1
Asbjørn Nåmdal
TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
IN NORWEGIAN COMPULSORY EDUCATION
A TEFL course for college students of English and participants
in in-service courses for foreign language teachers
BERGENUNIVERSITYCOLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION 5
2.0 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO YOUNG
LEARNERS 7
A short introduction to some predominant ideas and principles for TEFL in a
historical perspective - with particular reference to the teaching of English in
Norwegian compulsory education
2.1 Background 7
2.2 The Latin method 7
2.3 The direct method 8
2.4 The audio lingual and the audio-visual teaching methods 8
2.5 The cognitive method 10
2.6 The concept of communicative competence or communicative ability 10
2.7 Communicative language teaching 11
2.8 The audio-lingual method and communicative language teaching compared12
2.9 Acquisition and learning: the five essential elements in Stephen Krashen’s
hypotheses 13
2.10 A shift of focus from teaching to learning 15
2.11 Suggestion for A balanced topic-based activities approach 17
Topics for discussion 19
3.0 CURRICULUM GUIDELINES FOR ENGLISH IN NORWEGIAN
COMPULSORY EDUCATION FROM 1974 TO 2005 20
3.1 Introduction 20
3.2 The curriculum guidelines for English in M74 and M87 compared 20
3.3 The curriculum guidelines for English in M87 and L97 compared 21
3.4 What was essentially new in L97 22
3.5 Læreplan i engelsk 2005 ('Kunnskapsløftet') 22
Topics for discussion 23
4.0 WORKING WITH YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 25
4.1 The young language learner 25
4.2 Working with young language learners 25
4.3 English in the environment 26
4.4 Starting points for the teaching of English in grade 1/year 6 27
4.5 Introducing and activating vocabulary 28
4.6 Planning topic-based work 34
4.7 Using children's literature (stories) in the English classroom 36
4.8 Using songs and rhymes 37
Topics for discussion 37
5.0 THE CONCEPT OF TEXT 38
5.1 Different types of text 38
5.2 Discussing the term authentic 38
Topics for discussion 39
6.0 DEVELOPING LISTENING COMPREHENSION 40
6.1 Using listening material 40
6.2 Listening comprehension activities 41
Topics for discussion 42
7.0 DEVELOPING READING COMPREHENSION 44
7.1 Read! Why? 44
7.2 Choosing reading material 44
7.3 Pre-reading activities 45
7.4 The reading process 47
7.5 Approaches to reading 47
7.6 While-reading activities 48
7.7 Post-reading activities 50
7.8 Ideas for a classroom library 50
Topics for discussion 51
Appendix 1: The 'top-down'/'bottom-up' model (Christine Nuttall) See p 101
Appendix 2: My Reading Diary.See p 102
8.0 READING ALOUD IN THE ENGLISH CLASS 52
8.1 Teacher reading aloud 52
8.2 Pupil(s) reading aloud 52
8.3 Towards oral proficiency 53
Topics for discussion 56
9.0 DEVELOPING ORAL PROFICIENCY: FROM PURE PRACTICE TO
COMMUNICATION 57
9.1 Using the textbook as a basis for developing the pupils' oral skills 57
9.2 Setting priorities and objectives 58
9.3 Some guiding principles for the realisation of objectives 58
9.4 Applying principles to an analysis of the textbook 59
9.5 Developing oral skills: practical ways and means 59
9.6 Towards communication in the classroom 62
9.7 Assessing spoken English in the classroom (based on the EVA Project) 65
Topics for discussion 65
10.0 GRAMMAR AND USAGE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND
LEARNING 67
10.1 The place of grammar: some principles to be considered 67
10.2 Suggested model for explicit grammar teaching 68
10.3 Suggestions for some practical tasks to be used in the process 69
Topics for discussion 70
11.0 DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS 71
11.1 Pre-writing activities: writing linked to other language skills 71
11.2 Types of writing: the communicative purpose 71
11.3 Requirements for good writing practice in English 71
11.4 Writing as an interactive process 72
11.5 Assessing written work (EVA project) 74
Topics for discussion 75
12.0 PLANNING FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING 76
12.1 Background 76
12.2 How to start your preparations 76
12.3 Planning foreign language teaching: Didactic reflection and discussion 77/78
12.4 Suggested outline for the planning of a teaching unit of 4 - 6 lessons 79
12.5 Suggested outline for the planning of one lesson 80
12.6 What to observe in your practice period.
Some practical guidelines 81
13.0 COURSE BOOK EVALUATION 83
13.1 Introduction 83
