important role, so it must be taught (either inductively of deductively). All the language skills
(reading, writing, listening and speaking) are emphasized, although it is considered that
pronunciation can never become perfect.
Cognitive learning goes beyond the behaviourist learning of facts and skills, adding
cognitive process to learning. Learners are asked to work out the rules for themselves. It focuses
on building learner’s experiences and providing learning tasks that can challenge, but also helps
students learn and progress through the curriculum.
The lesson is made up of three stages, namely, Presentation- Practice- Production.
Presentation: The new grammar structure is presented, often by means of a
conversation or short text. The teacher explains the new structure and checks students’
comprehension of it.
Practice: Students practice using the new structure in a controlled context, through
drills or substitution exercises.
Production: Students practice using the new structure in different contexts, often using
their own content or information, in order to develop fluency with the new pattern.
The P-P-P lesson structure has been widely used in language teaching materials and
continues in modified form to be used today.
5.1.10 The Communicative ApproachThe 1970s saw a worldwide shift towards teaching methods that emphasized
communication, seen as the fundamental reason for language teaching. Indeed, communicative
teaching has now become the only teaching method that many teachers have experienced; it was
considered the traditional method from the twentieth century as grammar/translation was the
traditional method from the nineteenth.
As we can notice, those methods are not always in opposition, and most of them present
strong arguments. Time has proven that some approaches are not that productive (such as the
Grammar-Translation Method or the Reading Method), and that others have some good parts,
that were preserved in future methods (for example, the Direct Method takes into consideration
the utility of conversation as the target of language teaching).
Most methodologists will agree that one cannot define a „right way” to teach as there is
no scientific basis yet for writing such a description of an ideal teaching methodology. What they
recommend is to observe, take note of and work on strategies and approaches that, as
circumstances dictate, can be more beneficial than others. The act of teaching is essentially a
constant processing of options and what makes a teacher more efficient is his/her awareness of