It has been agreed that the affective and emotional factors involved in the learning process are key. In fact it is believed that if these affective factors are not achieved, there is no technique or model that would lead to learning. Two proponents in humanism in language learning Gattegno and Lozanov arrived to the conclusion that success or failure in language teaching depends on the extent one caters to the learner’s affective domain. Maybe the most significant characteristic is the learner’s emotional attitude towards the teacher, classmates, the language, and the culture. This should be taken into account when selecting contents, materials, and activities. Some extreme proponents say that it is impossible to teach anybody anything unless superficially and that what the teacher can do is to attempt to establish the optimal conditions where the learner will learn because of his own efforts. According to Stevick the functions of a teacher are:
1. Students expect teachers to impart knowledge.
2. Students expect teachers to manage; time, materials and techniques effectively.
3. Teachers are expected to evidence the follow up of the objectives set in the syllabus through the course.
4. Teachers are expected to set a certain atmosphere where students can learn adequately.
5. Teachers are expected to feel passionate about their job and irradiate warmth towards students.
Community Language Learning
Teachers must ensure that students feel free from the anxiety of learning in another language and also comfortable with the environment.
The objective of the CLL is to create a supporting environment and move from dependence on the teachers towards autonomy.
The Silent Way
For Gattegno, the author of the silent way, learning languages is a mystery and that students should be more independant in their learning process.
Grammar or a vast vocabulary is not enough to communicate, it is also necessary to sort of being soaked in the language and culture.
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Lozonov, who developed this model, believes that if learning takes place in favourable conditions, the mind is capable of great achievements.
One thing called my attention about the Humanistic tradition, and that is that the teachers are expected to fulfill many roles as teachers are the ones who "have knowledge", "follow the syllabus", "provide materials", "set a comfortable atmosphere", amongst others. Now, I think it is interesting that teachers have many things to pay attentino to, but the role of students is not mentioned. I think this leads to the fact that students are more of passive agents who receive the knowledge provided by the teacher, but they do not create knowledge bny themselves.
ResponderEliminarOf course teachers must ensure the learning of the students, but students have an important part as well. they are also to be considered responsible for their learning process. The teaching-learning process is two-way, and if one part is missing, the rpocess will not be completed
I believe that what you say is quite interesting. Our job is a very demanding one, and there are many roles we must fill in. However, we are talking about the ways in which students can achieve their responsabilities the best way they can, avoiding stress, discomfort, anxiety, etc. Maybe it is a process where at first many things must be done by the teacher so students can start, and once they are more comfortable we can start asking for more.
ResponderEliminarThe people who developed these humanistic approaches worked with students from a different century. Today we still use some of the most important ideas of different approaches that we believe are the right ones for our students but who decides which method is better than the other one? I think that we need to decide which is the best approach for our culture, for our students because if we see the results not many people in Chile is able to speak English at least in everyday situations.
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