Phonetic Teaching Methods

  Before looking at the methods or approaches themselves, there are some terms that we need to define. These are the approach, the method or the technique. Basically, these are hierarchical. The approach is an overriding set of principles that a method can actually make use of, whereas the technique are the things that we actually do in the classroom to approach that method. So, these three words are going to appear during the presentation. Again, for each of either the approaches all the methodologies we're going to ask four questions. So be it an approach or a method for each of those things: Where did it come from? What's its background? What does it involve when we're talking about actually in the classroom, in other words techniques? What is positive about it? What appears to...  [Read more]

  "In terms of the things that are negative about it, we've already said that it doesn't develop speaking but perhaps the biggest negative point about this particular methodology is that it's very unnatural. Ok, so despite the criticisms of this particular method, and particularly the fact that is unnatural, this particular methodology was in use all the way through the 17th, 18th and 19th century and indeed it's still in use today. However, Gouin in the 1880s and Berlitz in the early 1900s decided that this particular methodology was so unnatural that they wanted to come up with something new. The method that they came up with, they called the direct method. You will also sometimes see it as the natural method. What these two people were saying is that if we wish to learn a language...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This will be a discussion aimed at presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of teaching phonetics. We will show how teaching phonetics help create approachability and reinforce language similarities. Inversely we will look at how English suffers from inconsistent phonetic rules and the conflict between words as written and words as said. We will also look at methods to mitigate these issues. Self-awareness Noticing language similarities English rules Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mitchell D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching phonetics help create an approachability towards...  [Read more]

  The purpose of grammar translation then is to basically translate between L1 and L2 and vice versa. So, we could take a simple example. Let's imagine that our native language was English and our target language was French and let's assume that we want to translate a document from French into English. Let's take a simple sentence. Here's a sentence in French "Ouvre la fenêtre" and we'll add "s'il vous plaît" at the end. What we want to do is to take this L2 and translate it back into English. Now, if we have a reasonable knowledge of French then we may well know that this particular verb "ouvre" "to open" translates directly and this female form of the and finally the fenêtre "Open the window" and this polite form of "please". This is all very well if the two structures that...  [Read more]

  Our next methodology is called the silent way and it's accredited to Caleb Gattegno and was developed in or around the 1970s. This particular methodology moved on from the behaviorist stimulus response to what's called a theory of constructivism and this constructivist approach was very very different, very radical to anything that had been tried before. The background to this particular methodology was that there was a French mathematics teacher who found that his students were finding it very difficult to understand particular concepts. What he realized was that what they needed was a more visual representation of the information. So he came up with a series of colored rods to help with those concepts in mathematics. He gave his name to those rods and they're called Cuisenaire...  [Read more]

  Before we move on to the final methodology for today, let's just recap and see where we are at this point in time. We're looking at different learning methodologies. Each of those methodologies takes its premise from being somewhere on this particular spectrum of ?nature versus nurture? and where we are on this spectrum gives us a starting point for the background or theory to that particular methodology. So, we?ve had a look starting in the 17th century and the classical method and moving on as the ideas of psychology developed to various methods, such as audiolingualism, the silent way, Suggestopedia and TPR. Each of these showing a development as knowledge about learning increased and each of these takes a different starting point on our English spectrum. Below you can read...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Being an English teacher, teaching skills are very important. The quality of learning result depends on many factors, but the teacher's methods are the essential elements for learners' learning progress, motivation, enthusiasm, etc. to help them have the best result in studying English. I will concentrate on "How to teach vocabulary effectively". The Role of Vocabulary in Communication Engagement Delivering New Means of Communication Practicing Acquired Linguistic Devices Other Ways to Teach Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nhat D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It can't be denied that the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are a lot of teaching methods. Some of them are more popular, some of them less. But the theme of this summative task is about efficiency, not about the most interesting or the most popular method. So, is drilling an effective teaching method? If we want to ask this question, first, we need to consider the following question: "What is drilling?". After this, we can discuss the pros and cons of this method. What is drilling for? Skills Group size Students' Level Advantages and Disadvantages Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dmitry S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In short, drilling is a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When we start to learn new things as children, we tend to do that with the help of games. That is why in many classrooms of young learners, we find games to be a highly popular medium amongst educators. It is a way of absorbing and processing a piece of information in a fun and educational way. But when we grow up, we somehow forget the necessity of games in the classroom. Ice Breaker Ways to Include Games into Your Lesson What Games to Choose? Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anna B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When it comes to learning a second language, children immerse themselves in...  [Read more]

