Ways of Teaching Foreign Language - Essay Sample

Introduction

Comprehension based language learning is a method of learning a new language where you apprehend the meaning of words rather than speaking the words. Product-based language learning or Presentation Practice Production is a method, as the word suggests, the teacher presents the vocabulary helps the students practice. Later on, when they have mastered the form, they are free of the production stage (Rodgers, 2014). Between the two methods of learning a foreign language, the Presentation Practice Production method is more effective.

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Production Based Language

Production-based Language has three phases; presentation, practice, and production. In the presentation phase, the teacher may use text, audio, or visual to explain a situation. From there, the teacher may use those examples to take out the required language vocabulary. For example, Nanny Faith is feeding the baby. Here the teacher shows the students the present continuous verb, which is feeding (Harmer, 2007).

In the practice stage, the learner practices the words by writing them correctly and saying them. During the practice phase, the teacher corrects the students and giving them positive feedback. In the production phase, the learners have completely mastered the vocabulary and have learned how to produce it correctly. Thus, they can construct sentences and be involved in dialogues and oral presentations.

Comprehension-based Language, as said above, the learner learns the other Language by first knowing its meaning and getting their meanings, then trying to say them (Goh, 2000). The learner may try to assimilate the meanings of the words that make up that Language.

The new language learner tries to understand the foreign language, and during this period, he may learn how to pronounce it. Incomprehension based approach a faster learner is advantageous since they will grasp the concept of the new Language and get the impact of using first learners' Language in teaching another language (Richards & Rodgers, 2014).

Use of Learners’ First Language

The first language is acquired naturally as it is the one we grow up hearing and communicating with our parents' relatives and friends. Learning another language is not difficult as one is not starting from scratch (Robinson, 2016). Experienced foreign language teachers are aware that acquiring different languages can be difficult due to their mother tongue's already impact. Everyone can control their learning of other languages thus can create their language and interlanguage system.

For instance, when one’s mother tongue has no value in a country, they might be forced to learn the main language used in the country. Thus, a teacher may use the mother tongue as they explain the foreign language to their students.

When one is fluent in one language learning, the other language becomes easier. One of the aims of teaching another language is to create awareness that a particular language exists and impacts our lives (Richards & Rodgers, 2014).

Mother tongue instills skills and social abilities that we develop, which are important pre-conditions for learning a foreign language or another language. Acquired patterns in the mother tongue can be shifted to the learners of a different language and other languages. This shift is not positive; the action is because foreign languages are acquired artificially; thus, the process is different from a mother tongue's natural acquiring.

Teacher Roles Objective

Communicative language teaching is the teaching of a second language or foreign language whose main aim is emphasizing interaction by means and the goal of learning the language. Situational language teaching introduces a second language vocabulary and grammar emphasizing oral and skills development, focusing on its literacy. Situational language training is the most effective (Richards & Rodgers, 2014).

Situational language training leaves the teacher and the students' roles to play (Richards, 2008). The teachers’ role is to introduce new vocabulary and grammar to the students. The teacher teaches the students the meanings of the new words and helps them understand them. The teacher then helps them say the words and later on helps them construct the sentences and involve themselves in oral presentations (Goh, 2000). Its main aim is to allow the second language users to use accurate grammar and vocabulary to achieve the right skills. The learners are supposed to be able to pronounce the words use the correct grammar.

In communicative Language, teaching emphasizes interaction as both the means and main goal of studying the new Language (Littlewood, 2007). Language learners using this method learn and practice the language by interacting with one another and the instructor.

It aims to leave the learner knowing how to use the language properly, especially in the social context. It also focuses on learners knowing how to use correct grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Besides, the goal of communicative language in language education is to ensure that the target audience can communicate fluently (Harmer, 2007).

Prepare a consciousness raising activity to attract learners’ attention to the difference between the simple present tense with its use for habitual actions and the present continuous tense with its use for the activities that takes place at the moment of speaking.

Consciousness-raising activity is a guideline that enables learners to imagine samples of a language and encourages them to come up with conclusions of how the language works and this can be in terms of orals, written text, or through conversations (Goh, 2000). Here a teacher explains to the learner meanings of words by using simple examples to make understanding easier. Below is how a consciousness-raising activity.

Simple present tense refers to the current happenings that are the events happening now. Present continuous tense is a verb used to show an ongoing event happening right now. With simple tense, we talk about fixed routines and habits that do not change, while in present continuous tense, we talk of actions that are happening now or at the current time.

Conclusion

With the present continuous tense, one talks of the events that happen daily, monthly, and yearly. For instance, you can say I go to school every day. It shows a routine of how what you do every day. Other examples may be, I brush my teeth after every meal. The event of brushing teeth is done after every meal, we visit children's home twice a year visiting the children's home is the event, and it is done twice a year (Harmer, 2007).

Simple present tense talks of current happenings (Dodd et al., 2003). A rhetorical question to explain this properly is, what are you doing now? I am feeding the chicken; I am cooking, I am riding a bicycle. ''Am'' and ''are'' are normally used to describe emotions in the simple present tense.

References

Dodd, P. E., & Massengill, L. W. (2003). Basic mechanisms and modeling of single-event upset in digital microelectronics. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 50(3), 583-602. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1208578

Goh, C. C. (2000). A cognitive perspective on language learners' listening comprehension problems. The system, 28(1), 55-75.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(99)00060-3

Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. : Pearson Longman. http://182.160.97.198:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1243/Bibliography.pdf?sequence=8

Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms. Language teaching, 40(3), 243.
http://www.academia.edu/download/52920820/1.pdf

Richards, J. C. (2008). Teaching listening and speaking. Cambridge, England: Cambridge university press.
https://www.lang-works.com/Beyond-the-Plateau-Richards.pdf

Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge university press. ISBN:978-1-107-67596-4

Robinson, W. (2016, October). From scratch to patch: Easing the blocks-text transition. In Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (pp. 96-99).
https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978265.