Supported by: Government of Indonesia (GoI) and Islamic Development Bank (idb)

 
Language-Centered, Learning-Centered, and Learner-Centered Methods 
TEFL methodology is highly developed and the most up-to-date training courses turn out teachers who 
use a communicative approach and a student-centred style of teaching. In these key respects, TEFL 
courses are different from the way English is taught in most mainstream compulsory education. As a 
basic knowledge, however, anyone who wants to learn methods of teaching English needs to familiarize 
themselves with ELT basic methods. Kumaravadivelu (2006) grouped the methods into three groups, that 
is, language-centered, learning-centered, and learner-centered methods.
Language-centered methods concentrate on what to teach. The examples of these methods are 
Grammar Translation Methods (GTM), Direct Methods (DM), Reading Methods (RM), and Audio-
lingual Methods (ALM), which emerged chronologically. These methods try to facilitate learners to 
practice preselected, presequenced linguistic structures through for-focused exercises. This is based on the 
assumption that familiarization with form will automatically make the learners acquire the foreign 
language. 
Learning-centered methods focus on how to teach L2. These methods aim at providing learners to 
participate in open-ended meaningful interaction through language learning tasks. This is based on the 
assumption that familiarization with meaning making will help learners to master L2. The teacher’s task 
is to created situations in which learners are exposed to meaningful problem-solving activities. These 
methods include Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response, Natural Approach, and 
Community Language Learning.
Learner-centered methods concentrate on who is learning L2. These methods provide opportunities for 
learners to practice preselected linguistic structures and communicative ideas via function-focused 
activities. The methods were developed with the assumptions that preoccupation with forms and functions 
helps students acquire L2. The responsibility of the teachers applying the methods is to introduce forms 
and functions at the same time and give opportunities for learners to practice them so that they can 
internalize the L2 system. An example of the methods is communicative language teaching (CLT).