4.Methods of foreign language teaching & Psycho1inguistics

Psycholiquists focus their attention on the stages of the process of producing an utterance: a motive and intention (our wish or necessity to express an idea about something), internal programming when we are planning in our inner speech what to say and in what order to say it. Then our thoughts are materialized. This is the stage of lexical and grammar structuring, i.e. we choose the words and types of sentence we are going to use. The last stage is outer speech, when we pronounce the utterance aloud.

5.Methods of foreign language teaching & Liguistics

Methods of foreign language teaching are most closely related to linguistics and successfully use, for example, the results of linguistic investigation in the selection and arrangement of language material for teaching. Many prominent linguists have not only developed the theory of linguistics, but tried to apply it to language teaching.

6. Methods of foreign language teaching and Sociolinguistics (Linguocultural Studies)

Sociolinguistics supplies us with the knowledge of mechanisms of interaction and interrelation between languages and cultures, everything that makes a national map of the world: norms of speech behavior, speech etiquette, material and spiritual culture, including literature etc.

2. Methodology: Its components, terms and a system of teaching

Methods of foreign language teaching is understood here as a body of scientifically tested theory concerning the teaching of foreign languages in schools and other educational institutions. It covers 4 main components:

(1) aims of teaching a foreign language (why to teach);

(2). content of teaching, i. e. what to teach to attain the aims;

(3) methods and techniques of teaching, i.e. how to teach a foreign language to attain the aims in the most effective way;

(4) teaching aids(with the help of what we teach)

The aims are determined by the state standards, Curriculum and the type of school. They correlate with A Common European Framework of Reference: Modern languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. There are five main aims in teaching FL at schools: practical, affective, educational, developmental and professionally orientated (in senior forms).

The Practical aim of teaching FL and Cultures is developing Learner’s Communicative Competence in the target foreign language, i.e. ability to understand and interact with native speakers according to the norms and cultural traditions in the conditions of direct and indirect communication.

Communicative Competence embraces several kinds of competences:

• Speech competences in listening, speaking, reading, writing and mediating (translating and interpreting)

• Language competences ( in phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, spelling)

• Linguosociocultural competence (sociocultural competence, sociolinguistic competence, social competence)

• Strategic competence (developing effective learner strategies, e.g. how to use a dictionary, and communicative strategies, e.g. compensation strategies – fill in hesitation pauses)

Affective aim includes developing the culture of communication appropriate in modern civilized societies, tolerance and respect to other cultures and other language speakers, positive attitude to mastering foreign languages and cultures etc.

Educational aim presupposes developing learner’s worldview through cultural, linguocultural and sociocultural knowledge, intercultural knowledge (e.g. contrastive studies of the two systems of language means, native and foreign).

Developmental aim is targeted at developing learners’ motivation to studying foreign languages and cultures, developing learners’ communicative abilities, helping learners to become autonomous.

Professionally orientated aim is closely connected with different profiles introduced in senior forms: mathematical and physical, biological and chemical, humanitarian, including philological, sports, esthetical etc. The aim presupposes developing professionally orientated language competences (e.g. vocabulary, terms), speech competences (e.g. reading and discussing professionally orientated texts), linguosociocultural competences (e.g. making presentations at scientific conferences).

Aims, or goals are broad, while planning a lesson they are realized through concrete objectives set by the teacher and written in the lesson plan, to enable learners speak about their hobbies and pastimes using verbs in Present simple. Mind that it’s much better to think of learning objectives, not teaching objectives.

The content of any teaching curriculum is described in the syllabus, i.e. what is to be learned within a definite period of time, e.g. a year. The content involves:

• Teaching material arranged in topics, situations, areas of communication

• Teaching language skills: listening skills, reading skills, writing skills, oral skills

• Teaching linguistic material: phonetical, vocabulary, grammar, spelling

• Teaching speech patterns of different levels ( phrase, sentence, sentence unity, text)

• Teaching cultural knowledge and skills of intercultural communication

• Developing learning and communicative strategies.

Teaching foreign languages and cultures is based on several didactic and methodological principles.

Main didactic principles of foreign language teaching:

• The principle of visualization (visual aids and auditory aids)

• The principle of retention (to remember well, recycling of the material etc)

• The principle of conscious approach (understanding language phenomena, modeling situations, using rules, using learner’s native language)

• The principle of learners’ cognitive, emotional and speech activity

• The principle of continuity and logical development

• The principle of accessibility and inclusive classroom

Main methodological principles:

• Communicative approach (teaching process should be approximated to the real process of speech communication)

• Development of integrated language skills

• Interconnected and interrelated teaching of languages and cultures

• The principle of dominating role of activities (you can master skills only by practicing them, so about 85 % of time should be devoted to activities)

• The principle of authentic materials and authentic tasks

In describing methods, the difference between a philosophy of language teaching at the level of theory and principles, and a set of derived procedures for teaching a language, is central. In an attempt to clarify this difference, a scheme was proposed by the American applied linguist Edward Anthony in 1963. He identified three levels of conceptualization and organization, which he termed approach, method, and technique.

