The Rassias Method

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The Rassias Method There is no greater nightmare for a teacher than standing in front a group unmotivated, bored students who just undergo the lesson. Such class is ‘dead’, and if the teacher cannot bring about a change, he will soon be ‘dead’ himself! ‘But how can I get my students motivated?’ one might wonder. Long school days drain students’ energy and attention. They may toil under the workload of other teachers, who each consider their own subject the most important of the whole curriculum. How can you put your English class back on the map without being overbearing yourself? How can you make students believe in their own competence? How can you make them enthusiastic for your English? In the 1960s, Dr John A. Rassias gave these challenges serious thought and proposed a solution that literally can ‘resurrect’ a class. His methodology is disarming and igniting at the same time; it is like samba music – it just makes one ‘move’! What is the method about? The Rassias method is in fact a variant audio-lingual approach. Visuals aids and realia are used whenever possible, while blackboard writing is kept to a minimum. Students do not look at their textbooks during the lesson. The focus is on listening and speaking; though reading, writing and formal grammar can also be taught. Only target language is being used. The dialogue drills seek to replicate the relevant, life-like situations encountered in the target language (Dartmouth College Rassias Center, 2011a). When dialogues are too long, only what is relevant for the lesson has to be memorized. In case a student cannot answer immediately during a drill, the instructor calls on another student and then returns to the first one. To create an exiting class, the instructor encourages the students to make original substitutions and to fully use their imagination. So, although the teacher plays a central role in the

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