Natural Approach Communicative Language

Teaching (CLT)

Audio-lingual Method

(ALM)

Proposer/

advocator

Crashen & Terrell/ 1977 ?/1972 Charles Fries /1939

Goals Students can acquire the

target languages in a natural

and communicative situation.

Be able to communicate

with others in the target

language in different

situations

Be able to listen, speak,

read, and write in the target

language, with emphasis on

listening and speaking

Mother Tongue No mother tongue Both mother tongue and

target language

Less mother tongue

Merits 1. Students acquire the target

language in a natural and

easy way.

2. Teaching materials are

designed very well.

Students ca acquire

language from easy to

difficult, from simple to

complex, and from

concrete to abstract.

1. Students have the

opportunities to express

their own thoughts and

opinions.

2. Students have the

opportunities to

communicate with each

other in the classroom.

3. Students can learn the

culture of the target

language because the

teaching materials are

related to the social

environments.

4. The communicative

situation makes students

reconstruct their

knowledge and thoughts,

so students can learn to

fluently speak the target

language more easily.

1. Students can learn target

language in natural order:

listening—speaking—

reading—writing.

2. Students can speak the

correct answers without

thinking by overlearning.

Limits 1. Students may use the target

language fluently, but they

cannot use it accurately.

2. Teachers should collect

various teaching aids and

use them appropriately.

3. Special teaching designs is

necessary for the students

with better abilities.

1. It’s difficult for a

nonnative speaking

teacher who is not very

proficient in the target

language to teach

effectively. Teacher

training and certification

are needed.

2. Students’ pronunciation

1. It fails to teach the long-

term communicative

proficiency.

2. Structural linguistics

didn’t tell us everything

about language that we

needed to know.

3. It’s impossible and

unnecessary to teach

and grammatical

knowledge is poor.

3. It is difficult for teachers

to evaluate students’

expression in the learning

process.

students without using

native languages.

4. It’s boring for students to

overlearn the drills and

it’s tiring for teachers to

teach.

Teaching Aids Visual aids, such as pictures,

maps, advertisement; games

(a)Interesting and meaningful

materials, such as linguistic

games, role plays, and

problem solving materials.

(b) Technology—films,

videos, TV, computers, can be

used as teaching aids.

Textbooks, drills, tapes,

language labs

Features 1. 5 important hypothesis

A. the Acquisition-Learning H

Students acquire language

subconsciously in the

natural and communicative

situations.

B. the Monitor H

Students may call upon

learned knowledge to

correct themselves when

they communicate, but that

conscious learning has only

this function.

C. the Natural Order H

The acquisition of

grammatical structures

proceeds in a predictable

order.

D. the Input (i+1) H

Students acquire language

best by understanding input

that is slightly beyond their

current level of competence.

E. the Affective Filter H

Student work should center

on meaningful

communication rather than

1. Language learning is

learning to communicate.

The primary function of

language is for

interaction and

communication.

2. Classroom goals are

focused on all of the

components of

communicative

competence and not

restricted to grammatical

or linguistic competence

3. Students learn to use the

appropriate language

forms in the different

places.

4. Communicative activities

include functional

communicative activities

and social interaction

activities.

5. Teachers are assistants,

guides, counselors and

group process managers.

6. Students are expected to

interact with each other

1. New material is presented

in dialogue forms

2. There’s dependence on

mimicry, memorization

of set phrases, and

overlearning.

3. Structural patterns are

taught using repetitive

drills.

4. There’s little or no

grammatical explanation.

Grammar is taught by

inductive analogy

explanation.

5. There is much use of

tapes, language labs, and

visual aids.

6. It is based on Behaviorist

psychology. Students’

successful responses are

immediately reinforced

and their errors are

corrected immediately.

7. The teaching sequences

are aural training,

pronunciation training,

speaking, reading, and

on form; input should be

interesting and so contribute

to a relaxed classroom

atmosphere.

-------------------------------------

2. The teacher was the source

of the learner’s input and

the creator of an interesting

and stimulating variety of

classroom activities.

3. Learners don’t need to say

anything during the “silent

period” until they feel

ready to do so.

4. Start with TPR commands.

5. Use visuals, typically

magazine pictures, to

introduce new vocabulary.

6. The focus in the classroom

is on listening and

reading abilities.

7. No sentence patterns

practice and no error

correction during the

process of acquisition.

rather than with the

teacher.

7. Learners should take the

responsibility of the failed

communication.

8. Language is created by

the individual through

trial and error. Correction

of errors may be absent

or infrequent.

9. Students can speak

fluently but not

accurately.

10. Four language skills are

practiced. Reading and

Writing can start from the

first day, if desired.

writing.

