LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING

APPROACHES TO TEACHING LANGUAGE ARTS

Group members:

Japhia Beckford

Kesian Bennett

Rashida Harrison

Tashana Tulloch

Myesha Wilson

DEFINITION OF APPROACH

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

The communicative approach is based on the idea that

learning language successfully comes through having to

communicate real meaning and as such this is what

communicative language teaching is about. With

communicative language teaching the learners are

involved in real communication, their natural strategies for

language acquisition is being used, and this will allow

them to learn to use the language well.

ADVANTAGES OF THE C.L.T

Both teachers and students are involved in the

process but the students does most of the talking,

Helps with the building of vocabulary

Facilitates successful interaction.

CLT addresses another area which constantly

challenges teachers, the mixed-ability class.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE C.L.T

Accuracy as Well as Fluency

Some of the structures or functions may never be

used in real life (an example is adjective order).

Inadequate focus on structure, Grammatical rules

accuracy.

METHODS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH

THE CLT APPROACH

Cooperative learning

Role play

Situational teaching

Dialogues

Manipulation of information

INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

The integrated approach calls for learning by doing,

learner-centered learning in learner-interest contexts.

The easiest common context in schools is the

curriculum, but individual learner interest can still be

engaged by choosing topics and examples that are

topical and contextual to the learner’s lives.

INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Learning through an integrated studies approach is

enhanced when students are actively engaged in meaningful

and relative topics. Learners construct and produce

knowledge by solving problems, conducting inquiry,

engaging in reflection and building a repertoire of effective

strategies. Integrated studies help students to become life

long learners and allow efficient coverage and delivery of

curriculum in terms of expertise, resources and time.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Facilitates reinforcement of learning

Variety within Learning

Classroom Culture

Curriculum Advancements

DISADVANTAGES OF THE INTEGRATIVE

APPROACH

Interest Issues

Content Issues

A Turn with Classroom Culture

METHODS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH

THE INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

An instructional approach in which reading, writing,

listening, speaking, and viewing activities are connected

through the use of literature.

A multi-sensory method to give students experiences to

watch and listen to the interactive video. Employ live on-

screen stories followed by thought-provoking questions.

METHODS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH

THE INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Collaborate with other teachers in the grade you teach.

Create your lesson plans with the collaborative details in

mind.

Deliver the lesson to students and have them participate in

the planned activities.

Meet with the other teachers in your grade team to check

how the lessons are going.

Setting tasks that are open-ended in order to support

problem solving and critical thinking.

THEMATIC APPROACH

“This is a way of teaching and learning, whereby many

areas of the curriculum are connected together and

integrated within a theme” (show-me-wow.com)

It is a whole school approach where the national

curriculum areas are based around a theme. This

method encourages children to use, apply and develop

their knowledge and skills within relevant situations to

then be used in real life.

ADVANTAGES OF THE THEMATIC APPROACH

Connections

Basic critical thinking skills applied to meaningful

contexts.

Variety of learning

Classroom Culture

DISADVANTAGES OF THE THEMATIC APPROACH

Lack of learning material to support theme e.g. in

Literature

Prescribed theme not suitable for some students.

Academic

Ability

METHODS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH

THE THEMATIC APPROACH

Research projects

Drama

Reports

Discussion of relevance of theme to students’

experience

TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Teaching English as a second language (TESL) refers to

teaching English to students whose first language is not

English, usually offered in a region where English is the

dominant language and natural English language

immersion situations are apt to be plentiful.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) emphasizes

interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of

learning a language.

ADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A

SECOND LANGUAGE

Reinforces identity

Boosts confidence

Acknowledgement of language competence in 1st

language.

DISADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A

SECOND LANGUAGE

Jamaican Creole not used internationally.

Ambivalent attitude towards Jamaican Creole.

Stigma attached to Jamaican Creole.

Jamaican Creole not easily written or read.

METHODS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH

TESL

The Direct Approach

The Reading Approach

The Audio-lingual Method

Total Physical Response

REFERENCES