Total Physical Response

Teaching method developed by James Asher, based on the idea that the brain is biologically programmed for acquiring a language. According to him, the teacher should make gestures, use pictures and realia and say commands to the students. The role of the students is to watch, imitate and listen to the teacher and interact with the realia by touching and playing.

This method is very effective when teaching small children. I have experienced it with a group of four kindergarten students and I realized that when they are playing, singing, dancing, etc, they learn and have fun at the same time. But if we try to make them sit down and just observe without interacting, it will not last long, because their attention span is short.





TPRS Publishing: Innovative Teacher Training & Unrivaled Materials for
Communicative Language Instruction - http://www.tprstorytelling.com/

Singlish: building language the fun way - http://www.totalphysicalresponse.com/

NORLAND, D.; PRUETT-SAID, T. A kaleidoscope of models and strategies for teaching English to speakers of other languages. Westport: Teacher Idea Press, 2006

RCHARDS, J.; RODGERS, T.; Approaches and methods in language teaching. 2ª ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 278 p.

Realia

Objects used to teach and illustrate vocabulary. They provide multisensory experiences that facilitate the understanding of the taught words.

As the students are able to experience the vocabulary being taught, it is easier to memorize it. It is also good to help teachers explain difficult words, specially in basic levels.



How to Use Realia in ESL Lessons - http://www.ehow.com/how_4549705_use-realia-esl-lessons.html

Realia - http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/000228.html

HARWOOD, N. English Language Teaching Materials: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

SMITH, B. Virtual Realia. The internet TESL journal, Tucson, vol. 3, n. 7, jul. 1997. Disponível em: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Smith-Realia.html. Acesso em: 23 jun. 2010

Natural Method

Foreign language teaching method with the purpose to emulate as the natural process of first language acquisition, for that reason communicating in the target language is its main focus. Translation is forbidden once the student is supposed to, as a little child does, become used to listening and speaking in the target language. Meaning is demonstrated through the use of mimics, gestures, visual aids, flashcards, realia, etc.

In my opinion, this method is very good for students to acquire autonomy in the foreign language, but the emphasis in oral practice also results in lack of grammar knowledge. Because of that, those students tend to express themselves with many grammatical mistakes.



The Natural Approach - http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/hutt/esl/natapp.htm

Macmillan English Dictionary for ELT Terms -
http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/glossaries/definitions/m-p.htm

Second Language Teaching Methods: Principles & Procedures - http://www.moramodules.com/ALMMethods.htm

NORLAND, D.; PRUETT-SAID, T. A kaleidoscope of models and strategies for teaching English to speakers of other languages. Westport: Teacher Idea Press, 2006

KNIBBELER, W. The Explorative-Creative way: Implementation of a humanistic language teaching model. Tübingen: Narr, 1989.

Lexical Approach

Foreign language teaching method developed by Michael Lewis. According to him, language is composed by chunks (groups of lexical items) which students should be able to recognize and organize to produce speech. The teacher plays a very important part, once he or she is the source of almost every input. This method states that language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar.

Some of the premises of the lexical approach are very useful for students. Learning contextualized language can be easier than learning “solid” grammar, but the teacher should keep in mind that getting to know lists of words by heart is not an effective way of being an independent user of the language.

A abordagem lexical - http://denilsodelima.blogspot.com/2009/06/lexical-approach-abordagem-lexical.html

What does the lexical approach look like? - http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/lexical-approach-2-what-does-lexical-approach-look

MOUDRAIA, O. Lexical approach to second language teaching. ERIC digest, Washington, D.C., 2001. Disponível em: http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/digest_pdfs/0102-moudraia-lexical.pdf Acesso em 23 jun. 2010.

RCHARDS, J.; RODGERS, T.; Approaches and methods in language teaching. 2ª ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 278 p.

Learning Strategies

Specific actions that are helpful for learners to achieve success in learning, and they are usually chosen according to the student’s learning style.
There is not a single strategy that is better than the others. It has to be adapted to each student learning style, the way he or she acquires better new information.

Learning strategies can be useful if the students are taught how to use them properly. A student that is outgoing will learn more through interacting with the classmates, while a shy student can learn more doing activities by him or herself.

Macmillan English Dictionary for ELT Terms - http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/glossaries/definitions/j-l.htm

Teaching and Learning Strategies - http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/front_strategies.html

Learning strategies - http://tip.psychology.org/strategy.html



NISBET, J.; SHUCKSMITH, J. Learning strategies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986. 107 p.

O’MALLEY, J.; CHAMOT, A. Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 276 p.

BORUCHOVITCH, E. Estratégias de aprendizagem e desempenho escolar: considerações para a prática educacional. Psicol. Reflex. Crit., Porto Alegre, v. 12, n. 2, 1999.

Identity

The way an individual understands the relationship between him or herself and the world, and how he or she constructs this relationship in time and space. It integrates the learner and the learning context. It also concerns the structures related to day-by-day social interactions.

It is important for teachers to understand the identity and the reality of the students in order to be able to make the subject content suitable for the learner to absorb the most of it.

