Methods of Second Language Learning/Acquisition

The Teacher and the Samurai

 

 

Recommended reading for future educators and samurai warriors.

Samurai master Miyamoto Musashi (in The Book of the Five Rings, 1644) once compared the samurai warrior to that of a carpenter: they use a variety of tools. Just as a carpenter uses different tools for different jobs, a teacher should have a variety of methods and techniques at his disposal.

A teacher must not spurn any technique just because these are “traditional” or “old-fashioned”. Nor should he or she be on the constant chase for the “new” or ‘innovative” just for the sake of being new or innovative. Writing about favoring a particular of weapon, Musashi says,

From olden times it has been said: “Great and small go together”. So do not unconditionally dislike extra-long swords. What I dislike is the inclination towards the long sword.

--Musashi is talking about martial arts schools that favor the use of “extra-long swords” (called the tachi) while spurning the use of the normal “long sword” (called the katana). Their reason is that a “one inch gives one handbreadth’s advantage”. But Musashi says of this attitude, “these are idle words of one who does not know strategy”.

The same thing about teachers. A teacher who is too dependent on a single technique is does not really know how to teach.

First, let us define “teaching strategy”, “teaching method”, and “teaching technique”. Here, I use the term teaching strategy to mean the way or plan that a teacher devises in order to teach a lesson. A teaching method is a set of techniques that center on certain principles. Lastly, teaching techniques are individual activities to teach a lesson.

Here, we will outline of three teaching methods and the historical background of each: the Grammar-Translation Method, the Audio-Lingual Method, and the Communicative Approaches.

(Photo from Mentalfloss.Com)

The Grammar-Translation Method was devised to study the “classical languages”: Greek and Latin. It emphasizes the learning of vocabulary and grammar in the second/foreign language. The goal is to be able to read and write in the target language. In use for many centuries, this has been called the “Classical Method”. We could say that is “the oldest trick in the book”. But it does not mean that we should reject it just because it is “traditional”. Some of the techniques are still in use today—such as vocabulary lists, grammar rules, and composition writing—testament to this method’s durability.

Since this method is focused on reading and writing, it does not equip a person for listening and speaking. Thus, a student may be able to explain the grammar rules of a language but unable to hold even a simple conversation. This leads us to the next teaching method.

 (Photo from ICCS.Edu.Ph)

The Audio-Lingual Method was devised for students to learn quickly how to speak in the target language.  It was developed in the United States during World War II, when it was important for diplomats and military officers going abroad to be able to learn how to speak foreign languages quickly. The method emphasizes repetition and drill, mimicry and memorization (“mim-mem”). Because of constant drilling, students learn how to answer automatically routine questions. But here lies its greatest weakness: a person gets too dependent on memorized scripts but once the conversation departs from the script, they can no longer cope. Hence, another method—which is actually a set of methods—was developed.

(Photo from Alphadex.Ro)

The Communicative Approaches refers to sets of techniques designed for students to be able to use the target language in communicative situations. It was created as a response to the artificiality of the Audio-Lingual and the Grammar Translation methods. The emphasis is on fluency, not accuracy—that is, a student may lapse into some errors in grammar but as long as he or she is understood, it is all right. This is the method currently in favor with educators today. The techniques under this method, like language games, role-playing, the use of comics, etc., promise to make language learning more exciting for the students.

(Watch out for techniques under each method in future posts here in Instructional Minutes.)