13.2 Suggested criteria for Course Book Evaluation 83/84
14.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS 87
LIST OF USEFUL MATERIAL FOR TEFL IN THE PRIMARY AND
COMPREHENSIVE CLASSROOMS 88
1.0 INTRODUCTION
“... the complex circumstances of teaching and learning languages - with different kinds of pupils, teachers, aims and objectives, approaches, methods and materials, achievement - make it inconceivable that any single method could achieve optimum success in allcircumstances.”
From Peter Stevens, New Methods in Perspective (1980)
These few lines by Peter Stevens sum up the predicament of foreign language didactics and methodology over the years. New ideas and principles for foreign language teaching have emerged, but until some decades ago few of them had any profound effect on foreign language teaching (FLT), and were soon replaced by new ones. The bases of these ideas have often been linked to one or more of the areas psychology, linguistics (structuralism) or language for communication, and in later years this has been in combination with a view of "language as culture and culture language", with a related shift of focus from teaching to learning. Once a particular idea or principle has gained ground, it has been a popular 'sport' to jump on the bandwagon, tending to see foreign language teaching and learning from the new perspective only and forgetting about, and often being very critical of, other possible
approaches, especially those just dumped on the didactical scrapheap.
When after some time the prevailing idea has proved not so profound and useful after all, there has always been another 'wave-crest' to jump onto. Some ideas have developed as reactions to others, creating 'pendulum swings' in the history of didactics. This has no doubt had a dynamic effect, leading to a lot of discussion, seminars and in-service courses about ideas and principles for the teaching of foreign languages in Norway, especially since the beginning of the 1970s. The Council of Europe has also played a prominent role in the spreading of these ideas in most European countries, and a great number of books have been produced on the various aspects of teaching and learning foreign languages.
A typical sign of a more dynamic development in fairly recent years is the fact that prior to the 1970s, curriculum guidelines lasted for decades. Since then such guidelines have been replaced by others at increasingly shorter intervals, declining from about ten years, to just eight years for L97. The latest plan, Læreplan i engelsk (2005),differs from its predecessors in that it is less prescriptive when it comes to advocating particular didactic approaches and methodology. In the main, more freedom is given to the schools and the teachers in such matters, which is a challenge, especially for those English teachers in primary and comprehensive education who have little or no formal qualifications as English teachers.
Most of the theoretical discussions have taken place in academic circles, in the colleges and universities. It takes time, however, for new ideas to permeate the traditional boundaries of foreign language teaching in primary and comprehensive education. New textbooks have contributed a great deal to a positive development; in-service courses for teachers have helped, but there have been and are far too few of them. Moreover, among teachers working in the 'frontline' there is often a sound scepticism of ideas implementing profound and radical changes. Too many reforms have apparently fallen through having been implemented without the necessary trial periods and ensuing documentation that the changes will lead to
improvement. Many experienced English teachers welcome new ideas, but they rarely get dogmatic about them. They approach them with an open mind; they are definitely interested in ideas that have the potential to improve their teaching and the pupils' learning. They want to try them out and see if they work in practice, and/or if they can be adapted to and included in their own set of well-considered principles and practices. A variety of approaches to foreign language teaching are generally looked upon as essential (compare Stevens above), but they should be based on the clear objectives ('kompetansemål') and the conviction of all concerned that they promote language learning in the pupils in the best possible way. Whether they are 'modern' ideas, or not so modern, is of little relevance as long as they promote learning.
