English Language

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Learn how to Learn English, or Anything in the World

Sometimes it’s just not about how much we do but about how precise we are while doing so. We dare to say that this rule applies to every field. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, what you are studying, etc. you just need to learn to use your tools effectively. For example, when you are learning how to play an instrument, we need to focus on technique, theory and improvisation. A good recommendation for musicians is to record themselves playing, so that they can play their performance over and over again, to spot the weaknesses and work on them. Improvising and never stopping to listening what you do can be fun, especially because you always play the same scales, so you are in your comfort area. However, what happens when you find yourself in a situation where you have to adjust to new sounds, chords, styles, etc.? This is exactly where the importance of focusing on your weaknesses lies on.

Something similar happens when you are learning languages. For example, when seeking to learn English Cairns students try to be as responsible for their learning as possible. They will get to a point where learning depends on them. Until that moment, they count on native English speaking trainers that are able to explain the cultural nuances behind the technical aspects of the language. If you know you have a grammar weakness but are fluent talking, you shouldn’t just keep doing what’s easy for you and nothing else. Doing what we know how to do might make us feel pleased, however, we will only be fulfilled once we have a good command of every aspect in our learning.

CEO of Language Trainers Alexis Sheldon recommends that students learn to use certain tools outside the classroom in order to complement their language lessons. For example, social networks like Facebook or Twitter can put you in touch with native speakers of the language you aim to learn. This is a great idea especially if your next goal is learning the slang used in different countries, and also if you are good at theory but have a hard time applying what you’ve learnt to daily life.

How to Design an English Course

Teachers as designers have a lot of jobs. Today in KTSP, our government just gives or makes a curriculum. Then, teacher should design their syllabus, course, and make a lesson plan. A curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults. A curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on a more general syllabus which merely specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a particular grade or standard.

After that, teachers must make the syllabus; basically it means a concise statement or table of the heads of a discourse, the contents of a treatise, and the subjects of a series of lectures. In the form that many of us will have been familiar with it is connected with courses leading to examinations - teachers talk of the syllabus associated with, say, the Cambridge Board French GSCE exam. What we can see in such documents is a series of headings with some additional notes which set out the areas that may be examined.

And then, teachers must be able to design their course. It is a systematic approach to course development that ensures that specific learning goals are accomplished. It is an iterative process that requires ongoing evaluation and feedback. The teacher must make course design for one semester. In designing the course we must consider about; Students, context, objectives, materials and evaluation. There are some steps of course design; planning, teaching, modifying, and re-teaching.

After designing a course, teachers have to make a lesson plan. It is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. Planning the material is much more difficult than delivering the lessons. Planning is when you look at the curriculum standards and develop the content that match those standards you also have to take into consideration the needs of the children you are planning for. Luckily, textbooks that are adopted for your subject areas are typically written with this in mind. All details should be written down to assist the smooth delivery of the content. The extent of the detail will vary depending on the number of years of experience that the teacher has and the number of times he/she has taught the lesson. Obviously, an instructor with several years of experience may have plans that are much less detailed than beginning teachers.

A teacher must be able to design his/her course. There are some particular things that teacher should do in designing a course. They are;

Course rationale

Course rationale is a brief explanation or description about general objectives designing the course in one program. The course is called correct if it can answer the questions below:

Who is this course for?

What is the course for?

What is the course about?

What kind of teaching and learning will take place in the course?

In answering these questions the course rational describes the belief, values and goals that underline the course. A course rationale is usually built-up in two or three paragraphs. So a course rationale has some purposes:

Guiding the planning of the various components of the course
Emphasizing the kinds of teaching and learning the course should exemplify
Providing a check on the consistency of various course components in term of the course values and goals

Describing the entry and exit level

It is necessary to know the level at which the program will start and the level learners may be expected to reach at the end of the course. Teacher as a designer need information about students proficiency level before they begin the process teaching and learning. The information is needed to determine an appropriate program that suitable to the students.

Choose the course content

The choice of a particular approach to content selection will depend on subject-matter knowledge, the learners’ proficiency levels, current views on foreign language and teaching, conventional wisdom, and convenience. Teacher should develop the initial ideas for course content, where it often take place simultaneously with syllabus planning, because the content of a course will often depend on the type of syllabus framework that will be used as the basis for the course.

