Approaches in Teaching English

Teaching is one of those things that nearly everybody thinks he or she can do better than the experts. Everybody has taught something to somebody at one time or another, after all. We begin our amateur teaching careers as children by imposing our superior knowledge on our younger siblings or playmates. As students, we pass…


Teaching is one of those things that nearly everybody thinks he or she can do better than the experts. Everybody has taught something to somebody at one time or another, after all. We begin our amateur teaching careers as children by imposing our superior knowledge on our younger siblings or playmates. As students, we pass judgment among our peers on this or those teachers capabilities. As adults, those of us who do not teach professionally stand ever ready to criticize those who do (Evans, 1989). The teacher and his teaching approach play a great role in the learning of the student. It depends upon the kind of teaching for students to feel free and comfortable with the kind of strategy a teacher portrays within the classroom. Many types of teaching strategies are being adapted by teachers worldwide. A good teaching strategy greatly affects a student psychologically making him invigorated with the lesson thus making him pay more attention in class.

                Group Learning is the mainly approach to organize collaborative learning. There are many collaborative learning methods, which also can be considered as group learning methods and popularly used in classroom-based environment. If they can be utilized into web-based environment, modeling and stimulating work should be finished first. One of the purposes is to find a common approach, which can be used to stimulate small learning group based on different collaborative learning methods, on the other hand, the optimal solution is to model any small group learning method, but it is quite difficult to realize. Some experiences can be got and can be applied to model common group learning process (Students’ working in groups is another way a teacher can enforce a lesson plan. Collaborating allows students to talk among each other and listen to all view points of discussion or assignment. It helps students think in an unbiased way. When this lesson plan is carried out, the teacher may be trying to assess the lesson of working as a team, leadership skills or presenting with roles

                Cooperative Learning is a systematic pedagogical strategy that encourages small groups of students to work together for the achievement of a common goal. The term collaborative learning is often used as a synonym for cooperative learning when, in fact, it is a separate strategy that encompasses a broader range of group interactions such as developing learning communities, stimulating student/faculty discussions , and encouraging electronic exchanges. Both approaches stress the importance of faculty and student involvement in the learning process.

                Demonstrations are done to provide an opportunity in learning new exploration and visual learning tasks from a different perspective. Demonstrations can be exercised in several ways. Here teacher will be also a participant. He will do the work with his/her student for their help Use the demonstration or “doing” method to teach skills. Demonstrate, step-by-step, the procedures in a job task, using the exact physical procedures if possible. While demonstrating, explain the reason for and the significance of each step. To be effective, plan the demonstration so that you will be sure to show the steps in the proper sequence and to include all steps.   

                If you must give the demonstration before a large group or if the trainees might have trouble seeing because of the size of the equipment involved, use enlarged devices or training aids. When practical, allow trainees to repeat the procedure in a “hands on” practice session to reinforce the learning process. By immediately correcting the trainees mistakes and reinforcing proper procedures, you can help them learn the task more quickly. The direct demonstration approach is a very effective method of instruction, especially when trainees have the opportunity to repeat the procedures 

By: Rodelyn C. Velonta