8. Structures are sequenced

by means of contrastive

analysis and taught one at

a time.

Hypothesis Definitionthe Acquisition-Learning H “Acquisition” is a unconscious and intuitive process of constructing the

system of a language. “Learning” refers to a process in which conscious rules

about a language are developed. Learning cannot lead to acquisition.

the Monitor H Conscious learning can function only as a monitor or editor that checks and

repairs the output of the acquired system.

the Natural Order H The acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a predictable order.

Errors are signs of naturalistic developmental processes and during

acquisition, similar developmental errors occur in learners, no matter what

their mother tongue is.

the Input (i+1) H People acquire language best by understanding input that is slightly beyond

their current level of competence. If an acquirer is at stage or level “i”, the

input (s)he understands should contain “i+1.” Input should neither be so far

beyond their reach nor so close to their current stage.

The ability to speak fluently cannot be taught directly; it emerges

independently in time.

the Affective Filter H The learner’s emotional state or attitudes as an adjustable filter that freely

passes, impedes, or blocks input necessary to acquisition. Three kinds of

affective or attitudinal variables are: (1) motivation, (2) self-confidence (3)

anxiety. The best acquisition will occur in environments where anxiety is low

and defensiveness absent.

Direct Method Natural ApproachSimilarity

1. It emphasized that the principles underlying the

method were believed to conform to the principles

of naturalistic language learning in young

children.

1. It is believed to conform to the naturalistic

principles found in successful second acquisition.

DifferenceDM focuses on:

1. Teacher monologues

2. Direct repetition

3. Formal questions and answers

4. Accurate production of target language sentences

NA focuses on:

1. Exposure input

2. Optimizing emotional preparedness for learning

3. Listening & Reading

Total Physical Response

(TPR)

Community Language Learning (CLL)

Counseling Learning Method

Proposer/

advocator

Asher/ 1964 Curran/1961

Goals Be able to respond

physically to the sentences

made in the target language.

To get the language competence and performance by asking

questions.

Mother Tongue No mother tongue Both mother tongue and the target language

Merits 1. It provides rapid and

rather permanent

language gains on early

levels, so students can

remember the learned

vocabulary for a long

time.

2. Students respond

actively and feel

interested in the learning

processes.

3. It’s easy for teachers to

teach students verbs.

1. Each student lowers the defenses that prevent open

interpersonal communication.

2. The anxiety caused by the educational context is lessened

by means of the supportive community.

3. The teacher’s presence is not perceived as a threat, but as

a counselor.

Limits 1. It’s difficult to teach the

abstract content with

TPR

2. Students’ pronunciation

is poor.

3. Teachers have to do

obvious actions

carefully or students

would be confused and

be misled by the

unnecessary hints.

4. TPR has been an

experimental model

with volunteer students;

its, not useful for the

inactive students.

5. TPR is especially

effective in the

beginning levels of

1. The counselor-teacher can be too nondirective. Some

intensive inductive struggle is a necessary component of

second language learning. Learning “ by being told” is

much better.

2. Translation is an intricate and complex process that is

often “easier said then done.” If subtle aspects of

language are mistranslated, there could be a less than

effective understanding.

3. The training is required for an ideal knower. (s)he would

have a perfect command of the foreign language and

would have to be professionally competent in both

psychology and linguistics.

4. It has limitations in a large-group situation with one

teacher.

5. There’s a need for clients who speak a common

language.

language proficiency,

but then loses its

distinctiveness as

learners advance in their

competence.

Teaching Aids No text. Body language and

practical materials.

Various materials for different purposes; colored coded

signals; tapes; recorders

Features 1. Based on 3 important

hypothesis:

(A) the Bio-program H

Children, in learning

their first language,

appear to do a lot of

listening before they

speak, and their listening

is accomplished by

physical responses.

(B) the Brain

Lateralization H

Motor activity is a right-

brain function that

should precede left-brain

language processing—

speaking.

(C) Reduction of Stress H

An important condition

for successful language

learning is the absence

of stress.

2. Imperative(祈使句)

drills are the major

classroom activity in

TPR.

3. Commands are easy

first, and then become

more and more

complex.

4. Students are listeners

and performers. They

do a lot of listening and

acting until they master

1. The sense of belonging needed by both students and

teachers.

2. Both teachers and students have the responsibility for the

learning activity.

3. In a good knower-client relationship, there quickly

develops a warm, sympathetic attitude of mutual trust

and respect. The client emulates the language and person

of the knower; the knower is fulfilled and enriched

through the counseling-teaching experience.

4. More important to learners is the freedom and initiative

they are permitted.

