One thing that really stuck out to me was the Grammar Translation Approach as a TESOL method: "In this approach, sentences are translated from the foreign language into English. The mother tongue is used as the medium of instruction, and speaking the target language is not a major aim of instruction." For those who speak a different language, one of the first things (that I have noticed) they want to know is the direct translation of words. An example of this is when I am speaking to my grandmother. Although she does know a little bit of English, we mainly speak to each other in Korean. When I cannot think of a specific word in Korean, I say it in English, which then has her asking what the word means. When it comes to my grandmother (and many other non-native speakers), Wong states it perfectly when she says that "speaking the target language is not a major aim of instruction." Those who want to know the direct translations usually only want to know key sentences such as "Hello, how are you?" or "Where can I find _______?" They choose the most useful sentences that will help them throughout their day, instead of wanting to learn the language as a whole. They often do not try to practice speaking the target language and when they do practice, it is the sentences that they have translated.
One thing I found interesting was that Wong doesn't mention anything about culture. While learning the language/linguistics of a certain language is important, it is also important that teachers and students of TESOL alike are aware of the cultural differences that they may come across. I think that not only is it important to learn about TESOL methods, but it is also important to be able to know how to react to a student if they may not be used to our customs.
In my experience in a foreign language class, I found that I often wanted to know direct translation and never knew why I couldn't accept a generalization of the meaning in a sentence. I don't think it was because I didn't want to know the language as a whole, however. I think it was moreso my learning style. I wanted to learn early on so that I didn't continue to make the same mistake and I wanted to create a correct sentence. I enjoyed listening to the language being spoken by others more than I enjoyed trying to produce a sentence/phrase myself.
ReplyDeleteAbout the culture point, you're right! I didn't realize the lack of emphasis on the importance of culture. Culture is very important in learning another language in that, specifically, communication is different in another language due to its different location, people, and...culture! Whether its body language, common phrases/sayings, eye contact, gesturing, etc., all have to do with communication in the learning of another language. This is something that when writing about SLA, you can't forget to include because it's so important.
I agree with you that many times people just choose the most important terms or phrases that will help them function in day to day conversations. I can see examples of this in the elementary school I work at. There is a young ESL students from China who still has not made much progress in English. She is still just learning those basic terms and phrases. Her classmates even told me that they just help her say things like, "Hi", "Thank you", "Can I go to the bathroom?", instead of trying to have meaningful conversations with her.
ReplyDeleteI think this is why I like the communicate and dialogic approaches to TESOL because they incorporate real-life experiences and dialogue.