Traditional Versus Modern Methods In Teaching English. Advantages And Disadvantages

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Universitatea Petrol-Gaze Ploiești

Faculty of Letters and Arts

Specialization English – French

Traditional versus Modern Methods in Teaching English. Advantages and Disadvantages

Contents

Introduction

Chapter I. Perspectives on teaching English

The process of teaching

Traditional methods of teaching English

Modern methods of teaching English

Traditional versus modern methods of teaching English in contemporary students' books

Chapter II. Traditional versus modern methods in teaching English

Research framework

Analysis of traditional and modern methods of teaching English through traditional and modern methods

Results of the research

Potential developments of the research

Conclusions

Annexes

Bibliography

Chapter I. Perspectives on teaching English

This chapter aims to briefly present traditional and modern methods on teaching English, based on a deductive framework. Initially, the teaching process will be defined, followed by the presentation of traditional methods, as well as the description of modern methods, in order to comparatively point out their essential advantages and disadvantages, while the last part of the chapter is dedicated to the effective implementation of these learning methods in current students' books.

The process of teaching

According to Penny Ur (2009), the process of teaching is a complex activity, including additional elements to the common understanding, as the effective teaching in classrooms. Teaching also includes informal activities as reading newspapers or watching TV, students being able to contextualize the information received in classrooms, and the effective teaching activity is represented by the versatile style of the teacher to consciously determine students understand and practice the knowledge received during classes (Ur, 2009, 4). The scholar also notices that teaching should not be associated with methodology, although they seem to be partial synonyms in current usage. The methodology of teaching a language is the set of activities, tasks and experiences used by the teacher within the class, in order to stimulate the learning process. Generally, methodology is the theoretical framework based on "coherence and consistency in the choice of teaching procedures" (Ur, 2009, 5), including aspects as lesson planning or classroom discipline, able to coordinate the efforts of the teacher through positive results in the classroom activities.

Despite the method chosen by the teacher to effectively teach students the new contents proposed, the process of teaching is focused on three successive phases as presenting and explaining new material, providing practice and testing the knowledge of students. Analyzing the practice of learners trying to acquire on their own a language, the same phases are used, as they perceive and understand the new concepts, they rehearse or practice the new concepts and check themselves. The teaching process in classrooms is substantially different, although it is based on the similar three-step pattern. Primarily, the teacher provides the three phases by the use of appropriate teaching acts, based on a methodology assigned or through personal experience, while the self-student chooses what he/she considers it is suitable on a subjective scale of values. Additionally, the teacher regularly presents and explains new material in order to be clarified, rendered into a comprehensible shape and as consequence available for learning, while the self-student might decide to resume his/her learning activities, according to other activities or he/she might skip certain learning categories based on the lack of interest or on a misunderstanding. The teacher gives practice to reinforce the acquired knowledge, tests it, in order to check what has been mastered and it what still needs to be reviewed, while the self-student evaluates himself/herself based on a subjective frame, affecting the correct learning of a language (Ur, 2009, 10).

Before analyzing different methods of teaching English, it is essential to introduce a clear delimitation between concepts related to teaching, as proposed by Jeremy Harmer (2011). The scholar distinguishes between approach, method, procedure and technique as successive and complementary stages of teaching a foreign language.

Primarily, the approach related to the theoretical framework includes the "theories about the nature of language and language learning" (Harmer, 2011, 78), coordinating the efforts of the teacher, in order to obtain positive results in a class. In practice, an approach is a model of language competence, focusing on how people acquire their knowledge related to the use of the language, creating the context for successful language learning.

Secondly, the method is the "practical realization of an approach" (Harmer, 2011, 78). A method includes the types of activities applied by a teacher, as well as the presentation of teacher's role and students' role, and the types of material used for the teaching activities. Methods include various procedures and techniques, being the effective implementation of the approach. In practice, when methods have fixed procedures and techniques, clearly states, they are easy to be applied. On the contrary, the "more all-embracing they become, however, the more difficult is to categorize them as real methods in their own right" (Harmer, 2011, 78).

Thirdly, procedure is "an ordered sequence of techniques" (Harmer, 2011, 78). In the case of dictation activities, the procedure can include activities based on small groups, each of them sending in the front of the class a representative to read a text, while the members of the group write based on the dictation. The activity can be repeated with each member of the group, the teacher supervising the correct writing of the members, based on the dictated text.

Fourthly, the teaching technique refers to the personal perspective of the teacher in applying activities in the class. For example, a video material can be inserted in the lesson as silent viewing, the teacher limited his/her introduction related to it or a complete explanation. (Harmer, 2011, 78).

Traditional methods of teaching English

Revising the models of teaching, Penny Ur (2009) considers that the craft model is a traditional one, including the presence of the teacher as a "master", the students perceiving him/her as an authoritarian, distant teaching figure. The classes have the shape of a "craft, rather like shoemaking or carpentry, to be learned most effectively through an apprenticeship system and accumulated experience" (Ur, 2009, 5). The interaction of students and teacher is limited, at the level of questions and limited answers of the teacher, focusing exclusively on the "craft", the part of the language that he/she intends to transmit to students. Based on its reduced interactivity, the craft model is generally applied in few countries, mostly in cultural spaces where social life is associated with the need to strictly respect rules, as in China or other authoritarian states.

According to Jim Scrivener (2005), the difference between traditional and modern strategies of learning is somehow ambiguous in current context, as the traditional type of teaching might borrow interactive tools from the modern type of teaching, as well as the modern type of teaching might be inspired from a traditional perspective.

In the category of traditional teaching methods, Jim Scrivener included the example of a teacher named Lee, standing at the front of a class, presenting the use of the verbal construction "going to". Lee put in the center of the classroom a large wallchart with a policeman watching activity in the town, in order to suggest the potential events that can occur, as they can be expressed through the expression "going to". After presenting the knowledge associated with the purpose of the lesson, Lee encourages students to form personal sentences with the expression "going to", in order to test their current acquisition, as well as to correct the potential errors. Lee focuses on the individual contribution of students, but he also asks the whole class to repeat an interesting sentence (Scrivener, 2005, 13).

The Lee model proposed by Jim Scrivener (2015) is the traditional perspective of teaching, as he presents and tests the knowledge of students, yet he introduces modern teaching strategies such as managing the conversation, asking each student to provide a personal sentence, as well as repeating the sentence he considers suggestive (Scrivener, 2005, 15).

Jim Scrivener (2005) analyzes traditional teaching methods as teaching strategies that can vary from school to school, as well from country to country or from cultural community to another one. The major features of the traditional perspective in teaching regard a static teacher – student relation (Scrivener, 2005, 17).

Basically, the traditional teaching is associated with the "chalk and talk" routine, the teacher spending an essential part of the class time using the board, in order to explain the new information, occasionally addressing questions to students, in order to check whether the knowledge is correctly transmitted. After acquiring the new information, students will often do exercises, so that their understanding can be tested and corrected, if it is the case. In practice, "throughout the lesson, the teacher keeps control of the subject matter, makes decisions about what work is needed and orchestrates what the students do. In his classroom, the teacher probably does most of the talking and is by far the most active person" (Scrivener, 2005, 17). On the contrary, the role of the student is limited, being asked to carefully listening, taking notes and practicing the knowledge acquired under the strict supervision of the teacher, who can offer criticizing feedback or appraisal feedback, susceptible to create tensions in the classroom. The traditional teaching perspective, based on the transmission of knowledge, is widely spread, being the predominant mode of education in many cultures. Based on a cultural framework, issued by family or the community, students commonly expect teachers to adopt an authoritarian style (Scrivener, 2005, 18).

The teaching process is metaphorically compared with a "jug and mug" process, as "the knowledge is poured from one receptacle into an empty one" (Scrivener, 2005, 18). The teacher becomes the image of the "knower", the only person in the possession of the information, whose task is to transmit to students through explanation and practice. When the balance of transmission is altered and the students provide negative results, the explanations are also limited, not taking in account the context of the teaching process, suggesting that either the teacher did not completely and comprehensibly transmitted the information, either the student was not interested in receiving the information. The analysis of bad performance does not include aspects related to the improvement of teaching process or the potential causes affecting both the teacher and the students, such as fatigue or the incomprehensible format of the information. The traditional teaching strategy based on explanation might be efficient at a certain point or points of the lesson, but the excessive focus on traditional teaching is likely to be problematic for both teacher and students (Scrivener, 2005, 18).

In the case of the teacher, an exaggerated focus on traditional teaching might lead to the inability of adopting alternative strategies, as he/she considers that explanations and tests can completely reflect the understanding of students. In the case of the students, the negative effects seem to increase, as the students are not motivated enough to involve in the learning process. Teaching, as simply explaining and testing knowledge, is not necessarily associated with the idea of engaging learning, since the learners are not encouraged or offered the suitable feedback to effectively practice the knowledge, in order to be acquired on the long-term, not precisely during the classes. The role of the teacher as "radiating knowledge to the class" (Scrivener, 2005, 18) should not be neglected, but students have to be perceived more than passive listeners to the information displayed, able to absorb and store it for exercises. The traditional teaching perspective omits the diversity of students, considered a "homogenous mass of listeners, while in fact some students might listen to and follow the explanations, while others are not really thinking of the subject, since they are not stimulated by the teacher to interactively absorb the knowledge" (Scrivener, 2005, 19).

Explanations represent a fundamental pillar of the traditional teaching strategy, as they permit the transmission of knowledge from teacher to students, but they can create difficulties in the teaching process. For example, if the explanation is performed in the language being learned, the students might not completely understand the new information, as a consequence the teacher is likely to use explanations in the native tongue or the target language, so that the students can understand the concept to be explained in the source language, the language that is learnt in the classrooms. According to the complexity of the new information, although the explanation is created in the native tongue, the students might not completely understand the information provided by the teacher. Explanation as a strategy of the traditional teaching process can be used in teaching activities, but has to be completed with other activities, as students "need to gain exposure to comprehensible samples of language (not just the teacher's monologues) and they need chances to play with and communicate with the language themselves in relatively safe ways" (Scrivener, 2005, 20). In practice, for an efficient class, explanation is completed by discussions of the teacher with students, as well as team activities allowing students to discuss and share their perspectives on the new information (Scrivener, 2005, 20).

Jim Scrivener (2005) proposed a model of teaching, based on traditional strategies such as explanation, but including interactive elements, in order to avoid the perspective of a class as a static monologue of the teacher. One of the models including traditional and modern elements of teaching is the experiential learning cycle, a circular model based on the following successive and complementary steps:

Doing something

Recalling what happened

Reflecting on that

Drawing conclusions from the reflection

Using those conclusions to inform and prepare for future experiences (Scrivener, 2005, 21)

As suggested by Figure 1, the experiential learning cycle debuts with the explanation of the teacher in the phase of Doing Something, as the teacher introduces the new information to students. The student associates the information with personal or collective experience he/she is aware of, in order to assimilate it. The student reflects on it, once the connection with his/her experience is found. The student understands the usefulness or inability of the new information and uses it according to the conclusions drawn from his/her personal reflection. After the new information has been taught, the student uses his/her personal opinions on the problem, for example if the student is presented the comparison degrees in English, he/she can use the information acquired to compare with the comparison degrees in French or other foreign language included in the curriculum.

In any phase of the experiential learning cycle, the teacher interferes with feedback, guidance or support, so that students can properly assimilate the new information, as a consequence he/she performs an improved role, comparing with the static image described by the approach considering that a lesson is a static suite of explanations and tests.

Figure 1. The structure of an experiential learning cycle (Scrivener, 2005, 21)

In comparison with the traditional teaching, the model of experiential learning cycle creates the several opportunities of improvements such as:

Students are not anymore subject to the "jug-and-mug" process based on explanations and tests, instead they are offered opportunities to express their personal perspectives related to the new information, the teacher correcting or adjusting it through feedback

The model encourages teachers to avoid an exaggerated focus on teaching strategies, but to use teaching strategies stimulating students

Listening and oral practice of the new information is necessary, but the teacher also has to focus on practical written practice, in order to completely test the understanding of students

Teachers have to abandon their authoritarian position of the only "knowers" and consider the possibility of learning from students

In order to obtain an improved performance of the class, the teacher can help students become more aware about how they are learning, to reflect and explore the information provided in the class through additional materials

Students can make mistakes and the feedback of the teacher is a useful opportunity to correct them. Similarly, if the teacher makes mistakes, he/she can be corrected, according to the feedback received from students, as teaching process has to be based on mutual communication (Scrivener, 2005, 22).

In addition to Jim Scrivener's (2005) focus on explanation, Jeremy Harmer (2011) also considers that demonstration is a traditional method of teaching, unless it is completed by interactive activities. Basically, through demonstration the teacher points out how the language forms or the use of particular categories by offering the students "a situation which shows the language in action and then modeling the language themselves" (Harmer, 2011, 169). The teacher can provide the students with texts or other types of materials, which clearly shows the use of the new information, the teacher demonstrating how students should apply the learnt knowledge, finally checking its correct use. As mentioned by Jeremy Harmer, despite its short-term efficiency, as students are clearly presented the knowledge they need, being offered feedback, as well as being evaluated, "the demonstration on its own may not be enough; some students will need a mixture of demonstration and explanation, and the other techniques to be sure of understanding the new form(s) correctly" (Harmer, 2011, 169).

In the case of explanation, Jeremy Harmer (2011) proposes its mixture with interactive activities, which similarly to demonstration, are susceptible of not creating the expected results in the students' correct understanding. For example, as suggested in the Figure below, the explanation of the contracted or uncontracted forms of the present continuous is presented (Harmer, 2011, 169).

Figure 2. The interactive use of demonstration (Harmer, 2011, 169)

In the example, the present continuous of the verb "to fly" is interactively presented by the teacher, through the movements of his/her fingers, although he/she could use a traditional approach, such as using the writing on the chart. When the present continuous form of the verb is used as an uncontracted form, "They are flying to America", all fingers are disposed, each of them being associated with a word included in the phrase. On the other hand, when the contracted form is used, two of the fingers are united into a movement suggesting the contracted form of the verb, "They're". Jeremy Harmer (2011) mentions that at higher levels of understanding, students can be offered explanations based on additional information related to the contracted or not contracted forms of the verbs, the teacher affirming that typically speakers "don't use words or phrases which refer to a specific time in the past (like yesterday or last week) with the present continuous" or "the choice of which verb we use to talk about the future depends on our precise intention – how definite we wish to be about future plans and arrangements" (Harmer, 2011, 169). Additionally, the teacher can explain the grammatical rules in students' own language, if the atmosphere of the English class is suitable for this approach or can attempt to improve the atmosphere through a more familiar tone, to check the students' correct understanding.

Another traditional method to be used in the case of teaching English is the accurate reproduction of linguistic structures, described as the "repeating of new words, phrases, or sentences in a controlled way, correcting students when they get things wrong and showing approval when they use the form correctly" (Harmer, 2011, 171). The role of the teacher is to present the information and to monitor the correct understanding through feedback and evaluation (Harmer, 2011, 171).

Generally, the accurate reproduction, demonstration or explanation are associated with an additional traditional teaching activity, such as check questions. The teacher creates questions to see if the students have correctly understood the meaning and use of the category learnt. In the case of the present continuous as suggested by the example already mentioned, the teacher can ask sentences, able to suggest the level of students' understanding such as "At eight o'clock she was watching television. Did she start watching television at exactly eight o'clock or before?" (Harmer, 2011, 171).

Richards and Rodgers (2001) establish the traditional or modern aspect of a teaching method, based on their historical evolution. As a consequence, one of the first methods used in teaching foreign languages, the Grammar-Translation Method is considered a traditional one. Originated in the German tradition of teaching, the Grammar-Translation Method focuses on the following criteria:

1. The goal of foreign language study is to focus on a detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by the application of this knowledge to the task of translating texts into the target language, the language of the student.

2. The method primarily focuses on reading and writing, with little focus on speaking or listening.

3. The selection of vocabulary is based on the reading texts, the words being memorized or taught through bilingual word lists or the use of dictionaries.

4. Lessons are usually focused on translating texts, as the sentence is the basic unit of the teaching activity.

5. Accuracy is emphasized, students being expected to reach high standards in translation, reducing the role of other teaching activities.

6. Grammar is presented deductively, the grammar rules being taught through translation exercise.

7. The native language of students is used for explaining the source language terms.

The Grammar Translation method dominated the European teaching activities until 1940s, being perceived by the majority of students as a "tedious experience of memorizing endless lists of unusuable grammar rules and vocabulary" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 6).

Modern methods of teaching English

When comparing modern methods of teaching English with the traditional methods, Penny Ur (2009) includes two models in her theory: the applied science model and the reflective model.

The applied science model focuses on the construction of an appropriate methodology, to be applied to the classroom practice. The teacher takes into account the global features of the class as its actual level of knowledge, as well as individual performance as in the case of students surpassing the average level. The teaching strategies he/she would apply consist in completing tasks related to global efficiency, as well as in stimulating individual efficiency, in order to stimulate each group of students (Ur, 2009, 5).

On the other hand, the reflective model as its name indicates is mostly a personal approach of the teacher. Observing the lesson management of other teachers or analyzing their own management of lessons, as well as recalling past teaching experience, the teacher can provide the most suitable teaching methods to be applied to a certain classroom, in order to improve the existing results. Comparing with the previous model, based on the effective analysis of the class, the teacher also analyzes his/her approach to the class, enriching the potential results of the applied science model. The reflective model is a circular one, aiming for "continuous improvement and the development of personal theories of action" (Ur, 2009, 5), being associated with complementary models such as the applied science model.