5. The most basic ingredient in CLL is a mutual interest,

respect and concern of teachers for students and students

for students.

6. A group of ideas concerning the psychological

requirements for successful learning are collected under

the acronym—SARD. (S-security, A-attention and

aggression, R-retention and reflection, D-discrimination)

7. The teaching procedure:

(a) The students sit in a circle, and the teacher(s) is(are)

outside the circle.

(b) During the first stage, a tape recorder is normally used.

The only voices taped are those of the student-clients

when they are speaking in the target language.

(c) The students initiate the conversation in their native

language and the knower Translates it into the target

language. They then repeat in the target language what

they have heard the knower said.

(d) Students assist each other and they use the teacher when

there is a need. The knower provides translation only

when someone signals by raising his/her hand.

(e) Color coded signals are used. If red is flashed, an error

has been made. If amber, there is a more suitable idiom

and a better way. If green, the utterance is acceptable.

the commands. They are

required to respond both

individually and

collectively.

5. Students respond to the

commands physically.

No verbal response is

necessary.

Blue indicates native expertise.

8. Students’ developmental stages:

(a) The “Embryonic Stage” (胚胎期)

Students are totally dependent on the teacher.

(b) The “Self-assertion Stage”(自我肯定)

The student-clients begin to show some independence and

tries out the language.

(c)IThe “birth Stage” (誕生期)

The students speak independently. They are most likely to

resent what they feel unnecessary assistance from the knower.

(d) The “Reversal Stage”(逆轉期)

They are secure to take correction.

(e) The “Independent Stage”(獨立期)

Interruptions are infrequent. They occur for enrichment

and improvement of style.

The Silent Way Suggestopedia / Suggestology

Proposer/

advocator

Gattegno/ 1972 Lozanov/ 1978

Goals Let students use the target language to express

their own thoughts and feeling independently

and develop the ability to correct their errors by

themselves

Conduct the many negative “suggestions”

or fears which inhibit learning feelings of

incompetence and fear of making mistakes,

and make students learn the target language

in a relaxing atmosphere.

Mother Tongue Both mother tongue and the target language Both mother tongue and the target language

Features 1. Learning is facilitated if the learner

discovers or creates rather than remembers

and repeats what is to be learned. The

learners should develop independence,

autonomy and responsibility.

2. Learners in a classroom must cooperate

with each other in the process of solving

language problems.

3. Teachers provide single-word stimuli, or

short phrases and sentences once or twice,

and then students must refine their

understanding and pronunciation

themselves.

4. Teachers utilize a set of Cuisinere rods—

small colored wooden rods of varying

lengths to introduce vocabulary, verbs and

syntax, especially about the spatial

relationships and related prepositions as

well as every aspect of language ranging

from comparisons to tense, the conditional

and the subjunctive.

5. Teachers use a series of colorful wall charts

to introduce pronunciation models,

grammatical paradigms.

6. The teacher is silent as much as possible,

and make students work out solutions

themselves.

7. Four language skills are emphasized and

students are encouraged to read and write

the sentences they have heard and spoken.

8. Students correct the errors themselves and

1. In a relaxing atmosphere with carpeted

floor, easy chairs and classic music –

Baroque, integrated the use of music,

the element of lecture and theater,

through the reputation of the method

and the instructor, students’ language

competence, confidence and wills to

communicate are reinforced.

2. Students are encouraged to be as

“childlike” as possible, yielding all

authority to the teacher.

3. Every student is provided a new name

and a new role within the target

language on the first day of class. They

live with a new identity rather than

struggle with a foreign language. The

new names also contain phonemes from

the target language culture that learners

find difficult to pronounce.

4. The dialogues are presented to the

students in three phases:

(a) explicative reading

(b) intonational reading

(c) concert

5. Students engage in interaction activities

to review the material and involve new

utterances as much as possible.

6. The teacher maintains a solemn attitude

towards the session and shows absolute

confidence in the method.

teachers view these errors as the responses

to the teaching and give students some

hints and help.

Merits 1. Students interact not only with teachers but

also with each other.

1. Students are willing and able to

communicate in the target language and

students learn the target language in a

relaxing atmosphere.

2. Easy grammatical explanation helps

students learn the target language more

easily.

Limits 1. Teachers must know their teaching

objectives clearly and make use of the

teaching aids effectively.

2. Students may be confused with the

symbols of the colored wooden rods.

3. Students waste too much time struggling

with a concept that would be easily

clarified by the teachers’ direct guide.

4. It is difficult for teachers to evaluate

students’ progress in their learning process.

1. Students don’t concentrate on the

language learning because eof the

music.

