ELT Theories notes, Approaches and Methods in English Language Teaching, English Literature

English Language Teaching (ELT)

ELT Theories

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Introduction:

Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens represent learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people learn; thereby helping us understands the inherently complex process of learning.

Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions.

The three prominent categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories falls are Behaviourism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. These theories try to develop efficient learning programs and study the psychology involved in an individual’s ability to learn.

Each of these theories has its own virtues, allowing educators to employ them to various degrees.

Behaviourism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behaviour to explain brain-based learning. In addition, Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts.

Behaviourism

Behaviourism is a learning theory that treats individual learning as non-existent. It instead focuses on “the observation of the environment and responding to it” as the basis of education.

Behaviourist theory focuses on how people learn and form habits. The general idea is that ‘all the behaviour learned by an individual is through interactions with the environment.’

John B. Watson (1878-1958) and B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) are the two principal originators of behaviourist approaches to learning. Behaviourism was formally established with the 1913 publication of John B. Watson's classic paper, "Psychology as the Behaviourist Views It."

Watson and Skinner believed that if they were given a group of infants, the way they were raised and the environment they put them in would be the ultimate determining factor for how they acted, not their parents or their genetics.

Pavlov’s Dogs is a popular behaviourism experiment. A group of dogs would hear a bell ring and then they would be given food. After enough time, when the bell would ring the dogs would salivate, expecting the food before they even saw it. This is exactly what behaviourism argues—that the things we experience and our environment are the drivers of how we act.

The stimulus-response sequence is a key element of understanding behaviourism. A stimulus is given, for example a bell rings, and the response is what happens next, a dog salivates or a pellet of food is given. Behavioural learning theory argues that even complex actions can be broken down into the stimulus-response.

From about 1920 through the mid-1950s, behaviourism became the dominant school of thought in psychology.

Individual traits and natural tendencies have a minimal role to play in the education of an individual. Individuals get conditioned by their interaction with the environment, leading to the development of a habit.

Behaviourist teaching strategies:

Teachers can implement behavioural learning strategy techniques in their classroom in many ways, including:

Drills: Teachers may practice skills using drill patterns to help students see the repetition and reinforcement that behavioural learning theory uses.

Question and answer: Teachers can use a question as a stimulus and answer as a response, gradually getting harder with questions to help students.

Guided practice: Teachers can be directly involved in helping students go through problems to give them the reinforcement and behaviour demonstration you want them to follow.

Regular review: Reviews are important to behavioral learning theory. Going back over material and giving positive reinforcement will help students retain information much better.

Positive reinforcement: Behaviourist classrooms utilize positive reinforcement regularly. This can be in the form of verbal reinforcement and praise, reward systems, added privileges, and more. 

Types of Behaviourism

The behavioral theories under two broad categories are,

S-R (Stimulus-Response) theory with reinforcement

            E.L Thorndike- Trial and Error theory

            B.F Skinner- Operant Conditioning   

S-R (Stimulus-Response) theory without reinforcement

            Pavlov- Classical Conditioning

Behaviourism learning theory:

Ardent behaviourists believe that “all behaviours are the result of experience” and that “any person, regardless of his or her background, can be trained to act in a particular manner given the right conditioning.”

In the classroom, the behavioral learning theory is key in understanding how to motivate and help students. Information is transferred from teachers to learners from a response to the right stimulus. Students are a passive participant in behavioral learning—teachers are giving them the information as an element of stimulus-response.

Behaviourism believes that people are born as a blank slate (tabula rasa). Using rewards and punishments as a basis of conditioning, people slowly learn appropriate behaviour.

Teachers use behaviourism to show students how they should react and respond to certain stimuli. This needs to be done in a repetitive way, to regularly remind students what behaviour a teacher is looking for.

If teacher find specific actions by individuals desirable, he provide them with a suitable reward as positive conditioning. If student’s certain actions are undesirable, he provide them with punishments as negative conditioning. The result of this conditioning done repeatedly is the development of behaviour in individuals.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism, on the other hand, treats individuals as mental beings that analyse and evaluate the information. Thus, it directly counters the beliefs of behaviourism.

