Old and new methods of teaching foreign languages

Alternative methods of teaching foreign languages

Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität Frankfurt / Main

by

Katrin Zielina

Sommersemester 2002

Contents

1. Introduction  Page 1

2. Description of the methods
2.1 Total Physical Response   Page 1
2.2 Community Language Learning   Page 3
2.3 The Drama Method   Page 5

3. Discussion of the methods
3.1 About Total Physical Response   Page 6
3.2 About Community Language Learning   Page 7
3.3 About The Drama Method   Page 8

4. Personal Statement   Page 9

Bibliography   Page 11

1. Introduction:

Education is probably the most important aspect in our times. Without education a state would have no medical service, no computer specialists, no politics and demo- cracy, no business, no economy, short a state would not work at all.

Education is the key for individual chances and success in life, and the driving force for developments in society. Prosperity derives from education. Culture is a result of education, just as interest in politics and most important perspectives for later occu- pations. Politics concerning education cannot work where not enough attention is paid to achievements in school, where it seems to be not important what students learn in contrast to students in other states.

The recent PISA-study showed unfortunately how little attention was paid to edu- cation in Germany in the last decades. It is not possible to find a convincing answer to where the problem was, may it be the German school-system, the instruction of new teachers at universities, teachers who are no longer motivated after having reached the state of an official, parents who do not seem to care about their children’s abilities in reading and writing. In fact, a change in our school-system is Ger- many’s deepest need at the moment to improve pupils’ achievements.

Therefore alternative methods will probably gain more and more interest in our school- and teaching-system. I will try to introduce, describe and discuss some of these methods. I will show up their difficulties, risks and also possible chances. In the end I will try to decide if those approaches will find their ways sooner or later or if they will remain utopian.

2. Description of the methods

2.1. Total physical response

Total physical response was first invented by Dr. James Asher in the 60’s and 70’s of the 20. century. Learning a foreign language by the TPR-method is based on behaviouristic psychol- ogy. TPR students are supposed to learn as children do when they learn their mother tongue. TPR is meant as a stimulus-response action, like in the adult’s language adressed to children. This means the teacher “showing” and “acting” what he has just said before, so that students understand and internalize the vocabulary, like they did when they learned their native tounge as their parents talked to them. Furthermore motivation and self-confidence are increased, due to fast success in the student’s understatement and oral skills. Ortner puts it as follows:

Anhand zahlreicher empirischer Untersuchungen versucht Asher nachzuweisen, dass die direkte, physische Involviertheit, die er im sogenannten Motorlernen für gegeben hält, zu einer besseren kurz- sowie langfristigen Behaltensleistung und daher zu schnellerem L2 [the new language]- Erwerb führe. Durch den Einsatz physischer Antworten werde zudem Stress abgebaut, die Motivation und das Selbstvertrauen erhöhe sich.¹

Basically, TPR consists of simple advices, which are given in the very beginning of the course, and of complex actions, which are taught in the end. For example in the beginning Students are taken by their teacher’s hand while he or she gives the students the advice to for instance stand up, as the teacher himself does the same together with the students. In slide-shows and on pictures the context for the new vocabulary is presented. Simple advices consisting only of one word are supposed to be extended at the moment the first one is understood. If it is not understood it has to be repeated and their order has to be changed. It is possible to build chains of actions, always taken for granted that the teacher does the new action simultaneously with the students.

Those advices are to be repeated about ten times by the teacher followed by the obligatory physical action. The first five times the students have to act promptly after having received the advice, the following five times the action has to happen a certain time later. After the first sequence of ten new orders students have to pass a memory test. They have to react physically to the orders they have learned until then.

[....]

1 see Ortner, Brigitte: Alternative Methoden im Fremdsprachenunterricht, Hueber Verlag, Ismaning 1998, page 61f