Perfect method of teaching and learning a foreign language

Students in my English classes sometimes ask for my opinion on the best method of learning a foreign language. The answer I give is always the same: learning a foreign language can never be quick and easy. There is no single method that can guarantee success.

In the Callan Method, the teacher talks a lot and makes the students repeat questions and answers. By contrast, in the Silent Way Method, invented by Dr Caleb Gattegno, the teacher tries not to talk at all! The teacher uses pictures, diagrams, objects to give the students problem-solving activities. The idea is that students learn better if they can discover the rules by themselves. Certainly that is an important part of learning. But I'm not sure it can guarantee success.

I think that it is wrong to look for a method of teaching/learning that gives all the answers. Often, the method is not so important. Obviously, you need good materials (e.g.: a good course book, etc) that are interesting and clear. And you need a good teacher too. The individual qualities of the teacher are very important. The teacher and the students must have a good relationship. The students must like their teacher. That is one important way to help make learning fun.

At the same time, we have to recognize that you can't make progress without doing some old-fashioned hard work. There must be a method involved in teaching and learning, but the same method doesn't work for everyone. People are different and they have different reasons for wanting to learn. The method will naturally change depending on the purpose of the lesson. However, it is important that each lesson should have a clear objective. The material should be presented in a context. There should be practice and consolidation work. Students should use all four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

There is nothing revolutionary about these ideas. But they give the best chances of success for different kinds of learners.

2.The article says about the Silent Way Method and the Callan Method. Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3.What does the writer answer when asked about the best teaching method?

4.What is really important for learning a foreign language according to the author?

№28

I. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

iron

железо

Do you enjoy eating breakfast?

When was the last time you had a proper breakfast before you went to work or school in the morning? Probably it was a long time ago. Most people do not have time to eat breakfast. And many people do not want to eat breakfast as soon as they get up. Perhaps an hour later, they are starving. But by then they are at school or work and there is no time to stop and eat anything until lunchtime.

However, if you could eat a decent breakfast, you would probably be able to d your work much better. This is especially true of schoolchildren because thei brains are still developing. If children do not eat well, their brains will not function as well as they should. Their school work will be less effective. Childre- need iron*, for example. Iron is found in bread and in many breakfast cereal and it helps concentration. Research shows that if children do not eat the righ kind of food, or if they do not eat breakfast, they can have problems at school.

Research supports the view that school breakfasts help schoolchildre perform better at school. One study by Michael Murphy, a psychologist at th Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA, studied breakfast programm; at three schools. Dr Murphy and his colleagues found that the children who ha the breakfasts provided by the school generally did better at school, particularly in Maths, than the children who had no breakfast. In one school, scores in Mat tests rose by 16 %. In another school there was an increase of 10 % in Maths an Reading tests. Teachers said that the children concentrated on their lessons an behaved better than before, they were generally happier and more hard-workin

Studies have shown that it is not difficult to organize school breakfasts The breakfasts help everybody, it seems: parents, teachers and the childre themselves. The children's favourite breakfasts are toast and jam, and cerea" such as cornflakes. The most important thing of all is that children are happier healthier and learn more.

2. The article says that most people are too busy to have breakfast. Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3. Why is it important for schoolchildren to have breakfast? 4. What are the results of the experiment?

№29

1.Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.