169053351 the Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching

THE ORAL APPROACH

AND SITUATIONAL

LANGUAGE TEACHING

1930s to 1960s

Introduction

Few language teachers in the 1990s are

familiar with the terms Oral Approach or

Situational Language Teaching, which refer

to an approach to language teaching

developed by British applied linguists from

the1930s to the 1960s.

Even though neither term is commonly used

today, the impact of the Oral Approach has

been long lasting, and it has shaped the

design of many widely used EFUESL

textbooks and courses, including many still

being used today.

Background

The origins of this approach began with the

work of British applied Linguists Harold

Palmer and A. S. Hornby, in the 1920s and

1930s.

Both were familiar with the Direct Method.

What they attempted was to develop a more

scientific foundation for an oral approach to

teaching English than was evidenced in the

Direct Method.

Background

The result was a systematic study of the

principles and procedures that could be

applied to the selection and organization of

the content of a language.

Background

Vocabulary control

One of the first aspects of method design to

receive attention was the role of vocabulary.

First, there was a general consensus among

language teaching specialists, such as

Palmer, that vocabulary was one of the most

important aspects of foreign language

learning.

Second, was the emphasis on reading skills

as the goal of foreign language study in

some countries (Coleman Report).

Vocabulary was seen as an essential

component of reading proficiency.

Background

Vocabulary control

This led to the development of principles of

vocabulary control, which were to have a

major practical impact on the teaching of

English in the following decades.

Frequency counts showed that a core of

2,000 or so words occurred frequently in

written texts and that a knowledge of these

words would greatly assist in reading a

foreign language.

Harold Palmer, Michael West, and others

produced a guide to the English vocabulary

Background

Grammar control

Parallel to the vocabulary control, was a

focus on the grammatical content of a

language course.

Palmer in his writings had emphasized the

problems of grammar for the foreign learner.

Much of his work in Japan, where he

directed the Institute for Research in English

Teaching from 1922 until World War II, was

directed toward developing classroom

procedures suited to teaching basic

grammatical patterns through an oral

approach.

Background

Grammar control

Parallel to the vocabulary control, was a

focus on the grammatical content of a

language course.

Palmer in his writings had emphasized the

problems of grammar for the foreign learner.

Much of his was directed toward developing

classroom procedures suited to teaching

basic grammatical patterns through an oral

approach.

Background

Grammar control

His view of grammar was very different from

the abstract model or grammar seen in the

Grammar-Translation Method, where the

teachers responsability was to show how each grammar structure was expressed in

the target language.

Background

Grammar control

Palmer viewed grammar as the underlying

sentence patterns of the spoken language.

Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied

linguists analyzed English and classified its

major grammatical structures into sentence

patterns which could be used to help

internalize the rules of English sentence

structure.

Background

Grammar control

With the development of systematic

approaches to the lexical and grammatical

content of a language course and with the

efforts of such specialists as Palmer, West,

and Hornby in using these resources as part

of a comprehensive methodological

framework for the teaching of English as a

foreign language, the foundations

for the British approach in TEFL/TESL - the

Oral Approach were firmly established.

The Oral Approach and

Situational Language

Teaching Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied

developed an approach to methodology that

involved systematic principles of:

Selection (the procedures by which lexical

and grammatical content was chosen ),

Gradation (principles by which the

organization and sequencing of content

were determined),

Presentation (techniques used for

presentation and practice of items in a

course) .



Teaching This was not to be confused with the Direct

Method , which although it used oral

procedures, lacked a systematic basis in

applied linguistics.

According to Palmer and Hornby, the Direct

Method meant that the learner was struck by a flow of ungraded speech, suffering all

the difficulties he would have encountered in

picking up the language in its normal

environment, and losing most of the

compensating benefits of better

contextualization in those circumstances.



Teaching The main characteristics of the approach

were as follows:

1. Language teaching begins with the spoken

language. Material is taught orally before it

is presented in written form.

2. The target language is the language of the

classroom.

