Language Teaching Approaches

Students learn a set of vocabulary words related to making purchases in a supermarket. They then role play making purchases, with one student acting as the clerk and the other as the customer.

• communicative language teaching

• grammar-translation method

• content-based instruction

Students memorize a dialogue between a doctor and a patient. They then complete drills with words or phrases such as: cough, sneeze, run, jump, move my arm, turn my head, chew on broken glass, using the sentence form, “It hurts when I _________.”

• grammar-translation method

• audiolingual method

• natural approach

The students read a passage from a textbook. The teacher explains the grammar rules of individual sentences in the passage, then helps the students translate each sentence in the passage into their native language.

• content-based instruction

• communicative language teaching

• grammar-translation method

The teacher plays 20 Questions with the students to guess what classroom item he is thinking of. As he explains and models the activity, and responds to students’ guesses, the teacher reduces his rate of speech to a slightly slower than normal pace, repeats back what students say (modeling the correct forms if the students made errors, but without direct correction), and uses gestures and props, to ensure that students receive maximum comprehensible input to facilitate their acquisition of English.

• content-based instruction

• natural approach

• grammar-translation method

The teacher presents a science lesson designed for ELLs that focuses on the classification of animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish). Students are placed in small groups with a chart showing the different classifications and with a set of picture cards of different animals. Their task is to discuss, collaborate, and come to an agreement as they sort the animals under the correct classifications.

• content-based instruction

• audiolingual method

• communicative language teaching