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sharter · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 878 Location: All over the place

ALM disappeared off the radar in Europe a very long time ago. Most course books draw on a range of methods derived from various approaches and ideas.
That doesn't mean to say there isn't a place for drilling in the classroom, especially with beginners and kids. Choral driling can internalise language and some students prefer it to other ways of learning. Kids love jazz chants...remember them? Part of the reason for doing a needs analysis is choosing the syllabus and methodology.....course books make this easy for us. Cutting Edge incorporates TBL, English File discovery techniques, etc etc. ALM books like Departures hven't been in use for 15 years or so.

However, there are some organizations around, Berlitz is one of them, Callan another, who claim to have some sort of revolutionary speed learning syste; it's all just marketing tosh and a desire on their part to stand out.

In Western and Eastern Europe, TBL and communicative lessons based on student centred activities producing language in context have been the norm since I started teaching 16 years ago.

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

sharter · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 878 Location: All over the place

I beg to differ; if you're using books that don't fulfil the aim of the training then it's your needs analysis or lack of it that is the problem.

Materials and student selection are a large part of the reason for doing a needs analysis in the first place. Either you haven't done one or the wrong materials have been selected.

If you're doing IELTS, choose a book like Objective IELTS; the FCE, FCE Materclass and so on.

It may be that there isn't a course book for your exams and that's where course and materials design comes into the mix; part of the needs analysis is to determine this too.

Read a book about Needs Analysis....should put you on the right track whilst also improving your sleep.

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

On the issue of drilling for pronunciation, I think it's useful for working out what the problems are, but it does little to solve them. It's more for the teacher's benefit. You use drilling to identify pron problems and then you can fix it physically using the phonemic chart, which gives students a far greater awareness of what they're doing wrong and what they need to do to fix it. I'm sure we've all tried to fix a student's pronunciation by getting them to repeat after you, and the last attempt is no different to the first. But giving them the physical indicator of what they need to do is far more powerful. And once they know the chart well, all you need to do is tell them what sound they're saying, and they can work out themselves what they need to do to get to the one they're supposed to be saying. "Open your jaw wider" is far more effective than "Cat, cat, cat, cat, cat...."

George Macartney · Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 10

George Macartney · Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 10

just testing

teacheratlarge · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Japan

[b]I'm With Stupid posted[/b

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

markcmc · Joined: 18 Jan 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Taiwan

I've worked with a lot of North American and British teachers, and I haven't noticed any particular difference in methodology; apart from individual differences between teachers.

Drilling is a minor technique for me. It's useful - when made fun - in a few situations, but stories work far better.