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In this unit I learned about the many different approaches and methods that are used to learn and teach English. Among these is the grammar-translation method, which amounts to translating from the student's native language into English. It's like learning English by a word for word translation. Other methodologies I studied included audio-lingualism, presentation, practice and production, task-based learning, communicative language teaching, community language learning, the silent way, suggestopaedia, and the lexical approach. The lexical approach uses words and phrases as building blocks to learn English, as opposed to using grammatical structure. In the end, there's really no consensus as to which approach or method works best.
Regardless of the approach or method used, students need broad exposure to the English language. They also need a certain amount of guidance from their teacher. Students need to learn in a stress-free environment that encourages them to discover language for themselves. By means of elicitation (asking thought-provoking questions), the teacher gets the students involved in the lesson as much as possible which facilitates the learning process. To this end an effective method was developed, by a man named Jeremy Harmer, known as ESA - Engage, Study, and Activate.
In the Engage part of an ESA lesson, the teacher wants simply to get his/her students involved and interested in the upcoming lesson. It is designed to get students thinking and speaking in English as much as possible before the teacher proceeds to the Study phase.
The Study phase of ESA is the stage where the students will be focusing on the construction of the language (or information) that's been presented by the teacher. Teachers will often give students a worksheet to complete in order to check their understanding and to reinforce the material that's been covered. Answers to the exercises on the worksheet are then reviewed and any errors gone over before moving onto the Activate stage.
In the Activate stage, students are encouraged to freely use any/all of the language they know. Students should be using English as unrestrictively as possible, focusing on fluency rather than accuracy.
All three ESA elements should be present in most lessons, though the order in which they are presented can be varied. To that end, I learned about different kinds of ESA lessons (including Staight Arrow, Boomerang, and Patchwork). Using a variety of different activities in these lessons keeps both students and teachers fresh and stimulated.
I also learned about giving feedback. Providing student feedback is useful in helping your students improve and evaluate their success and progress. When a teacher gives feedback to the student it should always try to be positive. It also needs to be clear and audible so students have a chance to correct their own work.
One of the last things I learned in this unit pertains to correction techniques. Ideally, the teacher wants the student to be able to correct his or herself. If they are unable to correct themselves, the teacher might want to allow other students to correct the mistake. If that tack also doesn't work, the last resort may be for the teacher to correct the mistake. But a teacher should always prefer that the student or students identify the problem and correct it.
