Enhancing EFL learners’ English Proficiency and Intelligence by implementing The Eclectic Method of Language Teaching

Abstract

This paper enlightens the significance of learner-centered approaches to language teaching. In an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class, a teacher should adopt a specific teaching style to accomplish teaching goals. This study is an attempt to analyze and ascertaining the general principles and techniques of teaching EFL. The principal aim of the study is to highlight the needs of the learners and help the teachers to achieve their teaching goals with the planned learning outcome. The Eclectic Method of language teaching was introduced in the class to improve the communication skills and the academic performance of the learners. The Eclectic Method was pioneered in 1970 and gradually became very popular in English as a Second Language (ESL) and EFL classrooms. The Eclectic Method is a fusion of distinctive techniques of teaching and language learning approaches. This Method enables the language teachers to make it to all the learners despite the heterogeneity in their learning styles and intelligence. The author has used a Mixed Method Approach. The target group is female undergraduate students in the College of Science for Girls, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). After implementing an Eclectic Method in the language classroom, the author finds that it helps in blending multiple activities of language learning. It allows students to receive individual attention amid a populated class. It further makes the students feel more motivated and confident. The result of the study prompted that the learners have improved significantly in all the four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW) of language learning. The study signifies that the Eclectic Method works productively for every level of learners and makes learning easy and ingenious. The best part of this method is the teacher can design his/ her own teaching techniques based on the Proficiency and the competency of the learners to make learning more effective.