VII. Methods of teaching

7.1. AIMS, CONTENT AND PRINCIPLES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

TEACHING AT SECONDARY SCHOOL

The outline of the problem discussed

1. Aims of teaching.

2. Content of teaching.

3. Principles of foreign language teaching.

1. Aims are the first and most considerable point in any education. Hence the

teacher should know exactly what his pupils are expected to achieve in learning the

subject, what progress they make at each particular lesson, at the end of the unit,

term, year, etc. The teacher should also differentiate between the aims and objectives

of foreign language teaching in school.

The terms "aims" and "objectives" should be clearly distinguished as the first

stands for long-term goals in teaching a foreign language and the second can be used

for short-term goals (immediate lesson goal). Here we mean long-term goals.

The aim of foreign language teaching in school are threefold: practical - pupils

form habits and develop skills in using a foreign language; educational - they develop

their mental abilities and intelligence in the process of learning the foreign language;

cultural - pupils extend their knowledge of the-world they live in.

Practical aims. They are consequent on the basic function of the language,

which is to serve as a means of communication. Hence the practical aims in teaching

a foreign language are four in numbers: listening comprehension, speaking, reading

and writing. International communication is realized either directly, through the

spoken language, or indirectly, through the written language. Therefore the school

programs set forth the following practical requirements: the instruction must ensure

that the graduates can converse in the foreign language on simple everyday subjects,

using the speech material dealt with in the course, can read and understand without a

dictionary easy texts in the foreign language and with the use of a dictionary texts

presenting moderate difficulties, and can express in written form simple thoughts

(write a short letter). Thus pupils must achieve a level in their knowledge of the

language which will enable them to further develop it at any other educational

establishment or in their practical work.

Educational aims. Learning a second language is of great educational value.

When learning a foreign language a pupil understands better how language functions

and this brings him to a greater awareness of his own language. Since the command

of any language is connected with thinking, through foreign language study pupils

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can develop all kinds of memory, imaginative abilities and will power. In learning a

new language pupils should memorize words, idioms, sentence patterns, structures

and keep them in the long-term memory ready to be used whenever he needs them in

auding, speaking, reading and writing. As pupils gain a better command of the

foreign language they will be able to understand that every language has its own

peculiarities, they will learn to analyze various linguistic phenomena and thus

improve their abstract thinking.

Cultural aims. Learning a foreign language makes the pupil acquainted with the

life, history, culture, customs and traditions of the people, whose language he studies

through visual (pictures, postcards, films, etc.) and reading (poems stories, novels)

material dealing with the countries where the target language is spoken. Foreign

language teaching promotes pupils general cultural growth by increasing their

knowledge about other countries and by acquainting them with new ways and

tendencies in human development. Through learning a second language the pupil

gains a deeper insight into the nature and functioning of language as a social

phenomenon.

2. The content of foreign language teaching or what to teach is one of the main

problems the Methods deals with.

The first component of "what to teach" is habits and skills which pupils should

acquire while learning a foreign language. According to the aims of learning the

English language at school they are: listening comprehension, speaking, reading and

writing. The standard of habits and skills is determined by the syllabus for each form.

For example, the requirements for hearing and reading skills, which we can find in

school syllabi, differ at different stages of instruction. In the 8th form pupils should

be able to understand oral language on the basis of the material previously learned

and within the topics covered, while in the 10th and 11th form the texts should

include unfamiliar words for pupils to guess their meaning both in hearing and in

reading. Speed of reading also differs greatly at different stages: it is 1,000 signs per

academic hour in the 9-th form and 1,300 in the 11th.

The second component of "what to teach" is language (textual) material

arranged in topics and serving as starting points for the development of oral and

written language which allows the teacher to reach the aims set by the syllabus. For

example at the junior stage pupils should speak and read about their everyday

surroundings: home, school, town and countryside, nature and sports. At the senior

stage the textual material covers history and geography of Great Britain, art and.

literature at home and abroad. 'Topics for speaking and reading are developed from

form to form. The pupils' abilities to read and speak are widened as their vocabulary

and grammar are enriched.

