Wednesday 13 October 2010
Difference between PPP and ESA
On my endless browsing trips on the Internet I found a slight development of the traditional approach to teaching: from Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP) to Harmer's triplet Engage, Study, Activate (ESA). The first approach is the well-known boring lengthy introduction to the given topic when the students are given model how to do/say something and than practice it almost mechanically in written/spoken exercises. The result should be an ability to construct certain phrases and use appropriate vocabulary in given context. Teacher thus follows the same scheme, has controll over the class and the preparation for classes is a rather routine. However, in the other approach, the teacher tries to motivate the students and arouse their interest. Language is studied, not simply explained, and, most importantly, used freely without hypercorrecting comments. Students learn how to communicate successfullywithout fear of mistakes. This approach demands readiness and a variety of techniques from the the teacher, therefore, must be engaging and successful!
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Hi Stepanka.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. I´m currently using this ESA approach in my classes. Or at least I try whenever possible. But the problem is that the students I´m teaching (day students in a language school) are used to the PPP and therefore passive approach from their high schools. They actually complained that I do the same thing over and over again (from their point of view). I think the problem is that they just don´t like working for themselves. high schools... (sigh)
Thanx for your comment, Lenka.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a teaching experience in school yet but as a private tutor I got a similar impression.
High school students are used to the PPP system and an active contribution is not part of that. To be honest, I don't think I am a kind of a hard working person myself - it is always a question of motivation. And all teachers know this. How to perform it, that is a completely different issue.
I see a problem with a "different" approach (projects, games, online tools, creative work) when the lesson is not dedicated to one grammatical phenomenon but to handling a certain situation. The students cannot classify the concrete immediate result of the lesson - there is not the outcome like: "Today we've learnt the past continous", this is different from the traditional teaching we all have been through.