Theme: the problems of teaching phonetocs stylistic devices to b2 level students

Chapter II. The role of direct method in teaching English.

2.1. The usage of direct method in teaching process
Language is learned inductively. As mentioned before, grammar isn’t explicitly taught in the direct method.You won’t be telling students about rules and such. Instead, you’ll let your students figure out the rules for themselves. Your job is to give them plenty of materials to piece together so they can connect the dots and discover the parameters for themselves.Just as we acquired our first language through repeated exposure, so should it be in class. We didn’t memorize anything for our mother tongue, we simply acquired it through repeated exposure. So, how do teachers teach grammar when they aren’t supposed to point out any linguistic rule?
It’s actually easier than we think. And, as a fulfilling bonus, teacher get to witness her students slowly figure things out for themselves.Students learn best when teacher teach them things that are only slightly beyond their reach and help them “get there” by giving them simple inputs that they can actually use to figure things out. Let’s say that in a English class a teacher wants to teach the word for the color red—a vocabulary lesson. Instead of using direct translation and writing on the board, “QIZIL = RED” the teacher maked things more interesting and more fun. Bring several objects of the color—perhaps a red truck, a red ball, a red cap, a rose and lipstick. Every time the teacher points to the objects, say “This is red" Go through the different objects and keep on repeating “red.” With repeated exposure, the students will soon get the point. To check for comprehension, point to an object of different color, the teacher says a blue pen, and asks,“Red?” The class should give a resounding “No!" Let’s say that in an ESL class you want to teach some grammar rule, like how to form the plural of nouns. You might want to bring two sets of pictures. One depicting lone objects, the other, depicting a group. You hold the pictures side by side, clearly enunciating, for example, “car” on your right and “cars” on your left. Repeat this process for several pairs of pictures, emphasizing the “s” sound each time.
Your students will pick up on the clues and figure out the rules for themselves. Now you have to trust them on this. They may not get it right away, they may not get all of it, but you have to let those light bulbs work by themselves because this is the kind of learning that really stays with the students.The benefit of Igetting students aware of target language is to activate schemata/schema which essentially means getting students tuned into the language and preparing them for the lesson. There I'll give a list of activities with direct method.
1. Antonym Matching
The usual way to introduce key language is to just write them up on the whiteboard and provide the definition. This, in itself, is rather mundane and predictable. So, to liven things up a little more is to write up the words on pieces of paper all cut up and then write the opposite meanings on different pieces of paper. Get students to match words with their opposite meaning.¹³ Not only does it give the learners a chance to think about the target language but it also gets them thinking about corresponding words which have an opposite meaning. An additional idea is to just type up all the target language on one side of paper and their corresponding antonyms on the other side – all mixed up – and then learners have to match it that way.
2. Definition Matching
A similar activity to above is to write out the target language on one side of a worksheet and the corresponding definition on the other side and get students to match the word with the suitable definition. It is a good activity for learners and it is best to have some learner dictionaries to hand in case students want to check definitions if they are unsure. This activity is also a useful exercise at the end of the lesson for students to review the target language they have acquired during the lesson. An optional activity is to split up the class into two groups, give one half the class the target language to find and write out the definitions from a dictionary on a separate piece of paper and give the other half the class the remaining half of the target language to find in a dictionary. Once they have finished, collect the words and definitions from each group, redistribute the words and definitions and then the groups try to match words and definitions. It is a useful exercise and it would provide an opportunity for students to review language at the end of the class.
3. Unjumble the Words
A simple and effective way for students to work out the target language is to jumble up all the letters from target language. It is such a popular activity for teachers and it takes little time to prepare for this activity.
4. Missing Vowels
This is another quick and easy task for learners to focus on and is especially invaluable for Arabic learners of English, due to their weakness of reading and writing in English. It is very easy to do in MS Word and all you need to do is type out a few underscores where the vowels are. It is simple to do, type the word in MS Word and then highlight the vowel by pressing “Shift” and using the arrow keys. Then type the underscore where the vowel is located. Handout the worksheet to learners and give them a time limit to complete. Once learners have finished, you could nominate students to come up to the whiteboard and write out the words, without their worksheet, from memory. Again it places students to focus on the spelling when reviewing the language and you could then use some of the other activities in this post to exploit target language fully.
5. Flashcard Drills
This is one of the most popular activities for introducing target language and one that students also enjoy. You first show a picture or a word and then read it out in a clear voice and then get students to repeat. All students could repeat or you could nominate particular students to repeat. Another activity is to sit in a circle, select a flashcard, speak the word or phrase, pass the card to another and then that student repeats the word or phrase. The flashcard is then passed around the circle of students until it arrives back to you. This activity could be sped up by passing the flashcards to students on your left and on your right, with learners trying to keep up with saying the target language and all the flashcards being passed around.
6. Stress Patterns
An alternative activity is to write out the target language that you would like to introduce and then determine where the stress is placed within the word. You then create a table with the different stress patterns and ask students to complete the table by placing the words under the corresponding stress pattern. It is a useful activity which could then lead on nicely to a pronunciation focus with target language.
7. Phonemic Words
Another activity to focus on pronunciation is to write out the phonemic script for target language to get learners to become more aware how words are pronounced. It is also a great idea to get students thinking about how they would spell these words and they will start to see patterns with vowel sounds and the spelling of these. The teacher could first introduce the words one-by-one with the use of flashcards – and using idea 5 above – or the teacher could place all words on the whiteboard and nominate students to pronounce selected words. It is a quick and easy activity and it does not take a lot of preparation for this activity.
