Of prime importance in reading is vocabulary skill. The reader must know the meanings of enough of the words in a sentence for it to make sense and also know how to combine individual word meanings within a sentence. Once the student is past the initial stages of reading, he spends a large percentage of his time encountering new vocabulary, which can be approached in a number of ways. The teacher can give the meaning for each new word, as is common in teaching reading to non-native students. Or, also common, the student may spend hours with a dictionary writing native-language glosses into his text. For the native speaker of English, the most common form of vocabulary building is guessing from context and/or word formations.

In many settings in which English is taught as a foreign language (EFL) there are high degrees of emphasis on rote memorization. Because vocabulary development skills are seldom specifically taught, the student is not aware of the skills or their benefits. Most students have been trained to panic. Their first reaction on encountering a new word in a text is to stop and ask for a definition, even if the rest of the sentence defines it. The student of English as a foreign language cannot begin to read with full comprehension until he has been taught to conquer the unknown word by using contextual aids, that is, the formation of the word itself and the environment in which it is found.

(Adapted from Vocabulary in Context, by Anna Fisher

Kruse, in Long, Michael H. and Richards, Jack (eds.), Methodology in TESOL – A Book of Readings. New York: Newbury House, 1987)

For question you are given five paragraphs describing different methods or approaches to the teaching of English as a Foreign Language, adapted from a glossary by Brian Tomlinson. For each of them, choose the alternative which more accurately names it.

An approach to language teaching based on the needs and interests of the learners rather than on a fixed syllabus or coursebook and the dictates of a teacher. Such an approach would ideally involve the learners in decisions about what and how they learn and would require the teacher to be an organizer and guide rather than an instructor.

A revolta dos tios

Duas garotas se aproximam, sorridentes. Olham para mim.

Sorrio de volta. Uma delas rapidamente atira-me o balde de água fria:

– Tio, que horas são?

Desabo. Mal consigo identificar os ponteiros do relógio. Tio? Nada mais frustrante do que ser chamado de tio. A não ser, é claro, por minhas adoráveis sobrinhas, que preferem utilizar meu nome de batismo. Tio, francamente, é duro de ouvir. O hábito começou nas escolas maternais, onde as crianças passaram a chamar a professora de tia. Por que os mestres não podiam, simplesmente, ser chamados de professores?

Hoje nos chamam tio e tia com toda a naturalidade, e somos obrigados a agir cordialmente, como se fosse elogio. Há pessoas que preferem atitudes individuais:

– Tio por quê? Não sou seu parente!

Outro dia me atrevi a chamar de tia uma gatinha que tinha idade para ser minha filha. Ela se vingou, verde de ódio:

– Que foi, nenê?

Já ousei também com a minha chefe:

– Tudo bem, tia?

Quase fui demitido. Sei que é impossível vencer a marcha das palavras, por mais irritantes que elas se tornem. Como não consigo perder a barriga, talvez possa fazer uma plástica no meu vocabulário. Ninguém estranhe se me encontrar cumprimentando os velhos amigos:

– E aí, tio? Tudo joia?

(Walcyr Carrasco. O golpe do aniversariante. Adaptado)