Category Archives: Education

Assessment of the Delft Method of Second Language Teaching

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The following essay is a school assignment for a course called ‘History of English Language Teaching‘ which is given by one of my favourite teachers. Indeed, I count myself amongst the very lucky to have a teacher of this quality. (I am not saying who, or else you will all be over here and I’d have to share his time with even more people…!)

Purpose of the essay is to investigate the underlying purpose and validation of a particular style of teaching, and establish if it is a method or merely an approach. Furthermore, I honed down the central issue of my investigation to include a notion of whether this method was appropriate in its specific context and with regard to the target group it aims at.

‘Assessing the DELFT METHOD of Language Learning in its appropriate and specific context’ by Amber Nowak

What is the Delft Method’?

The Delft Method was initially developed by lecturers at the Technical University in Delft, the Netherlands, in the early 1980s as a method by which foreign students could quickly learn Dutch as a foreign language in order to study and survive in Holland. The motivation for this was that it would thus allow foreign students to study effectively and participate in the country’s culture, rather than be isolated in smaller cultural groups all of the same origins. A new method – the Delft Method – was designed especially to meet these requirements. The method itself focusses mainly on productive language skills (speaking and writing), which are learned through use of the target language only. It soon became popular because it proved to be effective and because its content was known for its simplicity and clarity. (Makkink 2007)

The method focuses on acquiring grammar and language structure through texts chosen for their strong cultural focus in a Dutch cultural environment. The lessons emphasise listening and speaking skills, and the texts are designed to improve knowledge about the Netherlands at the same time. The emphasis lies in speaking, in transferring meaning, paraphrasing and using discourse to arrive at an agreement in meaning, in other words, the emphasis lies in language performance, in oppose to language competence in the given target language (English) (Canale&Swaine1980)

The Delft Method is typically one of high work load. The student is expected to be able to focus on a full-day course for a period of six months. It could be compared to the sheltered model used in America to prepare foreign students for studying in English in the United States [Holly Hansen-Thomas 2008].

Using the Delft Method for teaching English Continue reading →

My English is ‘Substandard’

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SUB STANDARD

According to an elderly gentleman I know, I speak sub-standard English, because I am from South Africa. Héh??!? Okay, just hold the phone. What is the statement here? It’s like this: According to this guy, along with us South Africans, also the Americans and all other English-speakers from outside of England share this predicament. We all speak sub-standard English due to the country of origin NOT being England. Well, maayyybeee the Americans?

Apparently, you can get quite an “education” sitting in front of popular websites. In fact, why am I studying English at all? I can just get it from the internet. Where I will probably learn there is no point in even trying, because it is like a black guy who is desperately trying to be white, and the cream is just not working.

Well, he’s probably right, too. No one from outside the U.K has ever laid claim to being an authority on the English language: we all know our place. There are no winners of literature prizes; no poets or novelists outside of England writing in anything but barely acceptable, slightly shoddy English.

Yes, I even think that the academics “abroad” have a “pal on the inside”, (in England) whom they regularly send secret emails whenever they are in a linguistic ‘tight spot’. Just to get the final word, you do understand. And, those who don’t are painfully unaware of their shortcomings, and are privately laughed by the English native community, with the kind-hearted patience often shown by parents to their children. Just like the engineers, also a band of self-overrating intellectuals, and are badly in need of a ‘buddy’ in Big Peoples academia.

I meet this person at parties, where in the past I have chatted to him about English. He is a Dutch native, obviously fascinated by my language. At these parties, amongst a group of native Dutch speakers, there is also an Englishman present. After chatting about the English language for an hour and reaching subject matter unknown to him, this guy doubts my opinion on the issue at hand, and promptly says: “Shall we ask the true authority?” He then turns to get the definitive final word from the Englishman. Never mind that I am doing a bachelor in English-teaching at the moment and spent my youth speaking English every day and attending English language schools. I am passionate about language, and then especially the English language. Hey, not that it’s personal or anything, right??? ‘No,’ he says, ‘it’s not about you personally. Your English, due to being from outside the U.K., is sub-standard.’

Now let me just contact my friend Eric in Surrey, before I publish this somewhat poor and substandard article to my website. Eric’s an illiterate bricklayer, but he IS from England proper, and a reeeally nice guy. You never know, it may need some touching up.

ACN