INCORPORATING EXAMPLES AS AN EFFECTIVE
TEACHING AID: A WINDOW TO TERTIARY EFL CLASSROOMS
Afsana
Lailac 1
1 Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Stamford
University, Bangladesh. 51 Siddheswari Road, Dhaka-1217, Bangladesh.
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ABSTRACT |
Keywords: Inductive
method; examples; challenges; anecdotes; effectiveness. |
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This paper explores some challenges that the teachers
face to incorporate inductive method by using examples which ensures creative
involvements of the students to enhance their motivation in tertiary EFL
classrooms. When the teacher is going to start a class, they often feel
difficulties that what should they say first definitions or examples? The
study examines whether it is effective to start classes with examples rather
than describing lesson topics and definitions. This study will also show how
the techniques of using examples, in the beginning, act as the most effective
supporting teaching aid to implement inductive method effectively. Publisher All rights reserved. |
INTRODUCTION
In ELT, the two
main theoretical approaches that have been developed to promote the EFL
student’s success in learning are the inductive and deductive method. The most
modern and emerging method is inductive method where the instructions are more
student centered. The inductive method represents much advanced and modern
style of teaching where the students learn through practice by their own
effort, and later explore the theory and technical implementation from the
practical examples taught by the teacher. Inductive instruction makes use of
student ‘noticing’. Instead of explaining a given concept, the teacher presents
students with examples asking and showing how the concept is used. For an
example, the teacher will teach about the quality of a good presentation. Then,
in the very beginning, the teacher can show a funny and poor presentation video
clip as an example rather than starting the class by announcing the topic or
what the teacher is intended to teach. Thus, the students would explore what
are the odd things they noticed in the video clip, why those are odd, and how
those could be avoided. Later, the teacher will let them know the topic of the
lesson and the qualities of a good presentation and its objectives. With this
approach students can think on the issue critically, get the autonomy to share
their opinion and build up a communicative environment at the same time. Thus,
it ensures quick and successful learning which the target of an EFL classroom.
On the
other hand, when the teacher applies the more traditional style of teaching,
deductive method, students are informed about the topic and learn the theory or
rules initially, then implement those through practice. The deductive method is
much predictable because teacher selects the information and describes those
first. In this approach, the teacher is the centre of the class where students
get less opportunity to think creatively and to participate and that narrows
down the space to achieve the intended target of an EFL class. Whereas, inductive
approach promotes student’s participation and practice of the target language
to fulfill the learning objectives in a speaking class. The following model, in
brief, shows the difference between the two methods:
Inductive method Deductive method
There are
several types of examples and out of them brief example; extended examples and
hypothetical examples are more effective. To Lucas (p. 166-168), brief example
is a specific instance referred to in passing to illustrate a point. It may
also be used to introduce a topic. The other way to use brief example is to
pile the ideas one upon the other until the students create the desired
impression about the lesson topic. On the other hand, extended examples are
called narrative or story at some length to illustrate a point. By telling a
story vividly and dramatically the teacher pulls the students to think on the
fact and drag them towards learning. Teachers can start class in a more
interesting way by using hypothetical example which describes an imaginary or
fictitious situation. It is quite effective as the teacher creates a situation
and relates it directly to the students to get them involved in learning.
This paper
will examine how the use of examples, in the beginning of a class, is more
effective to attain communicative goal and creative competence rather than
starting the class with definitions or declaring the lesson topics. The study
will also refer few recommendations from the effective outcome of practicing
the inductive method with examples in the speaking classrooms.
RATIONALE
AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The reason why we felt the importance to write on the
respective issue is, basically, the current English curricula at tertiary level
in Bangladesh emphasizes on communicative learning approach but the actual
scenario of the classrooms is different where the teachers sometimes, practice
the traditional deductive approach in language classrooms. This proves more
striking when it happens, specially, in speaking classes. As an EFL teacher, we
found that most of the EFL classrooms are not properly designed where teacher
and students face difficulties due to the lack of logistic support, sufficient
teaching aids, etc and sometimes, the multi-ability classes and number of
students also creates barriers to practice inductive method. But, considering
all, an EFL class can be effective to fulfill its objectives if the teachers
apply the method by starting class with life like examples. This will balance the
multi-ability classroom as well.
