Kids' World

The Questioning Approach

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Natural Approaches (cont'd)

A third idea, which derives from the way children learn their native language and which has a large following among teachers, is that children learn best by playing games, singing songs and generally experiencing English with their senses. Controlling the language in these activities is often not considered particularly important.

Children learn best by playing games and singing songs

In the Questioning Approach too, playing games and learning with the senses play the central role in lessons, but controlling the language content of games and songs is considered vital. With native speakers or children learning English as a second language there is much to be said for using less controlled language, but the needs of foreign language learners are different.

If the language in games and songs is directly related to the targets of the course, not only is more efficient use made of the limited time available and the children given a clearer direction, but they are also not exposed to too much language which may be confusing and weaken their positivity and motivation.

When the language content is not a main priority and activities are chosen more for their popularity than for the language being practiced, there are many dangers. It is often the case that games and songs which are popular are repeated over and over again, long after the language for which they were designed has been internalized by the children. This may lead to the language being reproduced rather mechanically and the course losing momentum.

Games and songs which are played for their own sake tend to be used as rewards or as a way of maintaining discipline- "If you study hard, we will play a game afterwards" - and for many children, the learning of English comes to be regarded as 'studying' and the playing of games as 'fun'. Learning itself can be fun, especially if it is successful. Children are naturally curious about the world around them and enjoy exploring it. They enjoy asking questions.

In the Questioning Approach the teacher encourages this inquisitiveness, gives the children the language tools to express their curiosity and makes sure they Find Out the answers with minimum frustration. Discovering language is like playing with a new toy.

Enjoyable games and songs are an essential and integral part of the process, but they are always used to reinforce the language in the course. There is never any differentiation between the 'studying' part of a lesson and the 'fun' part: it is all fun.

Other Humanistic Approaches
In a sense, all approaches to teaching are humanistic or at least contain humanistic elements. However, the approaches which are generally referred to as humanistic are those which place particular emphasis on the personal nature of learning and see the teacher's role as secondary and supportive.

One of the main problems that most existing approaches of this kind face is that they are out of reach of the inexperienced teachers. The untrained teacher would find it very difficult to teach effectively using 'The Silent Why' or an approach based on 'Counsel-Learning Theory' simply by reading a teacher's guide. With the Questioning Approach this can be done. Of course, the approach can be used at various degrees of sophistication, but the key techniques are easy to learn and use.

Proponents of humanistic approaches often feel that more traditional courses are too rigid and insensitive to the deeper learning needs of students. Those teachers who favor traditional approaches often feel that humanistic approaches make inefficient use of time and fail to give the students a clear sense of direction. The Questioning Approach attempts to reconcile these two viewpoints.

In the Questioning Approach, courses and individual lessons are carefully planned in advanced, the targets are pre-determined, maximum use is made of the time available and the students are given a very clear sense of direction. However, learning is regarded as something very personal and emotional, new language is introduced in a way that feels 'real' to the students, and the teacher's role is supportive and peripheral.

The students are able to learn all the language structures which have traditionally been considered important, but they are able to retain a much higher percentage of the language they encounter and produce it more spontaneously because the teacher employs a humanistic approach.

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David Paul has been actively involved in ELT in Japan for over 10 years. He is the Principal of David English House and the author of Communicate and Finding Out. In 1999 he founded English Teachers in Japan (ETJ), a teacher organization that aims to encourage the general development of ELT in Japan. He is Principal of David English house, and author of Finding Out, Communicate, Songs and Grames for Children, Discover English and Discover the World. He is the East Asian representative for the University of Sheffield Cert/Dip/MA in Japanese Language and Society, and MA in Advanced Japanese Studies.

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