2. Students’ speech is somewhat

inaccurate grammatically and

phonologically.

3. All students need to share a common

native language.

4. Teachers must be proficient not only in

the target language but also I students’

native language.

5. Not all teachers are skilled in acting,

singing and choosing the appropriate

music and not all students can

appreciate the music.

Teaching Aids Cuisinere rods, phonic charts, transparencies A carpet, sofas, classic music tapes, flowers

and pictures

Grammar-Translation Method (G-T) Direct Method (Natural Method)

Proposer/

advocator

1840~1940 ?

Goals To learn a language in order to read its

literature or in order to benefit from the

mental discipline and intellectual

development that result from foreign

language study.

Students can understand the target language

without translation

Mother Tongue Both mother tongue and the target

language

No mother tongue

Limits 1 Students learn the target language

indirectly.

2 Students just learn the knowledge of

books not the common language, so

they may have trouble applying their

knowledge to the real social

situations.

3 Students have poor listening and

speaking ability because they seldom

practice listening and speaking.

1. It overemphasizes and distorts the

similarities between naturalistic first

language learning and classroom foreign

language learning and it fails to consider the

practical realities of the classroom.

2. It lacks a rigorous basis in applied linguistic

theory.

3. It requires teachers who are native speakers

or who have native like fluency in the

foreign language. It is largely dependent on

the teachers’ skill, rather than on a textbook,

and not all teachers are proficient enough in

the foreign language to adhere to the

principles of the method.

4. Sometimes a simple brief explanation in the

students’ native tongue would have been a

more efficient route to comprehension.

Merits 1 With translation of the native

language, students can read and write

the target language I an easy and

meaningful way.

2 Students can learn the grammars of

the target language with a systematic

and correct way.

1 Students can learn the target language

directly and systematically.

2 Students can pronounce correctly.

3 Students can learn to use both the written

form and oral form of the target language.

4 Students can have interest in learning.

Teaching Aids Textbooks and grammar books Pictures and articles related to the textbooks

Features 1. Reading and writing are the major

focus; little or no systematic

attention is paid to speaking or

listening.

2. Vocabulary is based on the reading

1. Classroom instruction is conducted

exclusively in the target language.

2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are

taught.

3. Oral communication skills are built up in a

text used, and words are taught

through bilingual word lists,

dictionary study and memorization.

3. The sentence is the basic unit of

teaching and language practice.

4. Accuracy is emphasized.

5. Grammar is taught deductively.

6. The student’s native language is the

medium of instruction.

carefully graded progression organized

around question and answer exchanges

between teachers and students in small-

intense classes.

4. New teaching points are introduced orally

before students see the written form.

5. Concrete vocabulary is taught through

demonstration objects and pictures; abstract

vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.

6. Both speech and listening comprehension

are taught.

7. Correct pronunciation and grammar are

emphasized; grammar is taught inductively.

8. Students have to offer the interesting

materials to draw students’ curiosity to learn

the target language.

The St. Cloud Method Microwave Device

Proposer/

advocator

?/1951 Stevick/1964

Goals To learn target languages in a situation

presented by various media

To organize the power of the structure,

vocabulary and communication of the target

language in a short-term intensive language

program.

Mother Tongue Both mother tongue and the target language Not limited

Features 1. A carefully structured course in which

students are immersed in multi-media

language presentations.

2. Cultural, situational and nonverbal

component should permeate the

presentation.

3. The Direct Method is employed.

4. Initially students watch a picture

sequence, then repeat the material

chorally. Students don’t see the written

language until after sixty hours of

instruction.

5. Communication depends on asking

questions and answering.

1. This device is like a microwave cycle. It

consists of an utterance which includes a

question and 4 to8 replies.

2. The cycle of instruction includes an M

phase (mimicry, manipulation and

mechanics) and a C phase

(communication, conversation and

continuity).

3. It should play “a supporting role” , or at

most “a co-starring role” in language

materials.

Merits 1. Because courses and related media are

designed well, it is appreciated by non-

native teachers who are not completely

secure in the language they are

teaching.

2. It produces better phonological than

communicative competence.

3. It has proven more satisfactory with

younger students than with those of

college age.

4. The meaning of the pictures or films

and the goal of course are easy to

know.

1. Because of the different learning goals,

students can learn different materials.

2. Students can communicate with others in

the accurately structured target language

in a short time.

Limits 1. Students’ communicative competence

and performance are not good.

2. It is difficult for teachers to evaluate

students’ progress in their learning

process.

1. It just supplies variable activities instead

of a complete course.

2. It sacrifices the practices of reading and

writing to reinforce the listening and

speaking competence.