  Also in the 1970s la señal came up with a new methodology called "Suggestopedia". As psychological theory was developing, one of the ideas that came up was something called ?the effective filter?. Basically, the effective filter is a barrier to learning. It's the reasons why we inhibit our learning of a particular language. There are two main elements to the effective filter, two sets of factors, if you like, those are known as internal and external factors. The external factors to learning, the reasons why we have barriers to learning, may be just simple things such as external noise. So, people talking to us while we're trying to learn and so on and so forth. Perhaps more important are these internal factors and the internal factors one of the main things here is our previous...  [Read more]

We will follow a largely chronological order as we delve into the different strategies for teaching English, from time-tested methods to modern approaches. The Classical Method The Direct Method Audio-Lingual Method Task Based Learning Total Physical Response Engage Study Activate CLIL Conclusion This approach, also known as grammar translation, was originally used for teaching classical languages like Greek and Latin. It places a strong emphasis on grammar, particularly verb conjugations and language rules. Also known as the "natural approach", it strives to mimic the way we acquire our mother tongue naturally. Consequently, only the target language is employed, prioritizing speaking and listening skills. As the name suggests, this method primarily emphasizes listening ('audio') and...  [Read more]

  Our final methodology is accredited to Jeremy Harmer and it's known by the letters ESA. Around 1998, Jeremy Harmer produced a book called "How to teach English" and basically what Harmer did, is a background to this book is to do what we have done today and to work through all of the different methodologies that have come about over the last 300 years. He highlighted for each of those methodologies what was good about it, what was positive and what didn't appear to work and then put all of the positive things into a melting pot and came out with this methodology, which he called ESA. It's a three-stage methodology, where each of the letters represents a particular phase of the lesson. The first one being called the engage phase, the second the study phase and the final one the...  [Read more]

  So what we're going to do is to run through a series of methodologies that were created mainly in the 1900s that adopted the idea that language learning should be much more communicative, much more natural. The first one is called audiolingualism and it's also called the army method because of where it was developed. Basically, psychology, during the 1950s and 60s, was building up new theories about behaviorism. Perhaps the most famous experiments that were done in this particular area were by Pavlov, where he was showing that most animals undergo a stimulus response mechanism and he had a series of famous experiments, where by ringing a bell, he could cause a dog to salivate, that would be his response, in the expectation of getting some food. This behaviorist idea of stimulus...  [Read more]

  So let's take an example of what those drills might involve. So here is an example of a repetition drill. I will model the language and then my class will repeat after me. So "This is a cup." "Spoon" ? "This is a spoon." "Knife" - "his is a knife." Thank you. The reason that it's called or also called the army method is that it was the method adopted by the United States military who had personnel stationed around the world at the end of Second World War and they realized that they needed those personnel to pick up the language very quickly and one of the positive things about this particular methodology is that you do very quickly learn vocabulary. Another positive thing about it is that you quickly learn the correct pronunciation of that vocabulary. However, there are some...  [Read more]

  Our next particular methodology is accredited to James Asher around 1965 and is called total physical response. Asher looked at the way in which we learn our native language and he saw that most children, before they even went to school, have picked up a very large percentage of both the grammar and the vocabulary that they would use in their native language before any type of formal schooling. So Asher started to have a look at ideas of how to use the whole of our brain in language learning in the way that we do when we're very young. It's accepted that within our brain there are two hemispheres, one is the left hemisphere the other is the right hemisphere, and one of the functions of the left hemisphere is language learning. One of the major functions of the right hemisphere is...  [Read more]

