Assignment 1:
Behind every great teacher, there are even greater teaching methods (among many other
things). A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used by teachers to
enable student learning. I have gained knowledge about many teaching methods during my
TEFL course which include - audio Lingual, total physical response, suggestopedia, grammar
translation, direct method and CLT. The most common teaching method during my primary
school years was definitely the audio lingual. This is very similar to a drill sergeant calling out a
sentence and the rest of the troops repeating. I have to say, this method definitely got the job
done when we were at such a young age. It created a fun atmosphere in class and forced us all
to participate!
While trying to decide which teaching methods I would use, I immediately remembered the 3
methods that stood out to me – suggestopedia, CLT and the silent way.
I want my learners to be in a relaxed state while learning. This is where suggestopedia comes in.
Suggestopedia puts emphasis on the learning environment by creating a relaxed state in the
classroom. Many studies show that people tend to learn easier and at a faster pace when they
are relaxed. An example of how to implement this method is by playing relaxing music in class.
Imagine a little spa music! Ironically my ESL teacher in high school used this method on a weekly
basis! She always used to play classical music without any lyrics to help us learn. And needless
to say it worked! (I had a distinction in my ESL all throughout high school)This was my favourite
classroom. However, suggestopedia is a method that is commonly used in conjunction with
another teaching method. Because I intend to encourage as much participation from my students
as possible, I’ll pair it with one of the most common teaching methods, CLT.
CLT is known as Communicative Language Teaching. I believe that this approach compliments
elicitation in such a good way, which is just another good reason to implement it in class.
Elicitation keeps the students focused, engaged, interested, tests knowledge, and forces them to
not divert from the topic being discussed in class. CLT encourages students to learn through
problem solving, tasked assignments and participation. Through this method students learn to
communicate functions, make requests, describe etc. Easy to understand why this is one of the
most common methods of today.
Last but not least, the silent way. This method allows students to learn by practicing. With this
method, teachers use visual aids to communicate with the students, allowing them to do all the
talking. Once again, great participation!
It is important to raise awareness of different methods to your learners. Students should be able
to adapt to the method of the teacher’s teaching style and they are better able to do so if they
understand why teachers teach in certain ways. It is also important to monitor and evaluate your
preferred strategy use and also to evaluate the learning progress.
Behind every great teacher, there are even greater teaching methods (among many other
things). A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used by teachers to
enable student learning. I have gained knowledge about many teaching methods during my
TEFL course which include - audio Lingual, total physical response, suggestopedia, grammar
translation, direct method and CLT. The most common teaching method during my primary
school years was definitely the audio lingual. This is very similar to a drill sergeant calling out a
sentence and the rest of the troops repeating. I have to say, this method definitely got the job
done when we were at such a young age. It created a fun atmosphere in class and forced us all
to participate!
While trying to decide which teaching methods I would use, I immediately remembered the 3
methods that stood out to me – suggestopedia, CLT and the silent way.
I want my learners to be in a relaxed state while learning. This is where suggestopedia comes in.
Suggestopedia puts emphasis on the learning environment by creating a relaxed state in the
classroom. Many studies show that people tend to learn easier and at a faster pace when they
are relaxed. An example of how to implement this method is by playing relaxing music in class.
Imagine a little spa music! Ironically my ESL teacher in high school used this method on a weekly
basis! She always used to play classical music without any lyrics to help us learn. And needless
to say it worked! (I had a distinction in my ESL all throughout high school)This was my favourite
classroom. However, suggestopedia is a method that is commonly used in conjunction with
another teaching method. Because I intend to encourage as much participation from my students
as possible, I’ll pair it with one of the most common teaching methods, CLT.
CLT is known as Communicative Language Teaching. I believe that this approach compliments
elicitation in such a good way, which is just another good reason to implement it in class.
Elicitation keeps the students focused, engaged, interested, tests knowledge, and forces them to
not divert from the topic being discussed in class. CLT encourages students to learn through
problem solving, tasked assignments and participation. Through this method students learn to
communicate functions, make requests, describe etc. Easy to understand why this is one of the
most common methods of today.
Last but not least, the silent way. This method allows students to learn by practicing. With this
method, teachers use visual aids to communicate with the students, allowing them to do all the
talking. Once again, great participation!
It is important to raise awareness of different methods to your learners. Students should be able
to adapt to the method of the teacher’s teaching style and they are better able to do so if they
understand why teachers teach in certain ways. It is also important to monitor and evaluate your
preferred strategy use and also to evaluate the learning progress.
