Focus on form and focus on meaning: two approaches to language teaching

There are two approaches to language teaching- form-focused and meaning-focused approaches.

Form-focused approach

This approach believes in carefully training language learners in the structures of the language by providing grammatical forms/structures and their usage. In this approach, the teacher identifies the forms that should be taught in class. Usually, by the end of a particular lesson, learners are expected to ‘accurately’ produce these target language structures in language. Therefore, accuracy is the aim of form-focused approach.

Teachers exercises control over such classrooms. Presentation of the form and its practice is highly controlled. During the production stage when learners produce target language using the focus forms, teacher slowly relaxes control so that learners can freely produce language on their own. There is explicit correction involved in this process, because accuracy is very important.

The salient features of this approach are:

1. Focus on forms selected by the teacher
2.  Introduction of the form before communicative activity
3. Teacher controlled classroom which is gradually relaxed
4. Success of form-focused instruction is learners’ ability to accurately produce target forms in language

Meaning-focused approach

In this approach, the focus is on meaningful communication in target language. Stress is on fluency, not on accuracy. Therefore, target language use is highly encouraged in a meaning-focused classroom, even though it involves errors.

But this approach is not entirely without focus on form/language. During meaning-focused communicative activities, learners themselves would naturally think about certain language items to be used in order to communicate effectively. This is called a focus on language. This focus on language can also involve the teacher. For example, learners may ask the teacher for some clarification. In such occasions, teacher acts as a participant, not as a controlling agent.

Later, the teacher can draw attention to particular forms which are used in communication or came up in a text used. The learner can be lead to look at and practice a form in this context. Even here, focus is on meaning. Focus on form comes after the communicative activity. It can be incidental correction of a form to build awareness. Corrections are done by the teacher who stands as an objective outsider to communicative activity. For this we need a teacher who is confident who can comment on the language of the learner.

Teacher doesn’t control learners’ language use. If learners complete the activity, it is a successful procedure. During the procedure, there emerges a focus on language. Teacher participates and helps by clarifying doubts. Finally it ends with a focus on form. The idea is that these classes should help the learner to improve fluency and accuracy. The focus on form is for accuracy.

This approach can have these elements chronologically:

1. Focus on meaning: this is the communicative activity. Communication is aimed at fluent use of language.
2. Focus on language: here learners themselves reflect on their appropriate language use. This might also involve the teacher as a participant.
3. Focus on form: specific forms are focused upon. Teacher corrects or comment upon learner’s language use.

What is important is that a focus on form comes after the communicative activity (focus on meaning) and focus on language. 

Validity of a Test

A test is said to be valid if it measures what it is intended to measure.

Construct validity refers to a general notion of validity.

When we talk about validity, we need to have evidence to prove it. Therefore, we have different types of validity. They are described below.

1.       Content validity

A test has content validity if its content constitutes a fair representative sample of the language skills, structures, etc. with which it is meant to be concerned. It is like a proper sample of relevant structures dealt with in the teaching programme. The idea is that the test should not be based on any particular section of the syllabus. If it is so, then there would be negative backwash effect.

A document specifying skills and structures to be tested is necessary to create a good test. What is expected in a test for content validity is a wise representation of this test specification. Can compare test specifications and test content to judge on the content validity of the test. Usually this validation is done by someone not related to the construction of the test itself.

What is the significance of content validity? First, greater the content validity, the more accurate will the measurement be. Second, if there is no content validity, there would be negative backwash. Therefore, writing full-test-specification is a necessary step to ensure a test’s content validity.

2.       Criterion-related validity

Criterion-related validity is defined as the degree to which the results of the test agree with another set of results provided by some independent, highly dependable assessment of the candidate’s language ability. This independent assessment is the criterion against which the test is validated here.

There are two kinds of criterion-related validity.

a.       Concurrent validity.

Concurrent validity is established when a test and its criterion are administered at about the same time. This is done in many ways. It may not be practical to test all the items in the test specification. In such cases, short tests are conducted on large scale to save time, money and effort. In that case, in order to ensure validity, conduct a full-test on a selected sample set of students using four scorers to ensure reliable scoring. This is the criterion against which the shorter test would be validated. Then, we need to compare the two scores using a correlation coefficient. If there is a great deal of agreement, then the shorter test is said to be valid. Here, the purpose of the test determines what level of agreement is to be expected. A high stakes test should look for a greater agreement, while a low stakes test can look for a lower agreement with the criterion. In informal situations, the teachers’ judgment can also be the criterion against which concurrent validation is done.

b.       Predictive validity

Predictive validity a kind of criterion-referenced validity, which is the degree to which a test can predict a candidate’s future performance. For example, a test like GRE predicts whether a candidate is able to undertake graduate studies in a university.

Here, criterion can be an assessment of the candidates’ language ability done by his/her supervisor in a university or the result/outcome of a course. Depending on the criterion chosen, the correlation coefficient is adjusted. Then the test score is validated against the chosen criterion.