Determine the scope and sequence

Decisions about content also need to address the distribution of content throughout the course. This is known as planning the scope and sequence of the course. Scope is concerned with the breadth and depth of coverage of the items in the course, which is with the following questions:

What range of the content will be covered?

What extent should each topic is studied for?

And sequencing of content in the course also needs to be determined. This involves deciding which content is needed early in the course and which provides for things that will be learned later. Sequencing may be base on the following criteria; simple to complex, chronology, need, prerequisite learning, whole to part or part to whole, and spiral sequencing.

Planning the course structure

After determining the scope and sequence of the course, the next stage in course development is planning the course structure that provides a suitable basis for teaching. There are two aspects in planning the course structure, they are:

1. Select a syllabus basis

A syllabus describes the major elements that will be used in planning a language course and provides the basis for its instructional focus and content. There are some factors that influence planner in choosing a particular syllabus framework, such as; knowledge and belief about the subject area, research and theory, common practice, trends. By considering the situation, topic, function, and task-based, teachers (as planners) can choose the appropriate syllabus frame work, such as; Grammatical syllabus, Lexical syllabus, Functional syllabus, Situational syllabus, Topical or content-based syllabus, Competency based syllabus, Skills syllabus, Task-based syllabus, Text-based syllabus.

2. Develop the instructional block

A course also needs to be mapped in term of instructional block or sections. An instructional block is a self-contained learning sequence that has its own goals and objectives and that also reflects the overall objectives for the course. Planning the organizational structure in a course involves selecting appropriate block and deciding on the sequence in which this will appear. In organizing a course, we must achieve; the course is made more teachable and learnable, provides a progression an level of difficulty, create overall coherence and structure for the course.

There are two commonly used instructional in planning; the first is planning by modules and the second is by units. Planning by modules is a self-contained and independent learning sequence with its own objectives. And planning by units is normally longer than a single lesson but shorter than a module and it is commonest way of organizing course and teaching materials.

Preparing the scope and sequence plan

After both planning and organizing a course is finished, we can prepare the scope and sequence by describing it. This might consist of listing of the modules or units and their contents and an indication how much time must be spent to teach each block in the course require

Twelve Principles for Effective Adult Learning

Teachers have to set their teaching method and strategy in teaching their students. They should be suit with the students’ characteristics, read my previous posting.

A principle, philosophers tell us, is the beginning of an action. As we begin the action of designing a course, a seminar, or a workshop for adult learners, we can make informed decisions that will work for these learners by referring to certain educational principles. I have discovered that these principles apply across cultures. Actually, there are twelve basic principles to make effective adult learning that interconnected, intrinsically related one to the other[1]. In Training Through Dialogue (Vella, 1995) she name fifty such principles and practices that work to make dialogue education effective.

Although these principles and practices have been tested in community education settings, I believe they can also offer insight into educational processes for teachers and professors in more formal systems of education. As we shall see in the case studies that follow, they have been proven to work under diverse and sometimes extraordinarily difficult conditions.

One basic assumption in all this is that adult learning is best achieved in dialogue. Dia means “between,” logos means “word.” Hence, dia + logue = “the word between us.” The approach to adult learning based on these principles holds that adults have enough life experience to be in dialogue with any teacher about any subject and will learn new knowledge, attitudes, or skills best in relation to that life experience (Knowles, 1970). Danah Zohar calls dialogue a quantum process, the means of doing quantum thinking (Zohar, 1997, p.136). In this approach to adult learning all twelve principles and practices are ways to begin, maintain, and nurture the dialogue:

Needs assessment: participation of the learners in naming what is to be learned.

Safety in the environment and the process. We create a context for learning. That context can be made safe.

Sound relationships between teacher and learner and among learners

Sequence of content and reinforcement.

Praxis: action with reflection or learning by doing.

Respect for learners as decision makers.

Ideas, feelings, and actions: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects of learning.

Immediacy of the learning.

Clear roles and role development.

Teamwork and use of small groups.

Engagement of the learners in what they are learning.

Accountability: how do they know they know?

