| 1. |
The teacher conducts the lesson in the target language only. |
|
The student should start thinking in the
target language as soon as possible. Translation confuses and wastes
time. |
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| 2. |
The
teacher gives the learner the opportunity to speak as much as possible
during the lesson. |
|
The only way in which the student will
learn to speak a language is by speaking it, just as one learns to
play golf by hitting a golf ball with a golf club. |
|
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| 3. |
The teacher conducts
the greater part of the lesson orally, with the book closed. |
|
It is a fact that a language is learned
by using and hearing it , therefore, the student should be less reliant
on his eyes during the lessons. |
|
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| 4. |
The
teacher concentrates more on teaching structures (i.e. how words are
put together) than on teaching individual words. |
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Language is not a collection of words,
but a system of word combinations. |
|
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| 5. |
The teacher controls his/her teaching
in such a way that most of the sentences produced by the learner are
correct. |
|
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| 6. |
The
teacher diagnoses the extent of the learner's knowledge before supplying
a model or providing a solution himself/herself. |
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The teacher should build on the student's
knowledge and fill in gaps as soon as possible. |
|
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| 7. |
The
teacher keeps theoretical explanations to a minimum. |
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In order to drive a car it is not necessary
to know how the engine works. The student should be able to induce
a rule from examples. |
|
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| 8. |
The
teacher encourages the learner to play a creative role in the learning
process. |
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In order for the student to be constructive
and creative in his use of the target language, he must experiment.
It is impossible to memorize a number of sentences and phrases which
he thinks he will need one day. |
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| 9. |
The
teacher observes the principles of applied psychology. |
|
The goal of the WALC method is to make language learning as
efficient and pleasant as possible. The method is flexible to
give the teacher the possibility to adapt his approach to the
individual requirements of the student. Factors such as linguistical
talent, motivation, openness and cultural particularities have
to be considered. |
|
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| 10. |
The
teacher combines the structural and functional approaches to language
teaching. |
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A structural approach to language learning is one which places
the main emphasis on learning the structures or grammatical
items of a language. The functional approach emphasizes learning
how to express oneself in situations which occur in everyday
life. The most efficient teaching method is the combination
of both approaches. The WALC method teaches structure on the
basis of functional situations.
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