Collections of Professor Dr David Ngin Sian Pau

2. English For Academic Purposes

2.1 Teaching Approaches

a) Constructive Approach: Constructivism is an approach to teaching, based on research about how people learn, where each individual ‘constructs’ knowledge instead of receiving it from others. Constructivist classrooms engage students actively in the learning process. Students experience learning by doing (through exploration, discovery, and invention) during which they are encouraged to think and explain their reasoning.

b) Silent Way :The three basic tenets of the approach are that learning is facilitated if the learner discovers rather than remembers or repeats, that learning is aided by physical objects, and that problem-solving is central to learning. The use of the word "silent" is also significant, as Silent Way is based on the premise that the teacher should be as silent as possible in the classroom in order to encourage the learner to produce as much language as possible.As far as the presentation of language is concerned, Silent Way adopts a highly structural approach, with language taught through sentences in a sequence, based on grammatical complexity, described by some as a "building-block" approach.

c) In a Top-Down approach an overview of the English language learning system is first formulated, specifying but not detailing any first- level learning subsystems. Each learning subsystem is then refined in yet greater detail, sometimes in many additional subsystem levels, until the entire specification is reduced to base elements. A top-down learning model is often specified with the assistance of "black boxes" that make it easier to manipulate. However, black boxes may fail to elucidate elementary mechanisms or be detailed enough to realistically validate the English learning model.

d) In a Bottom-Up approach the individual base elements of the English language learning system are first specified in great detail. These elements are then linked together to form larger English learning subsystems, which then in turn are linked, sometimes in many levels, until a complete top-level learning system is formed. This strategy often resembles a "seed" model, whereby the beginnings are small or short, but eventually grow in complexity and completeness. However, "organic strategies", may result in a tangle of elements and subsystems, developed in isolation, and subject to local optimization as opposed to meeting a global purpose.

e) Cognitive Strategies Approach: Teachers and students are exposed to an extensive set of cognitive strategies and a wide array of curricular approaches to using them, in a manner designed to cultivate deep knowledge and regular application of these strategies in reading and writing. The consistency of positive outcomes on multiple measures strongly points to the efficacy of using this approach with ELL students.