The following chapters are primarily intended for students of English in teacher training and for English teachers attending in-service courses. They provide a brief introduction to the main ideas and principles of the teaching of English over the years, and how these are reflected in the different curriculum guidelines for English in Norwegian compulsory education, especially since the 1970s. Furthermore, they introduce and discuss a variety of activities that can be used in a balanced topic-based activities approach to promote different aspects of English language teaching, including a cultural approach, with the main objective that they will lead to learning in the individual pupil. To meet this requirement is indeed a challenging task because there are so many uncertain and unpredictable factors that have to be considered in the process (again see Stevens above). It should thus be emphasised from the outset that the chapters below do not in any way claim that there is no other way towards the goal. On the contrary, the various ideas, approaches, and activities should be perceived as what they are: proposals based more on practical experience in the foreign language class-room than theoretical research, and they should be subject to discussion. They constitute an eclectic approach based on the assumption that not all that was done in foreign language teaching some years ago is reprehensible, nor should all new ideas be indiscriminately embraced until they have been carefully tried out and proven useful in the foreign language classroom. The teacher'sattitudes, motivation, and views of foreign language teaching and pupils' learning will also play an important role. A teacher has to abide by the curriculum guidelines imposed by the school authorities at any given time, but within limits the guide-lines leave the teacher, pupils, and parents with the freedom to exercise sound judgement and decision-making in the best interest of the pupils.
I am grateful to Kåre Nitter Rugesæter for being instrumental in putting this material on the English Department’s website. Special thanks also to Barbara Blair for her thorough comments on presentation and language style.
Bergen 25 september 2005
Asbjørn Nåmdal
2.0 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO YOUNG LEARNERS
A short introduction to some predominant ideas and principles for TEFL in a historical perspective - with particular reference to the teaching of English in Norwegian compulsory education
2.1 Background
The history of 'modern' foreign language teaching is a relatively short one, only extending back to approximately the 1880s. Vietor's small book Der Sprachunterrricht muss umkehren (1882) initiated the discussion of the difference between the teaching of classical languages, Latin and Greek, and the teaching of modern languages (Aslaksrud/Thoren, 1961:78). The later development of foreign language teaching has often been described as 'the pendulum swings', sometimes from one extreme to another, sometimes stopping halfway. The development of foreign language teaching can thus hardly be called a consistent one. New theories about language teaching and language learning have emerged and been vehemently discussed; some have had a breakthrough and led to new teaching methods, which have lasted for a while, only to be replaced by new ones. The constant discussion of theories and the subsequent trying-out of methods in the foreign language classroom have been dynamic and fruitful - and have led to change in Norway, especially since the late 1960s. Rapid changes in society, which have led to changes in the situation of the individual, have also influenced the way people see and use foreign languages.
The following is a short overview of some predominant ideas and principles of this
development seen from a historical perspective.
2.2 The Latin method
This method, also called the grammar-translation method, used to be predominant in the teaching of Latin and Greek. When modern foreign languages were introduced in the secondary school curricula in Norway from about the 1860s onwards, the Latin method was transferred more or less indiscriminately to the teaching of these languages. Essential characteristics of this method were:
- deductive teaching of grammar, in which forms and structures were presented with the
grammatical rules. It was essential to identify and practise relevant examples that were in
accordance with the rules. Grammatical rules were to be learnt by heart, and thus grammar
often seemed to be an end rather than a means to an end.
- conscious and logical language learning in the sense that learning a foreign language was
more or less an academic activity, in which analysis of language structures played a
predominant role.
