The first chapter by Brown looks closely at an
English language lesson about movies and entertainment. The goal of the lesson
is for the students to be able to talk about their likes and dislikes using the
new vocabulary. All parts of the lesson are broken down by steps, explaining exactly
what was done and said by the teacher and the activities the students did. The
next section analyzed the lesson. Something that stuck out to me is when Brown
states, “for every tiny moment of the classroom hour, certain choices were made”
(Brown 8). I believe this quote to be important because one of the many jobs that
teachers have is making choices. Teachers make choices about everything that is
done during the class period. Many of these choices are made spontaneously.
Teachers have a lot of pressure put on them since they are in charge of deciding
the choices that will and will not benefit their students’ ability to learn the
material.
Brown chapter two is all about
language-teaching methodology. There are many different definitions for the
word method. Page 16 uses a visual map to organize and break down the word. The remainder of the chapter discusses the different
methods of language-teaching that have evolved over the years. Some of the methods
stuck out to me, seeming a little strange. One of which is the grammar
translation method. I wasn’t too fond of this method since the classes are
taught in the L1 and not the TL. The explanation of the method goes on to explain
how there is very little use of the TL and hardly any attention is given to
pronunciation. This method definitely does not support the communicative part
of learning an L2. Two other methods that interested me since they’re quite
different are suggestopedia and the silent way. Suggestopedia suggests that the
“human brain can process great quantities of material if given the right
conditions for learning” (Brown 27). Examples of these conditions include the
state of relaxation and the use of baroque music. The other method, named the
silent way because the teachers stays silent for most of the lesson, involves
the use of objects that are different shapes and colors. The objects are used
to represent parts of speech and syntax, such as verb tense. Both suggestopedia
and the silent way have received a lot of criticism since the “teacher is too distant
to encourage a communicative atmosphere” (Brown 29). I agree with this
criticism. When learning an L2 it is extremely important for the teacher to
communicate with the students and encourage communication as much as possible.
Unlike the previous two methods, total physical response seems like a great
method for language-teaching. In my opinion I think it would be a great method
to use for vocabulary activities and maybe some grammar concepts. Getting the students
up and moving around the classroom is a great idea since it increases their
motivation and participation in learning the material.
The
article by Prabhu argues that there is no best language-teaching method to use.
One of the statements that is made is that different methods are best for different
teaching context, but later the author goes on the say that this idea still
raises too many questions since we would then be looking for the best method
for each teaching context. According to Prabhu, it all comes down to the idea
of the teacher’s sense of plausibility. A teacher’s sense of plausibility is “how
learning takes place and how teaching causes or supports it” (Prabhu 172). The
author concludes that the best method varies from one teacher to another but only
when the teacher is operating with “his or her own sense of plausibility at any
given time” (Prabhu 175). I like the author’s idea of plausibility and also
agree with the argument that there isn’t one best method. A teacher should use
whatever teaching method they believe helps their students benefit the most.
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