  This presentation is going to focus on the theories, methods and techniques of teaching and we're going to start with a quote. This is an interesting quotation because it contains within it a philosophical argument and it's a philosophical argument in the way in which we learn. Basically, this one is saying that the intelligence of their own children comes about due to a natural process. So this one could be said to be due to nature. This is exactly the opposite of this one, which is saying that they're teaching the environment that we create, creates that intelligence. So this one can be said to be due to nurture and this argument 'nature versus nurture' has been going on for thousands of years. These two viewpoints are two ends of a scale, or a continuum if you like, and every...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Speech has been used to communicate and express many things since the dawn of man. When we look at wildlife, we can see a pattern in a speech similar to human communication. To truly understand science speech, we must look deeper at the concept of communication. Why Speech is Important? Word Stress Speech and Communication Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dan S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. World leaders, actors, entertainers, successful businessmen and other professionals all have one major thing in common, their speech. We look at presidential talks and product release conferences...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences One of the most important problems encountered while learning a foreign language is undoubtedly pronunciation. Knowing a language fluently may not always be enough. Fluency level may be open to discussion if an accurate pronunciation is not used. Therefore as teachers, we must teach our students how to use the correct pronunciation. However, pronunciation can be a nightmare for some students, especially for young learners. Common Errors in Pronunciation /h/ Sound Ways to Fix Errors Articulation Simple Way to Overcome the Problem Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Selin K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What is phonology? Most students have not even heard about it. Whenever I ask my students whether they know or have ever learned about phonetics, the same answers come out, "No, we don't know about it at all". It is no wonder they reply like this because there is no phonetic teaching lesson in English classes from KG to high school here in my country. As for me, I got to study about this only when I attended college. Even then, it wasn't taught comprehensively and I only learned very little. So I couldn't read nor write phonetic symbols very well. Thus I thought it was the most difficult part of studying English. Reasons to pay attention to phonetics Phonetics in the early years Benefits Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related...  [Read more]

  In order to make your TEFL training experience as smooth as possible we are able to accept a wide range of payment methods. If you want to get started as quickly as possible, we recommend using a credit or debit card as this is a quick, secure and hassle free option via our online payment page. As soon as you make the payment you will be able to get your exciting new life as a TEFL qualified teacher up and running. We also accept other quick and easy online payment methods such as Paypal and WeChat which also allow for a quick and convenient way to get the ball rolling. If credit cards and online payments are not your thing, no problem, we also accept more traditional payment methods including bank transfer and Western Union. Although these options might take a few days to clear,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Phonemics according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is a branch of linguistic analysis that consists of the study of phonemes. In other words, it could be explained as the study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes. Phonemics awareness, on the other hand, is the ability to examine language independently to its meaning and to manipulate its component sound[1]. Difference between phonemes and phonics Universal way of acquiring a language Why phonemes are important? Correlation between phonemic awareness and spelling ability Teachers' Role Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lystra H. Please note that...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, we'll will delve into phonetics and phonology as described in George Yule's book, "The Study of Language." Phonetic and phonology are two branches of linguistics focused on the sound system. They are critical to understanding how speech sounds are produced, which, in turn, shapes language and communication. This discussion will explore various aspects of phonetics and phonology, breaking down the complex world of sounds in the English language. Phonetics and the Sound System Articulation Points Manner of Articulation Vowels and Diphthongs Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language Teaching Phonetics and Phonology In Conclusion Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas First and foremost I'd like to address why phonetics issues very early piqued my interest in teaching English for foreigners. Ever since childhood, I was surrounded by people with substantial articulatory and auditory phonetic problems, not so much with the acoustic ones. Natural Problems Study Issues Self-consciousness Firstly, I attended the sign language and lip-reading courses. Are my efforts worthwhile? Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Asbiorn B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, those auditory problems were inherited biologically by people around me and couldn't be helped much...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Drawing on my substantial personal teaching experience, I naturally gravitated toward this topic for a summative task. Throughout my six years of teaching English, I have encountered various settings, approaches, and challenges. Here, I recount my journey from a language school to one-on-one tutoring, highlighting my evolving teaching methods, materials, and strategies. From Language School to One-on-One Teaching Embracing One-on-One Tutoring Crafting Engaging Lessons Interactive Learning and Progress Evolving with Proficiency Shaping Language Skills Insights from Teaching Individual Students Tailoring Learning to Individual Needs Focusing on Adult Learners Crafting a Unique Teaching Methodology Expanding Knowledge with...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Every fresh teacher, once starting his or her career, has this question: how should I teach English? What is the best way to organize my classes to make sure students would not be bored and learn something? And how to keep them motivated and enjoy every lesson? I did have all these questions at the beginning of my teaching career, and by trials and errors, I found the approach this TEFL course is based on – ESA. My Language Learning Story Teaching Practice Lesson Steps Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Angelina G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My English journey began long before...  [Read more]

