Uporaba metode Vaughan pri poučevanju angleščine kot tujega jezika v Španiji

Univerza v Mariboru Filozofska fakulteta Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko Oddelek za pedagogiko. Laura Podkoritnik. UPORABA METODE VAUGHAN PRI POUČEVANJU ANGLEŠČINE KOT TUJEGA JEZIKA V ŠPANIJI. MAGISTRSKO DELO. Maribor, Januar 2019.



Univerza v Mariboru Filozofska fakulteta Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko Oddelek za pedagogiko. MASTER’S THESIS. APPLYING THE VAUGHAN METHOD WHEN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN SPAIN. UPORABA METODE VAUGHAN PRI POUČEVANJU ANGLEŠČINE KOT TUJEGA JEZIKA V ŠPANIJI. Mentorica: doc. dr. Klementina Penelope Jurančič Mentorica: izr. prof. dr. Marija Javornik Krečič Somentorica: lekt. dr. Melita Kukovec.

Lektorica: mag. prof. slo. jez. in knjiž. Tamara Kovačič.



Zahvala Iskrena hvala mojima mentoricama doc. dr. Klementini Penelope Jurančič in izr. prof. dr. Mariji Javornik Krečič, ter moji so-mentorici lekt. dr. Melita Kukovec za vso strokovno pomoč, nasvete ter pripravljenost na sodelovanje pri izdelavi magistrske naloge na daljavo iz Španije. Posebna zahvala gre mojim staršem in bratu brez katerih študij sploh ne bi bil mogoč – hvala za potrpežljivost, ljubezen in podporo skozi vsa ta leta. A special thanks to Vaughan Systems for giving me the opportunity to gain teaching experience and facilitating the collection of data used in my research. Last, but not least, I would like to thank all my international friends who slowly became my family and made living abroad easier. Thank you to all who believed in the possibility of me finishing this chapter and encouraging me along the way, showing that little by little one truly travels far..

Priloga 6 ‒ IZJAVA O AVTORSTVU IN ISTOVETNOSTI TISKANE IN ELEKTRONSKE OBLIKE ZAKLJUČNEGA DELA. UNIVERZA V MARIBORU Filozofska Fakulteta IZJAVA O AVTORSTVU IN ISTOVETNOSTI TISKANE IN ELEKTRONSKE OBLIKE ZAKLJUČNEGA DELA Ime in priimek študent‐a/‐ke: Laura Podkoritnik Študijski program: Poučevanje angleščine (mag.), Pedagogika (mag.) Naslov zaključnega dela: Uporaba Vaughan metode pri poučevanju angleščine kot tujega jezika v Španiji / Applying the Vaughan Method When Teaching English as a Second Language in Spain. Mentor: doc.dr.Klementina Penelope Jurančič, izr.prof.dr.Marija Javornik Krečič Somentor: lekt. dr. Melita Kukovec. Podpisan‐i/‐a študent/‐ka Laura Podkoritnik • • •. • •. izjavljam, da je zaključno delo rezultat mojega samostojnega dela, ki sem ga izdelal/‐a ob pomoči mentor‐ja/‐ice oz. somentor‐ja/‐ice; izjavljam, da sem pridobil/‐a vsa potrebna soglasja za uporabo podatkov in avtorskih del v zaključnem delu in jih v zaključnem delu jasno in ustrezno označil/‐ a; na Univerzo v Mariboru neodplačno, neizključno, prostorsko in časovno neomejeno prenašam pravico shranitve avtorskega dela v elektronski obliki, pravico reproduciranja ter pravico ponuditi zaključno delo javnosti na svetovnem spletu preko DKUM; sem seznanjen/‐a, da bodo dela deponirana/objavljena v DKUM dostopna široki javnosti pod pogoji licence Creative Commons BY‐NC‐ ND, kar vključuje tudi avtomatizirano indeksiranje preko spleta in obdelavo besedil za potrebe tekstovnega in podatkovnega rudarjenja in ekstrakcije znanja iz vsebin; uporabnikom se dovoli reproduciranje brez predelave avtorskega dela, distribuiranje, dajanje v najem in priobčitev javnosti samega izvirnega avtorskega dela, in sicer pod pogojem, da navedejo avtorja in da ne gre za komercialno uporabo; dovoljujem objavo svojih osebnih podatkov, ki so navedeni v zaključnem delu in tej izjavi, skupaj z objavo zaključnega dela; izjavljam, da je tiskana oblika zaključnega dela istovetna elektronski obliki zaključnega dela, ki sem jo oddal/‐a za objavo v DKUM..

Uveljavljam permisivnejšo obliko licence Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Začasna nedostopnost: Zaključno delo zaradi zagotavljanja konkurenčne prednosti, zaščite poslovnih skrivnosti, varnosti ljudi in narave, varstva industrijske lastnine ali tajnosti podatkov naročnika: (naziv in naslov naročnika/institucije) ne sme biti javno dostopno do (datu m odloga javne objave ne sme biti daljši kot 3 leta od zagovora dela). To se nanaša na tiskano in elektronsko obliko zaključnega dela.. Temporary unavailability: To ensure competition priority, protection of trade secrets, safety of people and nature, protection of industrial property or secrecy of customer's information, the thesis (institution/company name and address) must not be accessible to the public till (delay date of thesis availability to the public must not exceed the period of 3 years after thesis defense). This applies to printed and electronic thesis forms.. Datum in kraj: 5.1.2019. Podpis mentor‐ja/‐ice: (samo v primeru, če delo ne sme biti javno dostopno) Ime in priimek ter podpis odgovorne osebe naročnika in žig:. (samo v primeru, če delo ne sme biti javno dostopno). Podpis študent‐a/‐ke:.

Abstract and Keywords In the thesis we write about English as a global language and the process of teaching it using a special in-company method. Learning a language differs from person to person, and even more from adults to children. When it comes to teaching English as a foreign language, we can use different approaches and methods, from conventional to alternative ones. There are many ways for people to learn a foreign language – it can be by themselves using different books, audiovisual material or apps, or by taking classes with an English teacher. Browsing through numerous job ads for English teacher vacancies one can easily notice there is a preference of native speaking teachers. Why are native speakers, that potentially do not even have any teaching certificates, more valued than nonnative teachers with pedagogical background? Spain is one of the countries where English is not vastly spoken; a situation which in the past few years have been slightly changing for the better as more and more people sign up for English courses to learn English for different purposes (most common are work, travelling or themselves). One of the companies that offer English courses all over Spain is Vaughan Systems where teaching evolves around an autonomous method developed by an American, Richard Vaughan. In the thesis we introduce the method and Vaughan teachers’ opinion on it regarding their workload, pedagogical background and textbook assessment and comparing the results based on the teachers’ native speaker status and the time they have been working for the company. Key Words: English teaching, language learning, adults, non-native speaking teachers, native speaking teachers, Vaughan, Spain.

