The inductive approach represents a more modern style of teaching where the new grammatical structure or rules are presented to the students in a real language context. The students learn the use of the structure through practice of the language in context, and later realize the rules from the practical examples. Induction, or learning through experience, is seen as the “natural” route to learning, and it is strongly identified with methods of second language instruction that model themselves on first language acquisition, such as the Direct Method and the Natural Approach. These experiential methods of instruction share a basic assumption that language data is best processed inductively and without recourse to translation. They differ, however, in the position they take as to how best this input should be selected and organised. They also take different positions with regard to how and how often the teacher should intervene.
Designed to challenge the decidely unnatural and highly intellectual procedures of Grammar – Translation, the fundamental belief behind the Direct Method was that our first language is acquired through the process of forming associations between language and the real world. In Direct Method classes, therefore, the rules of the language are supposedly acquired out of the experience of understanding and repeating examples which have been systematically graded for difficulty and put into a clear context.
Meanwhile, developments in educational theory were promoting the value of what came to be known as discovery learning. The principle underlying discovery learning is that, in the words of Pascal as quoted by S. Thornbury: “People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they themselves have discovered than by those which have come into the minds of others.” Discovery learning involves ambiguity and uncertainty and is more open-ended in nature. This is why it requires guidance and feedback from the teacher.
To conclude with, the inductive approach has many advantages, such as:
- Rules learners discover for themselves are more likely to fit their existing mental structures than rules they have been presented with. This, in turn, will make the rules more meaningful, memorable, and serviceable;
- The mental effort involved ensures a greater degree of cognitive depth which, again, ensures greater memorability;
- Students are more actively involved in the learning proces, rather than being simply passive recipients: they are therefore likely to be more attentive and more motivated;
- It is an approach which favours pattern-recognition and problem-solving abilities which suggests that it is particularly suitable for learners who like this kind of challenge;
- If the problem-solving is done collaboratively, and in the target language, learners get the opportunity for extra language practice;
- Working things out for themselves prepares students for greater self-reliance, conducing to learner autonomy.
The disadvantages of an inductive approach include:
- The time and energy spent in working out rules may mislead students into believing that rules are the objective of language learning, rather than a means;
- The time taken to work out a rule may be at the expense of time spent in putting the rule to some sort of productive practice;
- Students may hypothesise the wrong rule, or their version of the rule may be either too broad or too narrow in its application: this is especially a danger where there is no overt testing of their hypothesis, either through practice examples, or by eliciting an explicit statement of the rule. It can place heavy demands on teachers in planning a lesson. They need to select and organize the data carefully so as to guide learners to an accurate formulation of the rule, while also ensuring the data is intelligible;
- However as carefully organised as the data is, many language areas such as aspect and modality resist easy rule formulation;
- An inductive approach frustrates students who, because of their personal learning style or their past learning experience, would prefer simply to be told the rule.
Bibliography
Michael Vince, Advanced Language Practice, Macmillan, Oxford, 2003
Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005