In the context of media or informal exposure of students, teaching activities can also include alternative material that is "unconsciously or semi-unconsciously absorbed" (Ur, 2009, 10), adjusting the formal strategies of teaching with more comprehensible and meaningful information both on speech or writing level.

Attempting to establish which is the most effective approach of teaching English, the traditional or the modern one, Penny Ur (2009) considers that both can be integrated in a teaching framework, depending on the context of their classrooms. Asking teachers what they prefer to implement, traditional or modern methods, the scholar received complementary questions, suggesting that the two perspectives exist in practice, as some "master teachers" might also use their personal experience to improve their learning strategies, while some other teachers will include in their lesson management the experience of their students to surpass the formal design of teaching activities, in order to transform English classes into interactive experiences, and as a consequence improving the reflective model (Ur, 2009, 5).

From his perspective, Jim Scrivener (2005) considers that the modern methods of teaching are those which effectively encourage the students to use creatively the knowledge presented by the teacher. Unlike Lee's case of static case of teaching, the scholar presents a dynamic case of teaching, entitled Paoli, focusing on adult students willing to learn new vocabulary. Scrivener (2005) compares the case of Lee, where the learning material was represented by a wallchart, on the contrary Paoli used individual material distributed to each student. In Lee's classroom, students were aligned into a group, while in Paoli's case, all students were sitting in pairs, face to face, stimulating the team activity, as well as encouraging students to collaborate with other teams, to verify the results obtained. Students practiced the knowledge acquired on different worksheets, with slightly different information. Comparing with Lee's students asked to form personal sentences with the verbal construction "going to", based on the teacher's example, Paoli's students were required to use the new terms of the vocabulary, according to their personal perspective, without the interference of the teacher, whose presence was minimal. Paoli's students could discover essential information about the new words from their partners or members of the other teams, enriching their existing knowledge. Jim Scrivener (2005) considers that, although based on a free access to discussions, in Paoli's case some teams might feel uncomfortable, and in consequence the role of the teacher is to encourage them to actively participate in the discussion (Scrivener, 2005, 13).

The Paoli model proposed by Scrivener (2005) is focused on a pairwork task, stimulating the team work. The role of the teacher is limited, to initially organize the activity and finally offer feedback and evaluate the students. In this modern perspective, although the teacher seems to be silent, comparing with Lee model, his/her role is essential as he/she monitors the activity of students and gradually corrects it through feedback and encouragement to collaborate with other students (Scrivener, 2005, 15).

The major difference in comparing traditional and modern teaching strategies is related to the figure of the teacher, as Jim Scrivener (2015) points out. A traditional teacher might be the expert in the area, but if he/she is not able to render his/her knowledge in a suitable, interactive form for children, his/her lessons are likely not to stir the interest of students. In practice, there is no pure traditional or modern perspective, but mixtures of both styles, the scholar arguing that a balanced perspective is required: "Learners come to class to learn a language rather than to be amused by a great show. Certainly not one would wish their lessons to be boring, but it's important to check out if the classes of an entertainer style of teacher are genuinely leading to any real learning" (Scrivener, 2005, 17). Concretely, achieving a close connection with students by telling stories and jokes might alter the purpose of the lesson, similarly with the case of traditional monologue on the knowledge to be presented by teacher, which might not be sufficient for students to effectively understand the new information.

In the case of assimilating new words or new information about a grammatical category, Jim Scrivener (2005) proposes a modern evaluation of student's progress, as suggested in the Figure below (Scrivener, 2005, 112).

Figure 3. The progressive evolution of acquiring new information through modern teaching (Scrivener, 2005, 112)

In the first phase of the progressive assimilation of the new concept, the student is Ignorant as suggested in Phase 1 of the Figure 3. Basically, he/she knows nothing or little about the information provided by the teacher. Through an interactive presentation of the information, the student becomes aware of its importance, as noticed in Phase 2. A complementary phase presumes that the student analyzes the new information in concrete contexts as written texts or oral materials, becoming aware of its effective use in daily situations. In the phase of understanding, the student can effectively use the new concept in all the exercises proposed by the teacher, as it was correctly assimilated. In the case of an erroneous use, the teacher can correct through feedback the students' understanding, as noticed in Phase 5 of the model. In the last phase of the model, the students can effectively use the new information in any context, based on different levels of complexity, as they have become active users of the new information. Although it is a linear model of acquisition, including a reduced interaction between teacher and students as noticed in the case of recent patterns of teaching as the Whole Language, the progressive evolution of acquiring new information as presented by Scrivener (2005) is a useful approach to our research. A class of foreign language, despite the teaching methods used by the teacher, is a linear process, including a debut moment as suggested by the ignorance phase included in the model. Gradually, the teacher uses different teaching methods to determine students assimilate the new information, as suggested by the complementary phases of awareness and practice. Finally, the class includes forms of evaluation, presuming that the teacher tests if the students correctly understood the information acquired. We consider that the progressive evolution of acquiring new information is a reliable teaching strategy in contemporary context, based on its deductive structure. The inherent disadvantage is related to the focus on formal written and speech situations. In order to stimulate the students' improved use of the foreign language, the model can be completed with the insertion of informal print, audio or video documents, asking students to analyze their content and point out their own opinions, as in the case of analyzing a newspaper article in terms of adjective and nouns use. The teacher asks students to quantify the number of adjective and nouns in the first phase of the analysis, while in the second phase he/she can ask students if they noticed any erroneous use of the grammatical categories or if the author of the text created any particular effects, by using them.

A complementary version of the progressive model of acquiring new information is the process of learning based on input and output, as presented in the figure

Figură 4. The process of learning based on input and output (Scrivener, 2005, 113)

The framework proposed includes new concepts, comparing with the previous model, such as the exposure, considered restricted and respectively authentic. Students are "exposed" to texts, more precisely the teacher presents them texts, in order to facilitate their effective understanding of the new information, a method that is omitted in the traditional teaching process, focusing on the explanations related to the new information and the tests created to verify the correct understanding of students. As a consequence, comparing with previous models, the Process of learning based on input and output is an improved perspective of teaching. The pattern includes essential elements such as "the restricted exposure", suggesting that the teacher should use in his/her teaching activities simplified or unadapted texts for students, as well as authentic texts focusing on non-specialist sources, in order to stimulate the students to assimilate contemporary forms of the language, susceptible to support their personal development, rather than texts with reduced importance in contemporary context as old literature texts. In practice, in the category of authentic exposure texts, Scrivener (2005) includes magazines, books, articles, product labels, films or radio shows, while in the case of "restrictive exposure" materials, the scholar introduces coursebooks (Scrivener, 2005, 114). Typically, restrictive documents should not be omitted from an effective lesson, as they are specially designed for students, based on clear examples, to suggest the gradual difficulty of a grammatical or vocabulary issue, but the scholar insists on completing their use with the introduction of authentic texts, in order to stimulate the interest of students. By contrary, Scrivener (2005) also considers that teacher should not exaggeratedly focus on the use of authentic documents as newspapers or advertisements in the structure of their classes, since they will reduce the impact of the restrictive materials, which are clear tools to organize their teaching activities. Similarly to Scrivener (2005), we consider that an efficient class should debut with the use of restrictive documents as the basis of the teaching activity, which will be completed by authentic documents able to stimulate students in easily understanding and assimilating the new information. For example, if the objective of an English class is to present the use of passive voice, the teacher starts the class by explaining how the passive voice is formed and how it is used, following the restrictive documents available as students' book. The development of the class can include the use of authentic texts, as fragments from newspapers, so that the students can notice the use of passive voice in real contexts. By altering restrictive and authentic documents, the teacher creates a complete teaching activity, focusing on the students' efficient assimilation of new information.

Another essential key in the modern learning process analyzed by Scrivener (2005) is the input. The concept of input is associated with the actions of acquisition, basically the engaged formal or informal use of a language in communication situations. For example, an input in learning process can be considered the formal use of a foreign language in classrooms, generally the teacher creating particular situations that require the students to provide certain activities, as completing tests or starting conversations with other students. Although some of the strategies that can be used by the teacher are interactive as in the case of group debates, the input is a restricted one, since the student performs a limited interaction, focusing on educational experience, comparing with real communication situations. As mentioned by Scrivener (2005), "acquisition is a significant process, theoretically encapsulating and completing the formal learning" (Scrivener, 2005, 114). In order to effectively acquire a foreign language, students have to be "exposed" to comprehensible input that can be understood and used in multiple communication situations. According to the scholar, the correct input for an efficient teaching activity includes "real messages communicated to us that are comprehensible but just a little above our current level. If I stands for a learner's current level, then ideal comprehensible input would be i + 1 (just above the current level)" (Scrivener, 2005, 115). Following the comprehensible input as described by Scrivener (2005), a teacher has to focus on the stimulation of his/her students, by altering restricted exposure and authentic exposure, in order to achieve improved results of the students' performance.

On the other hand, the output is considered the "simplified or the controlled part of the teaching process" (Scrivener, 2005, 115), based on the recommendation of the teacher to his/her students. Similarly to the input, the output can be restricted, suggesting that the student is offered a strict activity, based on formal situations, comparing with the authentic output, based on a more natural interaction of students with informal situations including their personal experiences. In practice, the authentic output as mentioned by Scrivener (2005) can be associated with the case of free discussions, regular meetings between students or other external activities. By contrary, in the case of the restricted output the students are asked to use the quantity of the knowledge they have just acquired through the class, in order to complete particular tasks assigned by the teacher. In the phase of the restricted output, the influence of the teacher is major, directing the activities of students, in order to obtain the expected results. For example, if the objective of the lesson is to study the use of present perfect, the teacher is likely to create a restricted output focusing on grammar exercises able to test the correct understanding of the students regarding present perfect use. Similarly to the situation of restricted or authentic input, the category of restricted and authentic output supposes the mixed use of both situations. In practice, a teacher can successively combine them during his/her teaching activities, in order to obtain the expected results, for example a restricted output that can be used in the case of classes is the feedback offered by the teacher based on the performance of students in their tests, while an authentic output can be the essay students are required to write, based on the use of present perfect, in this way the teacher being able to test in an alternative way their understanding of the grammatical category mentioned (Scrivener, 2005, 115). As noticed by Jim Scrivener (2005), the process of learning based on input and output is just a general framework and has to be adapted, according to the particularity of each classroom. In our demarche, we will rely on the process of learning based on input and output, mixing the restricted and authentic categories. A major interest will be dedicated to the authentic input and output, as it stimulates an improved understanding of the students, asked to assimilate the new information based on real communication situations, marked by familiarity.

A concrete form of input and output modern teaching strategy is represented by the method Task-Based Learning (TBL). The teacher creates the plan of his/her lesson around a task, for example asking students to perform a particular assignment such as writing sentences with the new information presented or information already assimilated that the teacher is willing to test, if it was correctly understood. Focusing on a central task, the teacher stimulates the students' effective use of the acquired information, obtaining improved results, comparing with a traditional teaching method as demonstration. For example, rather than presenting the categories of adjectives in English and ask students to complete several tests, the teacher can ask them to write an essay about a birthday party where to use the maximal amount of adjectives or nouns. As mentioned by Scrivener (2005), the lesson can start with the presentation of the task, followed by complementary stages as listening, correcting the task. Through this teaching method, the teacher "can stimulate the creative use of new information, reinforce team work, as well as encourage students to offer feedback to other students or to the teacher, in case of errors noticed in their own tasks or the tasks of other colleagues" (Scrivener, 2005, 283).

Another implementation of the input and output model of learning is the Text Starts method, which focuses on the use of authentic texts in lessons. Comparing with the restricted inputs as formal texts for reading, listening or writing exercises, the authentic texts are retrieved from real communication situations, simplified for students' use. Through the use of the authentic texts, the teacher is able to capture the attention of students, lately to test the use of the acquired information. If necessary, the teacher can interfere in the students' activities through guided discovery, creating additional questions, in order to help students to understand the goal of the exercise (Scrivener, 2005, 284).

100% Exposure method claims that a student effectively learns a new language in concrete situations, as living in a foreign country or using a foreign language daily. This modern method is based on the concept of the authentic exposure from the input and output model of learning, focusing on informal activities able to stimulate the authentic use of language by students. In the case of the teaching a foreign language, the teacher has supply the real communication situations mentioned with similar situations, able to stimulate the authentic use of a foreign language, for example he can ask students to make coffee together or to shop together, mandatorily to use the foreign language in this situations, not their native language. Although it is an extremely interactive method, it is difficult to be analyzed, as the teacher cannot possibly be present in all his/her students' interactions. Additionally, oral activities as the predominant form of this method can limit the correct use of written language, as consequence the method has to be completed by additional teaching strategies (Scrivener, 2005, 284).

Similarly to Jim Scrivener (2005), Jeremy Harmer (2011) considers that discovery is a modern, efficient teaching activity, as students are encouraged to understand new language forms through personal discovery as reading a text or watching a video material, listening to an audio material. Discovery is based on the previous knowledge of the students, asking them to use the new information already acquired in particular situations as debates or essays. Jeremy Harmer (2011) adds that discovery should be supervised by teacher, in order to provide "real understanding", as in most of the cases students might not retrieve by their own the "rule", the supervision and feedback of the teacher being an essential element to stimulate their correct activity of discovery (Harmer, 2011, 171).

Jeremy Harmer (2011) details the pattern of discovery in the case of teaching comparative adjectives, for elementary or pre-intermediate students. Initially, the students are asked to listen to a dialogue in which people compare things. Before creating their own sentence, the teacher presents how to make comparative adjective. He/she can write on the board or distribute worksheets with the following example:

Figure . Guided discovery in the case of comparative adjectives (Harmer, 2011, 176)

When students finish their exercise, they are likely to understand that in the case of one-syllable words ending with a vowel, as well as a consonant double the last letter, y becomes i. Additionally, students will discover that longer adjectives as beautiful are preceded by more. After checking the correct understanding of students, the teacher can apply a new exercise able to stimulate their improved knowledge of comparative adjectives (Harmer, 2011, 176).

As mentioned by Harmer (2011), based on the exercise associated with the comparative adjectives, the guided discovery is unlikely to cover a complete grammatical picture, but a fragment, precisely in the example mentioned, the comparative of superiority in the case of gradable adjectives. The teacher has to create other worksheets to explain the remaining comparison degrees or to apply another teaching strategy able to completely present the comparison degrees, including the particular exceptions as in the case of adjective with irregular comparison degrees as good or bad or the special case of adjectives forming comparison degrees as inflected (cleverer) or as periphrastic forms (more clever). Based on the particularity of his/her students, the teacher has to decide whether the students will enjoy this type of teaching activity or another one is preferred to stimulate their attention (Harmer, 2011, 177).

An additional modern teaching activity is the immediate creativity, based on the personal use of students to "create their own sentences using the language form" (Harmer, 2011, 171) presented by the teacher. As the students understood and correctly use the learnt category in personal contexts, the teacher can advance new teaching strategies to improve their understanding, such as writing essays or organizing debates in the class, to stimulate oral communication (Harmer, 2011, 171). An example is the learning of expression obligation through the verbal constructions "can't", "have to", "must" or "allowed to" in the case of intermediate students. Using a short presentation of the concepts to be learnt, the teacher asks the students to mention rules or regulations they have experienced or have heard, seen in their daily life. After listening the opinions of his/her students, likely to write them on the board or worksheets, the teacher asks them to look at the following image, focusing on the signs they see and their importance:

Figure . Expressing obligation through immediate creativity (Harmer, 2011, 178)

The opinions of the students as "Don't smoke" or "Smoking is allowed" are written on the board or worksheets. The students are asked to work on an exercise comprising denials and permissions, by putting a tick next to the sentence they consider it is correct, as suggested in the example below:

Figure . Check exercise used in the immediate creativity strategy (Harmer, 2011, 178)

The exercise asking students to check the worthiness of the affirmation mentioned can be performed in groups or as individual activity, but the results are commented to the class, so that students can receive the feedback of classmates, also the final feedback of the teacher. The final phase of the immediate creativity strategy is to ask students to write personal answers related to the concepts discussed in the class. For example, in the case of point a, stated as it is necessary, the student will write in the blank space the verbal construction he/he considers fits best the situation, such as have to. Additionally to the association of the verbal constructions with the idea mentioned by the teacher, the students will also note personal sentences using that verbal construction. The answers will be read to the class, the teacher being able to select one student for each point or to ask each student to read every sentence written. The sentences can be compared with the suggestions of other students, the teacher inviting to discussion. In the end, she/he can ask one student or all students to think of the difference, if there is any, between their answers (Harmer, 2011, 179). For example, in the case of the use of must and have to, the teacher can verify if the students have correctly understood the degree of obligation, by bringing into discussion the following example (1):

(1)

You must finish all the medicine, it is important for your health

The doctor says I have to finish all the medicine, as it is important to my health

Figure . Personal association exercise in the immediate creativity strategy (Harmer, 2011, 179)

The final phase of the immediate creativity strategy can be a fill-in exercise, the students being requested to complete the given sentences with the appropriate forms of have to, don't have to, should, shouldn't, are or aren't allowed. If the teacher considers there is the need to focus more on expression obligation, he/she can create an exercise under the format of an essay, the students being asked to briefly mentioned few denials or permissions they experiences lately or their acquaintances experiences (Harmer, 2011, 179).

