TESOL teaching methods

Start with a title. Write an introductory paragraph including a thesis statement (one sentence on your opinion as to which method is ideal) , three-six body   paragraphs and a concluding paragraph. Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence (one reason why your thesis statement is true) and 3-5   supporting sentences.

Compare other teaching methods, I prefer to choose Task-Based Loaming method. Task-Based Learning as tasks have included projects for   producing posters, brochures, pamphlets, oral presentations, radio plays, videos, websites and dramatic performances. Why I chose TBL lesson planning model due to the following reasoning:

1) The lesson becomes less teacher-centered. The teacher plays the role of a facilitator who ensures the necessary conditions for the learning to take place by providing exposure to the language and guiding learners to use the correct language for fulfilling the task. It is the learner doing the task who becomes the center of the lesson. The learner's language needs for successful task fulfillment are met during the lesson.

2) There is a natural progression from the holistic to the specific. On the whole, the task cycle offers a holistic experience of language in use. The language gradually emerges through the stages of initial drafting, rehearsal, report and final practice.

3) Instead of focusing on the correct production of one single form the learner is encouraged to consider appropriateness and accuracy of language form in general.

4) Because learners use the language for the purpose of communicating and sharing their ideas, they get personally involved in the lesson and they operate language for the sake of expressing a meaning. This factor is very important for reinforcing and retaining the language material.

Teachers have been using tasks for hundreds of years. Frequently, in the past, the task was a piece of translation often from a literary source. More recently, tasks have included projects for producing posters, brochures, pamphlets, oral presentations, radio plays, videos, websites and dramatic performances.

The characteristic of all these tasks is that rather than concentrating on one particular structure, function or vocabulary group, these tasks exploit a wider range of language. In many cases, students may also be using a range of different communicative language skills.

The traditional way that teachers have used tasks is as a follow-up to a series of structure/ function or vocabulary based lessons. Tasks have been ' extension’ activities as part of a graded and structured course.

In task-based leaning, the tasks are central to the learning activity. Originally developed by N Praha in Bangalore, India, it is based on the belief that students may learn more effectively when their minds are focused on the task, rather than on the language they are using.

In the model of task-based learning described by Jane Willis, the traditional PPP (presentation, practice, production) lesson is reversed. The students start with the task. When they have completed it, the teacher draws attention to the language used, making corrections and adjustments to the students’ performance. A lesson planned within this framework consists of three phases: pre-task, task cycle and language focus.

Pre-task: The pre-task phase introduces the class to the topic and the task, activating topic-related words and phrases.

Task cycle: In the task cycle the teacher sets up a communication task which   learners are encouraged to using the language means they already have at   their disposal and then to improve that language, under teacher guidance   while planning their reports of the task. Feedback from the teacher comes when learners need it most to fulfill the task.

Language focus: The last phase in the framework is language focus. During this phase students have a closer look at the language structures which have naturally turned up during the task cycle. By this phase they have already grasped the meaning of the new language and they need to focus on form. All kinds of practice activities, including different drills, are done at this stage.