Lecture 1FLT Methodology as a Science.

Underwater holiday resorts. Vertical farms in the middle of New York. Bionic buildings. These are just a few examples of the buildings of tomorrow. But what are they all about?

It isn’t easy being a hotelier these days. For a start, the 5-star hotel is no longer the height of luxury. Now there are plenty of (unofficial) 6-star hotels and, incredibly, three with 7 stars. So, what can you do if you want to go even further, and give your guests something completely different? Build the whole hotel on the bottom of the ocean, of course! The Crescent Hydropolis is currently under construction in Dubai (where else?); and when it opens, it’ll be the world’s first luxury underwater hotel.

The complex will be 20-metres underwater and will have 220 suites, plus restaurants, a shopping mall, cinemas and a missile-defence system – just in case. All in all, it’ll cover an area of 300,000 square metres. Of course, it goes without saying that all guests will have incredible views of the ocean floor. The owners are even in talks with Disney to bring a fully underwater production of The Little Mermaid to the hotel’s lobby.

Unfortunately, construction of the hotel hasn’t been going too well. The hotel was due to open in 2006 but was delayed due to environmental concerns. Some experts have predicted that the resort will affect tides, which could lead to floods and the beaching of whales and other sea-mammals. Let’s hope not, because that might put a bit of a “dampener” on all the fun.

Talking about the environment, “green building” is a hot topic these days. So, how about an eco-friendly skyscraper that works like a tree? The “Treescraper Tower of Tomorrow”’ is the brainchild of leading green architect William McDonough. His idea is for a skyscraper that’s designed to mimic the way a tree grows and functions. The building would generate most of its own energy through 30,000 square metres of photovoltaic panels that would cover one façade. All of the water in the “Treescraper” would be recycled, with wastewater flowing into the gardens inside the tower. This water would then be re-used for the toilets and bathrooms. The whole structure would, of course, be made of recycled material. It sounds like a great idea, and, if it happens, it’ll certainly bring a whole new meaning to the idea of the tree-house.

But that’s nothing compared to Vincent Callebaut’s fully-functioning, 128-floor vertical farm in New York. The 700-metre structure would be spread across two towers which would be joined by a huge greenhouse built of glass and steel. The design is inspired by the exoskeleton of a dragonfly wing. Inside, there would be offices, houses, laboratories, farming space and even areas dedicated to rearing livestock. The building would be able to produce its own food, including vegetables, meat, poultry and dairy products. If it ever happens,“The Dragonfly” would be a unique addition to the New York skyline, and would take the concept of “bionic buildings” to a whole new level. Whatever next?

Now we haven’t even talked about the projects for whole cities in the sky, and skyscrapers that can change shape.

Oh well, next time!

Lecture 1FLT Methodology as a Science.

1. Subject of Methodology.
2. The main methodological categories.
3. The way towards communicative teaching.

The word ‘method’ means a way of doing something. The word method has two meanings: 1) a branch of science 2) a way of teaching. Methodology of FLT – is a science which studies aims of teaching, content of teaching, methods, means and principles of teaching. FLT Methodology has undergone many changes in the course of its development. There were different methods, trends, aims of teaching, content of teaching, different techniques, devices and approaches of teaching. FLTM is a young developing science and it is challenging too. Some specialists say that it is rather an art than a science (scientific art). There were opinions according with which FLTM is an Applied science.

Methodology deals with 3 problems, which constitute WHY? ( aims) WHAT? (content) HOW? ( method). They are closely connected.

Approach - is a strategy of teaching FL. There are 4 approaches in FLTM:

behaviorism (based on intuition)

inductive - conscious (based on consciousness)

cognitive (usage of all cognitive mechanisms)

integrative (integration of previous 3 approaches ).

Learning theories and approaches. Behaviourism. In a book called Verbal Behaviour, the psychologist Skinner applied this theory of conditioning to the way humans acquire their first language.Language, he suggested, is a form of behaviour. (It is because we are
concerned with a form of behaviour that this theory is called behaviourism.)
The same model of stimulus-response-reinforcement, he argued, accounts
for how a human baby learns a language. Behaviourism, which was after all a psychological theory, was adopted for some time by language teaching methodologists, particularly in America, and the result was the audio-lingual method still used in many parts of the
world.

Cognitivism. The term cognitivism (sometimes referred to as mentalism) refers to a group of psychological theories which draw heavily on the work in linguistics of
Noam Chomsky. Language is not a form of behaviour, Chomsky maintained. There are a finite number of grammatical rules in the system and with a knowledge of these an infinite
number of sentences can be performed in the language. It is
competence that a child gradually acquires, and it is this language
competence (or knowledge of the grammar rules) that allows children to be
creative as language users (e.g. experimenting and saying things they have
not said before).

Humanistic approach to language teaching emphasized the value of developing whole learner's personality, socialization of an individual in a group, creative activities with music, arts etc. It was further developed in community language teaching. The method was based on counseling techniques (Curran, C. 1976. Counseling-Learning: A Whole Person Model for Education. N.Y.) Counseling (advising) is giving support to another person. This method was described as humanistic with self-actualization and self-esteem of the learners.