According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), we can consider as modern teaching strategies all models included in the Reform Movement, a reaction to the Grammar Translation Method. As mentioned by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), teaching a foreign language should rely on:

The study of the spoken language

The phonetic training in order to establish good pronunciation habits

The use of conversation texts and dialogues to introduce conversational phrases and idioms, particular to each European language

An inductive approach to the teaching of grammar, focusing on particular details, comparing with the deductive approach relying on a general framework

Teaching new meanings through establishing associations within the target language rather than by establishing associations with the native language (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 22)

Following the impact of the Grammar Translation Method, in the 1930s until the 1960s, the Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching was used by teachers mostly in the case of EFL or ESL classes. As a major focus, the teachers using this method rely on the role of the vocabulary as one of the most important aspects of learning a foreign language. Additionally to the attention on vocabulary tasks, teachers using it emphasize the role of reading skills as the most efficient way for learning a foreign language. The last improvement associated with the development of the method is related to the grammar control, teacher focusing on the grammatical content of the foreign language to be presented to students. Comparing with the Grammar Translation Method, the role of grammar or vocabulary is not exaggerated, the teachers attempting to provide balanced information on both sections, so that in the reading activity students can efficiently use both vocabulary and grammar, in order to efficiently understand and complete the tasks related to the text presented as exercise (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 51).

A particular case of the Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching is considered the Theory of Language, focusing on speech as the basis of language. Mainly, in classrooms teachers focused on the oral practice of grammatical categories, through controlled sentences patterns or given situations where students were asked to provide information based on the knowledge already acquired. Although it attempted to present grammar in an attractive format as oral communication and focused on the speech abilities of students, the Theory of Language can be considered as reducing the importance of written texts, as well as the active participation of students through their personal sentences, being forced to use the controlled sentences provided by the teacher (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 55).

Similarly to the Theory of Language, another teaching method included in the complex paradigm of Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching is the Theory of Learning, focusing on the teaching of grammar, unlike the precedent method. Comparing with other teaching strategy, in the Theory of Learning, "the meaning of words or structures is not to be given through explanation in either the native language or the target language but is to be induced from the way the form is used in a situation" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 56). In the Theory of Learning, teachers attempted to stimulate students acquire new grammar knowledge or new vocabulary items, but the effort of students was particularly personal, as the interference of the teacher was minimal, leading to potential errors, based on the reduced feedback offered.

A different perspective was presented in the 1930s by the Audiolingual Method, focusing on teaching the comprehension of texts. In practice, teachers used short reading texts in their classes, completed by lists of vocabulary, in order to stimulate students to interactively use new words. Basically, the Audiolingual Method included rapid silent reading activities, as well as discussions between the teacher and his/her students, in order to verify the correct understanding of the text. The teaching method was mainly used in the USA in classes of English as a second language. The limits of the Audiolingual Method consist in the reduced attention dedicated by the teacher to other teaching units as grammar. Another disadvantage supposed by this method is the lack of standardization, regarding the vocabulary, the major teaching unit. Concretely, the teacher could not provide arguments why particular texts were selected for the beginning, intermediate or advanced levels. A particular case of the Audiolingual Method is represented by the teaching programs developed by major American universities, to supply the need of US government of advanced learners of European or Asian languages. Linguists as Leonard Bloomfield created a particular pattern of the Audiolingual Method, entitled the Informant Method. In order to stimulate the rapid assimilation of new words, as required in the case of the experts trained by the authorities, the linguist used a native speaker of the language, suggestively named "the informant", who served as an authentic source of vocabulary. The linguist supervised the learning experience, which was essentially formed by imitation exercises, the students being requested to adequately repeat the words or phrases mentioned by the informant (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 50-51).

A complementary approach to the Audiolingual Method is the Structural Linguistics, an approach, developing as a reaction to the traditional perspective of grammar. Basically, grammar, as analyzed in the case of Indo-European languages, was commonly considered a suite of logic categories. The new generation of linguistics of the 1950s analyzed modern European languages in terms of "corrupted" grammar units, comparing with unknown or little analyzed languages (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 54). Undiscovered or insufficiently analyzed languages stirred the interest of linguistics, focusing on new types of sound and new patterns of vocabulary or grammatical organization of a language. The Structural Linguistics analyzes the language as a system of "structurally related elements for the encoding of meaning, the elements being phonemes, morphemes, words, structures, and sentence types" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 55). The concept "structure", which is the centre of the pattern, can be described as referring to multiple characteristics such as:

Elements in a language are considered as being linearly produced in a structured way

Language units can be exhaustively analyzed at any structural level such as phonetic, phonemic or morphological

Linguistic levels are parts of systems within systems, generally structured as pyramids, for example the phonemic systems are connected to the morphemic systems, while the morphemic systems are transformed into systems of phrases, clauses or sentences (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 55).

Similarly to the Informant Model, the pattern of Structural Linguistics focuses on the oral aspect of language, considering that the effective use of language is in current speech. The arguments used by linguistics to support this approach include the natural fact that we tend to learn to speak, before learning to write and the case of few languages as in undeveloped communities that do not have a written form, but the oral one. This position was stimulated by the emergence of Behaviorism in the analyzed period, suggesting that human being reacts to types of stimulus, able to create the required behavior. Once a person understood the importance of a stimulus, he/she develops a response, which can be or not reinforced, in practice suggesting that the creator of the stimulus can repeat or suppress it, if he/she considers it appropriate or by contrary inappropriate. In terms of behaviorist approach, the learning of a foreign language becomes a mechanic process, based on good habits of the students, as they provide the correct responses expected by the teacher, the role of mistakes being minimal. Students tend to automatically memorize new words and grammar units, reducing the opportunity of an interactive use of the language (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 56).

Comparing with the Informant Model, the Structural Linguistics stimulate a more interactive learning process, as the students do not imitate an advanced user of the language, but master elements of the language, according to the particular rules of the language. For example in languages as English and French, phonemes and morphemes connect into a linguistic unit as the sentence in a different perspective. In French, particular categories of adjective will be used by speakers in front of the noun, will others are used after the noun they determine, by contrary in English the adjective is placed in front of the noun it determines (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 55).

Globally, the Audiolingual Method, despite its disadvantages, proposed types of exercises such as drills that are used by contemporary teaching methods. For example, replacement exercises asking students to analyze and recreate sentences, according to the keywords suggested by the teacher or transposition exercises, analyzing if the students correctly seize and complete new sentences, according to the change of words in the given sentences. A particular category of exercises promoted by the Audiolingual method includes the expansion and the contraction exercises, the first one requiring students to complete new sentences by a new word added in a certain place in the sequence, while in the case of contraction the students are asked to replace a phrase or clause through a single word (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 60).

Starting with the 1960s, the Audiolingual Method gradually decreased as importance in the teaching methods used worldwide, as linguistics such as Chomsky were interested in real communication situations inside and outside the classroom, the Audiolingual Method developing insufficient results, as students were not able to effectively use in real contexts the knowledge acquired. Chomsky, through the theory of the transformational grammar, considered that language can be learnt through habits as suggested by previous approaches, being an abstract concept, as a consequence marked by "innovation, intricacy" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 66), sentences and words being used by speakers according to particular mental processes. Unlike behaviorism, Chomsky affirms that language cannot be considered a similar process as the acquisition of habits, based on stimulus, response and reinforce, as it includes an invisible, general competence of the speakers to currently use their native languages or foreign languages. In practice, the theory of transformational grammar stimulated teachers to require their students to use the taught information in creative contexts. The teaching methods of that period, as well as in contemporary context, include strategies susceptible to offer a more complete perspective, comparing with the Audiolingual Method, focusing on both spoken and written contents, such as in the case of the Communicative Language Teaching or the Content-Based Teaching (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 67).

Starting with the 1970s, new approaches related to the efficient teaching were developed, such as the Silent Way, Counseling Learning or Multiple Intelligences. The recent patterns focused on particular aspects, comparing with previous models, such as the impact of the educator on the teaching process (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 71).

The first model included in the category of alternative teaching methods, used after the 1970s, is the Total Physical Response, considered an improvement of the Audiolingual Model. The Total Physical Response is a teaching method focusing on the coordination of speech and action, in order to stimulate a more efficient understanding of the studied language, comparing with other teaching methods. In practice, teachers using this method, focus on the ability of children to develop listening competence before the ability to speak, as a consequence they are likely to acquire a rapid ability of comprehension through listening, that is completed by further exercises relying on speech. For example, in the case of teaching the meaning of most used verbs in daily contexts as "wash", the teacher applying this method can write on the wallchart the verb and ask students to associate it with situations they already know. Focusing on the ideas mentioned by students, the teacher creates "commands", mostly oral messages such as "wash your hands", to determine students correctly understand the meaning of the verb. In order to check the correct understanding of the new information, the teacher can ask students simple questions, such as "What have you washed today?". Generally, the Total Physical Response stimulated in a greater degree the interaction of the teacher with his/her students, but it is not a complete teaching method. In order to provide efficient results, it has to be associated with other teaching methods (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 73).

The Silent Way is one of the teaching methods created in the 1970s, promoting the reduced role of the teacher in the teaching process, comparing with other teaching methods such as the Total Physical Response, focusing on the active role of the teacher. In the case of the Silent Way, the teacher should interfere as little as possible in the classroom, in order to encourage his/her students to produce as much results as possible. In practice, the teaching process as described by the Silent Way focuses on the necessity of the students to discover and create rather than remembering or repeating what is to be learnt. In order to stimulate their activity, the teacher can use physical objects such as a color charts or other interactive materials. For example, if a teacher wants to present to his/her students a lesson focusing on colors, an interactive teaching perspective as described by the Silent Way includes essential phases as: the presentation of the information to be taught, the teacher writes it on the wallchart as "colors"; the teacher asks students to select from the colorful materials disposed on their desks the colors they know and to write sentences about them, while in the case of the unknown colors, the teacher asks them to think about their name or their features; the teacher listens to students' sentences, encouraging them to collaborate with other students and compare their answers about the colors they discovered on their desks, including the colors they do not know; in the end of the exercise, the teacher interviews in a more active way, reviewing the answers of the students, including new information about the colors analyzed, if it is the case. As noticed in this example, the role of the teacher is minimal, comparing with other teaching methods, he/she only presents and if it is necessary, interferes to coordinate the activity of the students, who are required to combine old and new information. The Silent Way method focuses on the necessity of the teacher to support the development of his/her students' independence, so that they can use their own resources, to create their own conclusions about the information presented in the class (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 81-84).

The Community Language Learning proposed a revolutionary perspective of teaching process, as the teacher becomes "the counselor" and the students are considered "the clients" in the class (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 90). In practice, the Community Language Learning promotes the collaboration between teacher and students, in the acquisition of new information, as suggested by the following phases implemented in a lesson based on this model:

Students are disposed in small circles, to stimulate the need to collaborate, in order to achieve common results. The teacher asks a student to state a sentence or a word, while the other students are required to think of its meaning and to include it in personal sentences

A similar activity can be organized in groups, students being asked to develop conversation or presentation about the subject proposed by one of the students, as suggested in the previous phase

Students analyze the results obtained through conversation or presentation, explaining in their own words the particular lexical usage or the application of a grammar rule

The teacher asks students to reflect on the knowledge obtained through the exercises mentioned

The teacher explains, similarly to the explanation strategy in traditional methods, the use of the new information

Students are encouraged to start free conversations with the teacher or with other students, to express their opinions about the acquired knowledge (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 93-94).

Basically, students in the Community Language Learning are members of a community formed in the class, focusing on the discovery of new information. The students and the teacher learn through their interaction with the community organized in the class. Comparing with previous teaching methods, learning is not an individual effort of the students to acquire the information presented by the teacher, but a collective activity to listen and freely complete the information presented by other students or the teacher. The role of the teacher is associated with the counselor, based on the psychological studies of the period. Basically, the teacher calmly responds to students' opinions, encouraging them to continue developing their ideas and express them to the other students. Although it is an interactive teaching method, the Community Language Learning includes several disadvantages such as the potential aggression of students towards other students or towards the teacher or the inability of the teacher to coordinate the communication of students based on a syllabus, since students are willing to benefit of the opportunity to freely express their opinions regarding the acquired knowledge (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 94-96).

Created in the 1980s, in the case of teaching arts, the Whole Language model became popular in the 1990s, as it focused on the teaching of reading and writing activities based on real communication situations. Similarly to the Community Language Learning, it stimulated the collective effort of students to acquire new information, but the teaching is coordinated on particular activities, such as:

The use of authentic texts in classes, including literature or media texts, in order to stimulate individual reading and presentation skills

A focus on real students' experience, in order to associate their personal events with the presented information, so that students can effectively understand and use in real contexts the acquired information

Reading, similarly to presentation or writing activities, are performed, to stimulate the comprehension of students, to practice for a real audience and not simply for learning activities

The teacher is focused on the use of student-produced texts, rather than on personal texts or texts retrieved in the students' book

Reading and writing represent individual efforts of the students, but in most of the cases the teacher encourages common activities of reading and writing

The teacher also encourages students to accept their own potential errors or the errors of other students (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 110).

As noticed in the Whole Language model, the role of the teacher is more active, comparing with other teaching methods, since the teacher is a "facilitator" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 112) between students, rather than an expert. The teacher creates a favorable climate in the classroom, so that students can effectively collaborate and share their opinions, in order to acquire new, valuable information for real communication situations. On the other hand, students collaborate and evaluate their classmates, with the help of the teacher. In this model, the student creates a self-directed learning behavior, connecting his/her own experience with the experiences of other students. Although it includes multiple advantages, comparing with previous teaching methods, the Whole Language is also subject to critics, as it reduces or eliminates the role of teaching materials as students' book, the teacher focusing on authentic texts, considered satisfactory to support the teaching activities.

In the 1990s, Multiple Intelligences model dominated the teaching activities. According to the studies developed in the period, such as the research of Gardner, teachers focused on the major abilities of students, as organized by the Eight Native Intelligences model:

Linguistic: students have the ability to use language in creative contexts

Logical/mathematical: students have to ability to think rationally

Spatial: students have the ability to organize the world in mental models

Musical: students have the ability to recognize and create music

Bodily/kinesthetic: students develop well-coordinated physical activities

Interpersonal: students have the ability to efficiently collaborate with other persons

Naturalist: students have the ability to organize the patterns of nature (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 115).

In practice, teachers, collaborating with parents, recognized and developed the particular gifts of students, organizing particular activities to stimulate them. Focusing on the teaching activities related to the foreign languages classes, the Multiple Intelligences model does not include particular educational strategies, as mentioned by previous models (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 116). Basically, classes organized on the Multiple Intelligences model include four stages, such as:

Awaken the Intelligence, students being requested by the teacher to analyze the information to be presented, through multisensory experiences such as touching, smelling, tasting or seeing

Amplify the Intelligence, students being asked to present their own definitions on the knowledge presented

Teach with/for the Intelligence, the students being asked to improve the information acquired by working on small-group activities or on collective or individual worksheets

Transfer the Intelligence, students reflect on the information acquired and compare their own opinions with the opinions of other students, who are also asked to transfer to others their results (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 118).

A foreign language class, organized on the Multiple Intelligences model, includes lectures of authentic texts, small or large group discussions, activities on worksheets, listening to cassettes or publishing the acquired information in collections of writing or the class newspapers (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 121).

Features of the Multiple Intelligences models can be retrieved in theoretical approaches developed in the 1990s, as the pattern proposed a unique perspective on teaching, based on the natural gifts of children. The model can be easily applied in particular schools, dedicated to gifted children, by contrary in the case of the majority of schools, including students of multiple backgrounds, it can be a serious challenge for teacher to apply it in his/her class, in order to stimulate both gifted and average students. Another disadvantage supposed by the Multiple Intelligences model is the ability of the teacher to evaluate. As he/she focuses on authentic texts and alternative teaching activities, he/she has to develop particular forms of evaluation, in order to monitor the evolution of the students.

In the case of our personal demarche, we will combine the features of multiple theoretical models. For example, in the case of the Multiple Intelligences model, we consider that the use of authentic texts is likely to improve a better understanding of students regarding the information presented, as they are retrieved from real communication situations. Despite its advantage, the use of authentic texts has to be completed by alternative teaching activities as presentation or tests, in order to avoid to transformation of classes in exclusively informal activities. Another theoretical approach that can provide essential information for our research is the Whole Language perspective. Similarly to the scholars promoting this model, we consider that the teacher can be a mediator between students, supporting their personal activities, in order to reach individual and collective performance. As mentioned in the case of the Whole Language model, group activities are essential to stimulate the collaboration between students, but we consider that individual activities are also important in the correct understanding of the new information, as some students might feel their opinions are not as important as the opinions of other classmates, as consequence they have to be encouraged through the alteration of collective and individual activities.

In addition to the Whole Language model, the Community Language Learning model can also provide essential details for our research, as it promotes a favorable climate in classrooms, different from the traditional authoritarian image of classes, where the teacher presents the new information and checks the correct use of it. In the case of the Community Language Learning, similarly to other modern perspectives emerging in the period 1970s-1990s, the presentation of the new information or the recall of the already acquired information is inherent, but the alternative models mentioned propose a rather informal role of the teacher, as a part of the community, stimulating the free opinions of students. By contrary, an exaggerated role of the teacher as counselor between students can create negative effects, as consequence the Community Language Learning method should be completed with teaching strategies focusing on the formal role of the teacher as noticed in the case of presentation phase in the Silent Way.

Globally, there is no perfect teaching model to be applied to all educational contexts possible, but adjustments of the traditional or modern teaching models as presented. We consider that a class of foreign language has to include both traditional and modern elements of teaching, in order to create a balanced teaching activity. Although modern strategies are interactive and likely to develop in a more rapid way the positive results the teacher expects, on the long term it can prove to be an unsatisfactory model to be implemented, as the students will become familiar only with authentic inputs and outputs, suggesting reticence in the case of restrictive inputs and outputs, which are also essential to an effective teaching strategy. As a consequence, in our perspective an efficient class debuts with traditional methods as presentation, capturing the interest of the students on the new information and evolves with modern methods as group conversations, in order to maintain the attention of the students and direct them towards the expected results of the teacher, such as the correct understanding of the new information and its use in formal or informal situations.