Povzetek in ključne besede Magistrsko delo z naslovom Uporaba metode Vaughan pri poučevanju angleščine kot tujega jezika v Španiji se osredotoča na tematiko neformalnega izobraževanja na področju angleškega jezika v podjetju Vaughan Systems. Gre za podjetje, ki ima po celotni Španiji razpleteno mrežo delegacij, kjer nudijo ure angleščine (individualne, skupinske, za odrasle, za otroke itd.). V magistrskem delu pišemo o angleščini kot o globalnem jeziku in o procesu poučevanja le-tega z uporabo avtohtone Vaughan metode. Učenje jezika se razlikuje od osebe do osebe, še več razlik je opaznih v učnem procesu med otroci in odraslimi. Pri poučevanju angleškega jezika se lahko poslužujemo različnih pristopov in metod, vse od konvencionalnih do bolj alternativnih. Poznamo več načinov, kako se posamezniki lahko učijo tujega jezika – učnega procesa se lahko lotijo sami s pomočjo priročnikov, avdio-video materiala, raznoraznih aplikacij, ki so na voljo za uporabo na mobilnih napravah, ali s pomočjo kontaktnih ur z učiteljem angleščine. Španija je ena izmed redkih evropskih držav, kjer znanje (in pogovorno znanje) angleščine doslej ni bilo tako razširjeno; v zadnjih letih se je začela situacija obračati na bolje, saj vse več ljudi potrebuje ažurno znanje angleščine bodisi za službene in poslovne namene, potovanja, bodisi za lastno osebnostno rast. Brskajoč med oglasi za prosta delovna mesta poučevanja angleščine je težko prezreti dejstvo, da daje večina delodajalcev prednost učitelju, katerega materni jezik je angleščina, ne glede na to, da ima morda učitelj, ki obvlada angleščino kot svoj drugi ali tuj jezik na visoki ravni, več kvalifikacij za poučevanje. V teoretičnem delu smo se osredotočili na že objavljena literarna dela glede učenja in poučevanja jezika. Zanimalo nas je, kako se učenje jezika prične, kako je z učenjem jezika v dobi odraslosti in kako poučevati različne komponente jezika (slovnica, besedišče, izgovorjavo itd.) ter kako se lotiti poučevanja odraslih. Pomemben del naloge predstavlja tudi teoretično izhodišče statusa naravnega govorca (t.i. »native speaker«) angleščine oz. pomanjkanje le-tega ter vpliv statusa na pojmovanje kakovosti učitelja. V drugem delu naloge smo se lotili predstavitve podjetja Vaughan Systems ter metode, ki je središče ur angleščine v omenjenem podjetju..

V empiričnem delu smo skušali raziskati mnenje učiteljev, zaposlenih v podjetju Vaughan Systems glede metode poučevanja, delovne obremenjenosti, pedagoške izobrazbe in ocenitve kakovosti učbenikov, ki se uporabljajo pri urah. Dobljene rezultate smo nato dodatno analizirali glede na status naravnega govorca učiteljev in čas trajanja zaposlitve v podjetju. Čeprav se uporaba metode Vaughan lahko zdi ponavljajoča, nikakor ni monotona – zmanjša samo razlago in daje bistven pomen dejanski uporabi angleščine. Gre za metodo, ki »takoj preide k bistvu z zelo majhnim deležem razlage slovnice« (Navarro Romero, 2011). Med učitelji, ki so zaposleni pri Vaughan Systems so tako tisti, katerih materni jezik je angleščina kot tudi tisti, ki so se angleščine priučili kot drugega jezika in jo obvladajo na ravni naravnega govorca (t.i. native speaker). Medgyes (Medgyes, 1986) je zapisal, da je sposobnost nenaravnih govorcev omejena in da se lahko le približajo nivoju naravnih govorcev, ampak ga nikoli ne bodo zmogli popolnoma osvojiti. V nalogi smo tako raziskovali tudi, ali obstaja povezava med naravnimi govorci angleščine in večjo kakovostjo ur ter manjšo delovno obremenjenostjo v primerjavi s kolegi, ki so se angleščine priučili kasneje. Ena izmed ključnih sestavin uspešne učne ure je dober učni načrt – pri tem smo želeli preveriti, ali naravni govorci porabijo manj časa za načrtovanje učnih ur kot njihovi kolegi, kar smo zapisali v obliki ene izmed hipotez na podlagi Medgyeseve trditve, da nenaravni govorci velikokrat občutijo nelagodje ob uporabi angleščine, kar poskusijo nadoknaditi z dodatnimi pripravami in podrobno zastavljenim učnim načrtom. Zastavljena hipoteza je bila zavrnjena, saj statistična analiza dobljenih podatkov ni pokazala znatnih razlik med obema skupinama učiteljev. Med pričakovanimi, vendar vseeno presenetljivimi rezultati, je bil delež učiteljev, ki so bili pred začetkom dela pri Vaughan Systems deležni kakršnega koli izobraževanja s področja pedagogike – ta je namreč pokazal, da je precej več učiteljev, ki so sicer naravni govorci jezika, vendar nimajo nobene pedagoške podlage za poučevanje, kar je zaskrbljujoče, saj kaže prioriteto statusa govorca pred poznavanjem pedagoških pristopov. Po drugi strani pa med naše ugotovitve sodi tudi dejstvo, da ne obstajajo nikakršne statistično značilne razlike v pogostosti uporabe učbenikov med skupinama in da.

naravni govorci ne opazijo napredka pri učencih nič kaj prej kot njihovi kolegi, katerih materni jezik ni angleščina. Hipoteze smo preverili tudi z vidika časa, ki ga učitelji preživljajo kot zaposleni pri Vaughan Systems, saj smo mnenja, da status naravnega govorca ni glavno merilo in da so izkušnje tiste, ki naredijo učitelja še posebej veščega, kar se tiče agilnosti in dinamike v razredu. Tako smo izvedeli, da ni znatne povezave med časom zaposlenosti in pogostosti uporabe učbenikov pri učnih urah, kjer je kar 43,5 % učiteljev odgovorilo, da učbenike uporabljajo pogosto. Med pozitivnimi značilnostmi učbenikov, ki so jih učitelji v sklopu raziskave izpostavili, pa so njihova vizualna privlačnost, jasna navodila ter besedila, ki so zanimiva za učence. Učitelji, ki so pri Vaughan Systems že dlje kot eno leto, so potrdili, da napredek pri učencih opazijo prej kot njihovi kolegi novinci – dejstvo, ki je verjetno precej povezano z izkušnjami glede opažanja najmanjših napak v izgovorjavi ali uporabi napačnih časov/oseb/besedišča in posledični koncentraciji na izboljšanju teh. Pomen izkušenj smo prav tako potrdili s hipotezo, da učitelji, ki so v podjetju zaposleni dlje kot 12 mesecev, porabijo manj časa pri načrtovanju učnih ur. To lahko pripišemo izkušnjam, ki jih učitelji pridobijo v številnih kontaktnih urah z učenci in raznim različicam vaj, ki jih hranijo v spominu. Vaughan Systems predstavlja tako nekoliko drugačen pristop k učenju in poučevanju tujega jezika, vendar se po mnenju učiteljev (in učencev širom Španije) kaže kot izredno uspešna metoda, sploh v primeru začetnega učenja jezika.. Ključne besede: poučevanje angleščine, učenje jezika, odrasli, nenaravni govorci, naravni govorci, Vaughan, Španija.

