Second Language Learning and Language Teaching

Box 13.2 The academic style of language teaching
Typical teaching techniques
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grammatical explanation, translation, etc.
Goals
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directly, individual learning of the second language as an academic subject
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indirectly, ability to use language
Type of student
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academically gifted, not young children
Learning assumptions
●
acquisition of conscious grammatical knowledge and its conversion to use
Classroom assumptions
●
formal, teacher-controlled
Weaknesses from an SLA research perspective
●
inadequate use of grammar
●
inefficient as a means of teaching language use

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13.2 The audio-lingual style
Second language learning and language teaching styles
242
Suggestions for teaching
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use it with academic students who have individual goals of self-
development rather than international or local goals
●
supplement it with other components and processes of language
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remember to develop the powerful individual goals for the students, rather
than be carried away by the sheer knowledge of grammar
●
Do you think language learning is a matter of acquiring ‘habits’?
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Do you believe speech necessarily has to be taught before writing?
Focusing questions
drill: a form of mechanical practice in which words or phrases are substituted
within a frame and practised until they become automatic
dialogue: usually a short constructed piece of conversation used as a model of
language and to introduce new words or structures
audio-lingual style: the style that stresses language learning as habits and the
importance of spoken language
exploitation activity: the formally structured part of the lesson is followed up
with freer activities, allowing the students to use what has been learnt in their
own speech