Documenti di Didattica
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1930s to 1960s
Introduction
Few language teachers in the 1990s are familiar with the terms Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching, which refer to an approach to language teaching developed by British applied linguists from the1930s to the 1960s. Even though neither term is commonly used today, the impact of the Oral Approach has been long lasting, and it has shaped the design of many widely used EFUESL
Background
The origins of this approach began with the work of British applied Linguists Harold Palmer and A. S. Hornby, in the 1920s and 1930s. Both were familiar with the Direct Method. What they attempted was to develop a more scientific foundation for an oral approach to teaching English than was evidenced in the Direct Method.
Background
The result was a systematic study of the principles and procedures that could be applied to the selection and organization of the content of a language.
His view of grammar was very different from the abstract model or grammar seen in the Grammar-Translation Method, where the teachers responsability was to show how each grammar structure was expressed in the target language.
Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied developed an approach to methodology that involved systematic principles of: Selection (the procedures by which lexical and grammatical content was chosen ), Gradation (principles by which the organization and sequencing of content were determined), Presentation (techniques used for presentation and practice of items in a
This was not to be confused with the Direct Method , which although it used oral procedures, lacked a systematic basis in applied linguistics. According to Palmer and Hornby, the Direct Method meant that the learner was struck by a flow of ungraded speech, suffering all the difficulties he would have encountered in picking up the language in its normal environment, and losing most of the
The main characteristics of the approach were as follows: 1. Language teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form. 2. The target language is the language of the classroom. 3. New language points are introduced and practiced situationally
4. Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered. 5. Items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones. 6. Reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is established.
It was the third principle (New language points are introduced and practiced situationally) that became a key feature of the approach in the sixties and it was then that the term situational was used Increasingly in referring to the Oral Approach. To avoid further confusion we will use the tcrm Situational Language Teaching (SL T) to include the StructuraI Situational and Oral
How can Situational Language Teaching be characterized at the levels of approach, design, and procedure?
Approach
Theory of language
A type of British "structuralism Speech was regarded as the basis of language, and structure was viewed as being at the heart of speaking ability.
The British theoreticians, had a special focus to their version of structuralism - the notion of "situation."
Theory of language
Pittman said "Our principal classroom activity in the teaching of English structure will be the oral practice of structures. This oral practice of controlled sentence patterns should be given in situations designed to give the greatest amount of practice in English speech to the pupil The theory that knowledge of structures must be linked to situations in which they could be used gave Situational Language
Theory of language
Many British linguists had emphasized the close relationship between the structure of language and the context and situations in which language is used. In contrast to American structuralist views on language, language was viewed a purposeful activity related to goals and situations in the real world. "The language which a person originates ... is always expressed for a purpose"
Theory of language
Many British linguists had emphasized the close relationship between the structure of language and the context and situations in which language is used. In contrast to American structuralist views on language, language was viewed a purposeful activity related to goals and situations in the real world. "The language which a person originates ... is always expressed for a purpose"
Theory of learning
A type of behaviorist habit-learning theory. It addresses primarily the processes rather than the conditions of learning:
there are three processes in learning a language - receiving the knowledge or materials, fixing it in the memory by repetition, and using it in actual practice until it becomes a personal skill (Palmer).
Theory of learning
The fundamental is correct speech habits .... The pupils should be able to put the words, without hesitation and almost without thought, into sentence patterns which are correct. Such speech habits can be cultivated by blind imitative drill
Theory of learning
Like the Direct Method, Situational Language Teaching adopts an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar. The meaning of words or structures is not to be given through explanation but is to be induced from the way the form is used in a situation. "If we give the meaning of a new word, either by translation into the home language or by an equivalent in the same language, as soon as we introduce it, we weaken the impression which the word makes on the mind" (Billows)
Theory of learning
Explanation is therefore discouraged. The learner is expected to deduce the meaning of a particular structure or vocabulary item from the situation in which it is presented.
