While the direct approach might be somewhat daunting for the introductory language student, culture is an aspect that makes language teaching meaningful and enjoyable. This aspect can therefore be included at all stages of the learning process.
The Reading Approach
This approach, as its name suggests, focuses mainly on reading, grammar and comprehension. According to Dr. Mora, this approach is used if the purpose of the target language is mainly academic. As mentioned earlier, not all textbooks are in English, and students in a specific field may wish to access texts in the original foreign language. In such a case, the Reading Approach is useful.
The approach comprises two priorities: the first being reading ability and secondly knowledge about the country associated with the target language. Grammar is taught sufficiently only for reading comprehension and fluency, while conversational skills - in other words, speaking - are minimally important. Vocabulary is controlled by means of reading texts.
In terms of the introductory Slavic class, this approach is extremely narrow in terms of the language arts apart from reading. Since academic reading is the target of this approach, it is unlikely to be appropriate at the introductory level of college. An useful aspect is however controlling vocabulary through reading and also providing information about culture via the reading text.
The Silent Way
In the Silent Way, the focus is primarily on students' speaking patterns. Features such as colored rods and verbal commands are used to encourage students to participate from the beginning of the language course. There is great emphasis upon pronunciation and speech patters. In effect, listening is also emphasized, as errors are corrected orally, guiding students to the correct pronunciation and melodic sequences of the target language. The idea is that the teacher remains silent for as long as possible to create a gap in which students then react to the miming demonstrations of the teacher.
In terms of an introductory college-level course, this approach may be somewhat inappropriate in terms of maturity level. It may therefore be more appropriate for younger learners, who will respond better to colors and miming. Furthermore, like the Reading Approach, the Silent Way focuses primarily on a single aspect of language, which is speaking. Listening is minimally included only insofar as it is necessary to guide students towards correct pronunciation and inflection. For the introductory college level, this is far too narrow and not appropriate.
The Community Language Learning Method
This approach is widely different from the others discussed above. This method is based upon establishing a warm, supportive relationship between student and teacher. In fact, students and teachers enter into a client-counsellor relationship instead of the traditional student-teacher one. Teachers act as counsellors whose role it is to alleviate the students', or 'clients," anxiety and uncertainty regarding the target language. Acquisition then occurs via a progressive series of steps in this relationship. Clients and counsellors meet on an individual basis, with the rest of the group listening to the discussion between them. The native language is used at the beginning and then gradually phased out as the student and the group gain confidence in the target language. This is a highly communicative approach, in which listening and speaking appear to enjoy precedence. The aim of the client-counselor relationship is then accurate speech, as errors are also corrected orally during the exchange.
The Community method is useful for an introductory level college course in terms of speaking accuracy, maturity level and confidence building. The relationship of the couselor with the clients serves to help students overcome their anxiety regarding performance in the target language. They are gradually led to an understanding of the target language by initially simple utterances that gradually increase in complexity. The client and counselor then also become increasingly equal with regard to their relationship, which is not often the case in a formal student-teacher relationship. This further facilitates the acquisition of the target...
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