8. Lost in Translation
A teacher first translates target language into Uzbek and then asks students to try to find a suitable translation in English – this is called back translation and quite effective. Learners could use their mobile devices and electronic dictionaries to translate the target language. You may find that learners will discover synonyms of target language.
9. Disappearing Words
Essentially, what you do is write up all the words around the whiteboard, drill the language, explain the definition of the key language. You then tell students to close their books – if they were making any notes of the target language and their definitions – and tell them that they have one minute to remember as many words as possible. You then draw a circle around all words or phrases, point to it and students say the word. You slowly erase the words, keeping the circles that you drew around the word and then point to it. Students have to recall the word from memory and you then start to remove more and more words, so in the end all you have is a blank whiteboard with circles around missing words or phrases. It is up to the students to remember as many key words or phrases that they can remember and it is an engaging activity for all learners no matter their age.
10. Wordsearch
This is a wonderful activity that I like to do either as a vocabulary review or an introduction, particularly for young learners. It is easy to create a wordsearch, all you have to do is search for the term ‘Wordsearch Maker’ in Google and you will be directed to various different websites dedicated to the creation of word search puzzles. However, I would recommend the Teachers Direct website as a tool to create puzzles for language learners. It is wonderfully simple to create and all you have to do is to type out the target language in the website. This activity lends itself well to non-romanic language learners as they must get used to the spelling of the English language.The key Aspects of this method are:
I. Introduction of new word, number, alphabet character, sentence or concept (referred to as an Element) :
• SHOW...Point to Visual Aid or Gestures (for verbs), to ensure student clearly understands what is being taught.
• SAY...Teacher verbally introduces Element, with care and enunciation.
• TRY...Student makes various attempts to pronounce new Element.
• MOULD...Teacher corrects student if necessary, pointing to mouth to show proper shaping of lips, tongue and relationship to teeth.
• REPEAT...Student repeats each Element 5-20 times.
NOTE: Teacher should be aware of "high frequency words and verbs" and prioritize teaching for this. (i.e. Teach key verbs such as "To Go" and "To Be" before unusual verbs like "To Trim" or "To Sail"; likewise, teach Apple and Orange before Prune and Cranberry.)
II. Syntax, the correct location of new Element in sentence:
• SAY & REPEAT...Teacher states a phrase or sentence to student; Student repeats such 5-20 times.
• ASK & REPLY IN NEGATIVE...Teacher uses Element in negative situations (e.g. "Are you the President of the United States?" or "Are you the teacher?"); Students says "No". If more advanced, may use the negative with "Not".
• INTERROGATIVES Teacher provides intuitive examples using 5 "w"s (Who, What, Where, Why, When) or How". Use random variations to practice.
• PRONOUNS WITH VERBS Using visuals (such as photos or illustrations) or gestures, Teacher covers all pronouns. Use many random variations such as "Is Ana a woman?" or "Are they from France?" to practice.
• USE AND QUESTIONS...Student must choose and utilize the correct Element, as well as posing appropriate questions as Teacher did.
III. Progress, from new Element to new Element (within same lesson):
A. Random Sequencing:
1. After new Element (X) is taught and learned, go to next Element (Y).
2. After next Element (Y) is taught and learned, return to practice with Element (X).
3. After these two are alternated (X-Y; Y-X; Y-Y, etc), go to 3rd Element (Z).
4. Go back to 1 and 2, mix in 3, practice (X-Y-Z; Z-Y-X; Y-Y-Z, etc.) and continue building up to appropriate number of Elements (may be as many as 20 per lesson, depending on student, see B.1), practicing all possible combinations and repeating 5-20 times each combination.
B. Student-Led Limits:
1. Observe student carefully, to know when mental "saturation" point is reached, indicating student should not be taught more Elements until another time.
2. At this point, stop imparting new information, and simply do Review as follows:
C. Review: Keep random, arbitrary sequencing. If appropriate, use visuals, pointing quickly to each. Employ different examples of Element that are easy to understand, changing country/city names, people names, and words student already knows. Keep a list of everything taught, so proper testing may be done.
D. Observation and Notation: Teacher should maintain a student list of words/phrases that are most difficult for that student. The list is called "Special Attention List"
IV. Progress, from Lesson to Lesson:
• LESSON REVIEW The first few minutes of each lesson are to review prior lesson(s).
• GLOBAL REVIEW Transition from Lesson Review to a comprehensive review, which should always include items from the Special Attention List.
V. Advanced Concepts:
• Intermediate and Advanced Students may skip some Element introduction as appropriate; become aware of student's language abilities, so they are not frustrated by too much review. If Student immediately shows recognition and knowledge, move to next Element.
• Non-Standard Alphabets: Teaching Student to recognize letters/characters and reading words should employ same steps as in above Aspect I, and alphabet variations may be taught using Aspect III. Writing characters and words should initially be done manually, either on paper or whiteboard.
• Country Accents: Any student at intermediate stages or higher should be made aware of subtle variations in pronunciation, which depend on geography within a country or from country to country.
An integral aspect of the Direct Method is varying the setting of teaching; instructors try different scenarios using the same Element. This makes the lessons more "real world," and it allows for some confusing distractions to the student and employs organic variables common in the culture and locale of language use.