The Least Appealing Methods of Language Teaching

This week we were learning about different methods and approaches to language teaching. Summing up our class discussions, it can be clearly seen that the least appealing method for most of us appears to be Grammar-Translation Method.

Most of my classmates have a negative attitude to the Grammar-Translation Method because of their personal experience and there are various other reasons why this method is disliked. In my opinion, most of them are the failure to transfer the knowledge outside the classroom. Students, after the learning language by such method are unable to communicate in real life settings. Another reason pertains to considerable memorisation and drilling that is not only boring but also not stimulating to learning language. Additionally, when using Grammar-Translation Method an interaction in the classroom goes only between the student and the teacher and the teacher controls every step. I completely agree with all given reasons. The only reason for not neglecting this method at all is because at certain stages of language learning, it would be a good and necessary supplement to the main method, since many of the methods do not pay enough attention to grammar learning.

Suggestopedia also was called among the least appealing methods and personally, I agree with that. Because of my personality and my learning style, the music greatly distracts me during my learning. I would never turn on the music when I am trying to memorize or concentrate on something important. Moreover, as was noticed by some of my classmates, there are people with diverse cultural backgrounds and a variety of taste in music, therefore, it is very difficult to select the type of music that would be suitable for all students.  Suggestopedia is a much more specific method than others, which requires special accommodations and is not flexible in its implementation. All of the above mentioned drawbacks of Suggestopedia ring true for me.

The Audio-Lingual Method was pointed out too as a not commonly used method. The reason is similar to the one given for the Grammar-Translation Method, its inability to apply the knowledge gained by imitation and repetition to new or unprompted situations.

I completely agree with all the rationales of my classmates. However, as I mentioned above and in our class discussions, I would incorporate these methods in my teaching as part of my lessons to ensure the comprehensiveness of the learning process.

Defining “competence”

In my understanding, “competent” is what we can say about the person who has deep knowledge and a high level of proficiency in a certain field. If someone is competent in a language, I would say, this person feels free in using both spoken and written languages, understands little nuances of the language and idiomatic expressions, and also, thinks in this language.

The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives us a definition of “competent” as “proper or rightly” or “having requisite or adequate ability or qualities”. For English-language learners it explains “competent” as “having the necessary ability or skills: able to do something well or well enough to meet a standard”.

Based on the assigned readings, I can say that the term “language competence” is inseparably connected to the “language proficiency”.  Language competence it is the ability and appropriate skills that are necessary for communication and acting in real life settings.