Language Teaching Methodology:
A Text-based Approach
What is a text-based approach to language teaching?
A text-based approach entails:
1. Linking spoken and written texts to the cultural
context of their use.
2. Designing units of work that focus on developing
skills in relation to whole texts.
3. Providing students with guided practice as
they develop language skills for meaningful
communication through whole texts.
(…) The objective of this approach is to make students
acquainted with several texts which have a different
context. The result will be the following: students will
“produce and understand oral and written discourse
in various natural or stimulated communicative
settings in which they participate with a specific and
explicit intention” (Mumba and Mkandawire, 2019,
n.p.).
According to this teaching approach, the ability to
understand different types of text helps to strengthen
overall communicative skills in a second language.
How does a text-based language teaching strategy
work?
“The Text-based Integrated Approach means that a
series of lessons probably one or two weeks’ work will
comprise a unit which centre around a written text.
This will have to be chosen carefully by the teacher
for its suitability in terms of interest, level of difficulty,
and appropriateness to the learners” (Mumba and
Mkandawire, 2019, n.p.).
A language, after all, does incorporate different texts.
For instance, rather than just teaching isolated words
such as teeth, we can make up a story about how
important it is to brush our teeth, at least twice a
day in order to avoid visits to the dentist. It appears
from different studies that students, at any age, learn
more effectively when grammar and vocabulary are taught altogether. And, when the teaching material
makes students enthusiastic. Consequently, it is
recommended to choose texts which will trigger
interest. For instance, young children may be
interested in animals and cartoons whereas older
ones will find topics such as movies, music, sports, or
even politics more appealing.
We can divide the language learning activities under
the text-based approach into two different categories:
Working on the text and working from the text.
Working on the text includes exercises that test
the student’s understanding of the text. Among
them, there are exercises like gap-filling (or fillin-the-blanks), writing summary, linking actions,
paraphrasing, and sequencing events for example.
Among working from the text exercises, there are
debating the idea presented in the text, finding
arguments for and against the topic or thesis
presented by the text, developing a conversation
between student groups using the text’s topic and
vocabulary. Working from the text activities test
the student’s ability to decode at a deeper level
the message of the text and to use the information
learned in a communicative context. Such activities
allow for training both the student’s reading and
speaking skills.
What are the main advantages of the text-based
language teaching approach?
Lessons can integrate debates, roles plays, drama, or
any sort of competition if preparation is given. This
method implies that “teaching should focus on all the
four language skills (speaking, reading, writing and
listening). All activities are designed with reference
to a particular text” (Mumba and Mkandawire, 2019,
n.p.). This particular method seems to increase
memorization and overall learning. As Study.com
points out students can understand the meaning of
new words by themselves by reading them in context
and can also quickly acquire new vocabulary that
evolves around that one topic.
Disponível em: https://sanako.com/a-text-based-language-teaching-methodology. Acesso em: 27 nov. 2025. (Adaptado).