Humanistic approach advocated “non-conflict”, “non-judgement” and “empathy” in the relations of the teacher and learners. The importance of the humanistic approach lies not just in the effectiveness of language learning but also in the development of the personality.

Humanistic approach facilitates self-actualization of learners. This helps them to identify easily with the group. They demonstrate a more accurate perception of the reality. They focus more on the cognitive problems and less on themselves. These learners possess the capacity for peak experiences (through love, music, art, nature etc.) and a greater aptitude for empathy with other people.

Pre-communication methods. The way towards communicative teaching has been a long and controversial one with advances and set backs. The focus of attention was gradually shifting from the language as a systematic code to the language as a means of communication with the search for an effective method of instruction and consideration of the learner’s personality.

Grammar translation (H.Olendorf) included detailed analysis of grammar rules, translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language, memorizing rules and manipulating morphology and syntax, reading and writing.

Direct method (M.Berlitz) encouraged the use of foreign language in the classroom. Classroom teaching was conducted in the target language only. Learning process was mostly based on imitation and memorization.

Oral approach or situational language teaching (Palmer, H. 1940. The Teaching of Oral English. Longman) was based on selection and organization of the “situations”. "Situations" were organized with the use of concrete things and pictures. They were used to introduce the new grammar structures.

Audio-lingual method (Fries, Ch. 1945. Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language. University of Michigan Press) applied the principles of structural linguistics to language teaching. Pattern practice became a basic classroom technique. Audio-lingual method was the combination of structural linguistic theory and fundamentals of behaviorism (stimulus, response, reinforcement). This method made constant drilling of the students followed by
positive or negative reinforcement a major focus of classroom activity. Of
course the approach wasn't exclusively devoted to repetition, but the
stimulus-response-reinforcement model formed the basis of the
methodology. The language 'habit' was formed by constant repetition and
the reinforcement of the teacher. Mistakes were immediately criticised, and
correct utterances were immediately praised. It should be said that
audio-lingualism was thought to be highly successful in some contexts -
particularly the foreign-language training of military personnel.

Community Language Learning, based on the educational movement of counseling learning, attempts to give students only the language they need. Ideally students sit in a circle outside of which is a 'knower' who will help them
with the language they want to use. When they have decided what they
want to say they do it in their language and the knower translates it for
them so that they can then use the target language instead. In this way
students acquire the language they want to acquire. In a variation of the
procedure students say what they want to into a tape-recorder, only
speaking when they feel the urge. The tape is transcribed by the teacher
who can then offer personal feedback.

Intensification tendency. Total Physical Response (TPR) is the combination in the teaching method of speech and action (Asher, J. 1969. The total physical response approach to second language learning. Modern Language Journal. 53:3-17). The method combined verbal repetition with motor activities.

The Silent Way (Gategno, C. 1972. Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools: The Silent Way. N.Y.) was based on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom, while the learners will produce more language. A typical feature of the Silent Way is the use of color charts and rods as memorable images and signals to help in verbal responses.

The Silent Way developed by Caleb Gattegno is marked by the fact
that the teacher gives a very limited amount of input, modelling the
language to be learnt once only and then indicating what the students should do through pointing and other silent means. The teacher will not criticise or praise but simply keeps indicating that the student should try again until success is achieved. Teachers can deploy Cuisenaire rods (little rods of different lengths and colours) which can be used to signify grammatical units, stressed and non-stressed parts of words, and even whole stories.

Suggestopedy (Lozanov, G. 1978. Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy. N.Y.) aimed at optimizing learning by music and rhythm, authoritative teacher's behavior and physical and psychological relaxation. Suggestopaedia is a methodology developed by Lozanov in which
students must be comfortably relaxed. This frequently means comfortable
furniture and music. In this setting students are given new names
and listen to extended dialogues. The contention is that the general ease, of
the situation, the adoption of a new identity and the dependence on
listening to the dialogues will help the students to acquire the language.

Task-based learning. Many methodologists have concentrated not so much on the nature of language input, but on the learning tasks that students are involved in. There
has been an agreement that rather than pure rote learning or
de-contextualized practice, language has to be acquired as a result of some
deeper experience than the concentration on a grammar point.

In the 1970s the British applied linguist Allwright conducted an
experiment which challenged traditional notions of language teaching. He
theorised that: ... if the 'language teacher's' management activities are directed
exclusively at involving the learners in solving communication problems
in the target language, then language learning will take care of
itself ... (1977b: 5) In other words there is no need for formal instruction (e.g. the teaching
of a grammatical point). Instead students are simply asked to perform
communicative activities in which they have to use the foreign language.
The more they do this the better they become at using the language.

Allwright's experiment took place at the University of Essex where a
number of foreign students were about to take postgraduate courses (where
the language used would, of course, be English). They were given activities
which forced them to use English, but at no time did their teachers help
them with the language or tell them anything about English grammar, etc.
They refused to correct errors, too. Thus the students played
communication games (see 8.1.4) or were sent to the library to find out how
to use the card index system; in another example they had to interview one
of the professors (who was unconnected with language teaching in any way).

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 4732