In Vela’s study of the new science, she have come to understand that her awareness of how interconnected these educational principles and practices are was sound quantum thinking. You will discover as you work with these twelve principles that you cannot exclude any of them. What strikes me as significant and operative, as we begin to design for effective learning, is the distinction between the universe seen as a machine (Newton) and that seen via quantum physics as energy. It is the difference for me between materialism and spirituality, between rote learning and “thinking with one’s toes.” Her experience of teaching and learning over her life of seventy years corroborates the quantum approach.

[1] Jane Vella. Learning to Listen Leaning to Teaach.(2002) pg. 4

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Teaching Strategy

Matching teaching methods to course objectives is an essential, good teaching practice. Preparing your course has parallels to preparing your research. You wouldn’t choose a research method without first knowing your research questions; you should treat choosing your teaching strategy with the same mindset.

Here is the teaching/research analogy:

Research	Teaching
Questions, Aims	Course objectives
Research Methodology	Teaching methods
Data Analysis	Student assessment Faculty assessment

Here is an example of matching your teaching methods to your course objectives:

Objective	Possible Teaching Methods
Recalling, recognizing facts	Lecture
Applying facts	Active learning techniques Lecture with case study Lecture with lab Lecture with discussions
Creating new information from old Evaluating someone else’s information	Active learning techniques