The third component is linguistic material, i.e. phonology, grammar and

vocabulary carefully selected for the purpose. The selection of linguistic material, for

instance, minimum vocabulary and minimum grammar has always been one of the

most important problem to be solved and although a great deal of work has been done

in this respect the methodologysts are still on the way to its solution. A limited

amount of linguistic material is required by pupils who have only 650 class hours

spread over seven years and at the same time it must be sufficient enough to serve as

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a sound basis for developing pupils language skills. Thus, to sum up, the content of

foreign language teaching involves:

a) language habits and speech skills;

b) language (textual) material;

c) linguistic material: vocabulary, grammar, phonological minima.

3. Principles of foreign language teachings:

- a conscious approach to language learning;

- the mother tongue of pupils;

- the principle of activity;

- the principle of visualization;

- the principle of speech domination in instruction;

- the principle of drills' domination in teaching;

- the principle of approximation, etc;

Methods of foreign language teaching are based on the fundamental principles

of didactics. However, in foreign language teaching, due to the specific features of

the subject, these principles are used in a particular way.

Thus, the principle of conscious approach to language learning implies

comprehension of a linguistic phenomenon of language material by pupils through

the medium of the native language, or the arrangement of the material in patterns

graded in difficulties. In all cases pupils understand both the form and the content of

the material they are to learn and they become aware of how to use the material in

speech situations.

The mother tongue of the pupils cannot be eliminated in teaching the second

language. It should be used as a means of instruction whenever it helps them in

acquiring knowledge necessary for developing speech skills. The foreign language

and the mother tongue in teaching and learning are closely connected and influence

each other. Pupils can easily transfer language skills acquired in the native language

to those in the target one. For instance, in teaching the English alphabet you need not

drill pupils in writing many letters (a, b, c, e, p, etc.) because the Ukrainian alphabet

includes them. In teaching reading and pronunciation pupils may easily cope with

some analysis of words and sentences as they are acquainted with that kind of work

learning the mother tongue.

The pupils’ mother tongue often interferes with the target language, i.e. the

development of new skills is hindered by habits and skills already acquired. This

interference often reveals itself in pronunciation and grammar and leads to constant

mistakes in using structures and word-order. The best way to overcome interference

is some comparison of language phenomena in both languages or regular practice in

the foreign language.

The principle of activity in foreign language teaching is of utmost importance

because activity is generally considered to be a main point of cognitive process. The

learner should feel a need, to learn the subject and have necessary prerequisites

created for the satisfaction of this need. In teaching a foreign language it is necessary

to stimulate pupils' activity by involving them in the act of communication in the

target language either in its oral (hearing, speaking) or written (reading, writing)

form. If pupils are not involved in the act of communication in the target language

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and remain on the level of drill exercises, they soon lose interest in the subject and

become passive at the lessons.

The principle of visualization has always been very important for language

learning since the gaining of knowledge begins either with sense perception or with

previous experience. Visualization is a specially organized demonstration of

linguistic material and language behavior characteristic of the target language with

the purpose of helping the pupil in understanding, assimilating and utilizing this in

connection with the task set. Through visual presentation of the material pupils

acquire the necessary habits and skills in spoken language, namely in intonation,

word usage and grammar.

The principle of drills’ domination is also very important for learning a second

language as they provide acquiring habits and skills of the language material and

teach the pupils how it functions in speech communication.

The principle of speech domination provides communicative approach to

instruction and drives pupils to proficiency in the target language. It requires parallel

command of all speech skills.

The principle of approximation, allows the teacher to ignore language and

speech mistakes of the pupils if they do not distort essentially the basic facts in the

act of communication. It helps to develop fluency and self-assurance in speech.