ABSTRACT
This paper has three parts. The first part examines the teacher-centered approach in teaching which consist of five approaches and the characteristics of each approach. The second part discusses regarding the student-centered approach and also the characteristic in application. The third part combines of the two approaches that include teacher-centered and student-centered in teaching learning process.
I. INTRODUCTION
Teaching is an activity in sharing knowledge and experience that aimed at bringing meaningful learning through approaches, methods, and techniques. The activities involved in facilitating or educating to impart the knowledge or skills to learners. In other words that teaching is the process of attending to learners’ needs, feelings and experiences to help them learn particular things. . II. DISCUSSION
In teaching learning process, there are two fundamentally different ways of understanding teaching. The first is teaching as a teacher-centered activity in which knowledge is transmitted from teacher who has acquired that knowledge to learners who knows nothing. The second is teaching as a student-centered activity in which the teacher ensures the learning is made possible for the students. Teacher in here can supports, guides, encourages the students in their active creation of new knowledge and independent learning. As a teacher, it is best to choose appropriate approach based on the situation and condition of the students in order to the teaching learning process can run more effectively. In here, the two ways of approaches in teaching will be explained in detail as follow:
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A. Teacher-centered Approach in Teaching
Teacher-centered approach is a kind of approach that the knowledge is transmitted from teacher to students, it means the teacher who knows everything and the students just passively receive information. In here, teacher is the main actor that has authority in the classroom. The teacher guides the students by doing lecturing, demonstrating the concepts and materials, also giving the instruction when he/she teaching in the classroom. Meanwhile, the students only listening, taking notes, answering the questions, or do the assignments and tests. Furthermore, there are some approaches of teacher-centered in teaching are as follow:
1.
Grammar-Translation Approach
Grammar translation approach is a traditional approach in teaching learning process. In this approach, teacher is a main actor in the class which means that teacher is more active than the students. The teacher teaches the students to learn the target language and asks them to translate the sentences word by word. The general purpose is for the students are to be able to translate language into the other. In this way, communication is not necessary in teaching learning process, but it is more focus on the primary skills such as reading and writing. In practicing this approach, the teacher always asks the students to translate a new word or sentence from English into the other language and also memorize the grammar rules such as present tense, past tense, irregular verb, past participles and the others that are very important for the student.
2.
Audio-Lingual Approach
This approach is a kind of approach in language teaching which is more focused on listening and speaking before reading and writing. It uses dialogues or conversations as the main role of teaching a foreign language to the students and the teacher also can use drilling technique to guide the students in order to teach a foreign language. Using L1 is not allowed in this approach.
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For example in applying this approach, the teacher uses target language rather than mother tongue or L1 to teach in the classroom. The media used by the teacher like picture, actions, and visualization. The characteristics of this approach are more focus on pronunciation and grammatical explanation.
3.
Total Physical Response
Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching approach which is design to build the coordination between speech and action through the physical activity. In this approach, the teacher tries to combine the information and skill through the sensory system. The purpose of this approach is when the students learn their target language and they respond physically and automatically to the teacher command. The students are required to carry out the instruction that is given by the teacher by doing the action or an a ctivity physically. This approach is belongs to the beginner level of language learning, especially for children in kindergarten. Practically, there is an interaction between the students and the teacher or vice versa and also among the students with the assistance of the teacher in the classroom. The performance of the students can be graded individually, by pair or by group.
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Community Language Learning
Another teacher-centered approach is Community Language Learning (CLL). In this approach, the teacher’s role as a counselor and the student’s as a client, which means the teachers consider not only their students’ intellect but also they need to understand the relationship among students’ feelings, physical reactions, instinctive protective reactions and desire to learn. In the other words that CLL involves humanistic techniques which engage the whole person, including the emotions and feelings as well as linguistic knowledge and behavioral skills. In this way, the teachers can help the students to overcome their fears or negative feelings into positive energy in learning the target language and also develop what aspects of a language they would like to learn.
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5.
Content-Based Approach
This approach focused on integrates the learning of language with the learning of some other contents. The content can be themes, i.e. some topics such as popular music, sports in which students are interested or it could be another subjects like geography, biology that is taught by the teacher through the medium of language. It usually belongs to the subject matter in academic including the syllabus. The main goal of this approach is the teacher wants the students to master not only the language but also the content as well. It is expected that students can use the language to express or deliver the contents. In application the teacher can use authentic media like ‘globe’ for teaching geography lesson through language instruction. The other ways that teacher can use to deliver the contents through the use of visuals, picture or by giving a lot of examples that related with students’ prior experience.
B. Student-centered Approach in Teaching
Student centered approach is more focus on the students’ activity in teaching learning process. But, it does not mean that the teacher does not lead the classroom without giving any guidance to the students. Teacher in here is only as a facilitator and guider to the students to help them for developing their knowledge, skill ability, and critical thinking. Instead of relying to the teacher, it usually involves equally interaction between teacher and students such as in a group work, or other collaborative activities that can help the students to learn how to collaborate and communicate each other. As a teacher, it is very important to know some student-centered approaches in teaching in order to decide the best way or work for us and the students. In here, there are four student-centered approaches are as follow:
1.