Traditional versus modern methods of teaching English in contemporary students' books

A students' book is generally considered a written material to be used in classrooms by both students and teacher, including separating learning units as focusing on vocabulary, spelling, grammar categories, speaking or writing. In addition to the students' book, the teacher can also use in the teaching process auxiliary materials as books related to the teaching methods or books proposing complementary exercises than the official students' books, usually printed by the same publishing house (Ur, 2009, 183).

A students' book is necessary in the teaching process, as it provides a syllabus, a development of learning units based on the personal program established by the teacher. A students' book can be used completely or selectively, completed by other materials, according the teaching strategy established by the teacher (Ur, 2009, 183). A similar perspective is shared by Jeremy Harmer (2011), considering that students' books are a useful checklist of what teacher intends to use during classes. Although they are based on a deductive pattern, starting from easy exercises to more complex exercises, students' book can also be subject of failure as a reliable teaching tool, as the teacher excessively focuses on the format of lesson included in the students' book or totally avoids the use of students' book, creating to students the impression that these books are not necessary in the teaching process (Harmer, 2011, 316).

Whenever choosing a students' book for his/her class, the teacher should take in account the following criteria:

The coherent syllabus, satisfactory language control, motivating texts or accessories associated with the students' book as videotapes, tapes or other additional material

The deductive basis of the units presented, mostly focused on the main methodological approach, namely Presentation – Practice – Production (Harmer, 2011, 320)

Penny Ur (2009) considers that a students' book in mandatory in the process of teaching, although some teachers might find it easier to teach students, without using it or using it rarely. The scholar argues that a students' book perform the following functions:

A clear framework for both students and teachers, as they are aware of the units coming next, the teaching process including a sense of structure and progress

A students' book might serves as a syllabus, offering to the teacher a systematic, balanced selection of the units he/she has to cover in the classroom

Ready-made texts and tasks, to create and improved an appropriate level of learning. The teacher can exclusively focus on the contents of the students' book or attempt to enrich it by additional texts and tasks, in order to improve the performance of students

Economy as the students' book is the cheapest learning material, additional materials being a complementary cost for both students and teacher

Convenience as a students' book is a light, comfortable material, shaped to be easily packed and stacked, independent of any hardware, software or electricity supply

For inexperience teachers or teachers currently uncertain of their knowledge or the progress of teaching process, a students' book can provide useful guidance (Ur, 2009, 184)

By contrary, there are also arguments that a students' book limits the effective teaching process through inadequacy as a students' book is a static document, unable to focus on the particular needs of every student or every classroom. Additionally to the already mentioned ideas, Penny Ur (2009) considers that an exclusive focus on a students' book is likely to affect the teaching process, as students are suggested to perceive the students' book as irrelevant or as a teaching document unable to stir their interest. On the other hand, in the case of the teacher's perspective, the excessive focus on the students' book can create a limited teaching process, as the teacher inhibits himself/herself to use additional creative materials. If they are used correctly, "students' book tend to develop homogeneity, as they propose teaching strategies for an average class, not including variety of levels for advanced or less advanced students" (Ur, 2009, 185).

The traditional perspective of students' book is basically associated with written or spoken activities, focusing on a limited interaction between students and teacher, similarly between students and students. For example, in the case of teaching a new grammatical category as the noun, the teacher might implement a traditional teaching scenario based on spelling, listening comprehension, grammar exercises or vocabulary. In each phase, the teacher evaluates the way that students acquire the new content, correcting the potential errors as in the case of misspelling the plural or feminine forms of some nouns, the defective pronunciation of some plural or feminine forms of nouns or the erroneous use of nouns in different contexts (Ur, 2009, 24).

Students' book that rely on modern teaching methods, generally support the expansion of current teaching activities through external activities susceptible to enrich the knowledge already acquired, as follows:

Supporting the teaching process through computers, for example worksheets or tests can be easily and rapidly solved on computer, also stimulating the connection of students with modern technology

Books as additional materials can positively influence students to acquire a wider experience of the language, comparing with the perspective offered by students' books

Overhead projectors for visual or written material, as the students' book can completely present the information included by those materials. Based on the vivid content, students are likely to focus on the interactive presentation, susceptible to expand their current knowledge. Overhead projects depend on electricity and sometimes have to be carried from one classroom to another one, being a limited resource in the majority of schools

Comparing with video equipment as overhead projects, the audio equipment is more accessible and easier to be transported, due to its reduced dimension as in the case of a tape recorder. The audio equipment is a reliable auxiliary source for spoken language texts

Posters or pictures facilitate an easy understanding of learning contents through visual impact, being generally used for beginning or intermediate students, as the advanced students can be directed to books or exercises on computer, to stimulate their current understanding (Ur, 2009, 190).

Analyzing the structure of contemporary students' book, as well as the global practice of teachers to rely on explanation as recurrent teaching activity, Jim Scrivener (2005) proposed an improved use of the traditional explanation, as completed by guided discovery and self-directed discovery highlighted in the figure:

Figure 9. The improvement of explanation as traditional teaching process (Scrivener, 2005, 273)

Teachers can focus on the information offered by the students' book, in order to expose the required knowledge to students. Basically, a students' book coordinated the teacher's plan of the lesson, based on the complexity of tasks included. Generally, students' book include easy exercises in the first phase of the lesson, as the presentation, for instance an exercise to verify the current knowledge of the students, by asking them to name as many colors as possible. As the lesson evolves, the exercises included in students' book gradually become more complex, asking students to work in pairs in order to create sentences with colors, to listen to conversations about colors or to write essays about colors. Similarly to Scrivener (2005), we consider that students' books are necessary for an effective lesson, either the teacher uses traditional or modern teaching strategies, since it provides a linear evolution of the knowledge to be transmitted to students. For example, in the case of teaching the comparative degrees of adjectives, the teacher can focus on the information provided by the intermediate students' book for the seventh grade (Acevedo, Gower, 1998, 55), which gradually details students how comparative degrees in English are formed, an example presented in the figure below:

Figure 10. Example of explanation retrieved from a students' book (Acevedo, Gower, 1998, 55)

As primarily analyzed, the explanation provided by the students' book can be unsatisfactory for a teacher interesting to completely expose to his/her students the category of degrees of comparison of adjectives. If the teacher focused on the category of superlative, he/she has to provide additional explanation to the students' book information, so that students can completely understand how adjectives in English form their superlative degree. For example, the teacher can add that either in the case of comparing two things or more than tree things, the superlative degree in English can be relative superlative or absolute superlative. Additionally, in the case of the relative superlative, the teacher can present to students that it can describe an inferior feature or a superior one, as in the example (2)

(2)

The finest dress I have ever seen

The least fine dress I have ever seen

Jim Scrivener (2005) recommends teachers to focus on explanation, to adjust it according to the particularity of the classroom, as well as to improve it to a personal perspective, adding modern teaching strategies, as follows:

Talk at a medium length, in order not to lose the interest of students

Talk at a medium rhythm, so that students can follow the ideas presented

Use comprehensible language, give examples, whenever the students seem not to understand the information exposed

Encourage students to ask questions

Use diagrams or visual material, to stimulate and maintain their attention

Gradually check, if the students correctly understood the information

Allow students to analyze the difficulty they encounter and explain, if it the case how they should use the information acquired (Scrivener, 2005, 269)

An interactive modern lesson cannot focus on explanation in the same degree as a traditional type of lesson, as the students' expectations radically changed. For example, during the last decade it was common that a teacher explains the new information for 20 minutes, currently students tend to become confused, bored or embarrassed, if the explanation of the teacher surpasses two minutes, as consequence the teacher has to complete explanation with other teaching strategies, in order capture and maintain the interest of the students (Scrivener, 2005, 269).

A potential modern teaching strategy to complete explanation is guided discovery, based on the image of the teacher as offering the explanations susceptible to create activities able to allow students to generate their own explanations. The questions issued by the teacher are only stimuli to determine students establish their own questions and answers related to the information acquired. Guided discovery avoids the possibility of long explanations issued by the teacher, creating a more active role for the students. Generally, the role of the teacher in this modern teaching strategy is to:

Select appropriate tasks

Offer appropriate instructions, feedback or support

Manage and structure the lesson so that all students can become involved in the activities proposed (Scrivener, 2005, 270)

In the guided discovery strategy, the teacher has to ask "good questions", questions able to encourage the students to notice the new information and to use it in personal contexts as own sentences. The teacher can choose the most suitable form of guiding students as using oral questions or suggestions on a worksheet, engaging both students and the teacher, who actively monitor the evolution of the students. Guided discovery is considered a "Socratic" form of learning, similarly to the ancient philosopher, the teacher flexibly involves in the discovery of students, as mentioned by Scrivener (2005): "Your job here is not simply to pass over a body of information, but rather to create the conditions in which that information can be learned. This seems to be a particularly fruitful way to work in the language classroom" (Scrivener, 2005, 270). If the guided discovery is successful, the student can suitably use the new information in multiple contexts, as the teacher proposed through written or oral exercises.

A similar perspective of combining traditional and modern teaching activities is suggested by Jeremy Harmer (2011), as in the case of explaining new concepts to students, considering that a simple presentation under the format of explanation is not satisfactory to obtain positive results. For example, if a teacher decides to introduce the verbal construction "should/ should not have" to intermediate or upper intermediate students, the explanation of how this grammatical category is formed and how it is used might create a sense of confusion or boredom. In order to avoid these potential negative details, the teacher can start his/her lesson by asking if students read science fiction books or newspapers, focusing whether they have encountered information about events to come. The students have to be directed to the meaning of the category to be learnt, based on their current or previous experience, in order to facilitate their rapid understanding. The next step of teacher's demarche would be to ask students to read a text describing a potential event to occur, the teacher asking them to pay attention to the people engaged in the story and the time and space of the action. After carefully reading the text, the students are requested to answer to comprehension questions related to the story, focusing on the action and the characters (Harmer, 2011, 174).

The answers of the students are listed on a chart on the board or on worksheets as in the figure (Harmer, 2011, 175). The teacher stimulates the guided discovery of the students, as he initially ask them to write every detail they remember from the story, lately asking them to connect it with the grammatical category to be learnt, the verbal construction "should/ shouldn't have", as follows:

Figure . Improving a traditional method, explanation, with modern method, guided discovery (Harmer, 2011, 175)

The guided discovery proposed aims to encourage students to use the verbal construction "should/shouldn't have", as consequence the teacher asks them to make personal sentences about the events read in the story with the keywords "should" or "shouldn't have", as in the figure, also based on board or worksheets, so that students can distinguish the difference between the first sentence and the second one, in terms of intention and verbal construction:

At any moment of the guided discovery, if the students are having troubles with the pronunciation of any parts of the sentence or if they seem uncertain of the sentence they created, the teacher can interfere with additional feedback, in order to correct them as asking them to individually or collectively repeat or writing again on the board the verbal construction, to be correctly understood as spelling. The next step of the guided activity will be to ask students tell personal stories using the verbal construction presented, so that the teacher can test its correct use, as in the examples "I should have done my homework on time" or "I shouldn't have left the car unlocked" (Harmer, 2011, 176).

According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), either a teacher uses a traditional or modern teaching method, he/she should primarily design his/her method in terms of "product or process, if they are attained through the instructional process, through the organized and directed interaction of teachers, learners, and materials in the classroom" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 40). In practice, differences among methods as being traditional or modern, appear at the level of approach in the choice of different types of learning and teaching activities in the classroom. Richards and Rodgers (2001) details the situation, as follows: "Teaching activities that focus on grammatical accuracy may be quite different from those that focus on communicative skills. Activities designed to focus on the development of specific psycholinguistic processes in language acquisition will differ from those directed toward the mastery of particular features of grammar" (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 40).

The teaching activity through its purpose and presentation format effectively establishes if a teacher uses traditional or modern teaching methods. For example, Audiolingual model can be considered a modern teaching method as it stimulates dialogue, but it can present the disadvantage to including reduced practice of written content. Similarly, the Silent Way focuses on the problem-solving activities including charts and other interactive tools, as consequence being a modern teaching method, but it also presents a disadvantage, including little oral exercises. Ideally, a teacher could use multiple and complementary teaching methods in his/her classes, in order to offer a complete experience to his/her students (Richards, Rodgers, 2001, 41).

In our demarche, we will rely on the use of students' books as essential teaching tools, completing the tasks included with additional ones, based on authentic exposure, as reading newspapers, in order to stimulate an improved use of the foreign language. Students' books will be used in the presentation phase of the lesson and gradually in its successive phases, including the checking of the results. As some students' books include rather traditional methods of testing results, we can complete the existing framework with modern methods as group debates or even theater acts, if students are interested and this type of exercise can be implemented in the lesson management. For instance, in the case of presenting the nouns in English, a dramatic representation of it can be considered unsuitable, but if the lesson organized by the teacher focus on the use of phrasal verbs, students can be asked to organize short plays, to promote the correct use of this category.

Chapter II. Traditional versus modern methods in teaching English

In this chapter, the theoretic framework exposed will be tested and critically analyzed in a particular situation. The research proposed focus on the use of traditional and modern teaching strategies in the case of teaching the comparative degrees of adjectives. Based on the expertise offered by the Blockbuster series of students' book dedicated to students in the gymnasium level, we will create a personal model of teaching the comparative degrees of adjectives.

Research framework

We will focus on the teaching of the comparison degrees of adjectives, based on the synopsis of the students' books dedicated to the 5th grade, 6th grade and 7th grade, designed in the series Blockbuster. In addition to the teaching strategies proposed by the students' books, we will use complementary strategies, mostly modern strategies, in order to stimulate the correct understanding of students.

We selected the teaching of the comparative degrees of adjective as subject of the proposed research, since the grammatical category, although it is a simple category to be taught, it can be perceived as difficult by Romanian students, based on the common similarities they create, as comparing adjectives in English with adjectives in Romanian or other foreign language. Before analyzing the teaching methods that a teacher can use, we consider relevant to present the category of comparison degrees of adjectives in English.

The first grammatical rule that a teacher has to take in account, before using a particular teaching strategy is to clarify to students what type of adjectives can form comparative degrees. In order to achieve this goal, the teacher can use presentation as noticed in the progressive evolution of acquiring new information model established by Scrivener (2005, 112).

The students, as presented in phase 1 of the model, do not know anything about comparison degrees or if they know, it is reduced information. The teacher introduces the new information, using presentation about the gradable and ungradable adjectives in English. He/she can verbally expose the category of gradability or use a wallchart, to note essential ideas and examples for students. The teacher can constantly compare the concept of gradability with the similar category in Romanian, in order to render the new information more accessible to students, for example he/she can use the following phrase in his/her presentation:

(1)

"Similarly to Romanian, adjectives in English can be compared or not. Their ability to be compared is named gradability. Let's think of the adjective larg in Romanian, we can say that something is larger, meaning mai larg and that another thing is very large, meaning foarte larg"

The teacher continues his/her presentation, informing the students about the adjectives that cannot be compared, similarly to particular adjectives in their tongue language, such as electric or national, since they describe as static reality, unable to be compared with current, past or future features of the situation imagined by the speaker.

Based on the information presented to the students and their reaction of correct understanding, the speaker can continue his/her presentation by noting on the wallchart a grammatical rule in English: adjectives can be divided into two major categories: gradable and non-gradable, (Huddleston and Pullum, 2005, 118). If the students are confused, the teacher will repeat the information presented so far, but using other examples, in order to determine students understand the correct use of gradability.

The presentation of the teacher continues with the particularization of gradable adjectives, informing students that they can create comparative and superlative forms, as well as receiving degree modifiers such as very, too, excessively, insufficiently or pretty, noting on the wallchart the following example (2).

(2)

I’m very nervous, waiting for my supervisor’s feedback.

In addition, the teacher presents the fact that some particular adjectives in English can be both gradable and ungradable, based on their context:

(3)

"If we can compare an object or a person with another person, the adjective we associate is a gradable one. If we cannot compare objects or persons, the adjective is ungradable. Yet, there are adjectives that can be used both as gradable and ungradable, depending on the situation we refer"

The teacher can note on the wallchart examples of both gradable and ungradable adjectives, asking students to choose which of them is gradable and which is ungradable:

(4)

The motorway is open, after the police investigated the accident

He was more open with us, although in the past he refused to come to dinner

After having presenting the general framework of the knowledge he/she intends to teach to students, the teacher can request them to use the worksheets prepared. He/she is interested to test the correct understanding of students related to gradability in English. He/she asks to work on their sheets on the following exercise, requiring them to write down which adjective is used its gradable or ungradable meaning (5):

(5)

I met my old friend yesterday………………………

This building is very old………………………………

This laboratory is electric tested…………………..

The atmosphere at the party is electric………………

I deliver late feedback to my employees…………

My late boyfriend disappoint me…………………

Having clarified the gradability of adjectives, the teacher continues his/her presentation by testing the current knowledge of students related to comparison degrees. He/she uses worksheets, which include gap exercises, susceptible to test the potential knowledge of students related to comparison degrees in English, as the positive, the comparative and the superlative (McNally and Kennedy, 2008, 86).

