| |
Our Golden Methodology
by Teacher Alton Carlson
 At Mr. Hua's school, I was introduced to a unique methodology to learning language called the balanced approach. In the balanced approach, which is the aggregate of sound and linguistic approaches, we teach the structure and concepts of English using the sounds of the language.
When a baby is born, we speak words to the baby, and it eventually understands what we are imparting. The same is true with sound approach. We speak words to the students from the very beginning, and with time they comprehend the meaning of what is said and how to apply it. Let's take one of my beginning-level classes for example. I don't speak any Chinese. So, when my students dealt with me for the first few weeks, they had a tough time. They were used to a Chinese person with a Chinese accent and an occasional explanation in Chinese. But through sound approach, patience and creativity, they began to understand everything I said. Not only did the students pick up the English, but also the parents who always sat in the back first-handedly witnessed changes in their children. The children began to properly say the words in the sentences we drilled in class. Moreover and more importantly, the children started gaining the ability to apply different forms of those words into various contexts without having to hear a dictation-like pattern. By using sound approach and speaking to them in a natural way, the different usages of a word can be demonstrated and applied to a variety of situations. For instance, take the adjective naughty. Many people in Taiwan probably know how to use naughty in sentences. But can they apply the noun naughtiness or the adverb naughtily to sentences just as easily? I think they probably can't because whenever a word changes in English, Chinese people have trouble because words don't morph in Chinese. To right this problem, constant exposure to these different usages is needed so they get a “feel” for the word and the parts of speech. Eventually with time, dedication, exposure and practice, they will be able to affix or disengage the constituent parts of a word within any context and apply it to real-life situations.
Speaking of real-life situations, why is it that so many students don't enunciate English with feeling, emotion, or conviction? Far too many times, I have heard robotically formatted sentences spoken with no conceptualization of the way that people actually use it. This is another devoid area of Taiwanese English that our balanced approach exists to remedy. In our classes, we teach which syllables are stressed in a sentence and how to handle the unstressed syllables. We also teach that sentences are spoken in pieces that each has their own individual meanings. What is more, we teach them how to intonate these sentences so that they can express how they feel. These aspects combined define the pervading atmosphere, or the general impression you receive about something. Now, isn't that the essence of language? We have a saying in English: It isn't what you say. It's the way you say it. In our way of teaching, we show the students the correct way to say English so they may express themselves clearly.
I have discovered, through experience, that the balanced approach to learning English is, in fact, the most common-sense way to teach any foreign language. Language learning should “hit the nail on the head” and focus on the way people innately learn things and how it is actually applied.
|
|