3. New language points are introduced and

practiced situationally



Teaching 4. Vocabulary selection procedures are

followed to ensure that an essential general

service vocabulary is covered.

5. Items of grammar are graded following the

principle that simple forms should be taught

before complex ones.

6. Reading and writing are introduced once a

sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is

established.



Teaching It was the third principle (New language

points are introduced and practiced

situationally) that became a key feature of

the approach in the sixties and it was then

that the term situational was used

Increasingly in referring to the Oral

Approach.

To avoid further confusion we will use the

tcrm Situational Language Teaching (SL T)

to include the StructuraI Situational and Oral

approaches.



Teaching How can Situational Language Teaching be

characterized at the levels of approach,

design, and procedure?

Approach

Theory of language

A type of British "structuralism

Speech was regarded as the basis of

language, and structure was viewed as

being at the heart of speaking ability.

The British theoreticians, had a special

focus to their version of structuralism - the

notion of "situation."

Theory of language

Pittman said "Our principal classroom

activity in the teaching of English structure

will be the oral practice of structures. This

oral practice of controlled sentence patterns

should be given in situations designed to

give the greatest amount of practice in

English speech to the pupil

The theory that knowledge of structures

must be linked to situations in which they

could be used gave Situational Language

Teaching one of its distinctive features.

Theory of language

Many British linguists had emphasized the

close relationship between the structure of

language and the context and situations in

which language is used.

In contrast to American structuralist views

on language, language was viewed a

purposeful activity related to goals and

situations in the real world. "The language

which a person originates ... is always

expressed for a purpose"

Theory of learning

A type of behaviorist habit-learning theory.

It addresses primarily the processes rather

than the conditions of learning:

there are three processes in learning a language - receiving the knowledge or

materials, fixing it in the memory by

repetition, and using it in actual practice until

it becomes a personal skill (Palmer).

Theory of learning

French likewise saw language learning as

habit formation:

The fundamental is correct speech habits .... The pupils should be able to put the words,

without hesitation and almost without

thought, into sentence patterns which are

correct. Such speech habits can be cultivated

by blind imitative drill

Theory of learning

Like the Direct Method, Situational Language Teaching adopts an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar.

The meaning of words or structures is not to be given through explanation but is to be induced from the way the form is used in a situation.

"If we give the meaning of a new word, either by translation into the home language or by an equivalent in the same language, as soon as we introduce it, we weaken the impression which the word makes on the mind" (Billows)

Theory of learning

Explanation is therefore discouraged.

The learner is expected to deduce the

meaning of a particular structure or

vocabulary item from the situation in which

it is presented.

Theory of learning

Extending structures and vocabulary to new

situations takes place by generalization:

The learner is expected to apply the

language learned in a classroom to

situations outside the classroom.

This is how child language learning is

believed to take place, and the same

processes are thought to occur in second

and foreign language learning, according to

practitioners of Situational Language

Teaching.

Design

Objectives

The objectives of the Situational Language

Teaching method are to teach the mastery

of the four basic skills of language, goals it

shares with most methods of language

teaching.

But the skills are approached through

structure.

Accuracy in both pronunciation and

grammar is regarded as crucial, and errors

are to be avoided at all costs.

Objectives

Automatic control of basic structures and

sentence patterns is fundamental to

reading and writing skills, and this is

achieved through speech work:

"Before our pupils read new structures and

new vocabulary, we should teach orally both

the new structures and the new vocabulary (Pittman)

Objectives

Writing also derives from speech:

Only when the teacher is reasonably certain that learners can speak fairly correctly within

the limits of their knowledge of sentence

structure and vocabulary may he allow them

free choice in sentence patterns and

vocabulary. (Pittman)

Syllabus

Basic to the teaching of English in

Situational Language Teaching is a

structural syllabus and a word list.

A structural syllabus is a list of the basic

structures and sentence patterns of

English, arranged according to their order

of presentation.

Syllabus

In Situational Language Teaching,

structures are always taught within

sentences, and vocabulary is chosen

according to how well it enables sentence

patterns to be taught.