The worksheets can be established as follows (6):

(6)

Fill the gap with an adjective that you consider suitable:

You are considered by your friends a ….. (clumsy) member of the group

You are …. (clumsy) than your older brother

Comparing to your older brother, I think you are …. (clumsy) person

The presentation exposed so far and the exercises accompanying it, correspond to the first three levels of acquisition as included in Scrivener's model: the learner does not know anything about the item to be taught or has a slight idea of it; the learner is presented with the new information and starts to acquire it and the learner begins to realize that the new information is a different knowledge that he/she has to completely understand.

The class can continue with the presentation of teacher, focusing on the teaching of the degrees of comparison in practice. The further units correspond with phase 4, 5, 6 in the Scrivener model (2005, 112): the learner starts to look closely to the new information, in order to create rules to be applied in real communication situation; the learner tries to use the new information in personal contexts and the learner integrates the new information in target language, with minor errors.

The teacher successively presents the three degrees of comparison, noting on wallchart:

(7)

"As in Romanian, the positive degree presents a simple statement about an object or person"

The example noted on the wallchart presents a common situation, so that learner can effectively understand the difference or similarity between source language and target language (Huddleston and Pullum, 2005:195), as in the example (8):

(8)

It’s a beautiful day!

As the students have assimilated the positive degree, the teacher continues presenting the comparative degree:

(9)

"The comparative degree is used when comparing two people, objects, events"

The teacher notes on the wallchart the following example (10):

(10)

Today it is a more beautiful day than yesterday!

The teacher develops the presentation related to the comparative degree (11):

(11)

"The comparative degree can be divided into comparatives of superiority, equality or inferiority. Analyze the following sentences and tell me which one we consider to be a comparative of superiority, comparative of equality or comparative of inferiority"

The students analyze the sentences written on the wallchart and decide the type of the comparative degree included (12)

(12)

I am smarter than my brother ……………………….

Her dress is more beautiful than hers. ………………

I am as smart as my brother …………………………

My dress is as beautiful as hers ……………………..

I am not as smart as my brother …………………….

My dress is not as beautiful as hers …………………

After noting the answers of the students, the teacher clarifies the structure of each comparative degree and how it should be used in practice (13), noting on the wallchart examples for students, in order to completely understand the new information:

(13)

"In the comparative of superiority, adjectives express a higher degree of a quality, object or person associated with a second term:

I am smarter than Mary

I am more attentive than Mary

In the comparative of equality, the compared objects develop similar qualities:

I am as smart as Mary.

I am as attentive as Mary.

In the comparative of inferiority, the compared objects develop a contrast or an essential difference:

I am not as smart as Mary.

I am not as attentive as Mary"

After presenting the new information related to the comparative degrees, the teacher asks students to analyze the difference between the adjectives included in the sentences. The aim of the exercise is to stimulate discovery as mentioned by Harmer (2011, 171). As the students understood the concept of superiority, equality and inferiority, the teacher is interested in supporting them to understand the nature of comparison, as inflection or periphrastic comparison.

The teacher asks the students to analyze one of the examples and establish a personal rule related to creation of the comparative degree. After listening to their suggestions, the teacher presents the possibility of comparison through infection or periphrastic structure:

(14)

"As we notice, there are two possibilities of forming the comparative degree. One is related to short adjectives as smart and the other one to long adjectives as attentive. Basically, the short adjectives receive suffixes such as smarter, while the long adjectives receive additional structures as adverbs, in order to suggest a comparison, such as more attentive"

The teacher continues the presentation of the infected comparison, stating the main rules and noting examples on the wallchart (15):

"Commonly, inflected forms are used with:

short adjectives of one syllable

hot (hotter-hottest)

big (bigger-biggest)

safe (safer-safest)

– dissyllabic adjectives with the stress on the last syllable, it is also possible to use the periphrastic comparison in this case

polite (politer-politest or more polite – the most polite)

short adjectives of two syllables ending in "-y", changing "y" to "i". They can also be used with periphrastic comparison

easy (easier-easiest, more easy – the most easy)

happy (happier – happiest, more happy –the most happy)

disyllabic adjectives ending in `-ow`

hallow (hallower-hallowest)

short adjectives ending in the weak syllable "-le"

simple (simpler-simplest)

In order to test the correct understanding of the students, the teacher asks them to complete with the adequate form of comparative the following exercise on their worksheet (16):

This is a (narrow) …. path than the main route

It is (noble) ……. to forgive, than to take revenge

Her attitude is (silly) … than mine

This is the (high) … sensation ever

She is (sad) … than yesterday

I feel (free) … in this place, with no obligation

It will be (wise) …not to talk to her about these things

It was (simple) … than I expected

His gesture was (sincere) … than his previous one

Her voice was (severe) … than yesterday

He is (handsome) …. than his brother

I find this place (pleasant) … than the other pub

Comparing with yesterday, I feel (tired) …..

It is a (lovely) … day, comparing with yesterday

She is (lucky)… than me

I am (hungry) … than you, I really do not want to eat

In addition to the inflection, the teacher presents the possibility to form degrees of comparison through periphrastic forms:

(17)

"Unlike the inflection, the periphrastic forms are used with long adjectives, as follows:

– all adjectives of more than two syllables

difficult (more difficult – the most difficult)

– all adjectives with heavy endings

curious (more curious – the most curious)

– adjectives ending in –ful

useful (more useful – the most useful)

– adjectives ending in –ed and –ing

wicked (more wicked – the most wicked)

cunning (more cunning – the most cunning)

dissyllabic adjectives ending in –ish, -s or –st

selfish (more selfish – the most selfish)

earnest (more earnest – the most earnest)

adverse (more adverse – the most adverse)

After presenting the periphrastic comparison, the teacher test the correct understanding of the concept, asking them to complete the following exercise (18)

(18)

It was the (difficult) … exercise I had to solve

This task is (important) … than you consider

I feel (comfortable) … after speaking to him

This was the (curious)… thing happening to me

The (generous) … gesture he made was to help me with this problem

I find it (satisfactory) … to leave tonight, instead of leaving in the morning

It is (necessary) …. to end your task with good results, than to accomplish multiple tasks with unsatisfactory results

This is the (awful) …. situation I could experience

You should treat your colleagues in a (cheerful) …. way, in order to become friends

Be (respectful) … with the elder ones, they are vulnerable

I feel (wretched) … than you, but I continue my tasks

This is the (tempting) … cake I have ever seen, have to taste it!

Your results are (improving) …, comparing with last month, continue the good job!

Your behavior is the (childish) … I could ever notice

His gesture was the (honest) … , I am impresed

This is the (obscure) … painting I was asked to analyze, who is the artist?

I am (dead) … than alive!

In the case of the superlative degree, the teacher initially adopts presentation as the principal teaching strategy, constantly encouraging students to develop their personal perspective through discovery.

While presenting the new information, the teacher writes on the wallchart (19):

"The superlative is the comparison degree suggesting the highest point of the reality described by an adjective. For instance, we affirm that an event is the greatest ever in our lives, while in the comparative degree, while comparing that event with a similar one, we would have mentioned that the event is greater than a precedent one

It can be used to highlight the superiority as the easiest task or the inferiority as the least easy task"

The teacher asks students to complete exercises in their worksheets, in order to test their correct understanding (20):

(20)

I am the (tall) … girl in the school

She is the (beautiful) …. girl in my group

The teacher continues the presentation, focusing on the relative superlative and the absolute superlative, noting on the wallchart (21):

(21)

"The relative superlative degree highlights that a certain object includes a quality in a highest or lowest degree, compared with objects in the same category (22):

(22)

He is the most reliable person among my friends

He is the less reliable person among my friends

He is the happiest person in my group

He is the less happy person in my group

The presentation of the teacher continues, asking students to connect the acquired information with the possibility of forming a comparative degree through inflection or periphrastic structure. The teacher applies the strategy of the guided discovery, in order to support the students' effort. He/she notes on the wallchart few sentences, asking the students to affirm how they would form the superlative degree for each of them (23):

(23)

This is the (flat) …. surface I have ever seen

This is the (useful) … book I have ever read

The (frequent) … errors occur, because you do not pay attention!
This is the (correct) … decision, you could ever take, please reconsider it!

That object is (distinct)…., comparing with the other ones.

The (sad) … words are "I am sorry!"

The (mature)… gesture he could do was to say he was sorry

I think this is the (interesting) …. film I have ever viewed

After listening to the students' answers, the teacher presents the rule of inflected or periphrastic comparison in the case of the relative superlative (24):

(24)

"The relative superlative can describe the inferiority or superiority connection between two compared objects.

The relative superlative of superiority, suggesting the maximal positive feature of an object and it can be formed through inflection or periphrastic comparison, as we noticed in the case of the comparative of superiority, as follows

This is the flattest surface I have ever seen

This the most useful book I have ever seen

In addition, the relative superlative of inferiority, expressing the maximal negative feature of an object, can be both inflected or periphrastic, as we noticed in the case of the comparative of inferiority. The rule is similar, we create the relative superlative of inferiority, based on the length of the adjective, as follows:

This is the least flat surface I have ever seen

This is the least useful book I have ever seen"

Having presented to students the new information, the teacher test their understanding through the following exercise (25)

(25)

This is the (wonderful) … day of my life

I think this is the (encouraging)…. discourse to motivate me

It is the (clear) …. lake in the area

The situation is (pleasant) …, I would like to leave

This was the (lazy) … day in my whole life, I woke up at 11 a.m.

The pub was the (empty) … I have ever seen, no customer

The (pretty) … thing he did was to offer me a rose

This is the (low)… level Danube registered in the last decade

This is the (wonderful) … surprise I experienced

After correcting the answers to test, the teacher presents the absolute superlative, noting on the wallchart (26)

(26)

"The absolute superlative shows that an object includes a certain quality, which easily recognizable among similar objects:

(27)

She is very smart.

He is absolutely confident about his results.

The last part of the teacher's presentation is related to the explanation of the irregular comparison, which requires more attention, based on its complexity. In order to stimulate the attention of the students on the new information to be acquired, the teacher can introduce authentic documents, as mentioned in the process of learning based on input and output mentioned by Scrivener (2005, 113). Texts encapsulating real communication situations, as newspapers articles or fragments of radio or television shows, in which the participants use adjectives with irregular comparison.

The students are requested to write on their worksheets the adjectives they consider particular, comparing with the previous categories of adjectives, as gradable and ungradable, previously presented by the teacher. Based on their notes, the teacher uses the presentation, introducing the new category of adjectives:

(28)

"In English, there are adjectives that are used with irregular forms of comparison, based on their historic evolution. They are generally used by speakers, describing the most common situations"

The teacher notes on the wallchart the adjectives with irregular forms of comparison (29):

good – better – best

well (healthy) – better – best

bad – worse – worst

ill – worse – worst

little – smaller-smallest

less – least

much – more – most

many – more – most

old – older – oldest

elder – eldest

far – further – furthest

farther – farthest

As Van Gelderen (2010, 23) mentioned, the teacher attempt to create particular contexts, so that the students can effectively assimilate the new information, which might be perceived as difficult. The teacher presents a comparison between the irregular adjective, noting on the wallchart, for an improved understanding of the students (30):

(30)

"Think of people or objects that you refer as being good or bad. For instance, you can say that

Her attitude was so good to me and she forgave me

His behavior is bad, I will not tolerate it anymore

How would you form the comparison degrees for these adjectives?"

The aim of this exercise is to stimulate students consider the adjectives with irregular forms into real contexts, in order to be correctly used.

The teacher notes on the wallchart the suggestions of the students, correcting the potential errors (31):

(31)

Her attitude was better to me and she forgave me

Her attitude was the best to me and she forgave me

His behavior is worse, I will not tolerate it anymore

His behavior is the worst, I will not tolerate it anymore

The teacher continues the presentation, focusing on the differences between the two antagonistic adjective good and bad. The positive adjective good form its comparison degrees as better and best, while the adjective bad is expressed as worse in comparative degree and worst as superlative degree (Badescu, 1984, 67).

After clarifying the use of the adjectives good and bad, the teacher focuses on the adjectives far and old, noting examples on the wallchart (32):

(32)

He was standing in the far corner

He moved without farther delay

He stood in the farthest corner of the room

He intends to stay a further two weeks

He continued the furthest into his analysis

He is old

He has an elder brother

He is my eldest son

He looks older than me

He seems the oldest among us

Through this exercise, the teacher is interested to determine students use the adjective far with its comparative degrees and seize the use of far as adverb, including its comparative degrees (further/furthest). The teacher can add additional explanations, if the students did not correctly understand the difference between the potential meaning of far. According to Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1992, 459), farther and farthest is associated with the idea of physical distance, while further and furthest are connected with the image of concrete objects and persons in the universe of a speaker:

(33)

I expect from you nothing further than the truth.

The farthest house from the subway station is yours.

The teacher can also include in his/her presentation that the apparent comparative form further is a replacement of more, additional or later, as in the example (34):

(34)

Any further questions?

In addition, the adjective old can be used with its comparative and superlative forms elder- the eldest, while suggesting the hierarchy in a family, for instance when a mother presents his son, comparing with her other children. In other contexts, the common forms older and the oldest are preferred (Breban, 2010, 145). A similar perspective is shared by Bădescu (1984, 136), considering the adjective old is regularly inflected as older and oldest, while referring to the order of birth of members of a family, the irregular forms of comparative and superlative are preferred. The teacher can also add to his/her presentation a detail that might be encountered by students in real communication contexts, providing them the necessary information to analyze it. As Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1992, 459) noticed, the comparative form elder is used in the case of honorific or historic titles as the elder statesman, having no comparative meaning, able to suggest a certain attitude of respect.

The presentation of the teacher continues with the adjective healthy (35), noting examples on the wallchart:

(35)

"The adjective well is used with a similar meaning to the adjective healthy, as antonym of ill, or to the adjectives improved or advanced:

He is well today.

His better mood determined me to tell him the truth.

The best feeling I could experience was to tell him the truth.

Another adjective that is presented by the teacher is bad (36), writing examples on the wallchart:

(36)

"The adjective bad suggests an inferior quality or an involution, comparing with a previous standard, considered the suitable one:

His behavior is bad.

I would choose the worse situation that might occur.

His behavior was the worst in the last decades.

In addition, the teacher presents the adjective ill (37), noting on the wallchart:

(37)

"The adjective ill denotes a sickness, preventing the speaker to perform a certain activity:

I am ill, I cannot arrive to the office.

I was worse Friday than I expected, I couldn’t arrive to the office.

I was worst Friday, so I was taken to hospital.

In the case of the adjective little, the teacher presents it as associated with the idea of small, a perspective mentioned by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1992, 460). Basically, it can be used both as regular (smaller – the smallest) or as an irregular adjective. The teacher notes on the wallchart examples for students to effectively understand the new information (38):

(38)

She is a little child

She is a smaller child, comparing with other students

She is the smallest child in the class

To a lesser extent, she is the best student

She is the best student, I can tell it without the least hesitation

The adjective small is used, since there are no comparative or superlative degree possible in this context. The irregular form of comparative lesser is used as synonym for the idea of less important as in "to a lesser extent". In addition, in the case of geographic names, the comparative form lesser is used to suggest the smaller size, such as the Lesser Antilles. On the other hand the irregular form of superlative least is used with abstract nouns, highlighting the idea of slightest as in "without the least hesitation".

The teacher adds to his/her presentation that is possible for speakers to use the comparative forms littler and littlest in informal contexts, noting on the wallchart (39):

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The black dress was littler, I regret buying.

This is my littlest dress, I think I will donate it.

In the end of the presentation of the adjectives with irregular comparison, the teacher notes on the wallchart some particular cases that might be encountered by students in real communication situations (40):

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"Speakers might use the adjective much, while describing the relation with time or space, as well as classifying people or objects, according to certain criteria. The comparative degree is more and the superlative degree the most, as in the examples:

Did you get much help?

Will you listen in a moment more?

Most people like dolphins".

In addition, the teacher presents the case of the adjective many, based on the similar comparative and superlative degrees, but used in different contexts, noting on the wallchart examples for the students (41):

(41)

"The adjective many developed similar comparative and superlative degrees, in order to suggest the quantity, quality or the intensity of an action performed by speakers:

Many thanks for your support!

If more students register for this class, I can start the project.

Most shops will be closed on New Year Eve."

A particular situation appears in the case of the comparative or superlative forms of the irregular adjective ill as a replacement of the adjective badly, as in the following examples noted on the wallchart (42):

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Your ill informed interference produced an incredible trouble.

Your worse informed interference produced an incredible trouble.

The worst informed interference that you had produced an incredible trouble.

Based on the complexity of the category recently taught, the teacher asks students to complete an exercise on their worksheets, focusing on the use of comparison degrees associated with irregular adjectives (43):

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This is the (bad) …. picture of yours

The results of my tests were (good) … than yours

This pizza is (bad) … comparing with the pizza we ate last time

I am (good) … in class at Maths

I have three brothers, Mathias is (old) …, Thomas is the youngest

Among my brothers, I am (old) ….

Which is (far) … planet from the sun?

He felt alone, as (little) … friends visit him

The (little) … hesitation would have brought him in danger

I am (ill) …, than yesterday

The (ill) … I could be, I will arrive at office

His (good) … attitude inspires me

He showed (good) … attitude ever

Her (far)… vision helped us finish the project

Her (far) … house is marvelous

Name the (far) … galaxies from ours!

He occupied (far) … seat from the door

The current subchapter aimed to present the grammatical category, the degrees of comparison that will be taught to students in the 5th grade, 6th grade and 7th grade, as included in the universe of the research. The following steps of the research will focus on the analysis of potential traditional and modern methods of teaching that can be included in the class focusing on the teaching of the degrees of comparison.

