Methods & Principles

inlingua Methods

In the 1630s the Czech pedagogue, Jan Comenius, put forward the view that language teaching should be based, not on grammatical rules, but on inductive principles, examples, illustrations, reading and speaking. He later became known as a teacher of nations and a father of modern education. The inlingua method closely reflects the ideas presented by Comenius.

The inlingua method of teaching languages is the result of decades of practical experience. The primary aim of the inlingua method is to enable the student to communicate as competently as possible in the language being learnt. The main emphasis of the method is on the spoken word since it is only by speaking the language that the student will acquire oral competence. With more than 35 years of its successful implementation, the success of the method is certain.

The “inlingua method” of teaching is very different from the conventional method. It is student focused and aims at developing well-structured oral skills. This is achieved by choosing familiar contexts for efficient acquisition of reflexes, by taking into account students’ needs, objectives and interests, and by ensuring that the students’ talking time in the classroom is close to 80%.

inlingua Principles

The 10 Basic Principles of the inlingua method:

 

1   The Direct Method Principle: The trainer conducts the lesson only in the target language. Translation slows    down the  student’s response in the target language and also reduces the time available for practising the target language.

 

2  The Talking Time Principle: The trainer gives the student the opportunity to speak as much as possible and restricts

     his/her own utterances.

 

3  The Oral Principle: Books are closed for most of the lesson since the inlingua method concentrates on speaking, not

     on reading.

4  The Structures Principle: The trainer concentrates more on teaching structures rather than on individual words.

5  The Correctness Principle: The trainer teaches in such a way that most of the sentences produced by the student are correct.

6   The Diagnostic Principle: Trainers first diagnose the extent of the student’s knowledge before supplying a model or

      providing a solution. This effectively reduces re-teaching.

7   The Inductive Principle: Students learn language patterns through examples, not explanations. inlingua believes

      that it is better for a student to induce his/her own rules and grammar, rather than be given a set of rules and

      explanations by the trainer.

8  The Creative Principle: Students are given the opportunity to express personal opinions, experiment and use

      language creatively in the classroom.

9  The Psychology Principle: The method is flexible and allows the trainer to make the students feel at ease and take

      their individual needs into account.

10  The Structural/Functional Principle: Trainers combine the structural and functional approaches to language

        learning. Structures are taught while constantly relating them to functional situations. This makes the learning

        process more natural and realistic.