Procedures in Foreign Language Teaching

PROCEDURES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

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Procedure

Procedure is an ordered sequence of techniques.

A procedure is a sequence which can be described in terms such as first you do this, then you do that… Smaller than a method and bigger than technique.

There are various procedures in language teaching such as SRR, PPP,DES,OHE,ESA,PTL,III,ARC

PPP A variation on Audio-lingualism in British-based

teaching and elsewhere is the procedure most often referred to as PPP, which stands for Presentation, Practice, and Production.

In this procedure the teacher introduces a situation which contextualizes the language to be taught. The language is presented by using different techniques.

The students practice the language using accurate reproduction techniques such as choral repetition, individual repetition, and cue-response drills.

alternatives to PPP The PPP procedure came under a sustained attack in the 1990s.

Michael Lewis suggested that PPP was inadequate because it reflected neither the nature of language nor the nature of learning.

Jim Scrivener advanced what is perhaps the most worrying aspect of PPP,the fact that it only describes one kind of lesson;it is inadequate as a general proposal concerning approaches to language in the classroom.

In response to these criticism many people have offered variations on PPP and alternative to it: ARC, OHE/III, ESA.

ARC ARC put forward by Jim Scrivener. ARC stands for Authentic use, Restricted use

and Clarification and focus. According to ARC, most language in the

classroom can be described as either Authentic use (e.g.a communicative activity),Restricted use (e.g. Drills, guided writing, elicited dialogue)or Clarification and focus (e.g. Explaining grammar, giving examples,analyzing errors.)

In other words, communicative activity will demonstrate authentic use; elicted dialogue or guided writing will provoke restricted use of language by students; finally clarification language is that which the teacher and students use to explain grammar,give examples,analyse errors,elict or repeat things.

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McCarthy and Carter (1995) argue the need for a step away from the three Ps to what they term the three Is; Illustration-Interaction-Induction, where illustration means examining real data in specific contexts, interaction means using consciousness raising activities designed to focus on the interpersonal use of language and the negotiation of meaning, and induction encouraging students to notice the different functions of the lexio-grammatical features (1995:217).

OHE OHE procedure of lexical approach

resembles the III. OHE was developed by Michael Lewis.

Michael Lewis claims that students should be allowed to Observe (read or listen to language) which will then provoke them to Hypothesise about how the language works before going on to the Experiment on the basis of that hypothesis.

ESA Another nice alternative to ‘PPP’ is

Harmer’s ‘ESA’ (Engage/Study/Activate). In the ESA model three components will usually be present in any teaching sequence.

E stands for Engage S stands for Study A stands for Activate

Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students' interest.

Study: refer to activities where student are asked to focus on language and how it constructed.

Activate: this element describes exercise and activities designed to get students to use language as freely and as communicatively as they can.

How do the three elements of ESA fit together in lesson sequences?

ESA straight arrow sequence: Such a sequence may work at lower levels for

straightforward language, but may not appropriate for more advanced learners with more complex language.

ESA (A) Boomerang sequence : Such a procedure is more appropriate for

intermediate and advanced level students since they have plenty of language available to them at the Activate stage.

Patchwork Lesson Many lessons are mixture of a variety of short

episodes building up to a whole-e EAASASEA.

Deep-end Strategy

Keith Johnson suggested the “deep-end strategy” as an alternative where by encouraging the students into immediate production, you turn the procedure on its head.The extreme of the Deep-end strategy is to set a task and ask students to perform.

In practice the deep-end strategy involves providing preparation time before performance.

In the PPP tradition a prior decision is made by the materials writer as to what language and skills (a) should/will be needed and (b) will be lacking.

Deep-end Strategy

The strenght of the Deep-end Strategy that the approach to the task is the sts’ and is likely to reflect their personal and professional world.

The Deep-end Strategy is particularly effective on short intensive courses and where learners are proficient in the communacitive events in their L1.

Deep-end Strategy

The main input stage may come after the performance based on comments from the teacher and from the learner and peers

As the preparation phase is controlled by the learners another effective approach is to develop materials that support each learning stage but to supply them only on request as an option.

Pre-task Task cycle Language focus

This procedure was developed by Prabhu, Jane Willis. Task-based learning is a language learning method popularised by N. Prabhu while working in Bangalore, India.

Prabhu figured out that his students could learn language just as easily with a non-linguistic problems as when they are concentrating on linguistic questions. Task-based learning is used widely for language learning.

Jane Willis broke it into three sections.

1 Pre-task 2 Task Cycle 3 Language Focus

Pre-taskThe pre-task consists of an introduction to the topic and to the task. For example; the topic is ordering food.

As the teacher writes down some possible answers, she underlines the key words like cheeseburger and fries. They now may see a video of some people at a restaurant ordering food.

Task CycleThis consists of the task itself, planning, and a report. For example; the students now get into groups and pretend order or role-play with each other as the teacher monitors. (Task)

The students now have to plan on what they will tell the rest of the class about what they just did. (Plan) Finally, they have to tell the report to the class about what they did. (Report)

Language FocusThis consists of an analysis and practice. For example; the students may examine and discuss any accompanying text, audio, or visuals.

The teacher may also conduct some sort of practice, like a game.

This type of method steers teachers away from traditional roles, such as a controller.

The Task Language Learning method proposes that teachers take a different attitude toward accuracy, unlike attitudes from Audio-lingualism or PPP methodologies.

CIRCULAR PPP

Teachers and students can decide at which stage to enter the procedure.