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Humanistic approach

I'm very much interested in the humanistic approach in language teaching and I'd like to get some help on the kind of activities that could be used in class. Can anyone suggest some activities and/or guidance?

Any comments or ideas for Víctor? Do you use activities that are informed by a humanistic approach? What is a humanistic approach? Any tips, suggestions or comments? Contact us.

This question is from Víctor Carrión, Perú

Comments

Submitted on 21 March, 2008 - 08:26
Lesley, Vietnam
This is one thing I adapted from a presentation of Mrs Hanna Kryszewska about Humanism in a language class: we can choose different channels (the 5 senses) to present knowledge to learners. e.g. to teach the reading passage "Shark attack!", she told students to imangine themselves as musical directors for the film named "shark attack", then she had them listen to different pieces of music and asked them match them with the paragraphs of the passage.

Maria Martha Moncada, Honduras
The humanistic approach refers to the respect you have for your students' personalities. You have to observe their learning styles, their personalities, if they are shy or extroverts. You have to take into consideration whether error correction is embarrassing, and never put them in a position of feeling ridiculed. That is, you have to treat them as individual people, as you would do with an adult.

 
Dee Bond, England and Australia
The humanistic approach is one which has been advocated by Mario Rinvolucri for many years. His books are a never-ending source of inspiration for anyone wishing to teach this way. I have a number of 'favourites' from his books which I have found successful over the years... too many to mention here...

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