ESL readers: Cultural identity makes difference - http://www.gettingboystoread.com/content/esl-readers-cultural-identity-makes-difference

Negotiation of Student Identity Inside and Outside of the ESL Classroom - http://www.ed.psu.edu/englishpds/inquiry/projects/papers08/Harpster.pdf

PARK, S. A feminist approach to understanding ESL identity development: a case study of Korean women in U.S. universities. 2009. 204 f. Tese (Doutorado em Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies) – University of New México, Albuquerque, 2009. Disponível em: https://repository.unm.edu/dspace/bitstream/1928/10341/1/Seonsook%20Park%20Final%20Manuscript%2008%2013%202009.pdf. Acesso em: 24 jun. 2010

MILLER, J. Audible difference: ESL and social identity in schools. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2003.

NORTON, B. Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education, 2000.

Grammar Translation Method

Foreign language teaching method that first started in Prussia, at the end of the 18th century and was the most used in the 19th century, but it is still used nowadays for teaching dead languages, such as Latin and Ancient Greek. In this method, vocabulary is taught through bilingual lists of words. Reading and writing are the main focus, with little or no attention given to speaking or listening. Besides that, the classes are taught in mother tongue.

The main problem of the grammar translation method is that, as the learners don’t practice speaking and listening, they will never become autonomous speakers of the target language.

Macmillan English Dictionary for ELT Terms -
http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/glossaries/definitions/g-j.htm

Grammar Translation Method - http://www.slideshare.net/vacoka/grammar-translation-method-presentation

Grammar translation Method or GTM - http://www.shvoong.com/books/1760532-grammar-translation-method-gtm/



NORLAND, D.; PRUETT-SAID, T. A kaleidoscope of models and strategies for teaching English to speakers of other languages. Westport: Teacher Idea Press, 2006

NAGARAJ, G. English Language Teaching: Approaches Methods Techniques. Andhra Pradesh: Orient Longman, 2003.

Drill

A number of sentences which contain new structures that the students repeat in order to memorize them. They can be individual drills (students repeat the sentences one at a time), choral drills (the whole class repeats the sentences together), substitution drill (some key words of the sentences are changed by the teacher) and question and answer (Q&A) drills (the teacher ask the same question to different students and they answer differently but using the same structure).

Drills can be very useful to help learners memorize the structures, but the teacher has to be very careful in order to avoid turning the classes into boring endless repetition cycles.

Macmillan English Dictionary for ELT Terms - http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/glossaries/definitions/d-f.htm

Tips and ideas for using drilling in the classroom - http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=146558

RUSSELL, A. Drilling - Judicious Use of Brute Force in the ESL Classroom. UsingEnglish.com. Disponível em: http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/000414.html. Acesso em: 24 jun. 2010

MUMFORD, S. Drilling can be fun. The internet TESL Journal, v. 8, n. 7, jul. 2002. Disponível em: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Mumford-Drilling.html. Acesso em: 24 jun. 2010.

Communities of Practice

Groups composed of people that make efforts in order to learn together. They share an interest in common and interact with the objective of doing or learning how to do it in a better way.

I think it is very interesting to learn together as a group. It is proves that we learn from our mistakes and we also learn from our peers mistakes. Besides that, as Vygotsky has demonstrated, our intellectual development occurs through Instructional scaffolding.

Communities of practice - http://www.ewenger.com/theory

Community of practice at Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice

KIMBLE, C.; HILDRETH, P.; BOURDON, I. Communities of Practice: Creating Learning Environments for Educators. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, abr. 2008. Disponível em: http://www.chris-kimble.com/CLEE/ToC.html Acesso em 24 jun. 2010

HILDRETH, P.; KIMBLE, C. Knowledge Networks: Innovation through Communities of Practice. Hershey: IGI Publishing, 2004. Disponível em: http://www.chris-kimble.com/KNICOP/Chapters/Introduction.html

Affordances

The actions that an individual can make interacting with the society and the world that surrounds it. They were first studied by biologists, specially in the ecological field. Under a learning-teaching perspective, affordances are opportunities for learning that are perceived by the students in the environment, such as the classroom.

In my opinion, it is very important that the teacher is aware that the affordances are different from a student to another, and he or she should be able to analyze which affordances are available and suitable for each unique student.

ESL students’ computer-mediated communication practices: context configuration

http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num3/shin/default.html

Possible uses of Second Life in ESL/EFL

http://www.slideshare.net/olga_kozar/esl-efl-and-second-life

MENEZES, V. Propiciamento (affordance) e autonomia na aprendizagem de língua inglesa In: LIMA, Diógens Cândido. Aprendizagem de língua inglesa: histórias refletidas. Vitória da Conquista: Edições UESB, 2010. Disponível em: http://www.veramenezes.com/affordance.pdf. Acesso em: 24 jun. 2010.

COTTERALL, S. & MURRAY, G. Enhancing Metacognitive Knowledge: Structure, Affordances andSelf. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, v. 37, n. 1, p. 34-45, 2009.

MENEZES, V. AFFORDANCES BEYOND THE CLASSROOM. Disponível em: http://www.veramenezes.com/beyond.pdf. Acesso em: 24 jun. 2010.