Content Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.. First Language Acquisition ......................................................................................... 2 1.1.. The Behaviorist Theory ...................................................................................... 2. 1.2.. The Innatist Theory ............................................................................................. 3. 1.3.. The Interactionist Theory .................................................................................... 3. 1.4.. The New Theory .................................................................................................. 3. 2.. Learning a Language as an Adult ............................................................................... 4. 3.. Teaching English as a Foreign Language ................................................................... 5. 4.. 5.. 3.1.. Methodology of Language Teaching .................................................................. 5. 3.2.. Traditional approaches and methods................................................................... 6. 3.2.1.. The Communicative Approach ................................................................... 8. 3.2.2.. Modern communicative approaches ........................................................... 8. Teaching Grammar ..................................................................................................... 9 4.1.. Grammar and its Importance............................................................................... 9. 4.2.. How to Teach Grammar .................................................................................... 11. 4.2.1.. Deductive Grammar Teaching .................................................................. 11. 4.2.2.. Inductive Grammar Teaching ................................................................... 12. Teaching Vocabulary ................................................................................................ 13 5.1.. Word Analysis .................................................................................................. 13. 5.2.. Word parts and word chunks ............................................................................ 14. 5.3.. Vocabulary Teaching Techniques ..................................................................... 16. 5.3.1.. Presentation of the word ........................................................................... 17. 5.3.2.. Vocabulary practice .................................................................................. 18. 6.. Teaching Adults ........................................................................................................ 19. 7.. Nativity of Teachers: Native vs. Non-Native teachers.............................................. 20. 8.. The Vaughan Method................................................................................................ 23 8.1.. Teaching and Learning English in Spain .......................................................... 23. 8.2.. History and concept .......................................................................................... 26. 8.3.. Vaughan Syllabus ............................................................................................. 28. 8.4.. Lesson Planning ................................................................................................ 28. 8.5.. Textbook Overview for Trimestral Classes ...................................................... 30. 8.6.. Textbook Guide Overview ................................................................................ 30. 8.7.. English Teaching Manual Overview ................................................................. 31.

8.8. 9.. Picture Book Overview ..................................................................................... 31. Empirical part............................................................................................................ 32 9.1.. Empirical Research ........................................................................................... 32. 9.1.1.. The purpose of the study ........................................................................... 32. 9.1.2.. Research Questions ................................................................................... 33. 9.1.3.. Variables ................................................................................................... 34. 9.2.. Research Methodology ..................................................................................... 37. 9.2.1.. Research Methods ..................................................................................... 37. 9.2.2.. Research Sample ....................................................................................... 37. 9.2.3.. Data-Collecting Procedure ........................................................................ 39. 9.2.4.. Data-Processing Procedure ....................................................................... 39. 9.3.. Results and Interpretation ................................................................................. 39. 9.3.1. Background of Formal Education in Pedagogy and its Application to Teaching at Vaughan Systems .................................................................................. 40 9.3.2.. Teachers’ Workload: Planning and Executing Classes ............................. 46. 9.3.3.. Teachers’ Textbook Assessment and Use ................................................. 51. 10.. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 58. 11.. Works cited and consulted .................................................................................... 63. Appendix 1.. LESSON PLAN SKELETON. 2.. PERTH STUDENT BOOK INDEX. 3.. TEXTBOOK BREAKDOWN. 4.. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS WORKING AT VAUGHAN SYSTEMS.

Table of Figures Table 1: Questions regarding teacher’s background in education and application of it to classes. .............................................................................................................................. 34 Table 2: Questions regarding teacher’s workload based on the amount of time spent on planning and executing important parts of the lesson. ...................................................... 35 Table 3: Questions based on teacher’s evaluation of textbook quality and use. ............... 36 Table 4: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) of teachers according to sex. .................... 38 Table 5: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) of teachers according to their native: nonnative status....................................................................................................................... 38 Table 6: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) of teachers according to the time they have spent working for Vaughan Systems. ............................................................................... 38 Table 7: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) on Pedagogical Qualifications of Teachers. .......................................................................................................................................... 40 Bar graph 1: Pedagogical background of native and non-native speaking teachers. ........ 41 Table 8: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between pedagogical background and native speaker status. ........................................................................................................ 41 Table 9: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding teacher’s opinion on time learners should spend doing homework. ........................................................................................ 42 Table 10: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding teacher’s opinion on time spend checking homework. ......................................................................................................... 42 Table 11: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between pedagogical background, native speaker status and time of employment regarding homework. ......................................... 43 Bar graph 2: Time of noticing learner’s progress by native and non-native speaking teachers. ............................................................................................................................ 44 Table 12: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ native speaker status and progress noticing. ....................................................................................................... 44 Bar graph 3: Time of noticing learner’s progress in relation to teachers’ time of employment....................................................................................................................... 45 Table 13: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between time of employment and progress noticing. .............................................................................................................. 45 Table 14: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how much time teachers spend teaching a week. ................................................................................................................ 46 Table 15: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how much time teachers spend teaching a week. ................................................................................................................ 46 Bar graph 4: Lesson planning time by native and non-native speaking teachers. ............ 47 Table 16: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ native speaker status and class planning time. .................................................................................................... 48 Bar graph 5: Lesson planning time in relation to teachers’ time of employment. ............ 48 Table 17: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ time of employment and class planning time. .................................................................................................... 49 Table 18: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how frequently teachers switch between tasks. ................................................................................................................... 49 Table 19: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how often teachers use textbook guides. ............................................................................................................................... 50.

Table 20: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how often teachers use lesson plan skeleton. .................................................................................................................... 50 Table 21: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how often teachers use textbooks in class. ............................................................................................................. 51 Table 22: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) regarding how often learners use textbooks in class............................................................................................................................... 51 Bar graph 6: Use of textbooks in class by native and non-native speaking teachers. ....... 52 Bar graph 7: Use of textbooks in class in relation to teachers’ time of employment. ....... 53 Table 23: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ native speaker status and time spend at the company regarding textbook use in class....................................... 53 Table 24: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) of teachers’ assessment of textbooks through a Likert scale........................................................................................................ 54 Table 25: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ native speaker status and textbook assessment. .................................................................................................. 55 Table 26: Frequencies (f) and percentage (f%) of teachers’ material use in class. ........... 56 Table 27: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ native speaker status and materials used in class. ............................................................................................... 56 Table 28: Pearson Chi-Square test of difference between teachers’ time of employment and materials used in class. ............................................................................................... 57.

