Language Teaching Methodology: Observations from Three English Lessons

Abstract

This thesis aims to identify which, if any, of the most influential language teaching methods are discernible in some teachers’ practices. Using qualitative observation as method, I inspect three English lessons. The theoretical background is a description of four language teaching methods: the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, Audiolingualism, and Communicative Language Teaching. For each method, I provide a list of its most characteristic features, which are then used to analyse the observed lessons. The analysis indicates that the teacher in observation A seems to use a variety of methods. The teacher in observation B seems to lean toward the Direct Method, whereas the teacher in observation C uses the Grammar-Translation Method.