" THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH"



Adventages:

• Students create a communicative competence.
• Students learn how to use the language, if they make a mistake the teacher must keep it going and correct it later by emphasizing and practicing.
• Students develop a linguistic fluency.
• Students are active. They want to know something for this reason they ask for information.
• There is a social interaction not just the teacher, but the whole class.
• The important point here is that the teacher starts teaching in context using real vocabulary.
• The activities are focused on the students.
• Students infer what is going to happen.
  
  Activity:   Information Gap  (Intermediate level)
  
  For this activity students must be in pairs, one student will be Student A and the other will be Student B. Each one of them will receive a sheet, they have to ask each other for information in order to fill  in the worksheet. The teacher sets up a time and then he/ she checks the activity.
  
  

  

  
  Instructions:
  
  

  • Get in pairs
  • Ask your partner for information in order to fill in the worksheet
  • For this activity you have (3 min) 
  • Then we will share the activity with the whole class. (5 min)

" THE SUGGESTOPEDIA METHOD"

Adventages:

• Students learn the language quickly by inferring some words. For this the teacher uses pictures, posters, cards, mimic, and relax music.
• Students learn because of the teacher`s positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods.

Disadventages:

• There must be a background of the learning language.
• It can work with adults because teenagers could get bored.

Activity:  (Intermediate level)

• The teacher plays a relaxation music (in the next link you will find different options of relaxation music)
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE1hnq8Urpo 
• She reads a passage and mimes it. Posters and pictures can be on the wall.
• The teacher reads the passage again without miming it.
• Students get in trios one student is the old woman, another student can be the thief, and the last one can be the police officer. They must read the passage and mime it.  (3 min)
  
  

  • Then she/ he reviews the verbs already learned.

  
  

  • took       take                                run             ran
  • be          was/ were                       Have          had
  • can         could                              hear           heard 
  • think        thought                          find            found
  • see          saw                               catch          caught

  
  

  • stay          stayed                         follow         followed
  • shout        shouted                       chase          chased
  • drop         dropped                     jump            jumped

  
  Practice:   (5 min)
  
  After that, the teacher will have two; a blue and a red boxes.  Students will receive some cards which contain verbs in the base form, and they have to place the regular verbs in the blue box, and the irregular verbs in the red one.
  
  

          IRREGULAR VERBS                                             

      REGULAR VERBS              

Instructions:

• You (students) will receive some cards which contain verbs in the base form.
• Look at them and decide which ones of them are  irregular and regular verbs.
• Place the regular verbs in the blue box and the irregular verbs in the red box.
• For this activity you have (5 min)
  

READING:

  "THE LUCKY THIEF"  

Taken from the book "True stories in the news".Second Edition,  pag. 55

These pictures can be on the wall in order to help the students to understand the reading a little more.

                     

       

" TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) "

Adventages:

• Students learn when the learnig is associated with motor activities.
• Students enjoy learning for this the learning should be fun.
• This methodology involves a substantial amount of listening and comprehension.

Disadventages:

• This kind of methodology is applied in beginner students. 

ACTIVITY: (Beginner level)

After the teacher has presented the colors and  numbers in english to the students. It is time for practicing.

In order to practice the teacher will ask students to number from one to ten. After that, he will give five color cards to each student, and he will write on the whiteboard  the following sentence:

"Numbers 2 pick up the red color"

The words "2" and "red" will be replace, so he will say for example: "Numbers 5 pick up the black color"  so students by listening to the teacher will pick up the color  that the teacher asks for.  (5 min)

Instructions:

• Number from one to ten.
• You will receive some color cards.
• When you hear your number and a color, please pick that color up.  

     

" NATURAL APPROACH"

Adventages:

• Students will develop basic communication skills.
• Students use the language meaningfully, they speak when they are ready to.
• At first, students give short answers, then little by little, and with the help of the teacher, students will give a complete answer.
• Students can use oral and written language whenever possible

Activity:
After the teacher has presented the new lesson about There is and There are. It is the time for practicing.



Finding Differences:  (Intermediate level)


Students will get in pairs. Each one of them will receive a different picture.  In pairs, each student will describe what is in the picture to his / her partner. For this activity the teacher has to set up a time. After the time has passed, the teacher will check the activity. 

Instructions:

• Get in pairs
• You (students) will receive a picture
• Describe what is in the picture to your partner using there is or there are.
• For this activity you have 3 minutes.
• Finally, the teacher checks the activity.

After the students have finished the activity and in order to practice a little more, the teacher asks them to describe what is in their house to their partners. Do not forget to set up a time. First, he will give an example:

For example the teacher says: Also, he can write this on the white board:
" In my house there are 3 bedrooms, there is a bathroom and a kitchen. In the kitchen there are 6 chairs and there is a table..............................................."

Instructions:

• Get in pairs
• Describe your house to your partner  (3 minutes)
• Finally, the teacher will ask one of the student to describe his / her house to the whole class. (5 min)

STUDENT  A                                                              STUDENT B

  

"THE DIRECT METHOD"

 

Adventages:

• Students will learn to speak and understand the target language by listening to people, imitating them, and making mistakes.
• Students will learn how to use the language in a spontaneous way without involving it with their native language.
• Students will develop the ability to think and know the target language.

Disadventages:

• Most teachers guide themselves in the use of the "Grammar Translation Method" because of the classroom size, time, and the teacher background. So teachers use a language of instruction, memorizing, and translation.

ACTIVITY:
After the teacher has presented the new lesson about the Present Progressive, by using pictures or modeling the activity; it is time to practice.

Question and answer exercise and Getting Students to Self-Correction. (Intermediate level)
The teacher will ask the students to imagine they are in a park and today is Sunday. So students will use the present progressive.   (2 min)

For example.-  
The teacher says: "Let´s imagine today is Sunday and you are in a park, tell me which activities you are doing"

Students will answer using the Present Progressive and if they cannot do it, or if the answer is not correct,  the teacher will help them to give the correct answer.  The teacher will repeat the same sentence but empasizing in the mistake, then he will ask the students to repeat the correct sentence.  Socializing (20 min)

Instructions: 

• Imagine you are in a park and today is Sunday
• Tell me what you are doing.