LITERATURE
REVIEW
There have been
revolutionary changes in ideas about language teaching methodology over the
last 50 years or so. Inductive teaching method in one of the effective and
influential methods of teaching in which the teacher begins by presenting
students with a specific challenge in the form of examples. Students grappling
with the challenge quickly recognize the needs for facts, skills, and
conceptual understanding at which point the teacher provides necessary
instruction or helps students to learn by their own. A number of research and
article has been published on the respective issue. Prince, M., Professor at
Bucknell University in Lewisburg-Pennsylvania and Felder, R., Professor at
North Carolina State University have published a joint research on The many faces of Inductive teaching and
learning which examines the effectiveness and implementation of different
inductive teaching methods. They have shown that inductive teaching methods can
be applied in many forms, including discovery learning, problem-based learning,
project-based learning, case-based teaching, task-based teaching and
just-in-time teaching. The use of examples is the most effective way among
these. What inductive methods have in common is that students are presented
with a challenge and then learn what they need to know to address the
challenge. It is seen that inductive methods serve as precursors to
intellectual development of students as well.
METHODOLOGY
As the
primary focus of this investigation is to explore the effective integration of
inductive method of teaching with examples in the tertiary EFL speaking
classrooms, the study searches the following two questions:
Since the
study depends mostly on teachers’ self reported opinions and experiences on
speaking classes, a survey research design is selected and the research is
based on written survey questionnaires. Because of the time constraint, we used
survey questionnaire according to Wiersma (1995, in Karim, 2004), as cited by
Scott (2001). To Aleixo (2003), qualitative research has a unique approach to
research that draws mostly on multiple sources and on people’s views and
opinions of specific experiences. Therefore, we find it wise to use a
qualitative research approach because of the much dependence on individual
teacher’s perceptions and experiences of a particular language teaching
situation.
Questionnaire
In order to
elicit data, questionnaire is used as the main instrument. The questionnaire
includes 10 statements along with comments. As the objective of the study is to find out whether teachers follow the
inductive method in EFL classes by using examples and how much it is effective
to accelerate the communicative competence of the students, the questionnaire
is divided into three sections. Section A will attempt to clarify the first
research question that is how the teachers start a speaking class and
whether they give their students the space to think over the lesson topics in
the very beginning. Section B will focus on the teacher’s opinion that how much
examples is effective to the inductive teaching approach. Section C will show
the random reaction of the participants regarding the research issue. In order
to check the comprehensiveness, clarity and representativeness of the interview
questionnaire, a pilot testing was conducted
Participants
All the
participants in this study are the EFL teachers of four private universities
named, Stamford University, BRAC University, Northern University and Eastern
University. A total of 10 EFL teachers are randomly selected for the survey who
have been teaching speaking courses and taking regular classes.
Sample Process & Size
As the
number of the available participants is of manageable size, we did not
collected data through sampling. All of available ten participants are taken as
population necessary for this research.
ANALYSIS
OF DATA AND ILLUSTRATION
Section A
As
mentioned earlier, section A will be looking at the experience of the EFL
teachers that how they start their speaking classes.
Table: 1
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Yes |
No |
Total respondent |
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7 |
3 |
10 |
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Comment 1 |
7 participants |
Sometimes,
I feel comfortable and students also feel comfortable if I announce the topic
at the beginning. |
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Comment 2 |
3 participants |
I
start the class with different examples before declaring the topic as my
students feel interest. |
Table 1
appears that all the teachers participated in the survey where 7 participants
responded ‘Yes’ to the statement and gave comment that they tell the topics
rather than share any example in the beginning of the class. Whereas, 3
participants responds that they start their class with examples which create
positive learning environment and students feel interest towards learning.
Table: 2
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|
Yes |
No |
Total respondent |
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6 |
4 |
10 |
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Comment
1 |
6
participants |
To
give the students guideline on the lesson, I give an outline in the beginning
of the class. |
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Comment
2 |
4
participants |
This
technique draws a teacher centered circle where students get a limited scope
to think creatively. |
This table
shows that 4 participants found, writing the main points and outlining intended
lesson area create a teacher centered classroom where students get limited
space to exercise their own thinking power. But, 6 participants think that in
the beginning, guideline is more important.
