TheOralApproachandSituationalLanguageTeaching•Definition•Background•Theoreticalbasis•Objects•Mainfeatures•Theroleofthelearners•Theroleoftheteachers•Theroleofinstructionalmaterials•Procedures•Techniques•Advantages•DisadvantagesDefinition•TheOralApproachandSituationalLanguageTeachingreferstoanapproachtolanguageteachingdevelopedbyBritishappliedlinguistsfromthe1930stothe1960s.•Itisagrammar-basedmethodinwhichprinciplesofgrammaticalandlexicalgradationareusedandnewteachingpointspresentedandpracticedthroughmeaningfulsituation-basedactivities.Background•TheoriginsofthisapproachbeganwiththeworkofBritishappliedlinguistsinthe1920sand1930s.•TwoofthemostimportantandinfluentialfiguresoftheapproachwereHaroldPalmerandA.SHornby.Background•Theyrealizedthatvocabularyplayedoneoftheimportantrolesinforeignlanguagelearning,andfrequencycountsshowedthatacoreof2000wordsoccurredfrequentlyindailyuseandwritingtext.•Theyalsopaidmuchattentiontotheimportantroleofgrammarintheirwritings.Accordingtothem,organizationofgrammaticalcontentofalanguagecourseshouldbebasedontheprincipleofgradation.Theoreticalbasis•TheoryoflanguageThetheoryoflanguageunderlyingSituationalLanguageTeachingcanbecharacterizedasatypeofBritish“structuralism.”Speechwasregardedasthebasisoflanguage,andstructurewasviewedasbeingattheheartofspeakingability.Theoreticalbasis•TheoryoflearningThetheoryoflearningunderlyingSituationalLanguageTeachingisatypeofbehavioristhabit-learningtheory.Itaddressesprimarilytheprocessesratherthantheconditionsoflearning.Objectives•togetapracticalcommandofthefourskillsoflanguage(l/s/r/w)•toobtainaccuracyinpronunciationandgrammarMainfeatures•Languageteachingbeginswiththespokenlanguage.Materialistaughtorallybeforeitispresentedinwrittenform.•Thetargetlanguageisthelanguageoftheclassroom.•Newlanguagepointsareintroducedandpracticedsituationally.•Vocabularyselectionproceduresarefollowedtoensurethatanessentialgeneralservicevocabularyiscovered.Mainfeatures•Itemsofgrammararegradedfollowingtheprinciplethatsimpleformsshouldbetaughtbeforecomplexone.•Readingandwritingareintroducedonceasufficientlexicalandgrammaticalbasisisestablished.Theroleoflearners•Intheinitialstagesoflearning,thelearnerisrequiredsimplytolistenandrepeatwhattheteachersaysandtorespondtoquestionsandcommands.•Later,moreactiveparticipationisencouraged,butteacher-controlledintroductionandpracticeofnewlanguageisstressedthroughout.TheroleofteachersTheteacherisessentialtothesuccessoftheapproach.•Inthepresentationstageoftheclassroom,theteacherservesasamodel.•Thentheteacherisrequiredtobeaskillfulmanipulator.(moreliketheskillfulconductorofanorchestra)•Duringthepracticephaseofthelesson,theteacherlookoutforgrammaticalandstructuralerrorsTheroleofinstructionalmaterialsSituationalLanguageTeachingisdependentonbothatextbookandvisualaids.•Thetextbookcontainstightlyorganizedlessonsplannedarounddifferentgrammaticalstructures.•Visualaidsconsistofwallcharts,flashcards,pictures,stickfigures,andsoon.ProceduresTheOralApproachemploysdifferentclassroomproceduresaccordingtotheleveloftheclass.Theclassroomproceduresgenerallyconsistsof:•Listeningpractice•Choralimitation•Individualimitation•isolationProcedures•Buildinguptoanewmodel•Elicitation•Substitutiondrill•Question-answerdrilling•CorrectionTechniquesThepracticaltechniquesinthisapproachgenerallyconsistsof:•Newsentencepatternspresentedinsituations•Drill-basedpractice•Guidedrepetitionandsubstitutionactivities•Dictation,imitationandcontrolledoral-basedreadingandwritingtasksAdvantages•TheOralApproach/SituationalLanguageTeachinghasmadethefirstattempttoestablishtheoreticalprinciplestodevelopamethodologicalframeworkforteachingEnglishasaforeignlanguageinELThistory.Theseattemptsmarkthebeginningsofthedisciplineofaappliedlinguistics.Advantages•Inlanguageteachingpractice,thisapproachhasmadeupsomeshortcomingsoftheDirectMethod.Theteachingcontentisgraded,andthestudentswillnotsufferfromthedifficultiesofaflowofungradedspeechintargetlanguage.Inpresentingthelanguagestructure,itemphasizesthefunctionofsituationwhichcanhelpstudentstoapplywhattheyhavelearnedtoreal-lifepractice.Disadvantages•Notconcernedwithappropriatenessorrulesforuseinrealdiscourse.•Theapproachbeinglargelyagrammar-basedone.Thisapproachisnotconcernedwithappropriatenessorwithrulesforuseinrealdiscourse.Thesituationsarevehiclethroughwhichthegrammaticalsyllabusisconveyed.Therefore,thisapproachisstilllargelyagrammar-basedone.