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In this unit we covered a range of teaching methodologies from the Grammar-Translation Method (primarily suited to learning written language as in the study of ancient Greek and Latin), through Audiolingualism (best suited to improving accuracy) as well as the Silent Way (which promotes student discovery of the language) and Suggestopaedia (which has a primary aim of minimizing barriers to language acquisition). To a greater or lesser extent, all of these methodologies and more (PPP, CLT, the Lexical Approach) inform Jeremy Harmer's ESA approach favored in EFL classrooms today. What I like about ESA (Engage/Study/Activate) is that it provides the teacher with the necessary building blocks to create an effective lesson for all student levels and adjust the approach according to student needs. For example, at lower levels, a straight arrow approach would provide enough predictable structure to help students feel comfortable and may be adapted to spend more time on the Study phase in order to improve accuracy. On the other hand, for more advanced students, a patchwork approach which may provide multiple opportunities for the students to more freely produce language whether it is in an Engage phase (of which there could be multiple) or an Activate phase (also which may recur in various forms), encouraging greater fluency and opportunities to tailor the Study phase(s) to supplying only the language the students need in order to complete their tasks more effectively. I also like the philosophy on correction, that it should be used sparingly, and less often than praise, that in Engage and Activate stages, students should be allowed to proceed unhindered, and that self-correction and peer correction are always preferable to teacher correction, as self-discovery is likely to lead to better retention.
