48 Вопрос Procedure

The last level of conceptualization and organization within a method is what we will refer to as procedure. This encompasses the actual moment-to-moment techniques, practices, and behaviors that operate in teaching a language according to a particular method. It is the level at which we describe how a method realizes its approach and design in classroom behavior. At the level of design we saw that a method will advocate the use of certain types of teaching activities as a consequence of its theo­retical assumptions about language and learning. At the level of pro­cedure we are concerned with how these tasks and activities are integrated into lessons and used as the basis for teaching and learning. There are three dimensions to a method at the level of procedure: (a) the use of teaching activities (drills, dialogues, information-gap activities, etc.) to present new language and to clarify and demonstrate formal, commu­nicative, or other aspects of the target language; (b) the ways in which particular teaching activities are used for practicing language; and (c) the procedures and techniques used in giving feedback to learners con­cerning the form or content of their utterances or sentences.

Essentially, then, procedure focuses on the way a method handles the presentation, practice, and feedback phases of teaching. Here, for ex-

ample, is a description of the procedural aspects of a beginning Silent Way course based on Stevick (1980: 44-5):

1. The teacher points at meaningless symbols on a wall chart. The symbols represent the syllables of the spoken language. The students read the sounds aloud, first in chorus and then individually.

2. After the students can pronounce the sounds, the teacher moves to a sec­ ond set of charts containing words frequently used in the language, in­ cluding numbers. The teacher leads the students to pronounce long numbers.

3. The teacher uses colored rods together with charts and gestures to lead the students into producing the words and basic grammatical structures needed.

Of error treatment in the Silent Way Stevick notes:When the students respond correctly to the teacher's initiative, she usually does not react with any overt confirmation that what they did was right. If a student's response is wrong, on the other hand, she indicates that the student needs to do further work on the word or phrase; if she thinks it necessary, she actually shows the student exactly where the additional work is to be done. (1980: 45)

Finnocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) illustrate how the procedural phases of instruction are handled in what they call a notional-functional approach.

1. Presentation of a brief dialogue or several mini-dialogues.

2. Oral practice of each utterance in the dialogue.

3. Questions and answers based on the topic and situation in the dialogue.

1. Questions and answers related to the student's personal experience but centered on the theme of the dialogue.

2. Study of the basic communicative expressions used in the dialogue or one of the structures that exemplify the function.

3. Learner discovery of generalizations or rules underlying the functional expression of structure.

4. Oral recognition, interpretative procedures.

4. Oral production activities, proceeding from guided to freer communication.

We expect methods to be most obviously idiosyncratic at the level of procedure, though classroom observations often reveal that teachers do not necessarily follow the procedures a method prescribes (see Chapter1).

The elements and sub elements that constitute a method and that we have described under the rubrics of approach, design, and procedure are summarized in Figure 2.1.