When teaching vocabulary in TEFL, it is imperative to employ strategies that maximize retention and practical use. Key approaches include: Harnessing these methods, TEFL teachers can ensure students not only learn but also effectively utilize new vocabulary both in and outside the classroom. Teach new words in context Frequent repetition is a must Use pictures and other visuals Use games to practice new vocabulary One of the most beneficial strategies for helping students remember new language is teaching it in context. Simply listing new words on the board and expecting immediate comprehension might lead to disappointment. When introducing new vocabulary, it is advisable to group related words together rather than disconnected ones. Vocabulary lessons can be themed around subjects such...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences In this insightful blog post, we'll explore the essence of grammar, examining various approaches to its teaching, offering a comprehensive understanding of this linguistic foundation. What is Grammar? Preparation Grammar Practice Activities and Games Grammar Quiz Memory test Miming an action Ready to teach English as a Foreign Language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! For decades, mastering grammar stood pivotal in students' perception of language learning. However, contemporary perspectives vary widely on what constitutes essential learning for learners and the most effective teaching methodologies. Here are some key questions concerning teaching grammar: Prepare some...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This is my teaching experience so l will tell it in the form of a story. In 2011, l sat for my Advanced Level final exams and then applied for a post of temporary teacher at a school in an area called Date. Beginning of 2012, l traveled to Date from Harare to begin what l call a character building turmoil. I was an inexperienced 20-year-old girl who was about to take on a class that would be sitting for its final exam come to the end of that year, with half the class being my former primary school classmates and the other half not thinking much of me. My Experience Building Confidence The Importance Of Communication Conquering Doubts And Fears Choice Of Assignments Being Patient Are You Ready To take Your TEFL Course? Related Articles: Listen to this...  [Read more]

ITTT's world class onsite TEFL certification course is an excellent way to earn a quality certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The course is classroom based and takes place over a period of four weeks during this period trainees receive instruction in English language concepts and teaching methodology. The course also contains a considerable amount of practical teaching practice, giving trainees valuable classroom time along with feedback from our experienced, dedicated trainers. Upon successful completion of the course participants receive an internationally recognized TEFL qualification. The course is available at over 30 fascinating locations around the world including China, Thailand, Italy and the United States. The course consists of more than 120 hours of...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas ESA is a common methodology that teachers use when teaching students another language. It is also a large part of your TEFL certification course. By using the layout of the ESA method to plan your lessons, they will be more structured, organized and effective. Listen to this blog post: What is ESA? The Engage Phase The Study Phase The Activate Phase Benefits of Using the ESA Method Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! This post was written by our ITTT graduate Casandra L. ESA stands for engage, study, and activate. By using ESA, it gives teacher's the flexibility to conduct a classroom in an organized and productive way. ESA is extremely important when it comes to...  [Read more]