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Motivation & Attitude

Educators continue to have concerns about student success and the motivation that is required to accomplish the academic goals set before their learners. They voice concerns about how to make classes more inspiring, how to encourage students to be more diligent and how to provide appropriate incentives; the list continues, as it has for decades (Ames & Ames, 1984; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Dörnyei, 2000; 2001; 2005; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). Numerous motivational concepts have emerged over the years designed to motivate the learner and ultimately produce the types of student behavior desired by instructors. Motivation is referred to by Dörnyei (2005, p. 1) as “...an abstract, hypothetical concept that we use to explain why people think and behave as they do.” The meaning of the term, motivation, is vague but we use it because it is the best way known to describe the abstract concept (Dörnyei, 2005).
The understanding of the term motivation is quite broad in that it includes an endless range of meanings. The range of meanings for motivation go from financial incentives such as a raise, which would bringing about a new level of life-style, to what some may perceive as a freedom that is seemingly idealistic, (i.e. release from prison) which one could possibly be driven to attain (Dörnyei, 2005). Though these two examples have little in common, they have an influence on behavior. Because of the seemingly limitless ways of interpreting motivation, is seen as a broad umbrella term that covers a number of meanings (Alderman, 1999; Calder, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Dörnyei, 2005; Gardner & Lambert, 1972).
Motivation theory started with Sigmund Freud, well known within psychoanalytic psychology. In 1914 and 1915 he postulated that behavior can be reduced to a number of drives; otherwise known by Freud as instinct theory. In empirical psychology it is suggested that motivation theory started with Hull’s drive theory in 1943 (Deci & Ryan, 1985). The drives on which Hull based his theory were hunger, thirst, sex and avoidance of pain. Today we have a much more complex world and, therefore, a more complex understanding of motivation and motivational behavior. The motivation seen in people, as presently practiced, appears to be primarily to avoid punishment or receive rewards (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Deci & Flaste, 1995; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Dornyei, 2001; 2001a; 2005; Weiner, 1979; 1990). Deci & Ryan (2004) have suggested that human needs are quite different. They remark that the needs are relatedness to others, competence, and autonomy. Frequently, a distinction is made between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The understanding of extrinsic motivation is that the goal providing satisfaction isindependent of the activity, whereas intrinsic motivation finds the satisfaction within theactivity itself (Calder & Staw, 1975; Covington & Dray, 2002; Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Deci & Flaste, 1995; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Noels, K. A., Pelletier, L. G., Clement, R., & Vallerand, R. J., 2000). The assumption commonly accepted is that extrinsic rewards such as money fulfill a basic human need. Obviously this societal based motivation system is effective in accomplishing the set goals of bringing about desired behaviors (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Deci & Ryan; 1985). Many researchers are considering not only behaviors based on external rewards, but also behaviors that are acted out based on the activity or behavior itself. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; 1991; 1997; 2000; Deci & Flaste, 1995; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). One of the more prominent paradigms in motivational psychology has been presented by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Vallerand, 1997 as cited in Dörnyei, 2001). Self-determination theory places the types of regulations on a continuum between self-determined (intrinsic) and controlled (extrinsic) forms (Deci & Ryan, 1985; 2004; Dörnyei, 2001). For the purposes of this literature review, the terms selfdetermination and intrinsic motivation will be used interchangeably.
Where one is placed on this continuum is dependent on how ‘internalized’ the form of motivation is and “…how much the regulation has been transferred from outside to inside the individual” (Dörnyei, 2001, p. 47). According to Dörnyei (2001) there are five categories which have been identified on this continuum. They are identified as:
1. external regulation, meaning that the motivation comes strictly from outside sources, from rewards to avoidance of punishment;
2. introjected regulation, which is following imposed rules in order to avoid feeling guilty;
3. identified regulation; an example of this would be where one engages in an activity because of a perceived usefulness;
4. integrated regulation which involves choice made behavior(s) based on the individual’s values, needs and identity;
5. intrinsic motivation where the individual is involved in the activity for the sake of the activity and nothing more.
Observably, motivation is a complex concept. For this writing, the term will be defined as a drive that influences behavior, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as other constructs based on motivational theory.
A substantive amount of research regarding motivation for language learning has been conducted over previous decades, especially in how it is related to perceived locus of control, attitude, self-efficacy and anxiety (Atkinson, 1957; Dörnyei, 2001; Gabillon, 2005; Gardner & Tremblay, 1994; Weiner, 1972). The years of research have brought about data allowing language instructors to have an understanding of the learner; therefore, potentially improving the language learner’s outcomes (Hsieh, 2004).
