Ways of making input comprehensible Use simple and familiar language
Make lavish use of concrete material
Teach functional chunks of language
Use the target language for classroom purposes Make use of meaningful, age-appropriate contexts – games, songs, dialogues, pair-work, hands-on activities
FUNCTIONAL CHUNKS These are unanalyzed, high frequency phrases that are used appropriately long before the individual words are understood
They facilitate meaningful and efficient use of language from the early stages
Functional chunks include courtesy expressions, greetings
They are stored in the brain as a single word
They should be used as often as possible
NATURAL APPROACH Stage 1 – Comprehension through extended listening. Extensive use of concrete support. TPR Stage 2 – Early speech production Yes – no questions Either – or questions Single / two-word answers Open-ended sentences Open dialogues
Benefits of questioning according to this sequence Facilitates gradual movement from listening to speaking mode Moves from easiest to difficult Teachers can go back to earlier stage when children encounter difficulties and still give them a chance to be successful
CONCRETE MATERIAL Support effective and efficient teaching Plastic plates – display numbers, pictures, mood faces, weather pictures Cinematograph – greetings, mood faces, weather expressions, numbers, colours, any semantic field Large map
