Blog Post 3- Kumar, Brown

Kumar, Chapter 2

Brown, Chapter 3

Kumar-TESOL Methods

            Method “means so little and so much” according to William Mackey. I think that methods can be hard to distinguish from one another. While reading, many methods were discussed. I like how Kumar talked about language-centered, learner-centered and learning-centered methods. Investigating each method is important while teaching. The language-centered method focuses on introducing concepts one at a time and having the learner practice until the learner internalizes them. The learner-centered method provides the opportunity for learners to practice grammar structure and communications. The learning-centered method provides learners with opportunities to participate in open-ended questions and problem solve while in class. But which method is considered the best in a classroom? Being an English major, grammar is very important to me. So does this mean that the learner-centered method is correct for me as a future teacher? I correct my friend’s papers all the time and help them with word choice, sentence structure and organization. So what kind of theory do I use when I help correct these papers? Do I use a theory at all? It seems hard for me to figure out where I belong within these theories.

            Brown discusses the post method era: a concept that is continued being used in classrooms today. A creator carries out research and proposes hypothesis, also known as theory. Practice is the province of classroom teachers. Each teacher’s approach is different and it should be. Everyone’s approaches are of a great importance and you use them to rely on designing lesson plans and evaluating classroom lessons after they are taught. The Communicative Language Teaching can be used as the norm approach for teaching. The characteristics of this approach include overall goals, relationship of form and function, fluency and accuracy, focus on real-world contexts, autonomy and strategic involvement, teacher roles and student roles. Communicative Approach seems better than the Audiolingual Method. I feel like the majority of students are very visual learners so I don’t know if the audio method would really work.

            I really like how Brown highlights the important parts of the chapter with tables because it makes it easier to compare and contrast issues. Putting words in bold also helps me become more familiar with terminology. Kumar seemed harder to read. I wish that Kumar used more real life examples to make it easier to relate to the material. Teaching towards specific students and their needs is very important which is why there are so many different learning instructions.