[MUSIC] Welcome back to Teach English Now. In this video, we'll look at some of the underlying principles of the comprehension approach, and how you can apply them in your classroom. One of the most important principles of the comprehension approach, is the concept of the silent period. The silent period refers to the time when a learner is either not confident enough in their speaking ability or doesn't know enough of the language to begin speaking, and so is mostly silent. During this time, learners are exposed to as much comprehensible input as possible. And are forming connections in their minds about grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. As they learn more and begin to understand basic grammar and vocabulary, they will begin speaking and trying to communicate in the language. The theorist behind the comprehension approach hypothesized that learning a second language is much like learning a first language. And the silent way, was essential for the learners to form their own concepts of the language and make those connections before they began speaking. In addition to the silent period, another important concept is the idea of the effective filter. Stephen Krashen put forth the idea that students' emotional state can severely affect their ability to make the necessary connections in their minds, and keep them from learning a language as fast as they would like. Situations where the students feel high amounts of anxiety or stress or where the effective filter is high, make it difficult for students to focus on the language because they are more focused on their inadequacies. And limitations than they are on the language itself. By lowering the effective filter, or reducing the stress and anxiety students feel, you increase their ability to focus on the language, and thus their ability to learn the language. Giving students a silent period, where they are free to listen and internalize the language before they are required to speak. Lowers the effect of filter and helps students acquire the language faster. Of course, depending on the context you are teaching in, having learners delay the speaking of the language until they feel they are ready, may have some negative consequences. I don't think the military would have found this approach effective. And they may have had soldiers arrive in Europe only able to listen, because they never felt they were ready to begin speaking. Still, there are some techniques found in this approach that you may find useful in your classroom today. Using only the target language in the classroom. Today, many teachers feel that you should not use students native language in the classroom. And many programs have English only policy, requiring their students to speak only English in the classroom, if that is the language they are learning. In some situations, where classrooms are heterogeneous, using the native language of the student is impractical, because most teachers don't speak that many languages, to the fluency needed. However, it is common in non-English speaking countries to find classes where all the students speak the same native language. In those situations, it is much more common to find use of the native language in the classroom. By using only the target language in the class room, teachers can expose their students to more comprehensible input. And provide more opportunities for their students to practice in the target language. But you must be careful, strict enforcement of such policies can raise students effective filters, and actually make it harder for them to learn the language. Find a happy balance between using the target language in the classroom and allowing occasional use of the native language, where necessary and appropriate. Use of Visual Aids to Convey Meaning. In the comprehension approach, emphasis is placed on understanding meaning by connecting physical actions and situations represented in pictures. To the language input the students are hearing in the classroom. For example, if the teacher says, sit down, in the target language while also sitting down, the students learn the word for sit down. Similarly, they can learn the words for common household objects by looking at pictures of the objects, while hearing the teacher say the corresponding vocabulary. Sometimes real objects, also called realia, are brought into the classroom. For example, if you were teaching a unit on food names, you might bring in real foods, such as fruits and vegetables to use during the lesson. Or you may have plastic fruits and vegetables you can use instead. By combining physical actions, real objects, and pictures of objects or situations with comprehensible input, you can help learners make the connection between these objects or actions, and their corresponding vocabulary in the target language. This is the very purpose of the total physical response technique we witnessed, on our visit to 1980. Role Reversal. Once students have learned enough during their silent period and are ready to begin speaking, you can have those students assume the role of the teacher. By having them give commands to the other students and the teacher. This gives them an opportunity to speak using language they already know, and to feel successful when their classmates execute the commands they were given as expected. Use of Simple Questions and Dialogues. Another way to help encourage students to begin speaking, is to use simple questions. And other situations, where the responses the students need to give are limited. For example, you can use simple yes, no questions. Or questions where the answer is chosen from a list. You can ask questions about a situation in a picture. Where the responses are limited to what the students see in the picture. By limiting the possible responses and vocabulary choices, the students do not need to think as much about what to say which perhaps, lowers the effective filter and lets them focus on what their currently learning. As students gain confidence in language skills, you can move on to more advanced language situations. Well, I hope you have a clear understanding of the Comprehension Approach, and how you can apply it in your own classroom. In the next video, we will take a look at the other end of the pendulum, and focus on the Communicative Approach. Which focuses on speaking and production of the language more than just comprehension. See you then. [MUSIC]
