Teaching by Principles
Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy
Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents. 416 pp.
Reviewed by Gail Schaefer Fu
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
H. Douglas Brown's Teaching by Principles is intended for teachers in training -- those who intend to be teachers but who have little or no classroom experience -- and for teachers who train teachers. It is centered, not surprisingly, around certain principles of language teaching and learning, echoing Brown's own Principles of Language Teaching and Learning (1994). His new book Teaching by Principles is itself a manifestation of the principles which it espouses and, while one is again tempted to say "not surprisingly," it is not always a given that authors in our profession themselves "do as they say."
Brown does.
The book is organized into four main sections: Foundations for Classroom Practice; Context of Teaching; Designing and Implementing Classroom Techniques; and Classroom Practicalities. In an early chapter, Brown takes "a broad, sweeping look at twelve overarching principles of second language learning from which sound practice springs and on which [the reader's] teaching can be based" (p. 16). These he groups as cognitive, affective, and linguistic principles: 1. Automaticity; 2. Meaningful Learning; 3. The Anticipation of Reward; 4. The Intrinsic Motivation Principle; 5. Strategic Investment; 6. Language Ego; 7. Self-confidence; 8. Risk-taking; 9. The Language-Culture Connection; 10. The Native Language Effect; 11. Interlanguage; and 12. Communicative Competence.
If we turn Brown's principled approach around and apply it to the book itself, we can characterize twelve "principles of recommendation" which put Teaching by Principles on the "must read" list for anyone intending to be a teacher or anyone involved with those who are. These principles of
Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents. 416 pp.
Reviewed by Gail Schaefer Fu
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
H. Douglas Brown's Teaching by Principles is intended for teachers in training -- those who intend to be teachers but who have little or no classroom experience -- and for teachers who train teachers. It is centered, not surprisingly, around certain principles of language teaching and learning, echoing Brown's own Principles of Language Teaching and Learning (1994). His new book Teaching by Principles is itself a manifestation of the principles which it espouses and, while one is again tempted to say "not surprisingly," it is not always a given that authors in our profession themselves "do as they say."
Brown does.
The book is organized into four main sections: Foundations for Classroom Practice; Context of Teaching; Designing and Implementing Classroom Techniques; and Classroom Practicalities. In an early chapter, Brown takes "a broad, sweeping look at twelve overarching principles of second language learning from which sound practice springs and on which [the reader's] teaching can be based" (p. 16). These he groups as cognitive, affective, and linguistic principles: 1. Automaticity; 2. Meaningful Learning; 3. The Anticipation of Reward; 4. The Intrinsic Motivation Principle; 5. Strategic Investment; 6. Language Ego; 7. Self-confidence; 8. Risk-taking; 9. The Language-Culture Connection; 10. The Native Language Effect; 11. Interlanguage; and 12. Communicative Competence.
If we turn Brown's principled approach around and apply it to the book itself, we can characterize twelve "principles of recommendation" which put Teaching by Principles on the "must read" list for anyone intending to be a teacher or anyone involved with those who are. These principles of