Introduction “We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly.” ― Kató Lomb, Polyglot: How I Learn Languages Language is the core of communication; it can appear in the form of a mother tongue, second language or foreign language. With the phenomenon of globalization languages have gained on importance as they are a necessary component of modern everyday life, whether it is for the purpose of work, studies or leisure. English in particular has become one of the most popularly used languages around the world as, according to Harmer, it is spoken by around 600700 million people either as a mother tongue or a second language. (Harmer, 2000, p 2) Acquiring each owns mother tongue is a taken-for-granted thing that we usually do not pay that much attention to, because it happens in our childhood and we have very little or no control over it. At later stages in our lives we are exposed to learning languages other than our mother tongue that we need to assimilate in a way that we are able to use its grammatical structures and vocabulary in a correct (ideally, native like) way. How to achieve success when learning a foreign language? There are many methods being used all over the world that give different results so what do those depend on? Is it due to teacher’s experience? Does the secret lie in student’s motivation? Can a non-native teacher apply the same method and achieve the same success with the students as a native one? What is the outlook of EFL teachers on popular ideas about language learning? In our thesis we focused on a method used exclusively in an English teaching company in Spain, Vaughan Systems, and the opinion of teachers who use it regarding its efficiency and evaluation of the work they invest in planning and executing classes as well as evaluation of the quality of the textbooks used in their classes.. 1.

1. First Language Acquisition Every human being has to learn a language at one point to interact with the society they live in. Each language consists of grammar, vocabulary, language in use, pronunciation, and paralinguistic features of a language which are expressed through body language and intonation. (Harmer, 2000, pp 12-34) What is the correct way, if there is such a thing, to acquire a language with all its components? Lightbown and Spada (1997) write that there are many theories on how a language should be learnt, out of which there are three most widely known: the behaviorist view, the innatist view and the interactionist way.. 1.1.. The Behaviorist Theory. The behaviorists insist on the idea that language learning is a “matter of imitation and habit formation”, it bases on their conviction of “say what I say”. (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, p 10) The success depends on positive reinforcement, where the students (praise or successful communication by itself) imitate what they hear or see happening in the environment that surrounds them. The main components of behaviorist way of learning a language are imitation and practice, where the students repeat word for word what they hear and practise it by modifying the sentence (using different persons or tenses). This technique is especially common with very young children who are on the verge of learning their mother tongue, which is why they tend to not only repeat what they hear, but also use it in a more creative way confusing irregular verbs for regular or misinterpreting the meaning of homograph words, since they cannot put it in the correct context yet (proposing a toast is not the same as proposing a piece of bread, closing the door is not the same as being near the door, to wind a watch does not mean to let it be blown away by breeze, etc.). The behaviorist theory suggests that repetition in a form of drills like asking simple questions result in the student knowing to use “Are”, “Is”, “Did”, etc. at the beginning of an interrogative sentence. The expert opinion, however, is that the classical behaviorist theory does not justify enough how the student acquires more complex grammatical structures and eventually masters the use of those.. 2.

1.2.. The Innatist Theory. On the other hand, there is the innatist perspective, where the theory is that all the languages are innate, insinuating that every single one of us is born with the ability to speak a language. The role of environment in this case is neglectable or basic as human beings (children in specific) are “biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child just the same way that other biologically functions develop. (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, p 15) Innatists like Chomsky claim that this innate ability to acquire a language serves as a template with whichever characteristics are common for all world languages known as the Universal Grammar. This innate ability enables humans to learn how to properly use even the more complexed structures in a mother language; however, the twist here is the so called “critical period hypothesis” which marks the point up to which language acquirement is easily possible and simple. (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, p 17). 1.3.. The Interactionist Theory. The third perspective is those of interactionists who claim that for a successful acquiring of a language one needs both: innate abilities for it and an active role of the environment in the process. The correct use of the language is based on the speaker’s understanding of the concept their message is based on, they learn by gaining input of the language produced by the environment and mastered using through experience. This understanding is not the same in childhood as it is in adulthood, therefore, despite the innate abilities for language, children face committing more grammatical mistakes when using the language (for example, following a pattern when using past verbs by adding “-ed” ending to them, unbeknown to the existence of exceptions in the form of irregular verbs). (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, p 20). 1.4.. The New Theory. New theory, Connectionism, claims that whatever children need to learn is at their disposal in their mother tongue as a courtesy of the environment they find themselves in. A person can learn a language if they are exposed to it for long 3.

enough. Creative mistakes still occur, however, with being exposed to proper grammatical structures, those tend to fade away eventually. This theory defends learning a language by associations in early childhood and later on expanding those associations to a wider aspect of their meaning – a “cat” is not only a pet children are used to seeing at home, but it is a simple way of understanding/visualizing its meaning when first running into it, however, later on it applies to the phenomenon of feline animals that do not only fall into the spectrum meaning of a “pet”. At the same time, it is not only learning by association as the learner subconsciously acquires grammatical features of the associated word, like which indefinite article to use or how to adapt a verb to it being used in a proper person or tense. (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, pp 24-25). 2. Learning a Language as an Adult Adults are often faced with a challenge of learning a new language for different purposes, whether those being work necessities, leisure time, travelling, and academic intentions or for advanced personal growth. Foreign language acquisition is a demanding process that is tended to be seen as a greater challenge in adults than in children supported by the theory of brain plasticity – children have brains like sponges, absorbing vocabulary and grammatical patterns, while adults have to invest more time and effort to learn a foreign language. Age is a vital factor that affects language learning. Lightbown and Spada (1997) write that according to Lenneberg (1967) there is a phenomenon called the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) which claims there is an existence of a period in life after which language acquisition may be imperfect or incomplete. Lenneberg evaluated that limit starting at the age of 2 and continuing all the way to puberty. If a student starts learning a language in that period, it is highly likely they will master it in a native-like way when it comes to proficiency, fluency and accent. (Lightbown and Spada, 1997, p 11) That does not mean that acquiring a language after the set limit is impossible, it may, however, demand more effort, time and dedication to it. Several studies have shown that statistically older beginner students do better than younger beginner. 4.

students in the initial stages of the language learning process. (Snow and Hoefnagel-Höhle, 1978, p 1115) Older beginners are said to be more efficient learners in the short term, while younger beginners acquire high language proficiency which makes them sound more native-like on a long term. (Krashen, Long and Scarcella, 1979) Age, however, is not the only factor determining whether language will be learnt successfully. Another element that plays a role in the process is the length of exposure to target language. For example, DeKeyser (2000) suggests that a minimum of 10 years of residing in an environment where target language is being spoken on everyday basis, or an equivalent of 50,000 class hours are necessary to ensure that the language has been acquired properly by attending classes. These numbers show that students who try to acquire the language in an artificial environment (classroom lessons) take almost twenty times longer to do so in comparison to those students who choose to learn a language by immersing into the society where target language is a native language and can therefore be learnt in a naturalistic language setting.. 3. Teaching English as a Foreign Language 3.1.. Methodology of Language Teaching. Teachers can make use of different approaches and methods when teaching a foreign language, which leads to a dilemma of what the difference between one and the other is. According to Harmer, the definition of an approach when talking about languages is the level of theory of language and learning itself, which can be implemented in the teaching process in various ways, depending on different factors, such as: goals and their level, teacher and learner roles, and activities used in class. Among widely known approaches we have the structural approach, the natural approach and the lexical approach. Method, on the other hand, is the way of how teachers decide to apply a chosen approach to their teaching while considering prescribed objectives, roles for teacher and learners and guidelines for activities, which often leave little flexibility for teachers. There is a huge variety of methods to choose from taking in account various characteristics of learners. 5.

