I could venture to say that grammar instruction is the most used L2 teaching method in schools in Brazil. Also, in universities, there are foreign language classes available (but not required) to undergraduate students that are known as "Curso de Língua Instrumental" (instrumental language). Usually there are options in English, French, German and Spanish, This kind of L2 instruction in the universities is meant to teach students reading tips regarding the structure of the foreign language, so they can mainly read texts in the target language. Usually, this is need when there are important books or articles in the students' field of study that are not translated to their native language.
In these kind of instrumental language courses, there is no level progress, only continuous practice of text analysis aiming comprehension. Needless to say that there is no speech required from the students. Only the instructor reads the text in the target language, to explain the meanings through grammar in their L1.
The reason of the instrumental language is quite acceptable, the need of having tools in the foreign language to decode texts in the foreign language. In this case, there is no need to learn how to speak the target language. But how about the schools teaching a foreign language to students using only the grammar instruction model? Since 2019, English is required in all private and public schools since the 6th grade. Before, it was taught mainly in the high school grades, but not in all schools.
I guess there will be less English teachers than the need with the new law. But beyond this problem of qualified professionals, I wonder which teaching method will be used by this huge number of new teachers. Until now, everyone in Brazil would agree that at school English classes nobody learns English. Only in private courses someone would learn. The reason is that usually at school the method used is the grammar instruction, with no or few interaction. The focus on written language makes it more difficult to learn how to pronounce the different sounds of the foreign language.
While reading the article about Teaching Methodologies, I recalled all the language courses I made. I think I had all kinds of experiences described in the article. The most effective probably was the blend of Direct Method with the Audio-lingual Approach, with some Communicative Approach added. As far as I can remember, these three methods were used in the private English course and in one of the private French class I tried. In others, sometimes too much focus on culture made the course less a language class than some other event.
However, what made enthusiastic to keep experimenting in the classroom was the article about Whole Language Approach to Teach Grammar. Using the PACE model seems to me entirely meaningful and effective. After reading the article, I feel it had to be intuitive, but as we all know, it is not so easy to find a way of teaching a second language without experimenting a lot in the classroom. Some of my classes as an instructor were similar to the method, especially those with a song serving the base of vocabulary and grammar instruction.
In these kind of instrumental language courses, there is no level progress, only continuous practice of text analysis aiming comprehension. Needless to say that there is no speech required from the students. Only the instructor reads the text in the target language, to explain the meanings through grammar in their L1.
The reason of the instrumental language is quite acceptable, the need of having tools in the foreign language to decode texts in the foreign language. In this case, there is no need to learn how to speak the target language. But how about the schools teaching a foreign language to students using only the grammar instruction model? Since 2019, English is required in all private and public schools since the 6th grade. Before, it was taught mainly in the high school grades, but not in all schools.
I guess there will be less English teachers than the need with the new law. But beyond this problem of qualified professionals, I wonder which teaching method will be used by this huge number of new teachers. Until now, everyone in Brazil would agree that at school English classes nobody learns English. Only in private courses someone would learn. The reason is that usually at school the method used is the grammar instruction, with no or few interaction. The focus on written language makes it more difficult to learn how to pronounce the different sounds of the foreign language.
While reading the article about Teaching Methodologies, I recalled all the language courses I made. I think I had all kinds of experiences described in the article. The most effective probably was the blend of Direct Method with the Audio-lingual Approach, with some Communicative Approach added. As far as I can remember, these three methods were used in the private English course and in one of the private French class I tried. In others, sometimes too much focus on culture made the course less a language class than some other event.
However, what made enthusiastic to keep experimenting in the classroom was the article about Whole Language Approach to Teach Grammar. Using the PACE model seems to me entirely meaningful and effective. After reading the article, I feel it had to be intuitive, but as we all know, it is not so easy to find a way of teaching a second language without experimenting a lot in the classroom. Some of my classes as an instructor were similar to the method, especially those with a song serving the base of vocabulary and grammar instruction.
I am so glad you shared this, because I had no familiarity with the Brazilian school system until I read your post! I find it so interesting that you said there was almost no speaking required in English courses that focused on grammar. While I think that many foreign language classes in the US still over emphasize grammar, there was always a speaking component.
ReplyDeleteI think many people would agree that speaking is the skill they most want out of learning a second language. 10 years after leaving school grammar charts won't be helpful, but speaking a few key phrases could serve someone well.
Hi Lara,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting what you shared about English learning in Brazil. You mentioned that starting this year, all schools were required to teach English from the 6th grade and up. It made me think about how the educational system in the US approaches language learning differently. For most schools in the US, foreign language classes are not required, but optional. I didn’t begin learning a foreign language until the 7th grade. Students could either choose to have a study period or to be in the Spanish class. There was not much motivation to learn a second language, and many students opted for the extra study hall. Even in high school, foreign languages were still optional. Most students took three years of Spanish or French only for the purpose of boosting their college application. I wish more people in the US saw the importance of learning another language.
Fascinating to read how the system works in Brazil in regards to English learning. In regards to your question: " how about the schools teaching a foreign language to students using only the grammar instruction model?" There are many ways to go about it, but what I would do as I did in Indonesia is tried to use reading or literacy practice combined with active learning or play therapy to help the students of younger years visualize what they are learning and also to understand the flow and structure of sentences. I also had my students do activities searching reading for different parts of speech such as were the verbs are in a sentence etc...
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