Teacher Discussion Forums

I have been studying TESL theories, but many of them seem conflicting. I have a lot of questions about them. As experienced teachers, what do you think about the following conflicts:

1. Should we teach all aspects of English (reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, pronunciation) whether students like them or not, or should we focus on that aspect that the students need?

2. For adults, is language learned sequentially, as in when we are teaching grammar lessons one by one, or is it learned simultaneously, as in when they are reading or listening?

3. Should language be learned through formal learning and controlled practice or should it be learned through natural acquisition?

jori wrote:I have been studying TESL theories, but many of them seem conflicting. I have a lot of questions about them. As experienced teachers, what do you think about the following conflicts:

1. Should we teach all aspects of English (reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, pronunciation) whether students like them or not, or should we focus on that aspect that the students need?

I believe that it is important to teach all aspects of a language. In real life, you have to be prepared for everything. I'm a native English speaker but studied Japanese formally. In the US, we didn't study much reading/writing, but when I got to Japan, I needed it. In Japan, my studies included all areas, and I became much more capable in the language - and at a faster pace - than students who studied longer, in a focused area.

2. For adults, is language learned sequentially, as in when we are teaching grammar lessons one by one, or is it learned simultaneously, as in when they are reading or listening?

I don't think I understand the examples, but I've found that it's easier for older students to understand things when you break it down step by step.

3. Should language be learned through formal learning and controlled practice or should it be learned through natural acquisition?

Both. Language should be learned through the SLAP method.

Studying texts, etc.
Listening to the language in various forms (conversation, media, etc.)
Asking questions of native speakers.
Practicing what you have acquired through the above.

S and A are formal learning. L and P are more natural.

TESL theories are very interesting aren't they? They do mirror the various conflicts in educational theory for native speakers as well - phonics or not, formal instruction in spelling or not. It does seem pretty hard to get teachers away from teaching the way that they learned. Anything new is resisted by the teacher culture in the school and new enthusiastic teachers often cave in to the old methods as both students and other teachers advise them on what to do. When that door closes on the classroom though it is the personality of the teacher that is the most influence so it is really good to try and analyze what you truly believe about teaching and why. Mentors can often see things that you can't see for yourself and certainly foreign teachers will pick up on what you do differently and so reveal your philosophy of teaching. You have to work with the people who are involved with the students as well = their guardians, the community, the school board and so on and their expectations. I have found that if someone develops a "new" method and a curriculum and texts to go along with it, the students learn a great deal at the beginning when everyone "believes" in the method, are enthusiastic about it and motivated to promote it. I think from old research that was done on various methods that no one method proved better than another and each one tended be stronger in teaching one aspect of ESL. When the students from one method were tested with the tests of another method, they didn't do as well as they did in their own method. But in some ways all these ideas are useful because they get us to examine what we are doing and why and we spend time thinking outside the box and trying to solve our problems. The newest theory I have heard about is Choice Theory.