(level of the target language, their goals when it comes to language learning, even their age). Among more recognized methods there are the Grammar-translation method, the Direct method, Audio-lingual method, Suggestopedia, Total physical response, Communicative language teaching, Task-based language learning, etc. (Harmer, 2000). 3.2.. Traditional approaches and methods. In the beginning, languages were being taught through the so-called Classical Method, memorizing grammatical rules and vocabulary along with text translation and doing written exercise. Mastering spoken interaction in target language was not a priority as languages were being learned for the sake of knowledge itself. Towards the end of nineteenth century a version of this method becomes known as the Grammar Translation Method. Among the main characteristics of the mentioned method are the use of mother tongue to teach the target language and a very modest use of the latter, vocabulary is usually taught with the lists of randomly assembled words, detailed explanations of grammar and its structures through reading and analyzing difficult texts, and occasional translation tasks from and to the target language. Among aspects of the language that are being highly neglected are the pronunciation and student’s communicative ability in the target language. On the other side of these approaches we have the Direct Method, where the instructions are conducted in the target language and only useful, everyday vocabulary is taught. The emphasis on improving oral skills is noticeably higher than with the Grammar Translation Method, while classes are held in smaller and more intensive forms. There is no direct teaching of grammar; concrete vocabulary is introduced with demonstration, objects and pictures, while abstract one is taught by association of ideas. Alongside speaking communication there is also an emphasis on listening comprehension and proper grammar use with correct pronunciation. (Brown, 2006, p 48) While the Direct method has an advantage in the form of the target language being taught in small classes where the students get more opportunities to orally express themselves and interact with each other, it can also be seen as a disadvantage with bigger classes where the. 6.

teacher might find it extremely difficult to use this method, as not all students get an equal opportunity to use the language in the speaking form. Succeeding the Grammar Translation Method we also encounter Audiolingual Method, which appeared as a part of army training that focused on developing oral and aural skills. With the audiolingual method the material is presented in the form of a dialog, and there is an emphasis on memorization of set phrases taught by using repetitive drills, while there is very little explanation of grammar and its rules – instead, it is learnt using its structures. Vocabulary is limited to being learned in the frame of contextualized dialogs, however, there is a severe importance attached to proper pronunciation of words, as well as minimal or no use of learner's mother tongue. Whenever a learner provides a correct response to the teacher's enquiry, it gets reinforced and praised immediately, which further on motivates the students to make maximum effort and produce spoken communication without errors. There is a bigger emphasis on proper use of the language than on the content, all of which is achieved through the use of tapes, language labs and visual aids. (Brown, 2006, p 106) The disadvantage of this method is that while students use grammatical structures and learnt set phrases, they do not practise the language in a natural speaking environment, which can result in their inability to use the target language and its components in everyday conversation. In late 1950s innatists with Chomsky at the head developed the Natural approach. This was based on Krashen's theory that adults should learn a second language the same way as children do, by “picking it up” instead of from obligatory grammar study sessions. Communication has full priority to language analysis, TPR and listening comprehension are vital for initial language input, and while the teacher uses target language to convey information, students are allowed to use their mother tongue. They are also not required to answer in full sentences and possible mistakes they make are tolerated unless they affect the message the student is trying to get across. The main aim of this approach is to make target language useable in everyday situations. The methods used with this approach include the use of commands, games, and work in smaller groups and role play in various every day contexts/situations. (Brown, 2006, p 76-77) Among the biggest. 7.

advantages of this approach is student’s ability to express themselves in the target language, while the lack of detailed introduction of grammatical structures and explanation of the proper use of them are a disadvantage.. 3.2.1. The Communicative Approach Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emphasizes the need for teaching how to use the language in a communicative way instead of the mere linguistic competence. Learning takes place in small groups where students engage in communicative activities known as task-based learning. (Thornbury, 1999, pp 2122) CLT goals are focused on all parts of communicative competence and not only on grammatical or linguistic ones. Learners practice the target language in functional ways where fluency and accuracy are not a priority. According to Brown (2006) the shortcoming of CLT is that its success depends on the teacher, which may result as a problem with non-native teachers who might not be able to respond to unrehearsed situations the same natural way as a native teacher would. (Brown, 2006, p 215). 3.2.2. Modern communicative approaches As a variation of CLT we have the Task-based approach, where the emphasis is on activities done in class and reproduced in real world. These tasks are divided into target tasks (outside the classroom) and pedagogical tasks (inside the classroom). (Brown, 2006, p 215) Task-based lesson plan is divided into three parts: pre-task, task cycle and language focus. In the pre-task cycle students are presented with a problem they need to solve using target language in the task cycle phase, and aftermaths, in language focus part, the teacher checks the language used, corrects mistakes and makes adjustments. (Harmer, 2000, pp 86-87) Another communicative approach is the Content-based one where content is used as a driving force to make students acquire a language instead of putting the emphasis on the language itself. Teacher’s choice of the content is based on the. 8.

grammar, skills and functions they would like to cover in class. It is based on the presumption that people learn more successfully when learning is focused on the practical use rather than grammatical features of the language itself. The issues that appear with this approach are that assessment results are slightly complicated, because there is a dilemma whether to focus on assessing the content, the proper use of language, or both. (Richards, 2006, p 31). 4. Teaching Grammar 4.1.. Grammar and its Importance. Grammar is a set of rules that represents the system and structure of a language, which usually consists of syntax (word order) and morphology (word formation), occasionally also phonology and semantics. (Oxford Dictionaries Online) Thornbury (1999) writes that the study of grammar is how we look at the way the four forms (text, sentence, word and sound) are arranged in order to convey our message accurately. The importance of learning grammar is to acquire the skill to recognize and produce “well-formed” sentences; however, there is no concrete answer on what well-formed sentences are as some naturally occurring situations do not follow grammatical rules very strictly (for example, using “ain’t” instead of “are not”). Another important factor when it comes to grammar learning is the context, as without it the learners can result under-equipped for real language use. (Thornbury, 1999, p 3) The purpose of grammar teaching is for the students to be able to use it correctly in practice, not only recognize it in theory. Why should one learn grammar and not simply acquire it through the use of a language? Thornbury (ibid.) lists seven arguments on why placing grammar in the foreground in second or foreign language teaching: •. •. Sentence-machine argument (memorization of individual words and phrases is not enough for a limitless communication in second language) The fine-tuning argument (using the language with intelligibility and appropriateness to express the meaning clearly). 9.

