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The Balanced Approach
Our unique philosophy toward English education is the cornerstone of
our teaching methods and resource production. Here we highlight our three
major guiding principles to teaching English as a foreign language: Sound
Approach + Linguistic Approach = Communicative Competence. This
tried and tested formula is the key to success in English language learning
and teaching. Below, each approach is discussed individually, but all
three work in tandem and exist simultaneously in all class meetings.
Sound Approach
Here at Hua, we believe that English should be studied naturally and systematically.
We use a combination of natural immersion and intensive training. The
natural acquisition of language is first of all through sound, being exposed
to it and then mimicking it. Learning a foreign language should also follow
this process. Thus, from the very beginning, and constantly thereafter,
students are exposed to the sounds of the English language. Students then
become familiar with the intonations, patterns, and subtle nuances of
the language.
Sound exposure
however, does not mean the teacher simply speaks without restraint. The
teacher must at all times be fully aware of the students’ listening abilities
and make everything he or she says comprehensible. This is done systematically
through the use of simple language that gradually becomes more and more
complex over time. Visual aides, classroom props, body language, and the
tone of the teacher’s voice are all important tools for making language
comprehensible.
Unlike most other schools, our sound approach does not simply end with
sound exposure, but also includes an intensive focus on sound
production, or articulation. Because English
is not the students’ mother tongue and they are not constantly exposed
to the language, the articulation of English sounds can feel extremely
foreign. Though some students are young and mimicking foreign languages
may come easier, their speech organs are still more familiar with and
more practiced in their native language. Thus it becomes difficult to
articulate English sounds, especially without an accent. Through sound
installation, we first install all the individual sounds of the
English language into the students’ speech organs. Thereafter, we continuously
train our students to speak clearly and accurately, thus producing confident
and comprehensible speakers.
Linguistic Approach
Our Linguistic Approach is the teaching of structure.
Unfortunately, most people think structure means grammar and a large part
of the English education in Taiwan only focuses on this one aspect. On
the contrary, structure can be found on every level of the English language.
It can be found in something as big as an essay or speech, and as small
as the phonetic make-up of the letter ‘B’ /bi/.
With this in mind, we teach students all the fundamentals, from sound
and spelling structure, to grammar and sentence structure, and even the
structure of rhythm, tone and word stress. This may sound like a lot to
take, but when students fully understand how the language breaks down,
they are not only able to use correct grammar and spelling, but can also
speak with the natural intonations of a native speaker. Through this approach
they are also given the tools, the tricks to gaining a conceptual understanding
of the make-up of the language.
In the course of teaching structure, we consistently have Sound Approach
in mind. Grammar is taught verbally, from the very beginning, even before
students can read a word. When the teacher consistently uses certain patterns
while talking, students come to understand the grammatical make-up. Then
the teacher can build upon the familiar patterns with more difficult ones.
Students are also constantly asked to feedback and are therefore always
in communication with the teacher and each other.
Communicative
Approach
 Finally,
with the students fully immersed in an English speaking classroom, where
they are expected to always communicate and feedback to the teacher, using
the correct language structures they’ve been taught, they are learning to
communicate in the new language.
Communicative Competence indicates the ability to communicate successfully.
It is not something that is only achieved at the very end of language
learning, but can be achieved on a day-to-day basis. It is also continuously
built upon and students can improve this aspect of language learning for
a lifetime. Students have gained a level of communicative competence if
at the end of their first class they are able to answer whether or not
this is a desk. Yet even a teacher must constantly find new ways to make
him/ herself more comprehensible. Communicative Competence can be celebrated
as something as basic as expressing the need to use the restroom, or as
grand as the exchange of philosophical ideals.
In order to gain communicative competence, the teacher must use Sound
Approach and Linguistic Approach in tandem, and allow lively interactions
between teacher and students and between the students themselves. English
is taught as a communicative act between people and not simply with a
textbook and a pencil. Nor should class interactions be conducted as a
one-way relationship where the teacher lectures and students listen. The
teacher must, in every few minutes, check with the students. They are
always, in various intervals, engaged in different activities where they
are required to question, feedback, and in higher levels, discuss. As
a result, the back and forth, receiving and returning act of communication
is made possible and successful.
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