Motivation by itself appears to be understood, but language learning is quite different compared to other areas of study, in the matter that learners will potentially face anxiety and social distress (Saito, Horwitz & Garza, 1999). According to Saito, Horwitz and Garza (1999), the learner’s experience of anxiety can have a debilitating impact on their ability to learn to communicate in the second language. Moreover, the anxiety experienced in the classroom environment has been suggested to have a negative impact on the motivation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Kitano, 2001). Because anxiety is an unpleasant experience, behaviors associated with anxiety reduction would be reinforced since the avoidance of pain or unpleasantness is one of the primary drives according to drive theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). The problem Deci & Ryan (1985) note in this theory is that typically, exploratory behaviors are associated with excitement not fear and anxiety. The avoidance of anxiety does not appear to be a motivator for exploration or curiosity driven behaviors (Deci & Ryan 1985). Collectively, there are at least two factors that can either eliminate or diminish motivation. These are anxiety and self-efficacy. Interestingly, anxiety is not as commonly found in learners that have a high self-efficacy as in those who do not (Bandura, 1997). When a learner experiences diminished motivation, academic success is impacted. The thought of past failures brings about anxiety and, in turn, the self-efficacy is affected (Atkinson, 1974; 1983; Bandura, 1997; Ehrman, 1996). Ehrman (1996) and Bandura (1997) reiterate the reality that emotions play an important role in the learners’ lives. These concepts are interrelated in a learner and have potential to enhance a learner’s motivation and performance, as well as the reverse.
Lambert approached was that of attitude toward a culture and if it had an impact on the learner’s motivation to learn the new culture’s language. He later termed this motivation construct as integrative motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005). Gardner has continued research in this direction as other researchers strongly suggest the motivational framework to be expanded (Gardner & Tremblay, 1994; Noels, Clément & Pelletier, 2001; Oxford & Shearin, 1994). Dörnyei (1994) remarks that Gardner’s works are of great value to linguists and instructors of language; yet, there is a need to go beyond the social psychology of motivation and language learning. Gardner saw that there was more than aptitude involved in the success of learning a foreign language; therefore, he positioned most of his research in the direction of discovering other factors (Dörnyei, 2005; Gardner, 1960; 1994; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). “To say that one has to have ‘an ear for languages’ is to give an excuse rather than an answer, since it is too easy to transfer mysteries to biology, either as the source of one’s linguistic difficulties or as the source of one’s linguistic genius” (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Based on the years of research, Gardner was accurate on this matter; yet, there still appears to be more questions than answers as to the source of one’s abilities, or the lack of it, in learning a foreign language (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei, 1994; 2001; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Noels, Pelletier, Clement, & Vallerand, 2000; Oxford & Shearin, 1994). Dörnyei (1994) notes that Gardner & Lambert’s works (1972) are a necessary contribution to the academy, yet the motivational construct of Gardner’s excludes cogitative aspects of motivation to learn. From the time of Gardner’s founding of the Gardnerian motivational theory for second-language learning till now, focus has changed from behaviorist to more cognitive concepts (Dörnyei, 1994; 2001; 2001a). A variety of new approaches toward motivation and second-language acquisition came about in the 1990’s. Gardner educated many international scholars from his in-depth research (Dörnyei, 1994). Gardner & Tremblay (as cited in Dörnyei, 1994) called the 1990’s a ‘motivational renaissance’. The first three decades of research in the field of motivation and second-language learning was inspired by the three Canadian psychologists, Robert Gardner, Wallace Lambert, and Richard Clement. With their accomplishments, scholars had a solid foundation from which to work (Dörnyei, 1994; 2001; Gardner, 1994). Research bodies established motivation as the principle determinant of second language acquisition. Motivation and how it impacts the learner’s aptitude is also considered well researched since the 1990’s (Gardner, 1994). Approaching the new millennium the boundaries of second language (L2) motivation were pushed even further with researchers adopting complex perspectives (Dörnyei, 2001a). Studies in motivation would include: motivation from a process-oriented perspective; task motivation; self-determination theory and the neurobiological basis of motivation (Dörnyei, 2001a). Dörnyei (2001) suggests that L2 motivation as a situated construct will be one of the primary research areas of the future and that there is a need to focus research on temporal motivation. The study of temporal motivation will be particularly useful because “…it allows researchers to discuss both preactional ‘choice motivation’ (i.e., the motives leading to selecting goals and forming intentions) and volitional/executive factors during the actional phase (i.e., motives affecting ongoing learning behaviors) in a unified framework.” (Dörnyei, 2000; 2001) To focus on intrinsic motivation allows for a detailed review and the inclusion of various points of view. In the book “why we do what we do”, Deci & Flaste (1995) stated that we often either experience or see others experience extrinsic motivation controlling and forcing the focus to be on the outcomes, and that can ultimately lead to shortcuts that may be undesirable. It is difficult to compete with extrinsic motivation, for human behavior leads us to naturally seek gratification which is frequently offered as a reward for the display or performance of an attained skill (Atkinson, 1974; Deci & Ryan, 1985).
The growing interest in cognitive processes since the early 1930s has had an influence on the field of motivation. All of the cognitive theories from the 1930s till now direct our attention to the concept of choice, which is directly related to motivation and even more so to intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Noels, K. A., Pelletier, L. G., Clement, R., & Vallerand, R. J., 2000).