•. •. •. •. •. The fossilization argument (learners who pick up a language without formal study/instructions tend to fossilize when it comes to grammatical structures they have not learnt to use) The advance-organizer argument (learning grammar serves for future noticing of the language in use making it applicable with a delay) The discrete-item argument (sorting a language into discrete items, for example present continuous, possessive pronouns, the definite article, etc., or into syllabus, for example asking for favors, making requests, etc., makes it more digestible) The rule-of-law argument (education as transmission of a body of knowledge with the aid of rules, order and discipline is vital for one’s acquisition of grammar) The learner expectations argument (some students come to class expecting a certain amount of grammatical theories which sometimes gives them the feeling they are progressing at the language) (Thornbury, 1999, pp 15-17). On the other hand, there are many that oppose teaching grammar as a unit, as language can be viewed by a skill one can acquire through experience. According to Thornbury (1999) learning a language can be like riding a bike: you do not learn how to do it by studying the theory, but rather practising and making mistakes. It is the same with grammar; one needs to be able to transfer the rules into skills and find a balance between grammar and the use of it – this is known as the knowledge- how argument. Another one of Thornbury’s arguments is communicative, saying there is more to the proper use of language than mere grammatical knowledge – it is the way to communicate the message in a correct context and socially appropriate way. Acquisition argument, based on Krashen’s theory, exposes the fact that we were able to master grammatical rules in our first language by speaking it, and there is no reason we could not do it with the second language as well. Krashen also distinguishes (1982) language acquiring from language learning, stating that second language success depends on acquisition rather than on learning and that “learnt knowledge can never become acquired knowledge”. (Thornbury, 1999, p 19) Following this theory there is the natural order argument, which leans on discoveries by Noam Chomsky from the 1960s that humans are programmed to learn a language as they possess an innate concept of the so-called universal 10.

grammar common to all beings. It explains why people of different ages and cultural background go through the same phases when it comes to learning a language, which is done in a natural way and not through textbooks. Further development of this approach brings us to the argument defending the lexical chunk learning (idioms, whole phrases, social formulas, etc.) explaining it is more economic time-wise and serves for better future understanding of the language. Last, but not least, a reason for learning grammar in a formal way is also a reason against it – learner’s expectations. Many students come to English classes with an already strong knowledge of grammar, which they expect to put to practical use, instead of working through its rules and theories again. (Thornbury, 1999, pp 2021). 4.2.. How to Teach Grammar. There are many ways one can approach grammar teaching. Thornbury (1999) lists two principles he deems vital for grammar teaching: The E-factor and the Afactor. The first one relates to the amount of time that one spends on it (economy), how complicated it is to go through with it (ease) and how consistent it is with learning principles (efficacy); the second one refers to the needs, interests, attitudes and expectations. (Thornbury, 1999, p 28). Further on, grammar teaching can be done in two different ways: it can be taught inductively by introducing the rules straight away and then working on examples to put the rule to practical use, or deductively by starting to give students examples or activities through which they discover the rule. Opting for either of them depends on the teacher and their assessment of what will work better with their learning group.. 4.2.1. Deductive Grammar Teaching Deductive teaching might seem a bit monotonous, as the teacher is the principal speaker and the information is passed via frontal teaching where the students do not actively participate. The rule is explained in different phases: introduction of the grammatical structure, rule of its form, examples, check for understanding,. 11.

rule of use, examples, check for understanding, and illustration of the rule of use with a practical example. (Thornbury, 1999, p 33) It also encourages the belief that languages are learnt by memorizing sets of rules and in the case of younger learners it can result as too complicated as they are not familiar with the terminology connected to grammar and its structures. On the other hand, it is less time consuming as it goes straight to the rule instead of spending time and effort trying to discover the rule, it affirms the role of cognitive processes in language learning and it satisfies certain learners’ expectations on what learning a language should be like in the way grammar is covered. (Thornbury, 1999, p 30) The success of this approach depends on a few guidelines, which determined by Michael Swan (1994) are: 1. Truth - the rules have to be true; 2. Limitations - the rules should show clearly what limits there are on the use of a given form; 3. Clarity - the rules must be clear; 4. Simplicity - the rules should to be simple; 5. Familiarity - the rules need to make use of concepts already familiar to the learners; 6. Relevance - the rules should be relevant. (Thornbury, 1999, p 2) It can be assumed that deductive approach is one of the most efficient ways of dealing with grammar problems, since it involves minimal preparation time and very few materials. This kind of approach is more appropriate for adult learners, as they possess the necessary understanding of the meta-language – they recognize and know how to use components of a sentence, like the subject, verb, object, etc.. 4.2.2. Inductive Grammar Teaching Discovering a rule from examples given by a teacher can seem like a challenging task, however, it is the way people usually acquire their first language. No one sits you down as a toddler and begins explaining grammatical rules on when to use a certain structure or why expressing ourselves in a certain way is more appropriate. 12.

than the other one. We normally acquire our first language by using it, through making mistakes and learning from experience. According to Eisenstein (1987) the inductive way of teaching grammar emphasizes brining the value of order, clarity and meaning to experiences. The learners need to participate actively and are encouraged to develop their own mental set of strategies when it comes to rule discovery. (Eisenstein in Long & Richards, 1987) The advantage of this way of teaching is that the learners take on an active role in the process which can further motivate them to learn, they become more familiar with recognizing patterns and spotting the rule as well as feeling stimulated cognitively. The lessons are more dynamic and interesting, and for the students they are also more memorable and meaningful as they tend to be more studentcentered. On the other hand, this approach is more time-consuming than deductive grammar teaching and can even frustrate the students who would simply prefer to be given the rule in the very beginning. The success of the lessons depends on the teachers and their way of planning it in a way that the students are directed to correct conclusions on grammar rules. (Thornbury, 1999, pp 54-55). 5. Teaching Vocabulary 5.1.. Word Analysis. Words represent a vital part of any language. It is where the language acquisition first starts and where it never ends, as new words get invented and introduced to our first language vocabulary and we never cease to learn new words in other languages we are trying to acquire. Vocabulary learning is highly important, as it challenges the learner to make correct connections between the form and meanings of the word and to use the correct form of a word in relevance to the meaning. To achieve this, the learner not only has to acquire “a critical mass” of words for both understanding and producing a language, but also have them ready for disposal at any time or be. 13.

prepared to fill in the gaps in word knowledge (unknown words or unfamiliar use of words). (Thornbury, 2002, p 2) Words are classified in the following categories: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners. Further on, these word classes can be divided into two groups, grammatical (function) words and content words. Therefore, they have different purposes: one has more of a grammatical meaning and the other contains information. Words consist of a root (play), prefix (replay) and suffix (player), which help building word families – a group of word derivates with the same root and different affixes. Same words can have different forms and can be modified (added, combined, shortened) to form new words. There is also an occurrence of words looking or sounding the same, but having a completely different meaning (for example, homophones Isle and aisle or homonyms spring – the season and coiled metal).. 5.2.. Word parts and word chunks. Thornbury (2002) writes that knowing a word means knowing its form and its meanings. This includes knowing its basic meaning as well as collocations related to the word. Acquiring and understanding these is receptive knowledge, however, one also needs to apply productive knowledge, meaning that we ourselves are able to use the words to speak or write, and not only to understand them through listening or reading. (Thornbury, 2002, p 15) Words that get stored in our mind are not organized in alphabetical order with strict definitions resembling a dictionary; rather than that they are weaved into mind maps of roots, affixes and associations, which Thornbury calls mental lexicon. Coincidental similarity of the words in roots, prefixes, suffixes or pronunciation might lead to committing mistakes in using the word with the proper meaning. This is called malapropism and it is something that is present in real life as well as in literature, dating back to Shakespeare and his Midsummer Night’s Dream where one of his characters describes a flower’s smell as odious instead of odorous as a comic relief.. 14.

