The English Language Teaching-1 Assignment

Assignment on varius Approaches in ELT.

M.A. English- Paper no. 12 The English Language Teaching:-1

●Semester - 3

Presented by:-  Prinjal Shiyal

Email id. prinjal00123@gmail.com

Batch no.:- 2018 to 2020

Department of English-

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

◆Submitted  to :-

Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad,

Head of the Department,

Department of English

MKBU.

◆Question:- Various Approaches in the English Language Teaching-1.

Welcome friends this assignment is based on Approaches to English Language Teaching: 1 and I think it will help you better understand...

◆1.The Structural Approach: 

This approach as Kripa K. Gautam states “is based on the belief that language consists of ‘structures’ and that the mastery of these structures is more important than theacquisition of vocabulary. Since structure is what is important and unique about a
language, early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary”.This approach, according to Kulkarni ‘emphasizes the teaching and learning of the basic items or materials that constitute the framework of a language’. The cause of the emergence of this approach was the extensive research conducted on English language teaching as a foreign language at the University of London Institute of Education.

    And Oral approach as, Dr. Bhat asserts ‘is definitely an improvement upon the Direct Method, though the techniques and principles are not widely different’. The exponents of this approach consider that language consists of ‘structures’ and structures are more important than the vocabulary. These structures are carefully graded in terms of both meaning and form. The term ‘structural’ according to Kripa K. Gautam “is referred to the following characteristics: Elements in a language are linearly produced in a rule governed way. Language samples can be exhaustively described at any structural level of description. Linguistic levels are thought of as a system within systems. Thesesubsystems are pyramidally structured-phonemic system and other functions also.

       The two essential features of this approach are careful grading of structures, and vocabulary control. J.B. Bruton in a working paper presented at the Nagpur Seminar in 1958 summarises the basic assumptions regarding the nature of language and the methods best suited for the presentation of linguistic items. He says that the -“ language is primarily a spoken thing and therefore, our approach to a foreign language should in the first instance be through its spoken forms, mastery over the signalling system of a language is more important than detailed knowledge of the forms of the language; this mastery is best acquired by repetition of the various components of the system in varied forms; since language arises from situation, the teacher’s task is to create meaningful situations from which language will arise easily and naturally; mastery over a given range of structures and confidence in their use are best imparted by concentrating on the teaching of one item at a time; each item must be firmly established orally before pupils encounter it in their textbooks”. The terms ‘structure’ and ‘pattern’ are generally used interchangeably by some teachers, they are not identical, as the former has a linguistic orientation, while the latter has a pedagogic orientation.Productive structures, as Dr. Bhat opines, are those with which other structures can be built. Naturally the productive structures are given more importance, since after the mastery of those structures the student can build other structures by themselves. Some structures can be taught easily with demonstration. According to C. Paul Verghese “a language is best learnt through practice in real situations, this is because of the close relation that exists between experience and expression”.

   Verghese further adds that “there are two kinds of situations: real and artificial also. Every structure must be encountered and practised in a context of situation”. The intensive practice and drill in this approach provide multiple opportunities to the learner. In India this approach has been found effective at lower levels, but inadequate at higher levels. Another limitation of this approach is that the intensive drilling of
structures might turn mechanical very soon. Yardi finds out one main inadequacy with this approach that “they don’t help to develop ‘communicative competence”, and he further states that “the structural approach may help in making correct sentences, it fails in helping the learner tomakecorrectutterances”. Without making any exaggerated claims for this approach, we may say that, it is quite effective in the hands of trained, and dedicated teachers. Inadequate teacher-training has been the cause of the setback the structural approach has suffered in India.

◆2. The Structural-Oral-Situational Approach:

     This approach, popularly known as the S-O-S approach, came into being as an alternative to the direct method. It is an outcome of the experiments carried out in the army camps during World War- II and It is the presentation and practice of carefully selected and graded grammatical structures of English in effective, meaningful situations, initially through speech and later through reading and writing.

     And language is always viewed as structurally related elements for encoding of meaning, the elements being phonemes, morphemes, words, structures and sentence types. According to Rao the theory underlying this approach is that language exists in situations; it cannot be used in vacuum. Language is used according to the needs of the situation. In view of this Rao suggests presenting a new language item in the meaningful situations. It would make the input comprehensible for the learner. Situational use of English is aimed at in this approach. Prominent names associated with this approach are Charles Fries, Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornby. Harold Palmer points out that 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 for us.

◆3. The Communicative Approach:

       Dr. Sharada Bhat opines that the communicative approach to teaching of English is organized on the basis of certain communicative functions, such as apologizing, describing, inviting, promising etc. that the ESL learners need to know. She further adds that this approach, as applied to English explains the language in terms of the functions it performs. This approach, according to Dr. Bhat, does not ignore the role of grammar in the process of language learning, but it insists that the grammatical rules are useless unless they are applied to real-life situations. In the Communicative approach focuses on the significance of language functions because the learner needs knowledge of both meaning and functions. It lays emphasis on functional, communicative and social interactive activities and so on.

   ◆ Conclusion:

   I conclude my assignment with that it is impossible to arrive at th eperfect approach or technique for language learning in Indian context. Language learning is such a complex process for us. Perhaps the best method is the one which works, and this varies from context to context. Any method which creates conditions for learning to take place is good. What is important for the teacher, therefore, is to find out what approach and what method will enable him to realize a particular objective. So, I think this is the best way to teach and for better understanding of learners through this approaches.

                 

Thank you!