The Callan Method is a form of what is known as ‘direct method’ language teaching, which means that the lesson is taught only in English, and not in the student’s language. Direct methods have been used for over a hundred years to teach English, and the Callan Method developed from this tradition.
There being much controversy on the method, I decided to search the internet for a kind of clarification. And voila (вуаля!), here are some thoughts about the pros and cons of the method (from a discussing forum), which, I dare to conclude, are the most typical from what I have read so far on the topic.
A TEACHER SAYS: I have been teaching for about three years with the method now. I am also a CELTA qualified teacher and have used a variety of approaches in various countries. I am currently teaching at a school using this method.
There are certainly many pro's and con's in this method. As we have seen from previous posts, the method is restrictive and tiring to both students and teachers. Creativity is discouraged and it is almost exclusively speaking-based learning. Teacher are seldom qualified teachers as the training takes only one week, and because everything is scripted, a knowledge of grammar is not required. The only requirement for a teacher is to be a native speaker who speaks clearly. (This is not always true for schools outside the UK). As I did my training at the Callan School in London, I use this as my base.
Some good points of the method for the teacher is that there is no need for lesson preparation, not a lot to learn for novice teachers and constant interaction with students.
My personal opinion is a bit divided. Although I use the method at the moment, I have found that the method is incredibly effective with beginners, but do not offer a solid base at higher levels where communication rather than accurate speech is required.
With the Callan Method, students do not hear the natural rhythm of English but are rather drilled in the correct pronunciation, word order etc.
The method is approx 40 years old and many of the questions in the book are outdated and some material at the higher levels of Book 6 & 7 even show Robin Callan as a women-hating, racist character. Also some of the material in the book takes a quite morbid (ненормальний) view on life.
The method is structured in a way so as student can gradually pick up the 2000 or so most commonly used words in English. By forcing students to speak and correcting constantly, students learn very quickly at beginner level.
From a business perspective though, the Callan Method is great. Minimum input with maximum rewards. The cost of classes are lower as teachers are not qualified and are paid below the average. As many as 14 students can be put into one class and not material other than the books are needed. The initial cost of setting up a school is limited to a couple of chairs and a lecture.
I do not think that this method is designed to give student a good grounding in English. The more I teach it the more I realize that it was designed with economic benefit in mind. That being said, classes are usually cheaper than at other schools, so students tend to flock to the schools.
I do not like the method because I do not think it is the best approach available. Why do I teach it then? Well I am a part-time teacher and very pressed for time so I do not have a lot of time to prepare lessons. I like the idea that I can come in to school 10 minutes before my lesson, look at the pages to be taught and go teach them. I have used other approaches as well and are gradually suggesting them to our director as an alternative for higher level students.
No comments:
Post a Comment