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Language Program Methodology
Using the Communicative Approach to language learning, students will learn to communicate in meaningful contexts that one may encounter in real-life situations. Instructors establish in-class situations that promote communication and practice in all four language learning skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. There are six curriculum levels, each organized around central themes that touch upon real-life situations such as: At the Workplace, Leisure Activities, In the Restaurant, Travel & Vacations, etc.
Each theme is broken down into language functions, grammar and vocabulary. The instructor will design activities for students to practice the functions, incorporating vocabulary, and grammar into every class. Students will improve their fluency, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and sentence structure in the target language.
In every class, students move from what they already know in structured practices, to less-structured and finally open activities. This process ensures that students have knowledge of the grammatical structures and they can master the language in communicative situations. The program also incorporates a multi-cultural understanding of native speakers, using authentic materials such as realia, books, videos, and music.
In this program, participants will:
- Overcome their fear of speaking in a small group setting with a maximum of 15 participants per class.
- Gain a greater ability to understand native speakers of the target language.
- Improve their fluency, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and sentence structure.
- Learn to communicate effectively in situations that they would encounter in the real world.
- Gain a greater understanding and appreciation of native speakers through the teaching of culture.
Program benefits include:
- Instructors who speak with a native-like fluency in English.
- Using the Communicative Approach to second-language instruction, classes are given exclusively in the target language with a de-emphasis on translation.
- Language is taught through the use of modeling, pictures, gestures, paraphrasing, repetition, and the negotiation of meaning, whereby activities are structured to account for different learning styles and preferences.
- Practice in all four skills is given, with an emphasis on speaking and understanding.
- The curriculum is organized around central themes and functions specific to authentic, real-life tasks, which makes learning meaningful to students, as grammar and vocabulary have a communicative objective, and are taught as tools to support the functions rather than isolated rules and lists.
