5 Principles of Teaching English

5 Principles of Teaching English

As most of us may know teaching English can be as simple or complex as we choose to make it. Linguistics as an art and as a form of learning has changed in many ways over the past 50 years. These changes have been seen more in teaching theories or approaches which in one way or another affects how languages are taught. Some of the different teaching approaches will be incorporated with what can be seen as 5 essential aspects of teaching the English language including pronunciation, grammar use, reading comprehension, vocabulary use, and fluidity.

   To commence, as many Second Language Learners desire to use the English they learn in work related areas or to be able to live in an English speaking country the acquisition of a language through proper pronunciation is vital. This aspect is obtained primarily through an important teaching approach known as Second Language Acquisition which has many important portions that make up an equation to teaching pronunciation. This is done through listening to and speaking with native speakers of a given language, and this is why it is easier for Second Language Learners living in a country where English is the main and official languages like the United States, England, or Australia. It is also possible in countries where English is not the primary language with the help of English native speakers and teachers. The Second Language Learner may also accelerate this process in listening to English radio, tv, and movies. It only accelerates the process because these means do not allow them to practice verbal expression in the given language. Some important aids in teaching include other teaching approaches such as the Natural Approach, the Direct Approach, the Audiolingual Approach, and Communicative Approach. With these aspects and teaching approaches in mind, it is possible for teachers to continually encourage students as they challenge themselves as teachers to give students a better level of understanding and pronunciation. Furthermore, the aspect of fluidity is tightly related with pronunciation as many of the same activities in class may be used to achieve these goals. As learners practice speaking communicating with one another as well as their teacher they acquire a better level of fluidity in the given language that is being learned. This process continues as the learners reach a level where they are at or close to a native speaking level. The process of acquisition in  the area of fluidity may depend on times according to some factors such as age, determination, encouragement, disposition, and ability to grasp the given language.

   In continuation, one of the largest aspects and used in greater detail is the aspect of teaching and learning grammar; note the different between Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning which is obtained through teaching grammar as well as vocabulary which will be seen later on. Grammar is an aspect that is not acquired but is learned or taught. It is a very important part of learning a second language as it shows the Second Language Learner how and when to use certain grammar. The ideal means and use of this grammar is not that the Second Language Learner become an over user in that they focus too much on the grammar structure and use that they hesitate and many times do not speak the way they wish to neither for them to be an under user in that they just say what sounds good if it’s grammatically correct or not, but that they become an optimal user that knows the grammar rules and uses but does not let that affect their production verbally or in written form. The student is helped to achieve understanding in grammar through some basic teaching approaches but the way they completely grasp each grammar aspect and topic is through production and practice for that an important teaching approach is Presentation Production Practice where teachers give a grammar rule or idea to be learned where the students create productions in different activities and forms and finally practice more where they are evaluated informally to be able to correct any errors seen by the teacher. Another popular and useful teaching approach in countries where teaching English is not the primary language is the Grammar-Translation Approach where classes are taught largely in a student’s mother tongue using isolated vocabulary lists, detailed grammar explanations, and repetition of grammar structures with detailed patterns to be followed. This teaching approach has many flaws in that it only teaches the learner to translate words instead of thinking in the second language as well as in many cases complex texts are used but never understood. Depending on the age of students another teaching approach that can be used but is more useful with small children is the Total Physical Response this teaching approach incorporates grammar teaching with verbal and visual instructions that help solidify the ideas in the minds of the small learners that are to be learned. This is done as the teacher says commands as they perform the action so that the learner visual observes the action, this is repeated with the students, then students perform as a group, and finally students perform actions one on one. As grammar is one of the biggest aspects of teaching and learning English as many languages it is important to take adequate time in teaching grammar topics but be careful as to not focus totally on grammar and neglect some of the other aspects which are equally important and fundamental in the learner’s process.

   In continuation, another fundamental teaching aspect in many languages that is overlooked is the area of reading comprehension. This aspect has many setbacks in so-called 3rd world countries because in many of these countries the people do not have a strong culture in reading and much less in reading comprehension. For example, in Colombia, the average person reads only a book and a half a year which is the least out of all South American countries. This not only affects the general education and improvement in some aspects of the country but can also have detrimental setbacks when these people carry on to learn a second language such as English. Another important idea in the area of reading comprehension is many times the learners need to almost learn how to read again or at least change aspects of how they read since their mother tongue is not written or read in the same way as it is in English as well as some statements in the two languages may be difficult to understand. With this in mind it will be important in areas of reading comprehension for students to have complementary aids such as monolingual dictionaries to challenge them to not think in their mother tongue but in the second language that they are learning, but in some cases a bilingual dictionary may be helpful or needed depending on the difficulty or complexity of the texts being read. The one tool that will not be helpful for learners is a translator as many people have on computers or cell phones; these translators work at just that translating word for word the text input into it, therefore, many times translating literally missing the specific meaning and at times not translating some words at all. This is why it is important for learners to only use dictionaries as it will only allow them to look up definitions or translations of a given word, not phrases. A helpful  teaching approach would include the Reading Approach this approach is mainly for people who need academic knowledge many times geared at a given topic such as in specific Business English classes where learners may read text related to accounting, international business, or other aspects related to the vocabulary used in the business world. This is also true for people who work in medical fields, aviation, science, and others that have highly technical terms that along with other aspects of learning a second language need to be addressed and understood. Along with this is the aspect of vocabulary where the students need to continuously improve their vocabulary, understanding, and use of vocabulary to increase their understanding of the English language and being able to create better and more understandable productions to give them a better level in that language.

   In conclusion, learning English just like learning any other language has many parts that make it important and worthwhile some tend to take more importance than others, but as Second Language teachers it is important to understand each part and adapt different teaching approaches to be able to address each aspect giving the learners a more complete and rounded understanding of the English language. As this is achieved the learners will increase their awareness of the given language allowing them to express themselves more freely with fewer distractions and difficulty. This should be a primary goal of any Second Language teacher be it a teacher of English, French, Spanish, German, or any other language in that they strive to help their learners to achieve a level in where they can feel confident in the abilities they have as well as the way they can expresses themselves to others in that given language.