Analysis of traditional and modern methods of teaching English through traditional and modern methods

The class represents the "main form of organization of the instructive – educational process" (Deacu, 2010, 256), a format of teaching that the teacher uses in order to provide to students the required information they need in order to develop knowledge. The effective management of a class is based on the teacher's perspective seen as his/her intentions to present new information to students and test their correct understanding, as well as the students' feedback regarding the acquisition of the new information (Deacu, 2010, 256).

In the traditional model of conducting a class, the teacher is the unique provider of information, offered to the student, who is expected "to pick up, assimilate and reproduce in as many situations and to such an extent as he/she can" (Deacu, 2010, 257). In this model, the role of the teacher is predominant, using a traditional teaching material as the students' book, to linearly transmit the new information to students. The teacher constantly supervises the activity of the students and the tests are used to effectively analyze the correct acquisition of the new information in the given context, the particular class organized by the teacher (Deacu, 2010, 257). The traditional model of teaching provides a reliable organization of the class, yet it reduces the interactivity of the students.

In the modern models of conducting a class, the role of the teacher is reduced, while the students' interactivity is increased. Generally, there are four main paradigms included in this perspective:

· The heuristic process;

· The operational process;

· The system of full learning (mastery learning);

· The technocratic model.

The heuristic model supposes that the students acquire the new information through self-action strategies, based on their personal experience. Comparing with the traditional perspective, the students are not simple receivers of the information, but critical analysts and producers of their own information. Generally, a teacher focusing on this model can use as main teaching strategies the guided discovery, the student being supported in his/her demarche of self-discovery of the new knowledge (Deacu, 2010, 258).

The operational model focuses on the ability of the student to assimilate knowledge, based on his/her psychic structure, present in different stages of evolution. The teacher stimulate students through activities constantly increases in complexity, as the age of the students increase. For instance, exercises of vocabulary debut with the most common words, needed in basic daily contexts, as the students develop their intellectual maturity, the exercises become more complex, included words associated with particular situations (Deacu, 2010, 258).

The model full learning supposes that the mastery in learning is achieved based on the rhythm of learning of every student. The teacher can analyze the evolution of a student, based two pattern: the real learning and the ideal learning time. The main criteria analyzed are the perseverance of the student, as well as the quality of the instruction conducted by the teacher, both influencing the ability of the students to achieve positive results (Deacu, 2010, 258).

The technocentric model, based on the "rationalization and technologisation" (Deacu, 2010, 259) of the lesson, suggests that the teacher should use the existing resources to obtain the maximal results possible. Comparing with the traditional perspective it stimulates the interactivity of the students, yet in a reduced degree, as presumed by the operational model or the heuristic model. In practice, there is no unique teaching model to be applied, but multiple models, as a teacher can start his/her class in a traditional perspective and develop it based on the heuristic model, for instance.

As mentioned by Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic (2011, 1), we consider that a teacher should benefit of the advantages offered by ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and include them into his/her classes, in order stimulate students understand in a more interactive way the knowledge exposed by the teacher. ICT strategies can support modern methods such as discovery, as they tend to substantially transform the format of exercises into a more attractive one.

The focus of the use of ICT is to render the teaching activity as a social interaction, focusing on the role of teacher as a constant, "adaptable and flexible" mediator between knowledge and their intentions of assimilating it. As mentioned by Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic (2011, 2), the teacher is permanently involved in the conversation through "behavioural manifestations (gestures, visual direction) and by cognitive activities (concluding, repeating key sentences, paraphrasing)" (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 2). For instance, if the students did not correctly understood one of the comparison degrees of the adjective old, he/she can use gestures or repeating key information, in order to determine students correctly acquire the knowledge, as follows (44):

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"Think of your family, if you have a brother or sister, who is born after you, how would you consider yourself. You are the … brother"

The teacher notes on the wallchart the beginning of the sentence and expects the students to complete with the correct information, encouraging them to think of the best solution, based on the example provided.

For example, a common exercise on the worksheet, asking the students to fill the gaps with the suitable comparison degree of the adjective can be transformed into an exercise than can be applied through computers or tablets, the students checking the results of the students, as soon as the questions are solved, while in the case of the traditional tests, the teacher have to collect all worksheets and analyze the results separately.

In the case of the comparison degrees exercises, the teacher can use ICT to implement an interactive type of testing, replacing the traditional gaps through the most interactive formats, as in the example (45)

(45)

My car is (fast) as yours

Generally, the use of ICT in teaching creates empathy between the teacher and the students, but can also generate negative results as the aggressive attitude of some students related to other students unable to provide similar results, based on a reduced competence in ICT. In this case, the teacher has to implement his/her "skills to manage conversation" (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 2), to regulate the participation of each students, creating a democratic space of conversation, so that each student can improve his/her existing knowledge.

Compared with the European evolution of implementing ICT in the teaching activities, Romania is not one of the European countries supporting the idea of developing communication skills, mostly because the local educational system lacks the required infrastructure. In the case of countries with a reliable ICT expertise, teachers are encouraged to adopt ICT in teaching activities, achieving positive results through e-learning or the use of computers in their classes (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 3). E-learning, as described by the scholars, is a "mutual interaction between a teacher and a student" (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 3), surpassing the limits that would have rendered difficult the teaching process as the distance to the educational center or the impossibility of the students to attend the classes, based on particular reasons.

E-learning is a modern alternative of teaching, delivering positive results, as the teacher performs his/her activity in an interactive format, supporting the student to effectively assimilate and use the information taught. The teacher is focused on the "students' needs and requirements, students' cognitive structure" (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 4), as well as on "self-regulated learning" (Bjekic, Zlatic and Arsovic, 2011, 4), as the new format of teaching determines the teaching to consider his/her particular competencies, teaching style, attitude or communication skill. A similar perspective is supported by Mustețea, Negru and Iovan (2011), highlighting the limits of e-learning such as the reduced role of the learner in e-learning, since the current platforms tend to be static, similar to traditional classes, rather than stimulating the interactivity between the distant teacher and the e-learners. Another major limit is related to the reduced resources of the educational centers developing e-learning programs. The reduced infrastructure is completed by the reduced intentions of the educational centers to invest in the suitable stuff to perform these teaching activities (Mustea, Negru and Iovan, 2011, 3).

Nausica Noveanu (2010) focuses on the increasing use of personal computers, in order to suggest that e-learning or similar interactive teaching strategies can be applied with minimal infrastructure. The scholar analyzes the use of personal computers during the last decade, retrieving the suitable context for a new approach for modern teaching: "Considering the the following statistics1: 64% of Romanian students say they have a computer at home, while 33% also have Internet connection, and their results are better, both in mathematics and in science; the number of students having a computer at home has doubled in 2007 since 2003; from 2003 an additional 15% of students have had access to the computer, both at home and at school, and 22% more, only at home; since 2007, 93% of students are computer users regardless the place of using it. If in 2003, the Romanian teachers who taught mathematics and science reported that 1-2% of their students used computers during instruction, in 2007, this percentage was between 2 and 3%" (Nausica Noveanu, 2010, 78). Basically, the Romanian educational system is prepared for a major change in teaching, since the context of students provides the suitable structure for an improved teaching activity.

Generally, teaching through the computers is associated with mathematics, biology, chemistry or physics, where the modern tools provide essential results for the activities proposed by teachers. In other subjects as the Romanian language, modern language or history, computers are less used, since the teachers are not comfortable with the new technology or they consider it is a revolutionary strategy that might alter the correct understanding of the students. In fact, as mentioned by the scholar, students are expecting new strategies of developing a class, feeling motivated by the inclusion of computers in the process of teaching. The conclusion of Nausica Noveanu (2010) is that use of new technology during classes is unlike to cause negative effects as considered by the teachers lacking digital literacy, but it can be an useful tool to stimulate the interaction between the teacher and the students: "Technology, by itself, does not change and does not improve teaching and learning. The keys to successful integration of technology in instruction are process management, strategies involved, structuring of instruction and especially the skills. Technology is just the tip of the iceberg in the processes above, serving only as a useful vehicle, among other vital ones" (Nausica Noveanu, 2010, 79). For instance, instead of simply noting on the wallchart the positive form of an adjective and its comparative and superlative forms, the teacher can use a multimedia presentation as the following example (45), in order to stimulate the interest of the students

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Figure 1. Multimedia presentation of the comparison degrees (http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sbalic13-348584-comparative-superlative-adjectives-education-ppt-powerpoint/)

Analyzing the presentation of the comparison degrees, the students easily associate each comparison degree with an animal and it size: the crocodile is the neutral standard of being big, while the rhinoceros is bigger than the crocodile and the elephant is the biggest, among the compared animals. This type of interactive exercise are useful for the teacher to capture the attention of the students, they do not replace the effective presentation of the grammatical rules associated with the forming of the comparison degrees. In order to reach positive results, a teacher can apply it, completing with traditional teaching strategies. Nausica Noveanu (2010, 82) adds to the impact of multimedia presentations other interactive tools that can be used by teachers, such as newsletters, brochures, posters or blogs, since all are products of the contemporary online communication context, the students being extremely familiar with them and interested to continue the exercise proposed by the teacher, as they are informed they will analyze a common format. Basically, the teacher encapsulated old information as the comparison degrees into a new format, the multimedia presentation, in order to stimulate students, the essence of the teaching effort being the same as in the traditional teaching strategies: the acquisition of new information (Nausica Noveanu, 2010, 82). Nausica Noveanu (2011, 83) added to her analysis that in order to gradually implement this type of teaching in their classes, the teachers should be also stimulating by the authorities. Currently, the existing curriculum includes little reference to the use of new technology or avoids the subject, determine the teacher to perceive it with reticence (Nausica Noveanu, 2010, 83).

An improving modern perspective that could create positive effects in the teaching process is the introduction of games, a strategy corresponding to the spontaneous nature of students, despite their age. The scholar argues that game is in fact a competition, based on rules, surpassing the primary level of playing games for fun, although the entertainment it creates is also present in the games of elder students as high school students (Constantinescu, 2010, 243). In the case of foreign language classes, some teaching activities can be organized as games, in order to stimulate the interaction between the groups of students, as well as a method of testing the evolution of students, as the teacher is interested in analyzing the degree of their acquisition. An example of game is the following: the teacher asks students to draw a sticker printed with an adjective such as delicious, beautiful or proper and imagine a story about it, either real or a fictional one. Each student will present his/her story in front of the class and will be voted by his/her classmates, based on its creativity, the teacher being only an observer. The best story is awarded with a symbolic gift from the teacher such as a book. The role of the game is to connect students, to determine them to freely communicate their stories based on the theme they received, not precisely the reward they could receive.

The visual impact is mentioned by a research developed by Norel and Laurențiu (2010, 83) in the case of multiple intelligence profiles among Romanian students. The results suggested that an important proportion of the students are mostly Visual (35.98%), being susceptible to initially perceive visual stimuli, rather than other types such as kinesthetic or tactile. Based on this evidence, it is likely for a teacher to organize an internal research in his/her class and establish the multiple intelligence profile of his/her students, in order to apply the best teaching strategies. Presuming that the universe of students in Romania are subject to the same profile, as being mostly visual, the inclusion of visual contents in the class can be perceived as the teacher's positive effort to stimulate them, encouraging them to actively participate to the acquisition of the new information.

The perspective of e-learning gradual implementation in the national educational system is justified by the interest of students in using it as an alternative for traditional learning. As mentioned by Albu (2010, 5), the contemporary society is marked by a time crisis, in the case of students time pressure leading to negative effects, affecting the teaching process, as they are requested to face the "general obsession connected to tests, grades, alert rhythm, against time race, of hard competition, of forced education atmosphere" (Albu, 2010, 5). In order to stimulate students effectively acquire the new information, a teacher can include modern strategies as ICT tools, but the most important transformation he/she has to perform is to create "create the taste for learning" (Albu, 2010, 5), as an opposite atmosphere to the traditional one based on "patience, closeness, creation and keeping a stimulating emotional background" (Albu, 2010, 5). In order to achieve this goal, the scholar proposes that teachers could use in their classes modern strategies focused on collecting the feedback of students and encouraging them to develop new uses of the information already acquired, such as conversation.

Despite the perspective of using ICT in classes, a teacher can be more efficient, if applying modern strategies able offer answers and solutions to his/her students, rather than preserving the infallible role of the teacher presumed by the traditional perspective of teaching. Through modern strategies of teaching, the teacher encourages "new questions and further cognitive search, or, on the contrary, considering them as being correct (and accepted) during a given moment of the evolution of knowledge, but being fallible ones, thus creating the premises of formulating new questions and encouraging further search" (Albu, 2011, 1). As applying modern strategies of teaching, the children "will be learnt to understand that, no matter how strong their beliefs are, they are not necessarily the correct ones" (Albu, 2011, 1), stimulating communication between students, as well as between the teacher and his/her students.

Accepting the "concept of human knowledge fallibility" (Albu, 2011, 2) is completed in the perspective of modern learning strategies by the possibility of teacher to show students several versions of the same concept and the support of teacher related to the self-discovery of the students (Albu, 2011, 2). For instance, in the case of the comparison degrees, the teacher can present multiple cases of adjectives forming their comparative degree, so that the students can effectively understand the rules of the concept, such as the fact that short adjectives are inflected, while long adjectives use periphrastic forms, while some adjectives as those ending in "-y" are susceptible to a structural change, as suggested in the example (47)

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I am taller than my brother, but my brother is more attractive than me. In the end, we are both lazier than our mother waking up in the morning to prepare us breakfast

In order to stimulate self-discovery, the teacher can ask students to analyze authentic documents, as the following fragment from a newspaper (48), The Times (Elliot, 2016, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/unions-call-for-port-talbot-works-to-be-nationalised-xn5cgvjfm) and lately write the comparison degrees they consider based on the retrieved adjectives

(48)

David Cameron is coming under intense pressure to take Port Talbot steel works into temporary public ownership while a new buyer can be found.

Union leaders, who are demanding an urgent meeting with the prime minister, are calling for him to make a “categorical” pledge to take the plant into safe-keeping.

After identifying the adjectives, the teacher can ask students to write on their worksheets or to mention in front of the class the comparative or superlative degrees they consider suitable, so that the teacher can note them on the wallchart. When the exercise ends, the teacher provides the correct answer, thanking the students for their feedback. The aim of the self-discovery is to encourage students define in their own words a particular category and use it in personal contexts, but also to prepare the students for the following units of the class, such as the presentation of the new information. As their attention is captured through the modern teaching strategy, the teacher can use both a traditional one as the presentation or a modern one as listening to authentic texts, in order to introduce the knowledge to be acquired.

A potential perspective to improve the existing teaching context, marked by skepticism, is to include non-formal teaching opportunities as mentioned by Oprea (2011). The scholar analyzed the current image of the educational system in Europe, considering it is negatively affected by gaps such as "costs, quality, achievements and authorizations" (Oprea, 2011, 87). In order to counterbalance the effects of standardization, the scholar proposes the inclusion of non-formal activities such as music, arts, sport events in the teaching process, in order to stimulate students to develop their values and aptitudes (Oprea, 2011, 87). In the case of foreign language classes, the teacher can organize partnerships with similar educational centers, to periodically develop exchanges, so that students can practice their knowledge in a different cultural background. In addition, students can participate to artistic events promoting the foreign language they study. Non-formal activities are implemented, in order to reinforce the existing formal knowledge they acquire through traditional learning.

Results of the research

The research focused on the comparative analysis of teaching the comparison degrees of adjectives through traditional and modern strategies.

The objectives of the research focused on:

The frequency of traditional and modern strategies used by the teacher

The expected results of their use

The sample of the research is represented by the three students' books associated with the students included in the research universe, precisely students in the 5th grade, 6th grade and the 7th grade.

The method of research is the comparative analysis between the traditional and modern strategies that can be used by a teacher in the teaching of the comparison degrees of the adjectives.

The first students' book selected for the analysis is the course dedicated to students in the 5th grade. The comparative degrees are associated with an interactive unit, named "On board!" (Dooley and Evans, 2004, 122- 123), asking students to describe their best travelling experience or to imagine how a perfect travel should be. Based on the synopsis, provided by the students' book, the class of the teacher debuts with a traditional method, the presentation, as he/she has to explain the students how things can be compared.

Instead of the presentation, the teacher can introduce an authentic document, as the advertising text (49), retrieved from a site promoting trips (https://www.travelsupermarket.com/), asking them to identify the words they consider as associated with the idea of holiday

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Sometimes your wanderlust strikes, gives you a nudge in the ribs and says, “Hey, let’s get away this month”. That’s why we round up the best late deals on the market – from city breaks and beach holidays to winter getaways – because you haven’t got time to scour the internet, you’ve got awesome things to do!

The use of an authentic text as the already mentioned one provides support for the guided discovery. Based on the suggestions offered by the students, the teacher asks them to highlight the adjectives, he/she will bold them in the text, as noticed. The next phase of the guided discovery is to ask the students to use the retrieved adjectives, in order to compare things in personal sentences. The teacher pays attention to the use of best, which is already a superlative form, correcting the potential errors of the students.

The results obtained through the guided discovery can be continued with the exercise included in the students' book, inviting students to conversation (50):

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Which means of transport is fast/expensive/dangerous/cheap/slow/comfortable to travel by?

The teacher moderates the conversation and notes on the wallchart the answers of the students. After the last suggestion received from the students, the teacher asks them to compare the means of transport, in order to present to their classmates, which is the most expensive, which is slower than another one etc. Basically, the teacher is interested that the students form as many combinations possible between the adjectives suggested and the means of transport they think, in order to verify their existing knowledge about the comparison degrees.

