Lesson 3: APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE LEARNING

Approaches to Language learning
In most recent times there have been six teaching models which have had strong influence on classroom practice and which teachers and trainers refer to.
They are.
Grammar Translation method, Audio Lingual method, PPP, Task-based learning, Content Based learning and Communicative language teaching.
1. GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD (GTM): This is the most commonly used way of learning languages for many years and is still practiced in many situations. This method focuses on analyzing the grammar by translating from the mother tongue ( L1) to the target language ( L2) in which the students will learn how the foreign language is constructed.
Disadvantages of GTM:
a. It stops the learner from getting the kind of natural language input that will help them acquire language.
b. It also fails to give learners opportunity to activate their language knowledge.
c. It teaches people about the language and doesn't help them to learn the language itself.

2. AUDIO-LIGUAL METHOD (ALM): This method is based on the behaviorist theories of learning. This theory suggests that much of language learning is as a result of habit formation through conditioning. Audio-Lingual method uses long repetition drills to acquire good language habits.
Disadvantages of ALM:
a. Too much repetition of things was found to be boring
b. People still failed to learn something no matter how often they repeated it
c. Thinking must be rule-governed

3. PRESENTATION, PRACTICE AND PRODUCTION ( PPP): This approach involves the teacher presenting the context and situation for the language and both explains and demonstrates the meaning and form of the new language to the students. The students then practice making sentences with the new item before going on to production stage where they talk more freely about themselves using the language item.
Disadvantages of PPP:
a. it becomes less appropriate when students already know a lot of language.
b. its less effective for advance learners.

4. TASKED-BASED LEARNING (TBL): This approach emphasizes more on the task rather than the language. It focuses on Problem solving where students use group activities to solve communication problem. In TBL
• meaning is primary
• There is some form of communication problem to solve
• There is some sort of relationship with the real-world Activities
• task completion has some priority
• The assessment of the task is in terms of outcomes

5. CONTENT-BASED LEARNING (CBL): This approach integrates school or academic content with language learning. The focus here is to use the target language to teach the school subjects and thus increases learners' exposure to second language learning simultaneously.

6. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT): This is the modern language teaching approach which uses communication activities to teach language. This approach not only focuses on learners making grammatically correct statements, but must also develop the ability to use the language to get things done. This approach encourages communicative competence and Performance.


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