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English Language Teaching Methods — LET Practice Questions

This English Language Teaching Methods section of the LET English Major exam covers 6 expert-reviewed practice questions. Each question has a plain-English explanation and notes on why the wrong answers are wrong.

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Sample questions with answers and explanations

Sample 1

This teaching method emphasizes the importance of learners' individual differences and learning styles in language learning

Answer: D

Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory says people are smart in different ways: musical, kinesthetic, linguistic, logical, and so on. A teacher using this approach designs lessons that fit different learner profiles and learning styles. The other methods treat learners more uniformly. Only the Multiple Intelligences Approach is built around individual differences.

Tip: 'Individual differences and learning styles' = Multiple Intelligences (Gardner).

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. Audio-Lingual treats all learners the same with mass drilling.
  • B. Grammar-Translation gives the same translation tasks to everyone.
  • C. CLT focuses on real communication, not specifically on intelligence types.

Sample 2

Which of the following is a principle of the Silent Way method of language teaching?

Answer: C

The Silent Way (Caleb Gattegno) keeps the teacher mostly quiet so students must figure things out themselves. To do that, learners need to try, guess, and make mistakes without fear. Errors are seen as part of discovery learning. The method does not push grammar lectures or rote memorization; it pushes student exploration.

Tip: Silent Way = teacher silent, learners take risks and self-discover.

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. Authentic exposure is more typical of the Natural Approach or CLT.
  • B. Explicit grammar teaching is the opposite of Silent Way's discovery learning.
  • D. Memorizing rote phrases sounds more like Audio-Lingual drilling.

Sample 3

Which is a principle of the Natural Approach to language teaching?

Answer: B

The Natural Approach (Krashen and Terrell) believes we learn a second language the way kids learn their first, by hearing real, meaningful language used around them. So learners should swim in authentic language they can mostly understand, with low pressure to perform. Memorization and multiple-choice tests are the opposite of this natural exposure idea.

Tip: Natural Approach keyword = exposure to meaningful, authentic language.

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. Memorizing rules is grammar-translation, not the Natural Approach.
  • C. Multiple-choice tests do not capture natural speech.
  • D. Vocabulary list memorization contradicts natural acquisition through context.
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