For one to know a word it has to be acquired before. This process usually starts with labelling concepts – for example, children use simple words to name the concept, like an animal with four legs as a dog. This word can later be associated with other things like toys, pets, pictures, TV characters, etc. Labelling itself is not enough as dogs are not the only animals with four legs, cats also have four legs, and horses and pigs. It is where categorizing the words comes into the picture. A four-legged animal that barks is a dog. A four-legged animal that meows is a cat. Another important aspect of vocabulary acquisition is being able to connect dog with animal and apple with fruit. Connecting words to their respective superordinate terms is called network building and enables the speaker to set up a web of words that are interconnected and that gets expanded every time we introduce a new word to our vocabulary. (Thornbury, 2002, pp 1718) When it comes to adding words to our network vocabulary as a part of second language acquisition it may happen that instead of connecting the new word to the concept of it, we connect it to its equivalent word in our mother tongue, for example a chair would not call an image of the piece of furniture we use for sitting, but it would instead get translated to “stol” in Slovene. The problem appears when the word translates to a false friend – a word that means one thing in our mother language, but something entirely different in our target language – for example, the Spanish “embarazo” does not translate to “embarrassment” in English, despite its similarities; instead it means pregnancy. There are also cases of words that do not have equivalents in all the languages, for example Spanish “estrenar” in English means wearing or using something for the first time. According to Thornbury, an educated native speaker has a vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words/word families, which is roughly four times fewer words than there are in an English dictionary. As a contrast, an average second language learner is supposed to know around 2,000 words that represent the core vocabulary. (Thornbury, 2002, p 21) Learning new vocabulary consists of introducing the word, understanding its use and its placement in our long-term memory. This act depends on various factors: repetition (represents the beginning of word acquisition), retrieval (finding the. 15.

word in memory bank where vocabulary is stored and using it), spacing (introducing new vocabulary in small blocks instead in vast masses), pacing (respecting the learner’s pace of acquiring words), use (putting words to interesting / real life use), cognitive depth (placing the word in appropriate categories in one’s mind), personal organizing (personal approach to learning vocabulary – for example, reading the words aloud), imaging (accompanying the new word with a mental picture of it), mnemonics (tricks to help us retrieve the words or rules), motivation (determination to succeed and hard work), attention (strong focus and conscious attention are necessary for the process of learning), and affective depth (how the word makes us feel and what we associate it with). (Thornbury, 2002, pp 25-26). 5.3.. Vocabulary Teaching Techniques. There are many different approaches on how to teach vocabulary. Some teachers prefer to use lists, others stick to course books or vocabulary books. When deciding for the list approach Thornbury (2002) suggests different ways of using it: •. teacher reads the words from the list in random order, while the learners try to match the sound with the written form by marking the words they hear in order they hear them in; • learners go through the words in their mother tongue and when the teacher gives a translation in the target language, they tick the equivalent translated words; • vocabulary Bingo! where the learners write down a few words from the previously given list and the teacher reads out a few words from the master list and the students need to cross the ones they have written down; • learners explain what they think words from a random list mean and connect them to each other; • learners do story building by using the words from a given list; • learners make their own vocabulary lists that they later introduce to their classmates; • learners can make lists of words that have appeared in their classes so far and test their classmates on them. (Thornbury, 2002, p 33) Teachers that opt for teaching vocabulary using course books have a vast selection of those to choose from. Course book syllabus is assembled considering the 16.

usefulness, flexibility, learnability and teachability of the words. Usually the themes are accompanied by different activities to practise vocabulary (forming words, guessing definitions, inserting words in texts, reading comprehension, etc.) Same as with course books, there is a wide selection of vocabulary books with different topics to choose from (business, education, hospitality, etc.). Important components of a successful vocabulary lesson begin with the teacher who checks for understanding and establishes an interpersonal language asking students about their life outside the classroom, and other students in class who contribute through brainstorming activities, presentations and group work. (Thornbury, 2002, pp 32-49). 5.3.1. Presentation of the word The first step at acquiring vocabulary is introducing the new word. The teacher should take into consideration the learner’s level, familiarity with words, the difficulty and teachability of the word, and the purpose of learning it (production or reception). The amount of introduced words should be kept to minimum within the learners’ capacity to remember them. The teacher can decide whether to use the meaning-form or the form-meaning approach of presenting the word. Let’s take the word “cat” as an example: in the form-meaning approach, the teacher would first focus on the word itself, its spelling and pronunciation of it, and only then introduce its meaning; in the meaning-form way the teacher would first show the learners a picture of a cat and try to elicit from the students what animal that is, followed by explanation of its form. Another teacher’s decision is in the mean of presentation, the teacher can opt for real things (props), pictures, actions, definitions, actual situations, or direct translation of the word, which can be done in a spoken or written form. (Thornbury, 2002, pp 75-76) The most commonly used is the translation technique where the teacher introduces the target language equivalent of the word in mother tongue. As an alternative to the translation technique is the meaning illustration where the word, is presented by a picture or a prop. To reinforce the acquisition of the word the teacher can include TPR, asking the students to respond non-verbally to the word. 17.

(use it, point at it, pass it, etc.). When it comes to explaining the meaning, the teacher can provide an example situation involving target vocabulary, giving example sentences, synonyms, antonyms, and full definitions of the word. To highlight the meaning, the teacher can do some listening drills, oral drills or use the board to demonstrate the pronunciation of the word by illustrating where to place the stress. The key of this phase in vocabulary learning is to involve the learners by eliciting the word (or their assumption of the word) from them. (Thornbury, 2002, pp 77-87) The choice of how to present a word highly depends on the age group of learners; with children and young learners it makes more sense to use the meaning-form approach (especially if they are still learning to master the alphabet in their mother tongue) using props, pictures, and any other kind of visual or audio material before introducing them to the word itself. On the other hand, with older learners it may result more efficient to use the form-meaning approach, as they tend to be more prone to find out the morphology of words and then its meaning which they connect with the meaning of the word in their mother tongue.. 5.3.2. Vocabulary practice Following the presentation of the new word, the learners need to put it to use. Thornbury writes that new words need to be more than just repeated, they need to be associated with the words that are already in learner’s long-term memory and therefore ease up the integration of new vocabulary. The teacher can check how the students retained the introduced vocabulary with decision-making activities, such as: identifying (finding the words in text), selecting (recognizing and selecting words), matching (recognizing and pairing words), sorting (choosing categories for words) and ranking (deciding on the order of the words). (Thornbury, 2002, pp 96-98) On the other hand, we have production tasks where the students are required to complete sentences or create them, and games which contribute to interactivity of the learners when learning a language. (Thornbury, 2002, p 100) It is important to incorporate the aspects of vocabulary teaching in a way that is interesting for students and that they are able to place/store the word into their. 18.

