SECOND - LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS.

Approach: Different theories about the nature of language and how languages are learned.

• Method: Imply different ways of teaching language.
  
• Technique: Different methods make use of different kinds of classroom activities.

Method and Approach:
The Grammar-Translation Method.
It is Conductivism because in this method, people only have to memorize vocabulary and grammar rules and then translate. Also, classes are taught in the students' mother tongue, with little active use of the target language. Little attention is paid to the content of texts or to pronunciation. People who practice this method can develop the “write and read” skills. On the other hand, this method is used in Adults because they have the ability to manage grammar patter since that grammar patters are abstract concepts that are very impossible to learn by children. Besides, the intelligence develop is the linguistics of course in a higher degree and the learning style is Authority oriented learners because they need a teacher explanation in order to give them.
The Audio-lingual Method:
This method is very important because in English repetition drills are needed to get a perfect pronunciation. An advantage is the use of visual aids such as: slides, videos, tapes and so on. Grammar is taught inductively and students develop the four skills in order: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The most common activity uses in this method is the dialogue.
The Silent Way:
The goal in this method is near – native fluency, correct pronunciation, basic practical knowledge of the grammar of the L2. The teacher should be silent as much as possible and the teacher should give only what help is necessary. In this method the learners are: Independent, autonomous, and responsible. Some advantages in this method are: Cooperative learning between individuals and the self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning.
Suggestopedia:
It is attempt to teach memorization technique and is not devoted to the far more comprehensive enterprise of language acquisition. it is important because suggestopedia gives as a more comfortable way to teach and to learn trough relaxed states of mind. In addition, this method is similar to yoga and music is an important part of this and it has aported some techniques such as: the use of vocabulary, reading, etc.
Total physical Respond:

It is based upon the way that children learn their mother tongue. It involves listening and comprehension in combination with various “physical responses”. About grammar, the teachers introduce the grammar as a game, it can be used for learning: Vocabulary connected with actions, Tenses, Classroom language, Imperatives / Instructions and Story telling. It is good for kinesthetic learners and it can be embarrassing for shy students. The teacher must be prepared to perform the actionsIt and is only really suitable for beginner levels
Task-based Learning:

It is enjoyable and motivating, the teachers are not responsable on how the students are going to solve the situation. The teachers would give the tools and students need to use them to solve real problems. students need to handle the language or vocabulary in order to get better ideas. Task-based Approach has some clear advantages such as. The students are free of language control. In all five stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item. The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the course book.
Content-Based Approach:

The content-based method is that language learning is contextualized and purposeful. The most language is used in the pursuit of a specific goal, the sooner the language is acquired. During the lesson students are focused on learning about something. This could be anything that interests them. Its primary focus is on memorization of verb paradigms, grammar rules, and vocabulary. It can make learning a languages more interesting and motivating. Some students may feel confused or may even feel that they aren’t improving their languages skills.
Cooperative Learning:

Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. About disadvantage some students don't work well this team and Aggressive students try to take over.
Eclectic Method:

Eclectic method has implicit all learning theories because it includes other teaching methods and approaches which make possible and affective learning through eclectic method. Eclectic method involves all ages because if it uses different theories and approaches joined to other methods it means that eclectic method is able to work with different ages. Eclectic method develops in all students abilities such as: speaking, reading, listening and writing these are the most important abilities in the learning English
Eclectic method: can adequacy to the proficiency level because it contains methods and approaches that teachers can use with beginner, intermediate and advanced learner. Eclectic method stimulates different intelligence and according with methods and techniques that it applied it can work with authority, concrete, individual and so on learning styles. The main criticism of the eclectic method is that it does not offer any guidance on what basis and by what principles aspects of different methods can be selected and combined. stern (1983).
Communicative Language Teaching:

Communicative competence is the desired goal. The way teachers can focus the teaching of the foreign language in the classroom in such a way that students can communicate in a conscious way, taking into account their real experiences. The main disadvantages are: The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use and the mistake is considered to be a part of the learning. In addition, the teacher’s feedback to the students is infrequently.

