ASSIGNMENT

 

Topic: Bi-Lingual Method

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                Prepared By,

 

                                                          Meera Vijayakumar

                                                           

 

CONTENTS

 

Sl. No	Topic	Page No:
1	Introduction	1
2	Background of bi-lingual method	2
3	Main principals of  bi- lingual method	3
4	General phases of a bi-lingual class	3
5	Characteristics of bi-lingual method	3
6	Advantages of bi-lingual method	4
7	Disadvantages of bi-lingual method	4
8	Claims made by bi-lingual method	5
9	Conclusion	6
10	Bibliography	7

 

 

Introduction

 

            The bi-lingual method of foreign language teaching was developed by C.J. Dodson (1967) as a counterpart of the audio-visual method. This method needs L₁ and L₂. The approach begins from Bi-lingual and becomes monolingual at the end. The teacher uses both mother-tongue (L₁) and the target language (L₂) in the classroom. This may be considered as a combination of the direct method and the Grammar Translation method. The main objective of bi-lingual method is to make the learners of a second/foreign language fluent and accurate in the spoken word. The architecture of the bi-lingual method is best understood as a traditional three-phase structure of presentation-practice-production. A lesson cycle starts out with the reproduction of the dialogue, moves on to the oral variation and recombination of the dialogue sentences and ends up with an extended application stage reserved for message-oriented communication.

           

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Background of Bilingual Method

            The initiation of Bilingual Method into the teaching of foreign languages has opened up new vistas of knowledge and possibilities in regard to the use of the L₁ in foreign language teaching. The history of foreign language teaching methodology has almost always seen extreme approaches either in the form of grammar – translation method, the direct method or the reading method. While the grammar – translation method placed exclusive emphasis on speech and written language, the direct method concentrated on speech and direct language-experience relationship, and the reading method of Michael West Considered only reading  as worthwhile among all the four skills. The extremities lay in two aspect:

(1) Emphasis of the language skills in the teaching of a foreign language.

(2)  The role of the mother tongue in the teaching of the foreign language.

In the grammar translation method, the L₁ is almost substituted in the classroom in the teaching of L₂. The major role L₁ plays in the grammar-translation method is based on the assumption that the L₂ can be learned best by comparing and contrasting to the L₁ features. By aiming at such grammatical comparison as the outcome of the grammar-translation method, stress is put on the one hand, on all the four language skills and on the one other, the learner’s mother-tongue it restored to its due status as the L₂ learners most potential resource. The initiation of bilingual method, thus, is the answer to a far-reaching cry to restore the dignity and potentiality of the learner’s mother-tongue which was totally ignored and neglected in the direct method and in the structural approach.

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          The origin of bilingual method goes back to Prof. Dodson of the North Wales University, who made use of welsh in the teaching of English and other foreign languages with a view to discovering the efficacy of systematically and judiciously using the L₁ in the teaching of an L₂. The assumption most fundamental to the bilingual method of Prof. Dodson is that the mother tongue of the learner is the most potential resource at his disposal in the learning of a language, and instead of shutting the door upon the mother tongue, the resource should be systematically employed in the teaching of the foreign language.

Main Principles of bi-lingual method

·        Situations are Significant

·        All the language skills are equally important

·        Fluency of speech is constantly attended to

·        Oral skill has priority in the early stages.

General Phases of a bilingual class

1.     Basic sentences in the second language are spoken by the teacher and interpreted for imitation by the students.

2.     The students repeat or imitate them.

3.     The students are encouraged to speak without a stimulus from the teacher.

4.     The student is not allowed to respond in the mother tongue. 

5.     The stimulus and responses both can be held in the second language.

6.     A normal second language situation is created.

In the last phase the students should be given exercises exclusively in the   use of words and sentences learnt already in the second language. 

Characteristics of bi-lingual method

ü Creating Situations is not given as much emphasis as in Direct Method.

ü The unit of teaching is a sentence.

ü Doing exercise in sentence patterns is important.

ü Mother tongue is used only by the teacher not used for translation of the whole materials, but only for explaining and interpretation.

ü

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Mother tongue is not by students and the use of mother-tongue by the teachers gradually gets reduced in the higher classes.

Advantages of Bi-lingual Method

Ø Much of the laboursome activities of the teacher in introducing a language item will be eliminated by systematically replacing the activities with the learner’s mother-tongue.

Ø The most complex and activity –oriented class in the direct method and the linguistically indirect comprehension procedure for the learners are simplified in bilingual method by means of judicious use of the mother tongue.

Ø  Bilingual method attempts to strike a medium in terms of distribution of work between the teacher and the pupils.

Ø An average teacher can use this method in the class

Ø The sounds of the mother-tongue and the words with which the learner is intimately conversant provide a congenial atmosphere in a foreign –language classroom; the very mention of an equivalent in the mother-tongue in an English class brightens up the young faces in contrast to the labour a helpless teacher undertakes to bring home the some idea through activities and illustrations in English.

Ø It is economical, as use of teaching aids is minimum.

Ø  Mother-tongue acquisition rules are helpful in this method.

 

 Disadvantages of Bi-lingual method

Ø If the teachers are not equally conversant in both the languages, this method will not be effective.

Ø In cases where the linguistic features of the two languages are entirely different this method will create confusion amongst the students.

Ø This method is not at all desirable or applicable in higher classes.

 

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Claims made by bi-lingual method

          There are quite a few claims made by bi-lingual method. It claims to put equal stress on all the four skills unlike other methods of foreign language teaching. Different stages in course of a lesson are set of take care of language skill. It also claims to strike a balance between fluency and accuracy. The grammar-translation method provides accuracy in whatever work it does such as the knowledge of formal grammar, ability and accuracy in written language on the other hand the direct method is said to provide fluency in spoken language at the cost of accuracy Bi-lingual method is expected to aim at providing both fluency and accuracy in language learning, factors of which one cannot be sacrificed for the other.   

          Yet another claim made in bi-lingual is that it provides ample time for practice because the time usually taken up in a direct method class for presenting some material is cut short to the minimum by the introduction of the mother-tongue. Bi-lingual method leaves enough scope for the growth of the child’s imaginative and creative aptitudes by not Spoon-feeding the child everything. A systematic utilization of the mother-tongue is expected to achieve all these in bi-lingual method.

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Conclusion

          In the Indian context and against the background of the Indian languages, bilingual method is gaining greater acceptability and relevance. The argument is that a strict adherence to English language alone in the classroom is no longer possible in the present –day Indian context where the ideal English teacher is for from reality. Whether the bi-lingual method is the answer to the problem of English teaching in India is highly controversial. The principal reason for this being the average teacher’s high rate tendency to full back fully and unscrupulously on to the mother-tongue. for kept within recommended guide- lines, bilingual method will certainly prove effective provided the English atmosphere required so much in the classroom is fully maintained.

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Bibliography

·        Dr.Mukalel, C.Joseph (1998). Approaches to English Language Teaching. Discovery publishing house, New Delhi.

·        Dr. Sivarajan K, T.V Ramakrishnan, K.Mridula (2007). English Language Education. Premier printers, Calicut.

Webliography

·        www.linguistics.blogspot.com

·        www.wikipedia.org/wiki/bilingualmethod

·        https://aiiulistya.wordpress.com//bilingualmethod.

 

  

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