Table: 3
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||||
|
Yes |
No |
Total respondent |
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7 |
3 |
10 |
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Comment
1 |
7
participants |
I
describe the definition or fact first, and then discuss examples, show
pictures, etc. Thus the students take notes. |
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Comment
2 |
3
participants |
This
technique involves students to think. It creates interest among them and they
get the priority to share their own points of view as well. |
In the
above table, 7 participants found that starting a class by telling story or
situation or showing pictures is more effective than describing the definition.
Only 3 participants responded negatively to this question.
Table: 4
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||||
|
Yes |
No |
Total respondent |
|
8 |
2 |
10 |
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Comment
1 |
2
participants |
Often
students get nervous and hesitate to answer and to state their opinion. |
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Comment
2 |
8
participants |
This
practice gives space to the students to share their opinion. It equally
involves attentive and non- attentive students altogether into the classroom
activities. |
This table
shows that most of the EFL teachers, 8 participants, have positive experience
regarding asking random questions to their students on the lesson topics. They
found it effective as this method involves all types of students equally and
gives space to share their own opinion. Through this practice, sometimes, new
ideas are discovered from the students which raise their confidence. On the
other hand, only two participants react negatively to the above statement.
Table: 5
5.
In the beginning, I play a game related to the intended lesson topic and at
the end let my students to discover what they have learnt through the game. |
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|
Yes |
No |
Total respondent |
|
4 |
6 |
10 |
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Comment
1 |
6
participants |
In
most cases, the numbers of students, size of classrooms are not suitable to
play game but to some extent, it is effective. |
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Comment
2 |
4
participants |
This
technique creates a positive vive in the classroom and enhances student’s
communicative competence. They also enjoy and at the end they discover what
they have learnt, what were their mistakes, etc. |
This table
shows that 4 participants effectively practice this technique where students
enjoy the class and get the opportunity to discover their own mistakes. Thus,
the intended learning proves successful at the end of the class. On the other
hand, considering the number of students and classroom size, 6 respondents
reply, it is not possible always to implement the technique but they agree that
it is quite effective.
Above all, this section finds that the
number of the participants often practice inductive method due to the size of
the classrooms, number of students with multi-ability, lack of logistic support
and sometimes proper training of the teachers.
Section B
Section
B is designed to elicit the effectiveness of using example in the beginning of the
speaking class.
Table: 6
6:
If teacher starts the class by illustrating a story or situation as an
example, it acts as an ice-breaker. |
||
Agree |
Disagree |
Total respondent |
9 |
1 |
10 |
7:
If teacher starts the class with an example, it acts as a trigger to drag the
students to think critically and creates interest among them to learn. |
||
Agree |
Disagree |
Total respondent |
8 |
2 |
10 |
8:
If teacher starts the class by showing any picture or video and asks students
what they notice and understand,
students will get the space to share their opinion which enhances quick
learning and communicative competence. |
||
Agree |
Disagree |
Total respondent |
8 |
2 |
10 |
9:
If teacher starts the class by declaring topic and show examples later,
students will get idea about the topic first which is effective than using
examples. |
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Agree |
Disagree |
Total respondent |
3 |
7 |
10 |
The table
appears to be a consensus that all the respondents participated in the survey
where most of them agree that using examples are more effective rather than
describing definition or declaring the lesson topics in the beginning of class.
Unlikely, in the deductive approach of teaching, students just follow the
teacher’s instruction and lecture, memorize those but, they cannot think
critically and exercise communicative activities.
Section C
Section C
will focus on the informal comments to get the impression of the EFL teachers
regarding the following question.
Ques. 10: Using examples is more effective to the
inductive method of teaching in languageclassrooms. Why and why not?