INDIVIDUAL VARIABLES.

INDIVIDUAL VARIABLES.

A number of factors have been discussed that may help us understand why language learners seem to have varying degrees of success at different age levels. Cognitive, sociocultural, affective, and input factors all may be a part of the explanation. Research is being actively conducted in these areas, and language educators who keep abreast of this research are more likely to devise effective systems for language teaching that are sensitive to the needs and potential of individual learners.
LEARNER VARIABLE OF AGE:
Children learn more faster than teens and adults because they are like a sponge that are absorbing all. Teens and adults are more easier because they have acquired experiences and technique. One of the most salient differences among children, teens and adults is attention span.
1.) CHILDREN: Children are in an intellectual stage of what Piaget called “Concrete Operations”, and they are centered on the here and now, on the functional purposes of language. Also, they generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them. Besides, they often learn indirectly because they take in information from all sides.
Some Suggestions:
* Don't explain grammar

* Activities should be design to capture their Immediate interest

* They need to have their five senses stimulated
* Be patient and supportive
2.) IN BETWEEN OR TEENS: It is a transitional period in the development between the childhood and the adult age.
Set of consideration to teach teen-agers.

• Intellectual capacity adds abstract operational thought around the age of 12.
• Attention Span are lengthening as result of intellectual maturation
• Varieties of sensory input
• Factor: ego, self-image, and self-esteem

3.) ADULTS: Adults have superior cognitive abilities that can render them a bit more successful in certain classroom endeavors and their need for sensory input can relay a little more on using their imagination.
Suggestion to teaching adult:

• Adults are more readily able to handle abstract rules and concepts.
• Adults, too, have longer attention spans.
• Sensory input: one of secret of lively adult classes is their appeal to multiple senses.
• Do not treat adults in your class like children.

TEACHING ACROSS PROFICIENCY LEVELS:

1.)TEACHING BEGINNERS: It is considered by many to be the most challenging level of language instruction. Since students at this level have little or no prior knowledge of English on which to build. There is Absolute beginner, who has had no contact with English at all, and then there is false beginner who has studied some English, but forgotten it.
2.) TEACHING INTERMEDIATE: It is where students have progressed beyond novice stages to an ability to sustain basic communicative tasks, to establish some minimal fluency, to deal with a few unrehearsed situations, to self-correct on occasion, to use a few compensatory strategies, and generally to “get along” in the language beyond mere survival.
3.) TEACHING ADVANCED: As students move on up the development ladder, getting closer and closer to their goals, developing fluency along with a greater degree of accuracy, able to handle virtually any situation in which target language use is demanded. They become “ADVANCED” students.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:
It is capacity to reason about emotions, and emotions to enhance thinking. It includes the ability to accurately perceive emotions to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
INTELLIGENCE: Some theorists believe that intelligence is a basic ability that affects performance on all cognitively oriented tasks.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
Conceived by Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences are different ways to demonstrate intellectual ability.
What are the types of Multiple Intelligence?
1. Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence: ability to use words and language. Their skills include: listening, speaking, writing, story telling and so on.
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: ability to use reason, logic and numbers. Their skills include: problem solving, classifying and categorizing information.
3. Visual/Spatial Intelligence: ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. Their skills include: puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding.
4. Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence: ability to produce and appreciate music. These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. Their skills include: singing, whistling, playing musical instruments and composing music.
5. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully. Their skills include: dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, etc.
6. Intrapersonal Intelligence: ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of being. These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses. Their Skills include: Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing themselves.
7. Interpersonal Intelligence: ability to relate and understand others. These learners try to see things from other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. Their skills include: seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening, using empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings.
8. Existentialist intelligence: These "wondering" people learn best through seeing the "big picture" of human existence by asking philosophical questions about the world.
9. Naturalist intelligence: These "nature" people learn best through the interactions with the environment including outdoor activities, field trips, and involvement with plants and animals.
ATTITUDE:
It is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual’s like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are positive, negative and neutral view of an “attitude object”.
Attitude can be changed through persuasion. If we teach how to focus or improve the attitude through learning we can get the best of the student, because sometimes they do not understand how his or hers attitudes interact with the process of learning
MOTIVATION:
Internal and external forces and influences that drive an individual to achieving certain goals. Motivation is simply, the reason for an action and that which gives purpose and direction to behaviour.
Motivation in second language learning
Motivation is often defined as a psychological trait which leads people to achieve a goal. Motivation is an important factor in L2 achievement. For this reason it is important to identify both the type and combination of motivation that assists in the successful acquisition of a second language.
TYPES OF MOTIVATION