The Silent Way
Silent way is one of the student-centered approaches that more emphasis on students’ cognition in learning. In this approach, the teacher should be as silent
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as possible in order to the students can produce as much language as possible. Indeed, the teacher just as a facilitator and monitoring the students’ efforts while the students are encouraged to have an active role in learning the language. The objective of this approach is the students are expected to be able to express their feelings, thoughts and needs to the target language also to correct their own errors. Silent way views language has its unique features that students can learn a language through many ways or objects that can be demonstrated in order to the students can produce the language based on the situation or object such as soundchart, rod, spelling chart. It also could be in physical object like clocks, animal, people, fruits and the others as well. For example in application, the te acher uses a Fidel (spelling chart) to teach students how to spell the sounds of English. Without say anything the teacher points to the sound color chart in order to the students spell the sounds of the language.
2.
Communicative Language Teaching
Applying the theoretical perspective of communicative approach, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) aims broadly to make communicative competence as the goal of language teaching, which means CLT emphasizes on communicative competence rather than grammatical structure as central in teaching. CLT views that language is for communication which means that it expects the students in order to learn how to communicate appropriately in the target language. In this approach, the students are as communicators and independent learners in the classroom which means that they are more active than the teacher. The students should be able to understand their own learning. While in this case, the teachers’ role as facilitators that facilitate the communication in the classroom and engage the activities with the students also monitor the students’ performance. In applying this approach, there are some characteristics in teaching learning process such as giving games, role plays, and problem-solving tasks through in pairs, small groups or whole groups communicative activities.
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3.
Task-Based Language Teaching
Another approach that views language as communication is the TaskBased Language Teaching. It considers the functional role of language in real tasks as the main goal to the students to communicate in classroom for an ideal learning. As Freeman & Anderson (2011) stated that tasks are meaningful, and in doing them, students need to communicate. Tasks have a clear outcome so that the teacher and students know whether or not the communication has been successful. There are some characteristics in this approach that differ with other approaches. This approach is based on the tasks that make it differs with traditional approaches. The lessons are mainly focused on student-centered and communicative tasks as a central in teaching learning process which means grammatical structure or focus on form is unintentional. For example in practice, the teacher asks the students that they are going to complete a time table so that the teacher can introduce to the students to the language they will need to complete the task. Definitely the task is meaningful also relate with possible situations in their live outside the classroom. Then, the students can communicate with their peers to complete the task.
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Participatory Approach
The goal of this approach is to involve the students as problem solver how to understand their social and real-life issues, then to help empower the students to take action and make decisions in order to gain control over their lives in that context. This approach has characteristic that what happens in the classroom should be related and connected with what happens in the outside. In this way, the teacher facilitates and orders a problem to the students in order to they can discuss and solve the problem. For example when teacher using a picture as a media in the classroom and asking the students to try understand the problem and elicit solutions from the picture. So that the students are expected to be able to use the language that they are learning in order to solve problems in their lives.
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C. Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Approaches (Mix Approaches)
In teaching learning process, there are some cases that it is best for the teachers to use a combination of approaches like teacher-centered and studentcentered to ensure that all students’ needs are met. It means that teacher and students have equal participation in the classroom which is teacher or students can not stand alone. Sometimes, collaborative between teacher and students is very important in order to the teaching learning process can run more effectively. In here, there are three approaches the more concerned on teacher-centered and student-centered are as follow:
1.
Direct Approach
This approach allows the students to perceive meaning directly through the target language because no translation is allowed. Visual aids and pantomime are used to clarify the meaning of vocabulary items and concepts. It means that the teacher should demonstrate by using objects (e.g. pictures or realia) not explain or translate it in order to help the students to understand the meaning. In this case, students speak a great deal in the target language and communicate as if in real situations. In here, students are expected to be able to think in the target language in order to communicate in the target language successfully. For achieving that, teacher and the students should be more like partners in the teaching learning process which means that teacher and students can help each others.
2.
Suggestopedia
This approach helps students to study language in bright and colorful classroom, so that the students will be more easy and comfortable in learning language. For more important that the students can feel enjoy during teaching learning process, especially in learning foreign language. The kind of this approach is the learning environment is relaxed and has a soft music in the background.
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In this approach, there are four main stages in teaching learning process; (1) presentation that helps the students to think positively that learning language is easy and fun, (2) concert session (passive and active), (3) elaboration means the students are encouraged to play role with the new language creatively and (4) practice. For example in application, the teacher asks the students to choose a name and character in the foreign language, and then they can imagine being that person. Dialogs are presented to the accompaniment of music. Students just relax and listen to them being read and later playfully practice the language during an ‘activation’ phase.
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Cooperative Learning
Cooperative or collaborative learning is a teaching learning approach that provides opportunities to the students to learn in small groups or work in teams in order to learn from each other in groups. In this case, not only the group configuration that makes cooperative learning distinctive but also the cooperative between students and teachers is very important. That is why this approach is more concerned on not only student-centered but also teacher centered. In this way,
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individualistically and helps students collaborative so that they can work together more actively. It means that teacher not only teach language but also cooperation as well. In cooperative learning activities, each member of a group is responsible not only for learning what is taught by the teacher but also for helping their teammates learn. For example, students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
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III. CONCLUSION
In teaching learning process, there is no choice that student-centered is more effective than teacher-centered or vice versa. It is based on the situation or condition of the students. Thus, as a good teacher, he or she should be able to decide wisely which one of the approaches, methods, techniques and activities that is appropriate for each particular task, context and student. Moreover, a teacher should focus on motivation and helping students become independent and inspired to learn more.
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REFERENCES
Brown, Douglas. (2000). Teaching By Principles an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy 2 nd Ed. San Francisco, California: Longman Freeman, Diane. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching 2 nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press Freeman, Diane & Anderson, Marti. (2011). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching 3 rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press Richards. J. & Rodgers. T. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press
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