- extensive use of translation, to begin with mostly from the target language, but later
'combined translations' became popular; this method was used in the teaching of German in
lowersecondary education as late as the beginning of the 1970s. The first half of a text was
to betranslated from the target language into language 1, and the second half from
language 1into the target language. A close study or analysis of the language of the
respective parts ofthe text, 'combining' language items and analysing them on the basis of
grammatical rules,became an all-important working method, turning foreign language
teaching and learning into a study of the structure of the language rather than focussing on
its useas a means ofcommunication.
- emphasis on reading literary and historical texts, and on writing based on the study of these
texts, either by translating or reproducing them. In lower secondary education translation or
reproduction of a story read aloud twice by the teacher was the only form of written work,
in some places until the early 1970s.There was little room for creative writing, with the
possible exception of analyses of texts from a literary or historical perspective at higher
secondary level.
- not much oral use of the language. When the language was used orally, it was of the type
teacher/questions - pupils/answers based on a literary or historical text, or the language was
used to practise vocabulary and/or grammatical structures. Most of the teaching was carried
out in the mother tongue as its most predominant feature was teaching about the language.
2.3The direct method
This method appeared as a reaction to the Latin method, and was in clear contrast to it; the pendulum swung in the opposite direction. Voices critical of the Latin method were heard as early as the 1880s. Vietor's trendsetting book has already been mentioned, and the Quousque-tandem movement in the Nordic countries exclaimed loudly that foreign language teaching was highly in need of change. Still, the Latin method was extremely tough, and in some respects it could be argued that it was alive and kicking in foreign language teaching as late as the early 1970s, nearly a hundred years later.
The direct method emerged when the influence of descriptive phonetics and psychology made themselves felt to language teaching in the 1920s.Essential characteristics of this method were:
- emphasis on listening comprehension and speaking; for the first time the fact that a foreign
language is a means of communication, was really taken into consideration.
- emphasis on reading and writing; still on the basis of literary and historical texts.
- no formal teaching of grammar, but the study of good examples was considered relevant as
it would provide insight into the structure of the foreign language.
- avoid use of the mother tongue; focus was to be on oral use of the foreign language.
- use of imitation, indicating the influence of phonetics and the stress on good pronunciation
and good language models.
- no translation;meaning was to be conveyed through use of the foreign language, not
through translation.
Later a modified direct method was introduced. Use of the mother tongue was again allowed, and, in fact, looked upon as important when explaining language difficulties to the pupils.
2.4 The audio-lingual and the audio-visual teaching methods
The audio-lingual method
The basis for the audio-lingual habit formation theory was B.F. Skinner's stimulus/response model, with its idea of conditioning and reinforcement leading to habit-formation, and the American structuralist tradition, with its stress on form and correctness, including the use of drills and pattern practice exercises in developing oral skills. A well-known slogan of the time (1961) was that “Language learning is a set of habits” (Simensen, 1998:58). These ideas were applied in foreign language teaching in the United States from approximately 1950 to 1965. In Norway many of the principles of the audio-lingual habit formation theory and 'structuralism' formed the basis of the curriculum guidelines for English in Mønsterplanen av 1974 (M74).
Essential characteristics of the audio-lingual teaching method based on these theories were:
- emphasis on the spoken language, another slogan of the time being "Language is speech,
not writing"(Simensen, 1998:58); but the kind oflanguage that was really spoken in the
audio-lingual classroom, and what it was supposedto be used for (see below), may well be
questioned.
- the sequence in language teaching should be listen speak read write, the waythe
mother tongue is learned.
- learning by heart, especially dialogues to enable the students to master everyday
situations in the language ('situational English'). The M74 generation textbooks were full
of such ready-made dialogues for use in various situations. A logical conclusion of
this would be that situations would adjust to suit the dialogues, and not vice versa, which is
indisputibly the case in real-life situations; this reflected the contrast between the idea of
language as a 'static' entity versus the idea of language as a 'dynamic' and unpredictable
entity that has to adapt to real-life circumstances.
- extensive use of audio-taped materialfrom the very beginning, with recordings of native