Participants |
Comments |
Teacher 1 |
I
always try to start my class with several examples like, writing open ended
questions on the board, telling situation or sometimes showing pictures. It
creates an interest and a competitive attitude among the students that who
can guess the write answer first. This method is very effective in
multi-ability classrooms as it compels students to think creatively. |
Teacher 2 |
It
is more effective to start a speaking class with an example because it
releases student’s tension and creates an easy informal conversational atmosphere
in the classroom which ensures quick learning rather than stating a class by
declaring topics. |
Teacher 3 |
In
fact, inductive method is effective but, it is not possible to apply it
always. The reasons are lack of logistic support, insufficiency of teaching
aids, etc. Some of the students feel comfort if teachers tell the topic and
outline of the lesson at the beginning. They think that this practice
involves the teacher in the class lectures. |
Teacher 4 |
Sometimes
it depends on the level of the students whether I should apply inductive or
deductive approach. Specially, in advance level, it is easy to go through the
topic first, but except this case, it is quite effective to start a class
with an example in a multi-ability classroom. |
Teacher 5 |
Inductive
method of teaching is, mostly, effective in speaking classes but sometimes it
depends on the ability of students whether they can relate the examples to
the main topics given by the teacher. |
Teacher 6 |
The
inductive method of teaching definitely enhances student’s motivation and
encourages them to discover new ideas. |
Teacher 7 |
Inductive
method creates a positive learning atmosphere by releasing student’s tension
and shyness at the very beginning and drags them to participate in
communicative activities which are the prime concern of a speaking class. It
accelerates their involvements in the class too. |
Teacher 8 |
This
method creates the classroom more students centered which builds up their
confidence to participate, to communicate and to share their own opinion. |
Teacher 9 |
Examples
ensure student’s better understanding rather than explaining. |
Teacher 10 |
Starting
a class with lots of example, specially taken from everyday life, makes the
students interested not only towards syllabus based learning but enrich their
knowledge to think beyond it. Students enjoy the class and do not feel
boredom. |
In this
section, all the respondents share their personal experiences and comments
regarding the effectiveness of using examples. They comment why this inductive
method is effective and why not. Their comments show that most of the EFL
teachers have a positive notion and want to practice this method in their
speaking classrooms as this is the modern method of teaching where the
classroom will be students and activities based.
SUMMARY
CHART OF THE SURVEY
Figure: 1
FINDINGS AND
SUGGESTIONS
The main
focus of this study is to explore the effectiveness of inductive method of
teaching by using examples in the tertiary level speaking classrooms by
searching two questions; whether the teachers start their class with an example
and, how much this method is effective. The above figure: 1 shows the summary
of the whole survey where about 75% respondents give a positive vive to the
inductive approach of teaching that using examples are much effective rather
than describing definition. They agree that this approach fulfils to attain
intended learning objectives of a speaking class through communicative
activities. Besides, 25% respondents are still inclined to the deductive
approach where they start their class by declaring and writing lesson topics
and main points to the students. In more general situation, when teachers deal
with the advanced level students, they are giving the students constant
opportunities to think and notice the given examples. Students will usually be
more involved in the learning experience and tend to participate more actively
to understand and remember when learning occurs inductively.
Inductive
method is much learner centered as ‘its learner centered and experience-based
view of second language teaching’ (Richards & Rodgers, 1986, p. 69). In
this approach students learn through practice and later they know the
definitions and rules. Suppose, teacher can show three human faces; one is
happy, one is angry and another one is sad without explaining what the faces
are speaking about. The students will find out the three different facial
expressions and then guess why they are so. Thus, the teacher would provide
many other examples and drags students to share more examples related to the
topics. This practice can be done by dividing students into groups or pairs and
teachers can play games or role play to let the students discover what they
have learnt by doing so. With this approach, the teacher’s role is to provide
meaningful contexts to encourage demonstration of the rule, while the students
evolve the rules from the examples of its use and continued practice (Rivers
and Temperley, p. 110). Thus, in the beginning of an EFL class, examples -
CONCLUSION
As far as learning through communicative activities is the prime concern
of a language classroom, inductive method of teaching is one of the modern and
highly effective methods which promotes increased student participation and
practice of the target language in meaningful context by enhancing their own
confidence and communicative competence in the classroom. The present study
examines that the tertiary level EFL teachers are practicing inductive method
in a small scale though they better understand the principles of inductive
method, as well as explores how it works in language classrooms.
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