Articles for Teachers
Methods
Around the turn of the century much of Europe entered into a fervor about new political theories. They turned to Socialism and Communism and Democracy and Fascism as models of how to run human society. As experiments, they failed. Human interaction is too complex and changes too often to be pinned down by one approach. Nowadays much of the West adopts a floating kind of Democracy. We don't vote on everything, nor do we give absolute power to our governments.
Language learning too is a complex activity and many educators have searched for the Holy Grail - a method that works for all tasks and all learners. And there are hundreds of established theories about language learning. And each of them will direct you in some positive way. The academic consensus at ULearn English school Dublin is that the use of a number of methodologies and approaches to second language acquisition is often necessary and preferable. What we aim to do now is introduce you to some popular theories, the benefits they have, and their shortcomings. If nothing else they will give you cause to think about the methods you use yourself. If you are in some form of instruction now right now this section may also help you to critique your instructor's performance!
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
CLT spans a broad set of principles such as:
- 1. Learners are provided the necessary motivation - this can be either internal or external (see Motivation)
2. Learners learn a language through using it to communicate.
3. Authentic and meaningful communication (see Situated Learning Theory) should be the goal of classroom activities.
4. Fluency is an important dimension of communication.
5. Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
6. Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error (see Discovery Learning).
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) involves the use of different approaches and methods to be utilized in the classroom:
- · Motivation
· Discovery Learning
· Situated Learning Theory
· Problem-Based Learning, Discovery Learning
For many students of English, the type of teaching model they receive goes unnoticed. Personally I believe that it is a sign of a good teacher who can implement a pedagogical style without being overt about it. Should you come ULearn to learn English in Ireland you will find that throughout our English courses Dublin there is an emphasis on no one particular theory. Each task is taken on its own merits and each student is approached individually based on their goals throughout their learning path.
About the Author:
Of all the English schools Dublin ULearn provides a unique learning system and a special atmosphere for all its sudents. Excellence in all our English courses Dublin is what we provide daily and we provide ourselves on great teaching and results. Contact us today for a free level test and we will start you in the best English classes Dublin !