"Our course will consist of a list of sentence

patterns [statement patterns, question

patterns, and request or command patterns]

... will include as many structural words as

possible, and sufficient content words to

provide us with material upon which to base

our language practice (Frisby)

Syllabus

Frisby gives an example of the typical

structural syllabus around which situational

teaching was based:

Syllabus

The syllabus was not therefore a situational

syllabus in the sense that this term is

sometimes used (i.e., a list of situations and

the language associated with them).

Rather, situation refers to the manner of

presenting and practicing sentence

patterns, as we shall see later.

Types of learning and

teaching activities

Situational language Teaching employs a

situational approach to presenting new

sentence patterns and a drill-based

manner of practicing them.

Our method will be situational. The situation will be controlled carefully to teach the new

language material in such a way that there

can not be a doubt in the learner's mind of

the meaning of what he hears. Almost all the

vocabulary and structures taught in the first 4

or 5 can be placed in situations in which the

meaning is quite clear. (Pittman)

By situation Pittman means the use of

concrete objects, pictures, and realia, which

together with actions and gestures can be

used to demonstrate the meanings of new

language items.


teaching activities

The form of new words and sentence

patterns is demonstrated with examples and

not through grammatical explanation or

description.

The meaning of new words and sentence

patterns is not conveyed through

translation. It is made clear visually (with

objects, pictures, action and mime).

Wherever possible model sentences are

related and taken from a single situation.


teaching activities

The practice techniques employed generally

consist of guided repetition and substitution

activities, including chorus repetition,

dictation, drills, and controlled oral-based

reading and writing tasks.

Other oral-practice techniques are

sometimes used, including pair practice and

group work.


teaching activities

Learner roles

In the initial stages of learning, the learner is

required simply to listen and repeat what

the teacher says and to respond to

questions and commands.

The learner has no control over the content

of learning and is often regarded as likely to

succumb to undesirable behaviors unless

skillfully manipulated by the teacher.

Learner roles

For example, the learner might lapse into

faulty grammar or pronunciation, forget

what has been taught, or fail to respond

quickly enough ; incorrect habits are to be

avoided at all costs.

Later, more active participation is

encouraged.

This includes learners initiating responses

and asking each other questions, although

teacher-controlled introduction and practice

of new language is stressed throughout

Teacher roles

The teacher's functions are 3.

In the presentation stage of the lesson, the

teacher serves as a model, setting up

situations in which the need for the target

structure is created and then modeling the

new structure for students to repeat.

Then the teacher "becomes more like the

skillful conductor of an orchestra, drawing

the music out of the performers".

Teacher roles

The teacher is required to be a skillful

manipulator, using questions, commands,

and other cues to elicit correct sentences

from the learners. Lessons are hence

teacher directed, and the teacher sets the

pace.

The role of instructional

materials Situational Language Teaching is

dependent upon both a textbook and visual

aids.

The textbook contains tightly organized

lessons planned around different

grammatical structures.

In principle, however, the textbook should

be used "only as a guide to the learning

process. The teacher is expected to be the

master of his textbook (Pittman)

Procedure

Procedure

Classroom procedures in Situational

Language Teaching vary according to the

level of the class, but procedures at any

level aim to move from controlled to freer

practice of structures and from oral use of

sentence patterns to their automatic use in

speech, reading, and writing.

Procedure

Pittman gives an example of a typical lesson

which according to him consists of 5 parts:

1) Pronunciation

2) Revision (to prepare for new work if

necessary)

3) Presentation of new structure or vocabulary

4) Oral practice (drilling)

5) Reading of material on the new structure,

or written exercise.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Procedures associated with Situational

Language Teaching in the 50s and 60s are an extension and further development

of well-established techniques advocated

by proponents of the earlier Oral Approach

in the British school of language teaching.

Conclusion

Because the principles of Situational

Language Teaching, with its strong

emphasis on oral practice, grammar, and

sentence patterns, conform to the

intuitions of many practically oriented

classroom teachers, it continues to be

widely used.

References

Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T.S.

(2001). Approaches and Methods in

Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

169053351 the Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching

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