teaching media

Media : Newspapers
Level : The media is suitable for elementary to advance

Newspapers are easy to be brought in the class in different subjects and courses, especially in literature, language classes, history etc. Some of them have valuable information for these subjects, but we should know how to find this information. Many libraries have systems of classification according to the topics and issues and we can easily find our way in searching this information. If not we would spend a lot of time to find something. It is often said that academic success starts at the library.
The variety of subjects and topics makes newspapers interesting and motivating for the students to work with. Newspapers report real-life events, and this arouses students’ curiosity. Newspaper-based activities in the classroom may engage students in enjoyable activities and encourage their further reading. Newspapers are an invaluable source of authentic materials. The more students read, the more they want to explore.

“People learn through reading, and reading about interesting new things in one’s interest subject, undoubtedly helps motivation”. (Paul Sanderson, 2002)

Newspapers are also a great source for ESP teachers. They can be used as teaching materials to develop students’ language skills. They can be used effectively with a wide range of levels from Elementary to Advanced, either interpreting them or using them as they are. Some newspapers are easy to read, easy to use. The committed teachers can design exercises to develop reading comprehension, critical thinking skills, writing skills, grammar skills, vocabulary, map/chart reading skills, geography skills, social study skills and more. Having a lot of newspapers and information the teachers should be careful with the way how to organize a certain activity using them. So, they are particularly suitable for mixed-ability classes, depending on the activity, questions, etc.
In planning a lesson using a newspaper, the teacher should take into consideration the length of the article, paragraph, the complexity of the language, the density of information, the subject-matter and content, the time available and the level of the students.
Another very important issue about newspaper use is materials collection. It is an on-going process and worth doing it. Choosing and collecting short articles, weather forecast, advertisements, headlines, etc. is a hard task, but we may use them at a later time and more than once for different students. So, it is necessary to be very careful in organizing newspaper materials. Once we start collecting them we should begin thinking to organize them, put under certain categories, systematize them, etc. Everyone has experienced many times the frustration when he/she knows that he/she has that piece of information but does not remember where he/she has put it. It is good to categorize the materials under certain titles, headlines, advertisements, etc. or under topic titles, sport, cinema, relationship, according to language level of students, etc. Of great importance are the use of the photographs and illustrations.
We should be careful to prepare these materials in good quality to use them again and again, and with every passing year we create folios and enrich them, then photocopy what we want for students’ use. We should not avoid using newspapers in the classroom only thinking that they are difficult for our students. It is true that the language there is difficult, but after all it is authentic. There are several ways of making newspaper materials usable for the various levels of students, by selecting interesting newspapers and the students will be interested in reading them and would skip some difficult expressions. A very important thing that enhances success in using newspapers in the classroom is the careful design of tasks. “Grade the task – not the material’ is a well-known maxim in language teaching’. (Paul Sanderson, 2002) In spite of the difficulty of the texts, the task should suit the level of students, this is more important than the difficulty of the text. The involvement of students in pre-activity, while-activity preparation techniques, in the selection of materials and in carefully designing the tasks are the key to success.

In this time I try to use media in intermediate level.
The material : Articles about Global Warming from one or two newspaper
Subject : Integrated Reading and Writing

Here are some pre-activity and while-activity preparation techniques that can be used in combination with one another: (Paul Sanderson, 2002)
1. Give the students the materials before the lesson; ask them to look for vocabulary at home
2. Explain any key vocabulary in the materials
3. Summarize the newspaper item
4. Ask the students to brainstorm what they know about the newspaper item
5. Tell the students the headline and show any accompanying photograph
6. Before reading, write on the board and explain key vocabulary
7. Ask the students to predict the story-line
8. Allow your students to use a dictionary during the activity
9. Encourage your students to go for the overall meaning of a text, rather than to understand every word
10. Encourage your students to bring to their reading their own world knowledge
11. Try to help the students in understanding the grammatical complexity of the text, facilitate to assimilate the density of information, guess the low-frequency vocabulary, etc. After doing the activities, teacher can give some exercises.
The newspaper activities might be a lot, interesting and multidimensional. They might be about the headlines, headline combinations, articles, categorizing articles, news flash, putting it back together, exchanging the news, ranking articles, press conference, filling in the gaps, news in brief, photographs, predicting photographs, famous faces, photo stories, moving pictures, putting the picture in the story, advertisements, classifying adds, role-plays ads, job interviews, horoscopes, problem page letters, TV guides, cartoons and strip cartoons, acting out cartoons, strip cartoon stories, weather forecast, predicting the weather, matching weather forecasts, newspaper reading corner, find some one who… special interest groups, newspaper puzzles, crosswords, and many others.

Generally, the advantages are:
1. It is not expensive (cheap)
2. Most newspapers are linguistically up-to-date and provide valuable linguistic data.
3. Easy to get it (we can buy it directly or by access internet and then print it out)
4. We can choose the materials which students interested
5. They may be used for the wide variety of text types and language styles, not often found in textbooks.
6. The newspaper is designed to make people interesting
7. Easy to bring
8. The materials can be used more than once but in different students
9. etc

Disadvantages
1. Do not all of newspapers are easy to be understood by all level
2. Need time to prepare the lesson

Second-Language Teaching

Second language teaching is a field which provides an excellent meeting ground for many of theoretical and practical aspects of psycholinguistics to come together. It is here that we have a chance to see how ideas of human language and human learning interconnect. Language teaching method may be conveniently characterized on the basis of five principle dimensions:

