English is the language that we
have to be able to, at least a bit little of it. Beside become International
Language, English also often become a requirement for entry into a school or
company. Therefore, learning English at this time may be an obligation for
everyone.
In Indonesia, English learning
starts at the 3rd grade elementary school level. However, at this time there
are even rumors that English lessons will be deleted. Nevertheless, many
parents still bring and register their children to the English tutoring place.
Apparently, many parents realize and understand the importance of learning
English.
Therefore, in my opinion,
English teachers must improve the quality of their teaching in order to produce
competent students too, of course with "fresh" methods so that
students are more enthusiastic in learning English, remembering that English is
one of important language learned for now.
Then, how exactly can the
methods be used in learning English in the classroom?
1. The Direct Method – The direct
method is successful in private language schools because this method can only
be applied in small classes where all learners can receive individual
attention. In the Direct method, the teachers exaggeratedly excel in keeping
the mother tongue of the learners away from them. The advantage of using this
method is that students are immersed in English. This is done by providing
demonstrations on how to use the language with the help of realia and visual
aids. Teachers who use this method teach grammar inductively, that is, the rules
of grammar are not taught directly.
2. Audio-lingual – This argued
that language learning is a kind of action comparable to other types of human
activity. Teachers, according to behavioralist theory, produce responses
through stimuli. The response is validated by the instructor and, if this
reinforcement is successful, it promotes the recurrence of the response in the
future. Essentially, it is based on the idea that learning a language is like developing
habits. Normally, there is a lot of experience in dialogs and conversations.
New language is first heard and thoroughly drilled before it is seen in its
written form. Talk and drill are central to the approach. Accurate
pronunciation and functional regulation are of paramount importance.
3. Total Physical Response (TPR) –
It is based on the theory that memory is enhanced by a combination of physical
movement. It is also closely linked to mother-tongue acquisition theories in
very young children, where they respond physically to parenting. TPR as an
approach to teaching a second language is based, first and foremost, on
listening, and this is connected to physical actions intended to enhance the
comprehension of specific basic subjects.
4. Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) – Language is used to create meaningful and purposeful experiences.
Learners are also able to experiment with various ways to say it. The purpose
of communicative language learning is to allow learners to communicate
effectively and appropriately in the various situations in which they are
likely to find themselves.
5. Task-based Language Learning – In
Task-based learning the main focus of the teaching is on completing a task. The
task in itself is interesting to the learners and they need to use the language
they already have to complete it. More attention is placed on the use of the
language and not much on accuracy. Language is the instrument the students use
to complete the task. Some great examples of tasks include playing games,
finding information, and even solving problems. By using them, students will
generate their own language and create a language acquisition opportunity.
6. The Natural Approach – It is a
language teaching approach that claims that languages are learned in the same
way that people naturally learn their native language. This draws on the
connection between studying the first and second languages and adheres to a
communicative approach to teaching. In this method, learners benefit by being
introduced to a vocabulary that they can comprehend or interpret. In this
approach communication is considered the primary function of language therefore
it focuses on teaching communicative abilities. In other words, language is
viewed as a vehicle for communicating meaning and messages and vocabulary is
very important to achieve this. So, this means that language acquisition takes
place when the learner understands messages in the target language and has
developed sufficient vocabulary. In fact it, according to the Natural approach,
should be easier to reconstruct a message containing just vocabulary items than
one containing just the grammatical structures.
That is the explanation about
some methods of English teaching, may it be helpful for you, thank you.
Reference is from here
