii. State the teaching method. The method used was Direct Method. Direct Method was similar to that of Gouins Series Method that needs lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second language and a little or no analysis of grammatical rules (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). So basically based on the description given by Richards and Rodger, this method is a method to teach language by making the students themselves familiarise with the language by using them in their interactions and communication in class. According to F. Franke (1884), this method promotes monolingual teaching and pay great attention to pronunciation and known words could be used to teach new vocabulary, using mime, demonstration and pictures. It means that two ways communication between teachers and students is the most important aspect in this method. The teachers can use any type of teaching technique and teaching aids as long as there he or she is able to get the students to talk; then only the learning happens.

b) Activities: Activity 1: Prayer recitation in English Step 1: The students stood up according to their places upon seeing the teacher entering the class. Step 2: The teacher greet the students. Step 3: The students recite the prayer in English (as if they were trained to do it since the first day they were at the school and they also have to repeat the same prayer in English in every English period throughout their schooling years)

Activity 2: Identify the name of fruits. Step 1: The teachers introduced the topic for that day which was Fruits Step 2: The teacher gave an example of fruits and asked the students response regarding the name of fruits that they know.

Step 3: The teacher showed the students pictures of fruits and asked them to name the fruits showed. Step 4: The teachers asked the students to recall the adjectives that they had learn and said it out loud to the class which adjectives that have come across to their mind that can be used to describe the fruits and their taste. This activity is conducted by asking all the students in the class response, one by one. Activity 3: Textbooks read aloud activity. Step 1: The teacher asked the students to turn the textbooks into pages that contain information about their topic on that particular day. Step 2: The teacher picked random students to read what is written on the textbook and paid attention to the students pronunciation. Step 3: Every wrong pronunciation will be corrected by the teachers immediately. Activity 4: Making fruits salad. Step 1: The students were asked to form groups of four among them. Step 2: The students were asked to wash the fruits that they brought from home. Step 3: The teachers divide the mayonnaise that she had brought from home according to the groups. Step 4: The teacher cut the fruits for each groups in order to make it easy for the students to make the fruits salad. Step 5: The teacher instructed the students to mix all the ingredients prepared to make a bowl of fruits salad in sequence. The students understood and follow the instruction given. Step 6: They enjoyed the fruits salad together. Activity 5: Oral comprehension question and answer session.

Step 1: The teacher prepared a power point slide to show to the class about the steps on how to make a fruits salad with a few blank spaces for the students to fill in the answer according to their understanding. Step 2: The students answer the question provided orally.

Task 2. Based on my previous experience in observing a teacher during my School-Based Experience (SBE), I found that the teacher that I had observed had practised Direct Method to teach English. According to H. Douglas Brown (2007), Direct Method can be defined as a way of teaching that sought to immerse the students in the same way as the first language is learn; which by teaching using the target language (in this case, English), grammar is taught inductively, focus is given on speaking and listening and also everyday vocabulary is used in the lesson. So, basically, we can conclude that this type of method put a great emphasize on the oral and listening skill but less on grammar rules teaching. Throughout the observation, I have observed the teacher started their lesson by asking the students to recite the prayer in targeted language, which is English. From the fluency of the students in reciting the prayer, I can tell that they were taught to recite the prayer in English for each of their English class starting from their early schooling years up until their final year. This is because from the way the students pronounce every single word in the prayers, I could tell that the students had encountered many practises before this. Thus, allowing them to pronounce each of the words in the prayer precisely and fluently. This example from the very first activity that the teacher conducted had already showed that Direct Method was implemented greatly in teaching English in this school. This is because, I had never seen the prayer written in anywhere at the school. So, I supposed that they were taught orally to recite the prayer and as the time passed by, they have already managed to understand the meaning of the prayer as well as pronounced the prayer precisely according to the British English accent due to daily repetition. This evidence concur with the ideology suggested F. Franke (1884), who stated that the students will eventually learn and familiar with the language from what they have used as daily routine. Besides, when the teacher instructed the students to make the fruits salad, she also used English as a medium of communication to convey to the students what they had to do in order for them to make their very own salad. At the end of the lesson, the students will eventually understand the teachers instruction even though before this they might be having problem understanding words that the teacher had use. This is a great evidence that show that Direct Method was fully implemented in teaching English in this class. This is because the teaching technique that the teacher had demonstrated is absolutely the same like what H. Douglas Brown (2007) had suggested in his book under the subtopic, Direct Method. He stated that in using Direct Method in teaching second language, concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures. The teacher made the student made

the fruit salad while they were learning about from on that day; it is no doubt that the method use by the teacher is Direct Method. Last but not least, when the teacher instructed the students to read aloud the information in the text book, the students was corrected almost immediately upon making any pronunciation mistake. This shows that the teacher put a great stress on the students speaking and listening skill. This is indeed another major indicator that stated that the teacher is using Direct Method in her lesson. This is because listening and speaking skills are the key aspect in Direct Method. As according to Richards and Rodgers (2001), Direct Method was similar to that of Gouins Series Method that needs lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation between first and second language and a little or no analysis of grammatical rules. All in all, based on my explanation and evidences that I have stated above, I am quite sure that the teacher had used Direct Method throughout her lesson. Besides, based on the ability of the students in answering the oral comprehension questions that were given at the end of the lesson, I personally think that this method is a good method that is able to make the students fluent in their second language.

References.

Bussmann, Hadumod (1996), Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, London/New York, s.v. direct method

Krause, C. A. (1916), The Direct Method in Modern Languages, New York. Societe Internationale des Ecoles Inlingua (1973), Inlingua English First Book, Berne Switzerland.

Societe Internationale des Ecoles Inlingua (1999), Inlingua Teacher Manual (3rd Edition), Berne Switzerland.

Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles : An interactive approach to language pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education Inc.