1. Language mode: speech-reading

2. Meaning: actual object/situation-translation

3. Grammar: induction-explication

4. Psychology: mentalist-behaviorist

5. Linguistics: mentalist- structuralist

Traditional Method

1. Grammar Translation Method

Looking back at the history of FL teaching is very interesting. It allows us to know the different trends and, what is more important, to ask some questions about the best way to teach the FL. Stern (1983: 75) recommends we “look to ourselves and ... explore to what extent our second language teaching has been influenced by our own language learning and language teaching experience”. This overview will help us determine which aspects have affected our learning experience when facing academic settings or less formal situations. Our past and present teaching experience will offer good reasons to discuss and draw renewed conclusions. (Discussion highly recommended, see Stern: 1983: 75).

Howatt (1984) provides a very complete historical perspective. The first aspect to pinpoint is how the FL can be learnt in two different settings: as a result of a natural immersion experience -backed by the need to use the new language for trade and surviving purposes-, or after a formal and systematic academic process. These two axes will show not just different linguistic varieties to refer to the FL, but different goals, materials and activities. And different are the roles played both by teachers and learners. The closer these two perspectives are, the more effective the FL teaching turns out to be.

The theoretical principles which have traditionally inspired the diverse methods come from different linguistic and psychological conceptions. Language and learning are the two foundation stones on which methods have been based.

A long tradition in teaching the FL according to academic and formal trends is present in the Grammar-translation method. The knowledge of grammar constitutes the core, and translation is the most important type of exercise. The study of written texts of classical languages exerts a great influence.

Theoretical background

Language is reduced to the grammatical system. The sentence is the main unit of reference, and its morphological elements must be organized according to a series of prescriptive rules. Logico-semantic criteria are used to describe the linguistic model.

Learning is understood as a result of a great intellectual effort where the memorization of rules and vocabulary is necessary. This mental discipline is taken to a general social conduct.

Methodological features

Content Linguistic notions: Rules and exceptions

Morphology of words

Syntax: Parts of the sentence

Simple and complex sentences

Objectives The study of literary works is the ultimate goal

The reaching of conversation is postponed and underestimated

Extra-linguistic goal: mental gymnastics

Materials The grammar book

The dictionary

Procedures Explanations in the mother tongue by the teacher, who has a central role

Meta-language used for grammatical notions

Practice exercises to apply the notions in a deductive way

Memorization of long vocabulary lists

Reading comprehension and vocabulary exercises of a text

Translation of literary texts

Compositions

Assessment Exams to evaluate the capacity to understand written texts and to translate sentences

2. DIRECT METHOD

The criticism of the traditional Grammar-translation method has a response in the second half of the 19th century. Several authors react against an excessive theoretical and academic tradition which did not prove to be efficient in everyday language conversation. Howatt (1984: 161-206) provides a broader view of this reaction, whose principal facts are treated here.

Particularly outstanding is Gouin (1880), a French teacher of Latin who decided to study German as a foreign language. He followed the same Grammar-translation methodology he had applied in his lessons. He studied the grammar rules and a great amount of vocabulary, and even translated literary works. But he could not understand a single word when he took part in conversations. The failure made him search for the reason underlying those negative and frustrating results. To make things worse, after going back home, he observed how his three-year-old nephew had acquired his mother tongue and was able to speak without any problem. These sorts of observations took him to the insights that, after listening, children conceptualize meanings and develop a capacity of thinking and speaking in that language. Thus, importance was attached to the exclusive use of the target language as a direct methodology and an easy sequence of concepts to present and practice the content. Gouin created the series method, where sequenced actions as such concepts are taught step by step. Learners will associate each sentence to the specific movement to which it refers.

A similar conclusion on how first language is acquired takes Berlitz to an immersion or direct methodology. The features of the Direct Method can be summarized along the following lines:

• Only the target language is used

• Everyday language is the first goal

• Questions and answers are the main vehicle for a graded oral progression

• Inductive techniques so that learners discover rules

• Correction is not neglected

The so-called Reform movement is another important reaction and lays its emphasis on the teaching of oral language. The International Phonetic Association requires special mention. Created in 1886, its declaration of principles is compiled in six articles:

1. Foreign language study should begin with the spoken language of everyday life.

2. Pupils must be familiarized with the sounds of the FL. Conventional spelling is postponed.

3. The most common sentences and idiomatic phrases must be introduced at a first stage. Dialogues, descriptions and narratives will follow in a natural, easy way.