 Cognitive learning theory (CLT) was coined in 1936 by an Educational Psychologist, Jean Piaget. He believed that knowledge is actively constructed in your mind while you’re learning, building on previously-learned knowledge.

 Cognitivism believes that humans are creative not just imitative. Learners are viewed as very active participants in the process of learning. This theory emphasizes the idea of making knowledge meaningful and helping learners to organize and relate the new information to the existing knowledge in memory. The best way to apply this theory is to ask questions to help students refine their thinking.  

Main principles of Cognitivism:

Learning must be purposeful and focused.

Learning must be self-directed;

Learning must come from Analysis to Discovery.

Organising information into Schemas helps students build conceptual models.

Long-term memory is enhanced by enabling students to organise and encode learning material.

Curriculum content must be well-sequenced and understood in the context of the bigger picture.

Cognitive Learning Theory:

Cognitive learning denotes an active and enduring form of learning. This particular type of learning is typically highly interactive, involving learners in diverse activities that optimize brain efficiency, facilitating the acquisition of new knowledge.

Inside the classroom, cognitivism emerges via interactive activities that spark the thinking potential of students. For example, when students receive thought-provoking questions, it guides their brains to look deeper into their present knowledge to find solutions.

Activities involving self-reflection and memorizing also help in building the learning potential of students. Asking students to demonstrate a concept, reciting and retaining poetry, giving them hands-on problems, and interactive discussions are some ways that enforce cognitive learning inside the classrooms.

Types of Cognitive Theory:

The theory can be broken down into two further theories: the Cognitive Behavioral Theory and the Social Cognitive theory.

Cognitive Behavioral Theory explores the influence of cognition on individuals' behavioral patterns. It suggests that individuals' behaviour is directly influenced by their self-concepts, which can be shaped by external or internal factors, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. It involves:

            The Self

            The World/Environment

            The Future

 

Social Cognitive Theory takes three factors into consideration:

            Behavioral factors

            Environmental factors (extrinsic)

            Personal factors (intrinsic)

Cognitive teaching strategies:

The following are Cognitive teaching strategies:

Repetition,

Organising new language,

Summarising meaning,

Guessing meaning from context,

Using imagery for memorisation.

Constructivism

Constructivism relies on the idea that individuals create an understanding and interpretation of lessons based on their prior experience and knowledge. The theory also asserts that all knowledge and learning exists solely inside the mind.

 The constructivist approach to learning characterizes learners as active participants in the process who play a role in constructing their knowledge.

Constructivist theories of learning were influenced by Piaget (1973), who developed the cognitive constructivism view of learning, Vygotsky (1978), who developed the social constructivism view of learning.

Constructivism treats learning as an active and social process. The students bring their own unique experiences and perspective to the classroom, shaping their understanding of concepts taught to them.

Constructivism shifts the focus of learning from the teacher to the students. It believes that students bring their own unique experiences to the class, improving and diversifying the learning potential of the entire class.

Types of Constructivism:

Constructivism is divided into three broad categories:

            Cognitive constructivism, based on the work of Jean Piaget;

            Social constructivism, based on the work of Lev Vygotsky;

            and

            Radical constructivism.

Constructivist teaching strategies:

The following are constructivist teaching strategies:

Knowledge will be shared between teachers and students.

Teachers and students will share authority.

The teacher’s role is one of a facilitator or guide.

Learning groups will consist of small numbers of heterogeneous students.

Constructivism learning theory:

Teachers employ constructivism inside the classroom in different ways to create learning opportunities for students.  The students utilize their own understanding and experience for gaining unique insights on the subject.

Allowing students to drive learning via discussions, debates, and the sharing of knowledge between peers, are some ways constructivism makes its way inside modern classrooms.

The students are allowed freedom of interpretation, as they each experience the knowledge provided to them differently. The theory of constructivism primarily focuses on treating knowledge as a process solely existing inside the mind, making motivation a key factor.

According to constructivism, an unmotivated student cannot learn anything.

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