Cognitive And Inductive Teaching Approach

Many teachers and linguists discuss and debate different teaching approaches. There are various pros and cons, comparisons and contrasts about which one is the most effective. Hundreds of books, articles and essays are written about the deductive and inductive approach with supporting arguments. This essay examines the merits of both the approaches, as well as compares and contrasts them to argue which approach is the most effective for adolescent learners. Using both of the approaches where appropriate, depending on different factors is most effective teaching adolescent learners.

The deductive grammar teaching approach has many merits, which are effective for teaching adolescent learners. A typical deductive grammar lesson “starts with …show more content…
The inductive way of grammar teaching is to present many examples for the learners to study, and let the learners discover the rule themselves from those examples (Thornbury, 1999, p. 49). This explains why it’s also called discovery learning. First and foremost, with inductive grammar teaching, learners are more actively involved in the learning process, they are therefore likely to be more attentive and more motivated. Secondly, “Rules learners discover for themselves are more likely to fit their existing mental structures, this in turn will make the rules more meaningful, memorable, and serviceable” (Thornbury, 1999, p. 54). On top of that, it ensures a greater degree of cognitive depth due to the mental effort involved, this again adds to the memory. More importantly, when the problem-solving is done in pairs and in the target language, the learners get the opportunity to practice language even more. Furthermore, discovering rules for themselves prepares learners for greater self-belief, and for this reason conducive to learner autonomy. The inductive approach supports pattern-recognition and problem-solving abilities. This suggests that this approach is especially suitable for learners who like these kind of challenges. To sum up, the inductive grammar teaching approach has many merits as well; learners are more actively involved, attentive and motivated. Discovering for themselves fits their mental structures, therefore the rules will be more meaningful, memorable and serviceable. It ensures a greater degree of cognitive depth. When the problem-solving is done in pairs and in the target language, there is more opportunity to practice. It’s conducive to learner autonomy and it’s suitable for learners who like