4. Inductive way for first levels. Grammar must be postponed.

5. The FL meaning must be explained with direct reference to objects or concepts and not to the native language.

6. When writing is introduced, a sequence is recommended from reproduced texts to free composition. Translation belongs to the most advanced stage of the course.

3. THE READING METHOD

Both the Grammar-translation and the Direct methods have influenced FL methodology. Without doubt, the admittance of a less formal variety of the FL is widely accepted. The age factor could determine the complexity of cognitive tasks when teaching the new language: an oral treatment was thought as most appropriate in early stages, without completely rejecting the advantages of using reading, translations and references to the mother tongue. The use of reading texts should not neglect the spoken activity. The controversy has found a compromise solution which responds to “the needs for better language learning in a new world of industry and international trade and travel”, as Stern (1983:457) puts it. The right balance between the opposite poles has been difficult to determine. Circumstances have leaned the pointer towards one or the other side, which is a positive pragmatic perspective.

West (1926), who taught English in India, without neglecting speaking, recommended reading for its practical utility. Learners were trained in reading strategies. And graded readers were prepared so that students faced textual models (not just disconnected sentences) and progressive varieties of the FL starting with the most basic level (made up of just 300-500 vocabulary items) up to more advanced ones. Ogden (1930) insisted on the value of a first stage or Basic English. Stern (1983:161) pinpoints its functional and educational orientation: “...based on the thought that, at an elementary level of language use, a learner requires above all the spoken language of everyday life”.

Similar conclusions were put forward by Coleman (1929) for American High School students and by Bond (1953) for College students at Chicago University. Reading would become a foundation stone for a complete FL language learning process where the spoken side was postponed but not forgotten.

Theoretical background

Everyday language varieties and levels of use are the linguistic perspectives adopted. Studies on vocabulary frequency, such as the ones carried out by Thorndike (1921), are the basis for graded readers.

Without an explicit reference to psychological features of learning, it can be deduced that it is taken as a progressive and cyclic process responding to individual learner needs and age. As a consequence, a pragmatic educational position is the key sustaining basis.

4. THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

As for the teaching of foreign languages in Europe and in America, the distance for students to practice oral skills had a great influence. European students did not have to travel very far to do it. This situation was not the same in the U.S.A. International events made FL methodology change. As Brown (1983:70) points out, “Then World War II broke out and suddenly the United States was thrust into a worldwide conflict, heightening the need for Americans to become orally proficient in the languages of both their allies and their enemies. The time was ripe for a language teaching revolution”. Again a new reaction to the traditional method takes place, but now firmly inspired on the supposedly most valid linguistic and psychological descriptive theories. Brooks (1960), Stack (1960), Lado (1964) and Rivers (1964) compile and analysis this influential method.

Theoretical background

Thus, structuralism, which started facing the logico-semantic ambiguity of traditional grammars, adopted the empirically scientific description of languages based on form and distribution without taking meaning into consideration, as traced by Bloomfield and other linguists. The subjective reference to words was replaced by the objective precision of morphemes as the units which shape phrase and sentence structures. The current spoken language was the subject of description and a corpus of data was required to carry out the study.

From the psychological point of view, Skinner’s behaviorism and Osgood’s neo-behaviorism have provided an empirical perspective for language as a set of verbal habits. And like other human behaviors, language learning is essentially a habit training question in terms of stimulus and response. Verbal operant conditioning is shaped after the appropriate reinforcement. Errors as deviated behaviors must be avoided and corrected.

Moulton’s (1961: 63) slogans compile the descriptive and methodological features of this position:

1. Language is speech, not writing

2. A language is what its native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say

3. Languages are different

4. A language is a set of habits

5. Teach the language, not about the language

And there are many others language teaching method. Because of that students will learn something from any method. No method is total failure and there is no the best method. Teaching must be able to choose the appropriate method based on the students’ needs.