The FIRST Approach

 

THE F.I.R.S.T. Approach to Language Teaching

The concept of teaching and learning has changed so much that it is difficult to say what it is we are talking about. The reason is not too obvious. Every one thinks that each writer is an authority and therefore cannot be questioned. Many textbook and methodology approach to language teaching. I called it the First Approach. Why? Because it is simple and considers all the factors that a teacher is told to take into account. What are the factors ?

1. Frontal Teaching The teacher must present something before he can get the learner's stops do something. He may give instructions or teach something new or even show a picture and question. The fact is he is leading in the frontal position. It gives confidence to learners that there is some grown up to tell them what it is that they are going to do in the next thirty or forty minutes or in a series of lessons to come. How the teachers lead is a different issue altogether. That depends on his creativity and imagination. Certainly he would be a very boring teacher if day in and day out he does the same thing. The basic concept here is the learners are being led into a world of learning.

2. The interactive stage is the second stage. This stage assumes that the first stage has been done. The learner knows what to do but he has only limited information which the teacher has given him. To know more he has to interact - either with his teacher or his peers. He questions and seeks more information. This phase helps the learner to think, to decide , and focus on what he believes should be the content or direction of the lesson. During this stage the teacher takes an observers role but not completely. He participates if circumstances demand. Otherwise he encourages participation and monitor the thinking and learning process. He is always supportive and helpful. Never demean any questions or comments at this stage. If he does that that individual learner will never interact again.

The third stage of a lesson is when the teacher introduces a text. The text can be of any kind but it must relate to what has goes before and it must be a visual or aural. It can be a printed text-a letter, a graph or a audio or video tape. The learners have to interact with this text to comprehend and build on what they have talked about and heard earlier. This is the stage of resource use. Without this stage a lesson is nsevser complete. Language learning is either learning to speak, hear , read or write, This phase gives the learner the opportunity to interact with sound or print that comes from a source far beyond the classroom- a different situation from that sound provided by the teacher and the peers.

 The fourth stage is when the students take responsibility for the learning process. What has preceded will help them to determine what should be done. As before ask them to discuss in pairs or groups and call on them to come up with suggestions as to the kind of activity that they would like to do.. It is their thinking time and everything they come up with will have to be based on the resources that have been given. If they choose to go beyond the text they may do so. For example, the text may have been about wild animals but the class opts to talk about or plan a project about cruelly to animals .Allow them. We will call this stage the student centered stage for it is here that they determine how the text can be exploited or developed.

 The final stage is the teacher task -setting stage. Here the teacher sets a specific task to assess the learning process. It may be to assess vocabulary, spelling, concepts, comprehension or writing or even l language .It could be in any one of the modes- Listening and speaking or reading aloud or writing. The task stage is to ensure the minimum language that the teacher had intended to teach in that particular lesson has been achieved. All the other activities that were done were mainly to provide the context for that language and skill to exist and function in an authentic situation.

 

Note: The above stages are not linear but circular. The second lesson may take off from stage three or stage two. The reason is simple enough. Logical extension of the lesson is what is called for.

Try out the FIRST APPROACH and if it does not work, don't give up.... Try again.

 

S.Ulaganathan
Head of Language Department
Maktab Perguruan Tuanku Bainun
Mengkuang,Bukit Mertajam,Penang,Malaysia
13.10.96