• Intrinsic Motivation: It refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual, rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades.
  
• Extrinsic Motivation: It refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are money or grades.
  
• Integrative Motivation: It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a target language are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used.
  
• Instrumental Motivation: in contrast to integrative motivation, this is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language.

Learning Style
Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques. Learning styles group common ways that people learn. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances.
Your learning styles have more influence than you may realize. Your preferred styles guide the way you learn. They also change the way you internally represent experiences, the way you recall information, and even the words you choose.
By recognizing and understanding your own learning styles, you can use techniques better suited to you.
The learning styles are:
Visual (spatial). You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding.
Aural (auditory-musical). You prefer using sound and music.
Verbal (linguistic). You prefer using words, both in speech and writing.
Physical (kinesthetic). You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch.
Logical (mathematical). You prefer using logic, reasoning and systems.
Social (interpersonal). You prefer to learn in groups or with other people.
Solitary (intrapersonal). You prefer to work alone and use self-study.
Learning Strategies
Learning strategies refer to methods that students use to learn. This ranges from techniques for improved memory to better studying or test-taking strategies. Besides, in Language learning strategies there are three main types of direct LLS, for example. Memory strategies, Cognitive LLS and Compensation strategies. Also, there are three types of indirect LLS such as: Metacognitive strategies, Affective LLS and Social strategies.

Communicative Competence

Language teaching everywhere is based on the idea that the goal of language acquisition is communicative competence: the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. The desired outcome of the language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does.

Communication is not just a matter of language. When we speak, our speech is accompanied to a greater or lesser extent by so-called non-verbal communication: gestures, facial expressions, distance, body attitudes, sighs, etc. We furthermore transmit many signals about ourselves, via our clothing, hairstyle, etc. Visual texts - images, films, etc. - are highly important modes of communication nowadays - also in language teaching. So communicative competence is extremely comprehensive and complex.

Krashen and Terrell’s theory says that language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning.

Teaching Children

TEACHING AND LEARNING

• Teaching: It is no more than the help that can be provide someone in the learning process, giving some instructions or by providing the necessary knowledge to that goal.
• Learning: It is the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom. It is the goal of education, and the product of experience.

LEARNING THEORIES
Learning theories are as a whole a body of knowledge organized systematically; these theories play an important role in the teaching-learning process, because they use theoretical foundations of psychological theories of learning. As to how this should be done to apply in the teaching of English language, is important that the teacher make diagnostic instruments to determine the existence or absence of cognitive structures in student for the incorporation of new knowledge, in this case, the English language. With the application of these theories is looking to provide approaches to the process instructional, proposing methods, procedures, strategies and means to carry out the teaching.