The arrangement is hierarchical. The organizational key is that techniques carry out a method which is consistent with an approach...

... An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic. It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught... (It is in your head, these are views on language, language learning and language teaching)

... Method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material, no part of which contradicts, and all of which is based upon, the selected approach. An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural. Within one approach, there can be many methods... (Method is on paper, it reveals itself in curriculum and syllabus)

... A technique, or an educational technology is what actually takes place in a classroom. It is a particular trick used to accom­plish an immediate objective. (A procedure that can be observed in the classroom). Techniques must be consistent with a method, and therefore in harmony with an approach as well.

We can single out problem educational technologies, project technologies, interactive technologies, game technologies, computer technologies, mobile learning etc. They are realized through activities – short tasks which are parts of the lesson.

TYPES OF ACTIVITIES

Activity (exercise, task) is a specially organized students’ activity aimed at mastering the operations that activity consists of.

There exist different classifications, one of the most generally accepted is classification suggested by N.K. Sklyarenko.

Criteria used for that and types of activities that are singled out are as follows:

1. communicative character: -communicative (some scholars are against that, communicative tasks – Tarnopolsky)

- semi-controlled

- totally controlled (drills)

2. motivation: - motivated

- non-motivated

3. receiving or giving information: - receptive

- receptive-reproductive

- receptive-productive

- productive

4. availability of support: - without any support

- with specially created support

- with some natural support

5. mode of interaction: - individual

- in chorus

- as a whole class

- in pairs

- in small groups

- in teams

6. the character of assessment: - immediate or delayed

- total or selected at random

- teacher-assessment

- self-assessment

- peer assessment

7. mode of doing: - oral

- written

8. the role of Mother tongue: - monolingual

- bilingual

9. function: - teaching

- testing

10. place of doing: - in class

- in a laboratory

- at home

Another classification: skill-developing (arranging sentences in order, close test, substitution, transformation, dictations etc) v. skill-exploiting (filling in forms, doing crosswords, taking notes during the lecture, writing a letter, a postcard etc)

Still another classification depends on the purpose of activity:

• an ice-breaker (helps to establish rapport at the beginning of the course, to get acquainted)

• warm up (warmer) (, to improve the psychological climate in the group, to immerse in the English language environment)

• lead-in (serves to tune in the learners to the topic of the lesson, to focus on the material under consideration etc)

• presentation activity (serves to introduce and clarify a new learning item: vocabulary unit, grammar item, learning strategy etc)

• practice activity (involves performance, some learning item has been presented and now is practiced in the controlled activity, often a model for performance is given, e.g. a sample dialogue to practice speech patterns or a sample activity to do your own on a different material

• memorization activity (involves memorizing some info or learning material, e.g. SS may be asked to memorize a voc. List which they will later use in a speaking task. Contemporary approaches discourage mere memorization in favour of activities in which learning is achieved through doing smth with the material to be learnt

• comprehension activity (demands Ss to develop or demonstrate their understanding of written or spoken texts. May require different levels of comprehension: literal (explicit info), inferential(conclusions and predictions on the inferred info), evaluation (making judgements based on personal or other values)

• application activity (require learners to use in a creative way knowledge or skills previously presented and practiced)

• strategy activity (develop particular learning strategies and approaches to learning, e.g. to develop the strategy of using predictions to guide one’s reading)

• affective activity (has no specific language learning goal, it is intended to improve motivational climate of the classroom and to develop the Ss interest, confidence and positive attitude to learning)

• feedback activity (to get feedback on learning or on some aspect of performance of the activity

• assessment activity (to diagnose areas which need further learning or to evaluate student performance)

Classification of Teaching Aids

Curriculum/Syllabus – a description of the contents of a course of instruction and the order in which they are to be taught. It may be based on a grammatical items and vocabulary; the language needed for different types of situations; the meanings and communicative functions which the learner needs to express in the target language.

Course-book: student’s book, workbook, teacher’s book, an activity book, a test book, a guide for the teacher, CDs etc.

Reference books: dictionary, grammar book, special reference books (idioms, prepositions, phrasal verbs, collocations etc)

Visuals: real objects, pictures, photos, flash cards, worksheets, charts, maps, overhead projector, CD player, computer, mobile phone