teaching English as second language

Teaching English as a Second Language

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The English language is gaining a global influence, and many people are interested in understanding and having a good command of the language. English is usually learned as a second language in a process called second language acquisition. The teachers must not concentrate on what they teach every day but how their students develop their second language (Horwitz E. K., Becoming a Language Teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching (3rd ed), 2007). The reason English is in demand because many countries are using the language as their national and official language, therefore, stimulating the need to acquire it. Teachers use many techniques to ensure that their students get good skills in listening, reading, and writing the English language.

The teachers in teaching a second language need to understand that the students are not familiar with the language, and, therefore, they need to apply skills to judge on the students’ understanding of the second language. The English language is used for academic purposes as well as communication purposes with people using the English language (Horwitz E. K., Becoming a Language Teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching (3rd ed), 2007). Therefore, a teacher seeking to enlighten the second language class students must put into consideration the fact that the students are interested in not only passing exams but also in becoming communicators in a diverse and global manner. Some people fear to attend conferences, visit some hotels, visit some countries or even attend some social meeting places due to their lack of a language they can use.

This paper is aiming at explaining how natural approach and audiolingual method of teaching would view oral development jigsaw as a teaching tool.

The Natural approach is a teaching method where language is allowed to emerge without forcing grammar. The method involves comprehending input, that is, what students read and hear and not necessarily what they say or write. The natural approach is usually for new learners and does not force them to talk until they have understood what they have heard or read (Horwitz, How Languages Are Learned, 2012). The teacher talks more and it involve a combination of objects and actions. The natural approach is seen as an effective method when it comes to teaching a new language as the learners get to understand what is meant by a word before they integrate it to writing or in their speech.

The naturalistic approach enables the students to understand what they learn in class even while outside as they can interpret the actions and name objects they see. The method is useful not only in class but also in the students’ daily lives. The students can communicate well with others as well as pass the exams. The natural approach method differs with the oral development jigsaw which seeks to involve the students in the process of learning through class works and assignments.

The ODJ groups students in diverse groups as they teach each other. The students become dependent on each other (Horwitz, How Languages Are Learned, 2012). The oral development jigsaw encourages students from different languages to come together and share educational ideas in the group. They help each other to understand and become more fluent in a language. The students who are familiar with the English language teaches those that are not. The jigsaw method reduces stereotyping and discrimination amongst students.

The natural approach view on oral development jigsaw can be that many students may not clearly understand what is being communicated by others. That is why the natural approach tends to give students an opportunity to understand on their own before involving them in any activity. The approach may also argue that the jigsaw method would be ineffective if the students with the know-how are greedy for fame as they wouldn’t teach the others.

The audiolingual method involves where the language is taught directly to the students through reinforcement. The teacher drills the information to the students. Students memorize and pronounce the vocabularies as pronounced by teachers. Also, some audio-visual materials are used to enhance the learning process. The audiolingual method does not emphasize on grammar but rather than the student can pronounce (Horwitz E. K., 2012). The teacher construct sentences that students are required to repeat. Those that make mistakes get negative feedback while those who get it right receive positive feedback.

The audiolingual method is related to the oral development jigsaw in a way as it involves the student being involved in the learning process. The audiolingual method is like the advanced form of ODJ in that it includes visual materials that enhance the pronunciation process. The audiolingual method would view ODJ as inferior to it since the in the former the teacher is directly involved with the students. As earlier noted, if selfish students are assigned the duty of teaching others as seen in the ODJ. They may fail to show others satisfactorily so that they don’t become better than them.

References Horwitz, E. K. (2007). Becoming a Language Teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching(3rd ed). Horwitz, E. K. (2012). Becoming a Language Teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching (2nd ed.) . Horwitz, E. K. (2012). How Languages are Learned.