Situational Language Teaching

Chapter: Situational Language Teaching (SLT)

Key concept

1. SLT is called oral approach.
2. Vocabulary and grammar are taught through oral practice.
3. Much more clinical method that relies less on direct communication.

Brief history

1. SLT was developed by applied linguists from 1930s to 1950s.
2. SLT became the accepted British approach to English language teaching by the 1950s.

Objectives

There are four basic objectives or purposes of SLT.

1. Practical command of the four basic skills of a language through structure.
2. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar.
3. Ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations.
4. Automatic control of basic structures.

Principles

1. Language learning means habit formation.
2. Mistakes must be avoided because they formed bad habits.
3. SLT focuses on effective language skills because it maintains oral skills at first and then written skills.
4. Linguistic and cultural contextual meaning of the words.

Syllabus

1. Basic words and phrases.
2. Basic sentence structures and patterns.

• Everything is to be taught against the backdrop of situations.

 Materials

Several situation-based dialogues which mean that how to talk in different situations such as in the restaurant or airport etc.

Textbooks or visual aids, pictures, may be used for teaching.

More Notes of ELT

Roles of teacher

Teachers are director.

Teachers must be skilled manipulator so that they can answer all questions of learners and develop learners’ skills.

Roles of students

In SLT, the role of students is divided into two stages which are as follows:

1. Initial stage in which students simply listen and repeat what their teacher says.
2. In the later stage, students participate in interaction among themselves.

Procedure or Features

A situational presentation of new sentence patterns and repeated drills of the patterns are central for SLT. According Richards and Rodgers (2001), the followings are the features of SLT:

1. Speaking and listening begins from the very outset.
2. As medium of instruction, the target language is to be used in classroom.
3. New chapters are introduced and practiced in accordance with the backdrop of situations.
4. Only essential vocabulary is covered.
5. Grammar is taught step by step that means from simple to complex.
6. Reading and writing are gradually introduced after establishing basic grammatical and lexical concept.

Limitations or disadvantages

1. Teachers found it very difficult to present all the items in appropriate situations, and this form an extra burden for teachers.
2. A boring teacher who is not sure about what he is teaching.
3. The learner has no control over the contents of the learning.
4. Not account for the fundamental characteristics of language namely the creativity and uniqueness of individual sentences.

Finally, it is to be said that SLT is an interesting second language teaching method which is widely used throughout the world.