3. It wastes too much time speaking and

listening without writing.

4. It’s difficult to get the teaching media

and appropriate teaching materials.

Teaching Aids Film strips are the dominant medium and

pictures are supplement.

Variable materials for different special

purposes

Situational Reinforcement Method Aural Discrimination Method

Proposer/

advocator

Hall/1978 Winitz & Reeds/1973

Goals Be able to use the target to communicate in

the real situations

Learn to discriminate the vocabulary,

inflection, phonology and syntax by a

visually-cued listening approach.

Mother Tongue Not limited Not limited

Features 1. Discard the sequenced grammatical

approach.

2. It involves students in “authentic

communication.”

3. It’s built in cognitive choices in order to

avoid mere mechanical repetition.

Students may analyze language and use it

effectively in the new situations.

4. Students learn concrete objects before

they learn abstract ideas.

1. Teachers introduce vocabulary four or

five times as fast as possible. Students

listen to teachers’ pronunciation and

then from four pictures select the one

which best represents what they have

heard.

2. Students don’t speak until they have

mastered the basic structures and

vocabulary of the target language.

Merits 1. Students enjoy the realistic situations

which enhance students’ willing to learn.

2. By simulating the realistic language

situations, students can understand what a

language is and why to learn it.

3. Students learn to communicate with these

materials quite soon and they can use the

materials even outside the classroom.

1. It’s interesting and meaningful to utilize

pictures as teaching media, and they

attract students’ attention easily.

2. Students have the opportunities to think

about the messages by judging the

different pictures according to what

they heard.

Limits 1. Teachers have to spend lots of time and

energy creating the real situation and not

every situation can be simulated well.

2. Excessive repetition is in the lesson

format.

3. The unstructured-unsequenced material

can give students the feeling that they are

not making any real progress.

1. Students just can learn the concrete

objects; they cannot learn the abstract

ideas.

2. It focuses on listening competence, and

ignores speaking, reading and writing.

As a result, students’ listening ability is

good, but their three other language

abilities are poor. Therefore, it just can

be seen as an assistant method rather

than as a major teaching approach.

3. It lacks the variety of some methods

and the relevance inherent.

Teaching Aids Authentic languages Pictures, tapes, and video tapes

Stylized Mnemonics Structured Tutoring

Proposer/

advocator

Lipson/1971 Harrison/1976

Goals In order to learn the target language by

recalling the memory of the drawings

Make students learn the target language in

an individually structured course.

Mother Tongue Both mother tongue and the target language Both mother tongue and the target language

Features 1. Use translation at the outset of instruction.

2. A corpus of sentences is learned through

choral repetition and translation, but

drawings replace translation almost

immediately.

3. Interesting and culturally relevant

vocabulary is combined in exotic

situations to teach the target language.

4. Some grammatical explanation are

presented but the emphasis is on

communication

5. The situations become more and more

involved, new combinations of language

are constantly generated.

1. Initially, this approach is used to teach

disadvantaged children how to read. It

involved volunteer tutors—adults or

peers.

2. It focuses on reading and writing, even

introduces to beginners during the

second week of instruction.

3. It is an informal remediable course

designed for the low-achievement

students.

4. The courses are well structured.

Students cannot learn the next unit until

they reach the goals of the last unit.

5. Tutors spend 80 percents of their time

on grammar during seven out of the

eight units.

6. The tutors should be volunteers, and

their mother tongue is the target

language. Before they start to help the

students, they have to be trained.

7. The students who must be literate

native tongue, receive one-hour tutorial

visits a week and work four to six hours

on their own.

Merits 1. This approach is cognitive, culturally

oriented, systematic and interesting.

2. Variable comprehensible drawings as cues

to introduce vocabulary are interesting to

students and can help them memorize the

new vocabulary more easily.

1. Students can reach the learning objects

in a short period of time.

2. It includes the negligible cost involved

simply administrative and material

charges.

3. Students get the needed help, so the

good will is generated in their hearts.

Limits 1. This approach requires bilingual teachers.

2. Not all teachers are artists; not every

teacher can draw pictures well.

1. It’s difficult to find volunteer native-

speaking tutors overseas.

2. Some experienced teachers think their

3. Initially students should be linguistically

homogeneous at least.

4. The bizarre situations of the drawings

may create an amuse detachment on the

part of learners.

teaching skills are bound under the

tightly controlled tutorial materials.

3. It overemphasizes reading and writing,

students’ speaking competence is

ignored.

4. It’s boring with the one-by-one

teaching.

5. Students may feel bored with the

overemphasis on the grammar teaching.

Teaching Aids Pictures with explanatory words Well structured teaching materials