The following exercise included in the students' book is based on True (T) or False (F) answers, asking students to evaluate means of transport, by noting T or F, as follows (51)

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Cars are safer than planes …

As the students have already participated to a conversation, where they have exposed their opinions about the features of the transport means, this type of exercise is likely to affect their attention, as a consequence the students can modify it with a more interactive type, the matching exercise (52), asking the students to associate adjectives in different comparison degrees with the transport means they consider suitable and continue the exercise through personal sentences. In this perspective, the matching exercise supports the teacher's intentions to develop guided discovery.

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A. B.

Safer Subway trains

More comfortable Planes

Noisiest Bikes

Less dangerous Cars

Slower Trains

Cheapest Motorbikes

Similarly to the structure of the class included in the students' book, we consider that the presentation of the teacher should be developed after the guided discovery. In order to adopt a more interactive perspective, instead of writing on the wallchart rules of forming the comparison degrees, the suggestion offered in the students' book, of asking students to complete (53) with the suitable form is susceptible to capture the attention of the students on the new information. To the original format of the exercise propose, we added the requirement related to the personal sentences that the students are asked to provide. Although this requirement has been included in previous type of exercises, we consider useful for students to express the new information into personal contexts, in order to be easily and efficiently assimilate.

(53)

We consider that the listening exercises included in the students' book, after the presentation of the grammatical rules associated with the comparison degrees, can provide successful results, if they are inserted in the debut part of the class, completing the read of the authentic document. Concretely, the students are exposed to different type of authentic documents, capturing their interest.

Another type of exercise that could fit in a more suitable way the debut of the class, in the phase of the guided discovery, is the exercise asking students to describe what adjectives as big, quiet, noisy or small mean in their target language. Concretely, this type of exercise stimulating conversation can be included with more positive results in the phase of the guided discovery, as the teacher asked students to compare the transport means. In this phase, the teacher can ask them to translate the adjectives into their target language, in order to check if they have correctly assimilated the new information. If they are able to compare transport means in the natural way they compare the same objects in their target language, the teacher can be confident that the new information is efficiently acquired, being able to continue with more complex types of activities.

Similarly to the synopsis in the students' book, we consider that the presentation of the grammatical rules have to be checked through exercises based on the analysis of an authentic document. In the students' book, the authentic text describes Edinburgh, asking students to read it and answer to questions related to the information they discovered. As the text is particularly easy, including only adjectives in their positive degrees, we consider useful to introduce a different type of text, including adjectives in all their comparison degrees, as the following example (54), retrieved from the internet (http://www.english-area.com/paginas/comparing.pdf)

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Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and is located in the north of the country. It is a very old city, founded over 2,000 years ago. It has 8.5 million inhabitants in its urban area and it is China's second largest city in terms of population, after Shanghai. It is also one of the largest cities in the world. It has an area of 1,377 square kilometres. The capital of China has a more humid continental climate influenced by the monsoon. Despite this disadvantage, people living in Beijing, consider it as the most comforable city in China. The lowest average temperature is 7ºC (minus 7 degrees Celsius) in January, while the highest average temperature is 26ºC and occurs in July. Summer is the rainy season and the annual precipitation is over 600 mm

After reading the text, the teacher asks the students to highlight the adjectives they noticed and to mention their comparison degrees, as bolded in the text. In their worksheets or on the wallchart (55), the teacher will note the comparison degrees of the adjectives, based on the suggestions of the students, correcting the errors, if there is the case

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This type of exercise is useful as a review of the grammatical rules presented by the teacher, as the authentic text includes examples of the most frequent categories of adjectives, as the short adjectives, the long adjectives or the adjectives ending in "-y". In addition, the exercise also checks the understanding of the students in the case of the relative and absolute superlative.

As the teacher is certain that the students have correctly understood the use of the comparison degrees, he/she can apply modern strategies as writing essays, in order to stimulate their creativity based on the knowledge already acquired. For instance, the teacher can ask the students to write an essay comparing Beijing or other city they know, including the city they live in, with another city, as visited or a city they wish to visit. The students can use the adjectives already mentioned in the table below or adjectives of their choice. The aim of the teacher is to test the correct use of the comparison degrees, in personal contexts, similar to real communication situation. The teacher can transform the essay writing activity into a competition, awarding the best papers, in order to stimulate the students. A possibility could be to publish the students' papers in the school's newspaper or to offer symbolic gifts for the best works. The essay is also included in the students' book, but it is reduced to city already analyzed in the reading exercise. We consider that the essay should be more permissive, in order to stimulate the students, to effectively use a source language in their personal contexts.

The synopsis of the class associated with the comparison degrees continues with a listening exercise, based on a real communication situation, a guide presenting London. In order to encourage students use the new information, we consider that this type of modern teaching activity should include a situation based on the comparison degrees already presented, so that the students can analyze how native speakers use them, in order to correct their potential errors or to be encouraged to use the knowledge acquired in multiple contexts, not only in the class.

After the listening exercise, the students' book includes a speaking exercise, encouraging students to start a conversation based on a map of their town. The students are asked to create a tour guide. In order to check the correct understanding of the students in the case of the comparison degrees, the teacher can ask them to include as many adjectives as possible, in order to describe the major touristic attractions of their city. The aim of the exercise is to test the correct use of the comparison degrees in real communication situations. The teacher can note the errors he/she notices and at the end of the exercise, present them to the students, in order to correct them.

The students' book includes an exercise promoting self-discovery, asking the students to research on the internet for information related to the most visited cities in UK and to present the data selected to their classmates. The exercise can be performed in the class, if the students can use personal computers or can be transformed into homework, the teacher asking them to present during the next class the results of their work. Similarly to the other teaching activities, the teacher will analyze the correct use of the comparison degrees and correct the students, if there is the case.

The last phase of the class proposed by the synopsis in the students' book includes a project, which we consider a valuable modern teaching activity. The project activity requires the students to write a short text about a city in their country, focusing on its name, population or historic background. Based on the purpose of the class, to teach the comparison degrees, the teacher can alter the exercise proposed in the students' books, asking the students to work in groups or to work individually, to focus on a particular city or to compare cities, using as many adjectives as possible. The purpose of the project, which can be rendered as a written text or as a multimedia presentation, is to check the correct understanding of the students in the case of the new information acquired.

Structurally, the synopsis proposed in the students' book, as well as our personal perspective, is focused on the use of the modern teaching strategies, as suggested in the table below (56)

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The results expected by the teacher, as implementing modern teaching strategies, is to stimulate the students to efficiently assimilate the new information and use them into the most various real communication situations, as in listening, writing or reading exercises already mentioned.

Globally, the exercises presented so far are dedicated to the teaching of comparative degrees in the case of the students of the 5th grade, using as teaching document the students' book Blockbuster 1. As follows, the teaching the comparative degrees for 6th grade students will be presented.

As a major difference, in the case of the 6th grade students, the teacher can limit his/her presentation, as the students are already familiar with basic concepts as gradability, the construction of comparative and superlative degrees in the case of short or long adjectives, and the use of irregular forms of comparative degrees. As a consequence, the unit in the students' book Blockbuster 2 associated with the teaching of the comparative degrees debuts with exercises stimulating guided discovery, as the students are considered already prepared to acquire verify the information they already acquired and to obtain new knowledge. The unit is named "Our World", focusing on exercises of checking knowledge, based on the previous information acquired by students in both authentic or restricted contexts.

For instance, the teacher can omit the presentation as the debut of his/her class and ask students to focus on the first exercise included in the students' book, based on guided discovery. The teacher can use the map included in the students' book (Annex B) or include a different map as an authentic document, able to stimulate the guided discovery, whose aim is to encourage students to create personal phrases using comparative degrees.

The first exercise of the synopsis as included in the students' book asks students to analyze the map and select from a table the name of the continent they consider suitable. The exercise also includes the following questions (57), in order to stimulate conversation:

(57)

How many continents are there in total?

How many oceans are there?

In terms of teaching the comparative degrees, the format of the exercise, although is based on the analysis of an authentic document is unsatisfactory. Basically, as using the two questions and asking students to note in the worksheet the name of the continent they consider suitable, the teacher does not effectively stimulate the use of the comparative degrees, as a consequence he/she can introduce additional questions to check the correct use of the comparative degrees, as follows (58)

(58)

If you were to compare your continent/country with another one, how would you describe it?

The second exercises included in the synopsis is also based on guided discovery, as the students are required to name three countries based on the map, they already analyzed. In this format the exercise does not encourage students to use comparative degrees in their personal sentences, as a consequence the teacher can add new questions (59), to achieve this goal, such as:

(59)

Which is the most interesting country to visit/live in?

Which is the less attractive country to visit/live in?

The third exercise of the unit analyzed is a quiz, which is a modern of exercise, verifying the correct use of the acquired knowledge, but it can be modified, in order to match the purpose of the class, the teaching of comparative degrees. As a consequence, the original question "Which is the furthest south?" can be transformed as follows (60):

(60)

Compare Australia to Antarctica, based on north and south points

The answers of the students can be collected on worksheets or written on the wallchart as tables (61)

The aim of the exercise is not to test the correct geographic knowledge of the students, every association they create being admitted, in fact the teacher is focused on testing the use of comparative degrees, for example the correct use of the adjective "far" in the comparative and superlatives degrees.

The quiz based on geographic cases can be continued as a filling gap exercise (62), in order to change the format of the answers students are requested, as a consequence to avoid routine in solving the task.

(62)

The Pacific is (big) … than the Atlantic

The Indian is (deep)… than the Pacific

A similar exercise, but structured on matching answers (63), can be also presented to the students, asking them on worksheets or the wallchart, to choose the correct solution:

(63)

Match an area with the suitable feature, the first one has been solved for you.

Africa inhabitants Europe

Europe low temperature Africa

China Asia

India Long river India

South America Larger North America

Antarctica Heavy rainfall Australia

Based on the answers received exercises already mentioned, asking students to create comparison degrees, following the geographic information presented, the teacher can use presentation as a traditional method, as a reminder of the information they have just used in the exercise, in order to create suitable answers. The teacher can structure his/her presentation as table (64) written on the wallchart

In the synopsis included in the students' book an exercise based on association of adjectives with cities, similarly to a matching exercise, is included. The teacher can improve it, by asking students after the matching activity, to create personal sentences with the city and adjective they associated with, as follows (65):

(65)

Match the city and the adjective you consider suitable, the first one has been already solved for you.

Crowded Beijing

Expensive Cairo

Glamorous Paris

Historic London

Cheap Amsterdam

Clean Madrid

Create sentences of the city and the adjective you associate, comparing it with another city on your choice:

Cairo is more historic than Paris, since it is near the Pyramids

The aim of the teacher is to encourage students use the comparison degrees in real communication situations, based on their previous knowledge. If it is possible, the exercise can be transformed into the premise of a conversation exercise, after a student presents his/her ideas, the teacher can ask the other students to reveal their opinions. In this case, the teacher is focused to analyze the correct use of comparison degrees in concrete contexts.

A particular type of exercise included in the synopsis, based on guided discovery, is focused on a table where cities as New York are associated with particular features as temperature or population (66). The requirements of the exercise, as mentioned in the students' book, is to create simple personal sentences between the city and its features as suggested in the table, and a similar or dissimilar city.

(66)

According to the suggestion offered in the students' book, the students are requested to form simple sentences as "New York is not as hot as Los Angeles". Theoretically, this type of sentence is useful, as the teacher tests the correct use of the comparative degrees in practice, but it does not stimulate the students to use the acquired knowledge into real communication situations, which are dynamic. As a consequence, the teacher can improve this type of exercise, by asking students to create complex sentences, similarly to essay, which will be read in front of the class and discussed with classmates, as follows (67):

(67)

Comparing the size of the city, Los Angeles is bigger than New York, since its size is estimated at 1.290 km2, while New York's size is 831 km2

The tallest building in the cities mentioned is the Empire State Building, based on 381m, comparing with US Bank Key Tower, 310m tall

The less polluted city is Cleveland, while the most polluted is Los Angeles

As already mentioned, it is essential for the teacher to verify the correct use of inflected comparison and the comparison based on periphrastic forms, as a consequence filling exercises are mandatory, but in a form that stimulates the creativity of the students. In the course book, the exercise is structure as the plain form of the adjective, the comparative form (mentioned or not) and the superlative form. In order to effectively test the knowledge of students, it is necessary not to mention any of the comparison degrees of the adjective, as it is possible for them to anticipate the answer. For instance, the adjective "big" is mentioned, as well as its comparative degree "bigger", it is likely for the students to anticipate that the superlative form would be "biggest". The correct filling exercise in this case can be structured as follows (68):

(68)

Fill with the appropriate form, the first one has been already solved for you

In addition, the teacher can ask students to form personal sentences with the comparison degrees they form, which will be written on the worksheets or on the wallchart. The sentences can be used to stimulate a conversation between students, asked to compare two or multiple cities they know or can be the subject of an essay to be written as homework, the students explaining for instance why they consider a certain city more boring than the other one. The essay can be associated with pictures of the cities the students chose to compare, the results being discussed in the future class.

In the case of the synopsis included in the 6th grade students' book, the teacher can improve it, since the unit as initially included in the students' book tends to be static. According to the structure of the first exercise in the unit, whose aim is to stimulate guided discovery, the role of the teacher is limited in listening and noting on the wallchart the answers of the students related to the association of continents with the map presented as authentic documents. In order to improve the effect of the exercise, the teacher can include an additional personal question as „If you were to compare your continent/country with another one, how would you describe it?”. Based on the answers he/she receives from students, he/she can direct the guided discovery proposed by the exercise of matching the name of the continents with the location on the map analyzed with new stimulating questions, such as the following (69):

(69)

Can you describe the most attractive area in your country/continent?

Why you consider it, more attractive, comparing with other areas?

As the teacher created matching or filling exercises based geographic examples, in order to test the correct use of students in the case of the comparison degrees, it is recommended to introduce authentic documents as texts or conversations, in order to stimulate the attention of the students, otherwise the class as it is included in the synopsis has the format of a suite of testing exercises, potentially creating negative effects as fatigue.

A possibility to maintain the interest of students could be the insertion of a reading exercise (70), an authentic available on the internet (http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/asia.htm), the teacher asking students to highlight the adjectives they consider retrieved in their comparison degrees. The exercise can be applied after the first quiz exercise, asking them to connect the geographic details with their perception, in order to create personal comparison phrases:

(70)

Asia is the largest continent in the world in both, area and population, the continent is situated almost entirely north of the equator except for some Southeast Asian islands. Asia is connected to Africa by the Isthmus of Suez and borders Europe (part of the same landmass) along the Ural Mountains and across the Caspian Sea, being the most visited continent, before discovering America.

Asia is about 49.7 million km² (19,189,277 sq mi), it covers about 30 percent of Earth's total land area. The area is shared by 48 countries, by far the largest country by area is Russia with more than 17 million km², second is China with 9.6 million km², while the smallest independent state in Asia are the Maldives with 298 km².

Asia's population is estimated at 4 billion human inhabitants (4.4 billion in 2016), about 60 percent of the world's population. 1,6 billion of those people live in China (in 2015). Seven out of ten of the most populated countries are in Asia.

After identifying the adjectives in the authentic text, the teacher can ask the students to explain how they were formed, in order to test the correct use of inflected comparison or comparison with periphrastic forms. If he/she discovers certain errors, the teacher can note them on the wallchart and explain the information that is not clear to students. A similar exercise, based on the analysis of an authentic document could be the insertion in the class of an oral document, as a conversation or the fragment of news, focusing on continents or countries. Commonly, students will be asked to listen to the document and write on worksheets the adjective they hear. A second phase, after the listening activity is over, is to ask students select the adjectives in comparison degrees from neutral adjectives. As they are selected, the students will be asked to mention the comparison degree of those adjectives and how it is formed. Although this type of exercise is more difficult, asking students to attentively listen and write on worksheets the adjectives they consider as retrieved in comparison degrees, as soon as they identify them, is an interactive exercise, stimulating the attention of students and as well, able to efficiently test the correct understanding of students in the context of an oral authentic document.

The aim of the additional questions introduced by the teacher to the exercise based on the authentic document is to enhance its effect as modern teaching strategy. Based on the comparison they create between continents, after noting on the worksheets the name of continents corresponding to the map, the students are suggested to continue their analysis, in comparing areas they visited or are familiar with, in order to stimulate the fluent use of comparative degrees in real communication situations.

Similarly in the case of second exercise included in the synopsis, asking students to note three countries belonging to each continent they have already identified, the teacher can include a supplementary exercise, in order to test the correct use of the comparative degrees. The exercise is a form of Task-Based Learning method, as mentioned by Scrivener (2005), requiring students to focus on a task, so that the teacher can test their current knowledge and improve their fluent use. For example, the Task-Based Learning exercise that can be used by the teacher can be structured, as a table on the worksheets or on the wallchart, requiring students to complete with the personal sentences they consider suitable (71):

(71)

Through this type of exercise, the teacher will evaluate the correct use adjectives, based on the personal sentences of the students, as they are likely to use a suite of adjectives to describe their opinions, such as "beautiful", "pure" or "far", each category requiring from students the correct use, as in the case inflected comparison, comparison based on periphrastic forms or the use of adjectives with irregular forms. In addition to encourage conversation between students, as they will feel engaged in the debate, hearing the opinions of other classmates about the most attractive country.