memory the way it stays there permanently, and they are able to recall it whenever necessary.. 6. Teaching Adults For the sake of clarity, when referring to an adult what we have in mind is a person who is over eighteen years old and does not have an obligation to be included in compulsory education anymore. Why do adults decide to learn a language? The reasons behind this decision can be either a need for work, international relations, understanding texts, or of a more personal nature like understanding television programs, travelling or just for the sake of learning a language and continuing growing as a person. Despite the common belief that there is an age limit for learning a language, teaching adults has many advantages. For starters, in most cases they take up a language course because they want to, there is some sort of internal motivation and not because they were told to do so. Broughton and his associates ensure that with adult students there is a mature personality, educational training experience, already developed intelligence, determination for achievements of clear aims and strong motivation that increases the pace of the process. (Broughton et al, 1987, p 187) In some cases when the students want to learn a language because of professional reasons, they prefer for the teacher to focus on terminology needed for their better understanding of the language in relation to their work area. Teaching adults strongly depends on the need they express and the reason why they need (or want) to learn a language. Some might be interesting in learning how to properly write letters, emails, publications in English, while others prefer to solely work on improving their communication skills for presentations, meetings, telephone calls, and everyday communication. From the pedagogical view this does not suffice, as it is important to cover basics of all fours skills before focusing on one. (Broughton, 1987, p 191) Since adult education fits in tertiary sector of education, most of the language courses are done in private institutions like language academies and centers where the students have to pay for the course and therefore expect efficient. 19.

One of the best-known theories for adult learning is Malcolm Knowles’ andragogy with which he established 6 assumptions on adult education: • • • • • •. Learner’s Need to Know (the what, the why and the how) Self-Concept (with adult learners the self-concept moves from dependent personality to a self-directed human being) Adult Learner Experience (accumulated experience that serve as a resource for learning) Readiness to Learn (oriented to the developmental tasks of person’s social roles) Orientation to Learning (learner’s perspective changes from possessing knowledge to applying it immediately) Motivation to Learn (motivation becomes internal and has a greater effect on learning than external) (Knowles et al, 2005, p 4). In 1973 Malcolm Knowles also suggested some principles that apply to adult learning exposing that adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction, experience and mistakes provide basis for the learning activities, they are mostly interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their lives, and finally, that adult learning is a problemcentered rather than content-oriented process. (Knowles et al, 2005, p 76) Elements that are required for a successful second language acquisition are comprehensible input in target language, interactive environment that provides different social, linguistic and cognitive tools to practice target language skills in groups or pairs, opportunities to convey meaning in target language with assistance from the teacher and classmates and communicate with each other at which the conversations or activities are meaningful to the learners and make them apply newly learnt grammatical structures in a non-threatening environment that encourages them to speak even if they make mistakes so that they can improve fluency and confidence. (Shrum and Glisan, 2009, p 319). 7. Nativity of Teachers: Native vs. Non-Native teachers Most of English teaching institutes prefer to employ teachers whose mother tongue is English, because there is a popular demand from the students to be taught by a native speaker. The definition provided for a native speaker in Oxford. 20.

Dictionaries is “A person who has spoken the language in question from the earliest childhood,” meaning that the right to be defined as a native speaker depends on the place where you were born regardless of your level of the language in question. (Oxford Dictionaries Online) Another, less known term is “near-native speaker”, a category in which those who started acquiring a second language in early childhood and have since then reached a native-like level are placed. According to Peter Medgyes non-native English speakers tend to feel more uncomfortable when they have to teach using English, making them feeling pessimistic or even aggressive; the passive types make the classes more grammarcentered as they believe that knowing grammar means knowing the language and at the same time neglects the importance of proper pronunciation, vocabulary and linguistic appropriateness; the aggressive ones teaching bases on their mistaken beliefs on how a language works resulting in phonological, semantic and structural errors, and focusing on grammar as they believe knowing grammatical structures means knowing the language. The aggressive type of teachers also prefers to avoid using aids that could reveal their lack of accuracy or potentially peculiar accent (e.g. radio, videos, CDs, etc.). (Medgyes, 1986, pp70) On the other hand, we have teachers who are native speakers, and who are assumed to have a feeling to detect when students commit slightest mistakes, are able to use complex vocabulary and do not get as easily confused when students confront them with questions about why use a certain grammatical structure instead of another one or the meaning of slang words. The difference between native and non-native English teachers is also in their culture where Medgyes mentions that it might result difficult for a non-native teacher to cover a topic they are unfamiliar with; however, it is something common for native teachers who are not only able to explain it first-hand but can furthermore use structures that nonnative teachers might omit.. 21.

Medgyes uses Selinker’s interlanguage continuum scale to support his claims of non-native speakers never being able to reach the native level: L1. L2. Zero competence (0%) =============================> Native (100%) Despite it providing him a base to confirm his claims Medgyes slightly modified it by making the position of non-native less extreme: L1. L2Zero. competence (0%) ======== Near-native (90-95%) =====> Native (100%) With this Medgyes showed that despite effort a non-native speaker can never fully reach the native level, they can only approach it significantly. (Medgyes, 1986, p 90) While Medgyes believes that non-native speaker’s language competence is limited and they are only able to reach near native level of mastering the language by imitating native speakers, Coppieters states that it is possible for people to overcome obstacles and turn their second language into first one with the exception of accent which she proved with a study to determine any difference between native and near-native speakers. Both groups develop different (perception of) grammar while maintaining the same proficiency and equal language use, making Coppieters conclude that a speaker needs to be accepted by the speech community to be considered as a speaker regardless of the linguistic system they master. (Coppieters, 1987, p 544) On the other hand, we have a contradictory opinion expressing disagreement saying that “there is no doubt that non-native speakers can acquire native-like proficiency in English as an additional language, whether they belong to the ‘outer circle’ (ESL) or the ‘expanding circle’ (EFL)”. (Kachru, 1985, p 31). 22.

8. The Vaughan Method 8.1.. Teaching and Learning English in Spain. Foreign languages in Spain have gained on their importance after Spain joined the European Union in 1986; however, they have been a part of Spanish educational system years prior to that as English was proposed to be introduced into Spanish educational system as a foreign language in 1945 with Spanish Primary Education Law (Ley de Educacion Primaria Española); however, it did not come to be confirmed until 1965 when it became a part of the 8th phase of the primary educational cycle with students aged 13-14. Introduction into foreign language consisted of learning about basics, getting familiar with grammatical structures and making students read, understand and write in target language. Later, in Bachillerato (highschool) students get to experience systematical teaching of the language with teachers specialized in target language. (Muñoz Zayas, 2013, p 66) In 1954 Spain signed the European Cultural Convention agreeing to work on developing “mutual understanding among the peoples of Europe and reciprocal appreciation of their cultural diversity, to safeguard European culture, to promote national contributions to Europe’s common cultural heritage respecting the same fundamental values and to encourage in particular the study of languages, history and civilization of the Parties to the Convention.” (Council of Europe) Signing the treaty meant active inclusion of foreign languages into educational system to fulfill the requirements of ensuring students are enabled to communicate in oral and written form. With the General Education Law from 1970 the dominant method of language teaching became the audiolingual one. Learning at least one foreign language became obligatory as part of ESO (Educcacion Secundaria Obligatoria – obligatory secondary school). In this part the teachers try to help students develop the four language skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Special emphasis was set on expressing oneself correctly as well as proper listening and reading comprehension. The purpose of learning a foreign language is, at this point, an approach to better understanding. 23.