Theory of learning
Extending structures and vocabulary to new situations takes place by generalization: The learner is expected to apply the language learned in a classroom to situations outside the classroom. This is how child language learning is believed to take place, and the same processes are thought to occur in second and foreign language learning, according to practitioners of Situational Language
Design
Objectives
The objectives of the Situational Language Teaching method are to teach the mastery of the four basic skills of language, goals it shares with most methods of language teaching. But the skills are approached through structure. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar is regarded as crucial, and errors are to be avoided at all costs.
Objectives
Automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns is fundamental to reading and writing skills, and this is achieved through speech work:
"Before our pupils read new structures and new vocabulary, we should teach orally both the new structures and the new vocabulary (Pittman)
Objectives
Only when the teacher is reasonably certain that learners can speak fairly correctly within the limits of their knowledge of sentence structure and vocabulary may he allow them free choice in sentence patterns and vocabulary. (Pittman)
Syllabus
Basic to the teaching of English in Situational Language Teaching is a structural syllabus and a word list. A structural syllabus is a list of the basic structures and sentence patterns of English, arranged according to their order of presentation.
Syllabus
In Situational Language Teaching, structures are always taught within sentences, and vocabulary is chosen according to how well it enables sentence patterns to be taught. "Our course will consist of a list of sentence patterns [statement patterns, question patterns, and request or command patterns] ... will include as many structural words as possible, and sufficient content words to
Syllabus
Frisby gives an example of the typical structural syllabus around which situational teaching was based:
Syllabus
The syllabus was not therefore a situational syllabus in the sense that this term is sometimes used (i.e., a list of situations and the language associated with them). Rather, situation refers to the manner of presenting and practicing sentence patterns, as we shall see later.
Situational language Teaching employs a situational approach to presenting new sentence patterns and a drill-based manner of practicing them.
Our method will be situational. The situation will be controlled carefully to teach the new language material in such a way that there can not be a doubt in the learner's mind of the meaning of what he hears. Almost all the vocabulary and structures taught in the first 4 or 5 can be placed in situations in which the
By situation Pittman means the use of concrete objects, pictures, and realia, which together with actions and gestures can be used to demonstrate the meanings of new language items.
Learner roles
In the initial stages of learning, the learner is required simply to listen and repeat what the teacher says and to respond to questions and commands. The learner has no control over the content of learning and is often regarded as likely to succumb to undesirable behaviors unless skillfully manipulated by the teacher.
Learner roles
For example, the learner might lapse into faulty grammar or pronunciation, forget what has been taught, or fail to respond quickly enough ; incorrect habits are to be avoided at all costs. Later, more active participation is encouraged. This includes learners initiating responses and asking each other questions, although teacher-controlled introduction and practice
Teacher roles
The teacher's functions are 3. In the presentation stage of the lesson, the teacher serves as a model, setting up situations in which the need for the target structure is created and then modeling the new structure for students to repeat. Then the teacher "becomes more like the skillful conductor of an orchestra, drawing the music out of the performers".
Teacher roles
The teacher is required to be a skillful manipulator, using questions, commands, and other cues to elicit correct sentences from the learners. Lessons are hence teacher directed, and the teacher sets the pace.
Procedure
Procedure
Classroom procedures in Situational Language Teaching vary according to the level of the class, but procedures at any level aim to move from controlled to freer practice of structures and from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading, and writing.
Procedure
Pittman gives an example of a typical lesson which according to him consists of 5 parts: 1) Pronunciation 2) Revision (to prepare for new work if necessary) 3) Presentation of new structure or vocabulary 4) Oral practice (drilling) 5) Reading of material on the new structure, or written exercise.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Procedures associated with Situational Language Teaching in the 50s and 60s are an extension and further development of well-established techniques advocated by proponents of the earlier Oral Approach in the British school of language teaching.
Conclusion
Because the principles of Situational Language Teaching, with its strong emphasis on oral practice, grammar, and sentence patterns, conform to the intuitions of many practically oriented classroom teachers, it continues to be widely used.
References
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T.S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.