Although discussing about continents, countries and cities, the synopsis did not include, excepting the map in the first part of the class, an authentic visual document able to stimulate the creative use of comparison degrees. As the final exercises of the class are generally dedicated to the evaluation of students or the presentation of the homework, an authentic visual document as the picture of the Berlin Wall (http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/c-t-lung-era-zidul-berlinului) can be introduced either as a task to be completed in the classroom, for instance a conversation (72), the students being asked to work in pair or an individual level:

(72)

Looking at the picture below, describe what you see, using as many adjectives as possible. Compare your answers with the details offered by your classmates.

In order to be efficient, so that some students might not be influenced by the opinions of other students, it is recommended that the students note on their worksheets sentences they consider suitable about the picture, such as "The wall is the most colorful I have ever seen" or "The buildings seem older than the buildings in my town".

Based on the same authentic visual document, the students can be requested to write an essay, which will be presented in the future class, asked to compare the city they observe with their local city or any city of their choice. Similarly to the previous exercise focused on conversation, the students are requested to use as many adjectives as possible to describe the features of the city.

The last exercise included in the synopsis is a portfolio, a modern type of exercise based on guided discovery. The portfolio is a personal analysis of the information a student can retrieve in books or on the internet regarding a city he/she chose. The teacher is interested in the fluent use of comparison degrees, as the students present in front of his/her classmates, based on the information discovered, facts about history, climate, industry or tourism. A suggestive example can be a portfolio based on Sibiu/Hermannstadt (73). As the student display pictures from the historic center and the industrial area, he/she can compare the selected city with similar or different cities in the area:

(73)

Sibiu/Hermannstadt is as historic as Brașov, both being developed by a Germanic community living in Transylvania, starting with the XXIIIth century

The city is the most industrialized in the area

Totally, the class as included in the students' book, plus the personal improvements of the teacher, can be summarized on the following structure:

(74)

Comparing with the synopsis of the class in the Blockbuster 1, the structure of the class is also based on modern teaching strategies, focusing on guided discovery, as the teacher is interested in testing and encouraging students to efficiently use the acquired information into personal contexts. Unlike the first model, in Blockbuster 2, the activities focusing authentic documents as reading texts or listening to texts are omitted, instead exercises based on conversation are inserted, in order to stimulate students use comparison degrees in personal sentences and expose them to classmates, who are asked to analyze them and as a consequence critical conversation is constantly implemented.

In the case of the students' books dedicated to the 7th grade, the synopsis of the class is focused on forming adjectives, rather than creating the comparison degrees, as a consequence the teacher can develop the structure existing to a class fulfilling his/her objectives of teaching the comparison degrees.

In Blockbuster 3, the unit associated with adjectives is named "Heroes & Villains" (Annex C), using a visual document from "The Lord of the Rings" as an authentic document, to capture the attention of students. Although the objective of the synopsis is different, the teacher can adapt it to the aim of his/her class, of teaching the comparison degrees, based on the popularity of "The Lord of the Rings". He/she can provide the students an authentic text from the book (http://ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/tolkien__the_lord_of_the_rings_1__en.htm#1-01), as the fragment below (75), asking them to identify the adjectives and highlight them in the text:

(75)

Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved, but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently) perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth.

Working in groups or on an individual level, the students are requested to match on their worksheets (76) the degree of the adjective, as they consider suitable:

(76)

The aim of the exercise is to test the current knowledge of the students, after reading and understanding an authentic document, in order for the teacher to introduce new information or to correct the existing errors. As the fragment used might be perceived as easy by some students, rapidly identifying and matching the adjectives with their particular comparison degree, the teacher can introduce an additional request, as in the worksheet below (77), asking students to create the comparison degree for each adjective retrieved in the text, the first one being made for them:

(77)

After verifying the answers of the students and correcting, if there is the case, the potential errors, the teacher asks them to create personal sentences, using the adjectives retrieved, either focusing on the characters in "The Lord of the Rings" or thinking of any situation they would like. The interest of the teacher is to analyze the use of the comparison degrees in real communication situations, in order to test the correct perspective of the students and correct any potential misunderstanding. The students are encouraged to freely discuss about their personal opinions, if the teacher considers it suitable, he/she can write on the wallchart notable answers of the students, as the following (78), in order to analyze it in terms of correct grammatical use:

(78)

The Lord of the Rings is a very mysterious character, but he is the evilest of all villains

Aragorn is courageouser than Frodo

In the first sentence of the students, the adjective "mysterious" is correctly used, being a long adjective, as a consequence forming the comparison degrees with periphrastic forms. In the case of the relative superlative associated with the adjective "evil", the teacher has to explain that the comparative of superiority based on inflection ("eviler") is possible, since the adjective is a short one, but in practice the periphrastic form is preferred, as "more evil". In the second sentence, the comparative of superiority based on inflection is not correct, as the adjective "courageous" is a longer one, as a consequence the comparison degree based on periphrastic form is preferred. The teacher can add that "courageouser" can be used in literary works, if the writer intends to create a stylistic effect, but as a common use "more courageous" is preferred.

The teacher can use the first exercise in the unit, focused on conversation, in order to improve the fluent use of adjectives in real communication situation. The exercise consists in a table associated with each character in "The Lord of the Rings", such in the case of Aragorn (79), the students being asked to read the information and associate the character with adjectives, that will be noted on the worksheet associated with the exercise:

(79)

The exercise based on the features of the characters included in "The Lord of the Rings" can be continued through the use of a new visual authentic document (80) as presented (http://alfa-img.com/show/star-trek-myers-briggs-chart.html), the students being asked on worksheets to associate each character with as many adjectives as possible.

(80)

Based on the notes on their worksheets (81), the students are requested to debate with their classmates about the features they noted, comparing each character with another one.

(81)

Listening to the answers of the students, the teacher notes on the wallchart suggestive examples of the correct use of comparison degrees or incorrect use, in order to reinforce the students' knowledge (82):

(82)

Galadriel is more beautiful than Arwen

Gandalf is wiser than Sauron

The second exercise in the unit is based on a suite of adjectives linked with parts of the face or the body, asking the students to associate with each character (83). The aim of the exercise is to test the correct use of adjectives, any matching being possible, the first one being selected for them. The students have to concretely choose from two categories, as some adjectives are connected exclusively with the face, while others refer to the body, in this perspective the teacher also tests their general knowledge about parts of human body, correcting any potential errors.

(83)

dark face Smeagol

young age Galandriel

weak special powers Frodo

slim height Sauron

fair hair Gandalf

tall build Sam

curly Aragorn

round Legolas

well-built Peregrin

fat Gimli

oval Denethor

long Boromir

straight Faramir

plain Arwen

moustache Bilbo

beard Theoden

dimples Treebeard

wrinkles Eomer

beautiful Eowyn

of medium height Elrond

handsome

big

ugly

in his late fifties

in his early thirties

in his early teens

After finishing the matching exercise in their worksheets, the teacher asks the students to successively describe one character to the rest of the classmates. The teacher is interested in stimulating conversation between students, he/she can use an initial question as "How would you describe Legolas?", adding any question he/she considers useful, to encourage students discuss about characters, such as "How does he look, comparing with Gimli?", "Who do you consider wiser: Gandalf or Elrond?".

After analyzing visual documents as authentic documents, the teacher can introduce an oral document to be analyzed by students. One of the exercises included in the synopsis can be presented initially as an oral presentation, the students being asked to write as many adjectives in their worksheets (84), as they can identify, as soon as they listen to the native speaker. Comparing with a previous exercise, similar as structure, in this case, the students have to choose the comparison degree they consider suitable, as in the case of the first example, already done for them. The teacher is interested to monitor the correct understanding of students in situations, where no additional information is provided as the guidance of the teacher.

(84)

In order to stimulate the students' interest, the teacher can complete the exercise, asking the students to read the print version of the oral document and highlight the adjectives they can identify, mentioning their comparison degree (85):

(85)

Allen is very tall and strong basketball player with long, curly hair and dark eyes. He has also a beard and a thin moustache. Allen is very talented and often scores more than 30 points in a game. He is also a caring man who loves his family very much. However, he can sometimes be shier than his colleagues. In my opinion, he is the best basketball player.

In order to stimulate the creative use of comparison degrees in real communication situations, the teacher asks the students to choose a person, object or feeling and describe it in their worksheets (86), comparing with a previous situation, real or imagined:

(86)

Based on the personal sentences created by the students, the teacher introduces new information in the class, the use of structures that suggests opposition or similarities. He/she notes on the wallchart examples, issued by the personal sentences of the students (87)

(87)

Similarly to my sister, I can be shy, but I am not that shier as her, probably our little brother is the shiest member of the family

Although I am timid, I attempt to be braver than you, when I have to defend my position

The teacher explains (88) why there is necessary to use particular structures, while forming sentences with comparison degrees, noting on the wallchart few opposing or linking structures:

(88)

"In order to be completely understood, we need to connect our ideas into the sentence, so that the person we are talking can easily understand our objective"

If we want to express a similar situation, we can use the following structures:

and also, as well as, both and

As well as her brother, I am taller than every boy in the class

If we want to express an opposing idea, we can use one of the following structures:

however, although

Although I am older than you, I do not treat the little ones as you do

In order to verify the correct acquisition of the new information, the teacher asks the students to create a new text, based on few sentences selected from the students' books, as follows (89), focusing on similar or opposing structures:

(89)

Ann is a tall girl in her late teens. She is slim. She has got long blonde hair

The texts are written on students' worksheets, each of them reading his/her story about Ann, compared with other students, real or imagined. The teacher notes on the wallchart the most notable examples or the erroneous use of the information acquired (90):

(90)

Whenever I look at her, Ann seems the slimmest girl in the class, as slim as Lady Gaga

Ann has blonde hair, although I have the same color

In the last sentence, the student did not correctly use the structure introducing a comparison as the tone of the sentence as mentioned by "although" was negative, the speaker argues that he/she has not the blond hair of Ann. In practice, the speaker admits that he/she has the same color of hair, as a consequence the correct structure is "similarly". Based on the potential errors of students, the teacher has to revise his/her presentation, provide new examples, so that students can completely understand the correct use of this information.

In order to check the correct use of the opposing or similar structures, as well as the use of the comparison degrees, the teacher asks the students to think of a favorite person, object or situation and to describe it in their worksheets. The exercise can last 10 minutes, the students can freely the format of their description, either as a drawing (http://emmeli.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Mama-and-Baby-Drawing.jpg) they intent to present in front of the class or as a text they want to read for their classmates (91). In each situation, the teacher is interested to verify the use of the comparison degrees in real communication situation, noting on his/her sheet the potential errors of the students and correcting them at the end of the presentation:

(91)

Depending on the answers he/she perceives in the presentations of the students, the teacher can note on the wallchart errors or particular adjectives that he/she considers useful to insist, asking students to form the comparison degrees (92), as follows in the case of the adjective "caring", which can be confounded with a verbal structure. In addition, although it is a short adjective, based on its ending, it is impossible to be inflected, as a consequence only periphrastic forms are allowed:

(92)

The final exercise of the class consists in a project, similarly to the previous classes analyzed, since this modern strategy stimulates the creativity of students, as well as the correct use of the acquired information in real communication situations. The project can be presented as a text, similar to an essay or as an oral presentation, the students being able to include authentic documents suitable to their text. The theme of the project is related to "Lord of the Rings", the students being asked to describe their opinions about the book or the film, using as many adjectives as possible. The students can focus on any detail of the creation, a particular character as Gandalf or a particular attitude as Smeagol's addiction to his "Precious". The interests of the teacher is to analyzed the correct use of comparison degrees both in written and in oral presentation. The project can be done in groups or on an individual level, the first perspective being recommended, in order to stimulate students to work in pairs and collaborate, in order to obtain the best results rather than individually researching, writing and preparing the project.

Structurally, the class associated with teaching comparison degrees to the 7th grade students, is focused on modern teaching strategies (93), as the teacher freely chooses authentic documents to support his/her demarche, since the synopsis of the unit is directed to additional grammatical rules as forming the adjectives or using them in the correct order in phrase.

(93)

All in all, modern strategies in teaching English are supported by the students' books analyzed, as well as by our personal approach, based on the improved interactivity they create. Initially, modern strategies as the guided discovery stimulate the interaction between the teacher and his/her students, comparing with the traditional perspective of presentation and checking the acquired information. The verification of the new information is also present in modern strategies of teaching, but is combined with attractive methods as conversation or essay, determining the students to use the acquired information into real communication situations.

Potential developments of the research

The current results of the research can be improved, by expanded the analysis of traditional and modern teaching methods to additional grades, for instance the 9th, 10th or 11th grade in highschool curriculum. It is essential to analyze the gradual complexity of teaching methods and the exercises used according to the choice of a certain teaching strategy. For instance, in the case of gymnasium students, the teachers are likely to be interested in stimulating the ability to freely initiate and continue conversations based on the acquired information, such as using particular adjectives in personal sentences. In the case of highschool students, based on their expertise, the aim of the teachers might be different, for example a teacher can be interested in stimulating students to develop their knowledge into complex authentic texts as essays or to create group conversations, focusing on a particular topic such as comparing the strategies of developing their local community. In this context, the students' book represents a basic document, yet the teacher can add the type of exercise he/she considers useful to improve the results of the students in terms of fluent use of the acquired knowledge.

In terms of the teaching strategies used, guided discovery through reading, listening and analyzing authentic documents as print texts, video texts or audio texts was introduced. In order to deliver a complete real communication teaching method, the teacher can introduce to his/her class a native speaker of English, discussing with students, so they can notice his/her particular accent, as well as the way for using adjectives or other grammatical category.

Conclusions

In the thesis "Traditional versus Modern Methods in Teaching English. Advantages and Disadvantages", an objective comparison between traditional and modern strategies of teaching English was presented.

Teaching is a complex process, involving students and teacher as main elements, as well as the context. If one of the parts is unsatisfactory, for instance students are not attracted to the structure of the class, teaching is not efficient, producing negative effects as the reduced results of the students. In order to avoid this situation, as well as to improve the existing results, teachers generally focus on modern strategies, in order to stimulate the interest of students. The focus on modern strategies such as the guided discovery does not cancel the importance of traditional methods as presentation, in practice modern and traditional strategies are combined, in order to obtain maximal results. For example, a new information as the comparison degrees debuts with a presentation, the teacher presenting the rules of forming comparison degrees, while the new information is gradually tested through modern strategies as conversation or essay.

In modern strategies of teaching, the teacher is not anymore a "master", knowing every aspect of the information he/she presents, although his/her advanced knowledge is obvious, but a participant to the evolution of the class. He/she actively interferes in the conversation or presentation of the students, suggesting the errors they created and encouraging them to continue use the acquired information. The aim of the modern teacher is to analyze the way that students use the information in real communication situations, stimulating them to freely debate and write their opinions, in order to be discussed with classmates. In this perspective, teaching is a gradual process for each student, being personally encouraged by the teacher and his/her classmates to use the new information. Through repeated practice, the students are likely to obtain improved results, rather than focusing on presentation-evaluation exercises as included in the traditional teaching perspective. Based on modern strategies, teaching is not anymore a static process of presentation-exercise-recall-evaluation, although these phases exist in the new perspective. In fact, the students are presented a new information, such as the comparison degrees, which is encapsulated into a familiar or an attractive format as the reading of an authentic text. Based on the results obtained, the teacher introduces his/her presentation which is a dynamic one, including examples or additional authentic texts, so the students can correctly understand the new information. Evaluation is generally shaped as an essay or oral presentation, the students being asked to creatively work on a theme given by the teacher, who analyzes the correct use of the acquired information in real communication situations.

The research we proposed was focused on the comparative analysis of three units dedicated to the teaching of the comparison degrees. We selected three units from Blockbuster series associated with students in the 5th, 6th and 7th degree. The units were compared in terms of traditional and modern strategies used.

Globally, modern strategies are preferred, as they stimulate the interactivity between students and teacher, as well as between students. Whenever appropriated, we replaced the original traditional strategies included in the unit, for instance the presentation, with a modern strategy as the reading of an authentic text, in order to attract the interest of the students.

The most used modern strategies in our analysis were the guided discovery and conversation, which are interdependent, as the guided discovery is generally followed by conversation, the students exposing to his/her classmates and teacher the results obtained. Guided discovery is commonly supported by reading of an authentic text, the listening or the viewing of an authentic text, the students being requested to write on worksheets their initial opinions. After debating with classmates and receiving the feedback of the teacher, the students can effectively assimilate the new information, as it was obtained through real communication situations, being susceptible to attract their interest in an improved way than the traditional methods.

Although the teacher attempts to preserve a distant role in the conversation or presentation of the students, he/she has to attentively note any error discovered or misunderstood information and correct it. After the end of a presentation, he/she can note on the wallchart an error and explain to students the correct use, in order for them to completely understand the grammatical rule exposed. In the case of additional information or to constantly check the correct use, the teacher can introduce any time authentic documents in the class, creating particular tasks, such as describing the features of a favorite character in a film with the maximum of adjectives possible.

Modern strategies, similarly to the traditional methods, are concretely interested in the correct use of the grammatical rules, but their approach is different. Modern strategies are focused on interactivity, familiarity and spontaneity, asking students to perceive a task similarly to a deed they would have perform in real communication situation, for instance how they would present a film to a friend or acquaintance. There is no erroneous strategy, both the traditional and modern strategies are correct, yet their perspective is different, being recommended to be used simultaneously during a class, in order to obtain positive results.

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Annexes

A. Fragment of the unit "On board!" (Blockbuster 1, 2004, 123)

B. Fragment of the unit "Our World" (Blockbuster 2, 2004, 28)

C. Fragment of the unit "Heroes & Villains" (Blockbuster 3, 2004, 14)