• Behaviorism: This theory affirms that the learning occurs when there appears a satisfactory answer, which is compensated by an external stimulus, that is, there is an association between the stimulus and the response. Learning occurs by repetition up to doing of this conduct a habit.
• Cognitivism: This theory focuses on mental activities of the student, who chooses the steps to continuing for the acquisition of learning, this is achieved when the information is stored in memory of an organized and significant way. The student is seen as an active participant in the learning process. The result of learning is not only based on what the teacher presents, but also on what the student does.
• Constructivism: This theory focuses on the preparation of students to solve problems in ambiguous situations, where he creates or constructs his learning based on the experiences. The intention is to show the way to the student to continuing for the construction of the knowledge, besides providing propitious environments for the construction of the same ones.
  science-education.nih.gov/supplements/nih4/self/other/glossary.htm
  www.almanac.cc/MAIN-Definitions.htm
  www.dest.gov.au/sectors/training_skills/policy_issues_reviews/key_issues/nts/glo/ftol.htm
  

KRASHEN'S SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY

Krashen proposes that adults have two distinct and independent ways of developing competence in a second language: Acquisition and Learning.
Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:

• The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis.
  Acquisition: refers to the subconscious process of 'picking up' a language through a focus on meaning rather than form. Learners are consciously unaware, both of this process in action, and the resulting acquired rules. This is a similar, if not identical, process to the way children learn their first language.
  Learning: It is the conscious form of acquiring a language, is the increase in knowledge from a grammatical point of view, in other words, acquire the rules of a language.
• The Monitor hypothesis.
  The Monitor hypothesis explains the relationship between acquisition and learning and defines the influence of the latter on the former. The monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar. According to Krashen, the mind acts as a monitor, as it obtains information from the environment, which is recorded and sorted in the brain to finally produce the information.
• The Natural Order hypothesis.
  This hypothesis suggested that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a 'natural order' which is predictable. For a given language, some grammatical structures tend to be acquired early while others late.
• The Input hypothesis.
  This hypothesis is Krashen's explanation of how second language acquisition takes place. According to Krashen, we acquire new structures of a language, or information is obtained from outside, for example, verbal fluency automatically emerge over time and that information obtained can be imparted to others.
• The Affective Filter hypothesis.
  It embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. When the filter is 'up' it impedes language acquisition. On the other hand, positive affect is necessary, but not sufficient on its own, for acquisition to take place.

Merrill Swain Output Hypothesis:
What is Output?
The output hypothesis claims that the act of producing language (speaking or writing) constitutes, under certain circumstances, part of the process of second learning.
(http://www.celea.org.cn/2007/keynote/ppt/Merrill%20Swain.pdf)
Output Functions.

• Noticing. Producing language causes learners to notice gaps in their linguistic knowledge.
• Hypothesis testing. Through noticing this gap in their knowledge, language learners may reanalyze their knowledge of the language system. On the basis of this analysis they then generate and test alternative ways of saying what they want to say.
• Reflective or metalinguistic function: It refers to the fact that in trying to solve a problem in their output learners may consciously reflect upon the nature of the language system. Swain argues that such reflection can aid acquisition. Here hypotheses aren't simply generated and tested, but language is used to reflect upon the process.

Applied Linguistic

Applied linguistics attempts to study and solve the problems about language and language acquisition, through the time others sciences supported applied linguistics in order to find the solution of language-related problems in the real world.
In the other hands, Applied Linguistic takes in consideration other sciences, primarily from Linguistics, Psychology, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics and Ethnography. Besides, Applied Linguistics teaches us how we can use language systems (phonetic, syntax, semantic, pragmatic, etc.) or specific science to apply them in a pedagogical field or another one; this subject helps us to prepare and to construct an efficient plan (instructional, evaluation, etc) to obtain the best results of the learners.
In conclusion, Applied Linguistics is supported in the knowledge of these auxiliary sciences by means of the application of techniques, methods and strategies used for pedagogical purposes to help to solve the problems that could be presented at the moment of the teaching of foreign languages.

What is your reflection about the comic? What is procrastinating? And why it is important to know it as future teachers?
* I like the comic, because in few words, it is giving us a lesson to be reasonable and perform tasks and actions at the appropriate time.
* My reflection is: "Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do well today"
* Procrastinating: It is to postpone for later some task, homework or action, often with the excuse to make it better.
* As a future teacher, I consider that is important to know procrastinating because we will have to do our activities with better organisational and time-management skills.