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leads to the grammatical materials selection in every developed unit in the instructional materials.
6. Eclectic Approach
Richards and Rodgers 2003 “provide a more comprehensive model for the discussion and analysis of approaches and methods
” p. 20. The model shows that approaches and methods in language teaching are comparable because they
use the same framework. The framework basically describes “their underlying theories of language and language learning; the learning objectives; the syllabus
model used; the roles of teachers, learners, and materials within the method or approach; and the classroom procedures and techniques used” Richards and
Rodgers, 2003, p. ix. The difference between approaches and methods is only in terms of
advantages. Due to the approaches general nature, their assumptions and principles often do not have any clear application in the classroom. The
application depends on the teachers‟ personal interpretation, skill, and expertise. Because approaches only provide little information of teaching way and practice
body, teachers can be led into frustration and irritation Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 245-246. Meanwhile, methods give solutions to various problems in
language teaching. They have made the fundamental decisions of materials and procedures. As a rich activities resource, some methods are also adaptable or
adoptable without any concern of one‟s ideology Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 246.
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When the twentieth century ended, the death of approaches and methods was spoken. The language teaching success or failure was not mainly determined
by the approaches or methods applied anymore. There were some criticisms underlying this statement Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 247.
The “top-down” criticism Methods and approaches have prescribed the theory underlying them
and the activities in the classroom. Teachers have to take them for granted and implement them into their practice. Language teaching will be considered
good if it uses the right principles and applications. This way makes teachers have marginalized roles and learners sometimes act as passive recipients
Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 247. Role of contextual factors
Approaches and methods are frequently regarded as the solutions to any problems in language teaching. In the application, teachers sometimes do
not take into account the context where the language teaching is carried out Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 248.
The need for curriculum development processes Richards 2000 indicates that the choice determination of teaching
method and approach cannot be based on “isolation from other planning and implementation practices” as cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 248.
However, as part of educational planning decisions, the current teaching method and approach involve the formation elements of interacting systems
network Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 248.
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28 Lack of research basis
Only few books of approaches and methods are written according to second language acquisition research or empiric test. Furthermore, much
language learning research does not support any theory and prescription in particular approaches and methods Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 249.
Similarity of classroom practices Teachers still face difficulty in applying approaches and methods in
such ways that show a precise reflection of the principles of the approach or method. A study on teachers‟ use of different methods in the classroom
resulted that many distinctions of contrast methods did not occur in the practice Swaffar, Arens, and Morgan, 1982 as cited in Richards and Rodgers,
2003, p. 249. Brown 1997 adds that there might be no different demonstration of approaches and methods in the language learners‟ levels as
cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 250. Because of the limitations of approaches and methods, eclectic approach
is available as one of alternative approaches to the language teaching study. In spite of their limitations, it cannot be denied that approaches and methods have a
significant role in teaching development. Therefore, teachers can still take advantage of the approaches and methods for teaching second and foreign
language. However, in eclectic approach, teachers have to be able to make use of the approaches and methods creatively and flexibly according to their experience
and judgement Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 250.
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In the application, teachers should be confident in doing any transformation and adaptation of approaches and methods. As the knowledge and
experience are gained, teachers start developing personal teaching approach of method. This does not mean that the teachers are led to abandon the applied
approach or method. Instead, they are allowed to modify and adjust the approach or method according to the classroom realities. In brief, eclectic approach
describes the used approach or method and reveals teachers‟ individual beliefs and principles. The theories and the beliefs of teaching aspects lead to the
development of main principles for plans as well as instructional decisions. In this approach, teachers may apply different principles at a given time. Teachers can
draw the principles from the approaches and methods they mostly know Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 251.
In designing the instructional materials in this research, there are three methods and one approach applied in order to develop the students‟ speaking
ability in expressing daily functional skills and pronunciation. They are Audiolingual Method, Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, and
Communicative Language Teaching. Although Audiolingual Method is declined due to its inability to transfer
the acquired skills to real communication outside the classroom, it is the one which mainly works to develop the hearing impaired students‟ competence in
spoken language. In the language teaching methods and approaches for hearing impaired students, this method has similarities to auditory oral approach which
believes that speaking competence can develop well as long as the spoken
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language is used exclusively Stone, 1997. Since Audiolingual Method is considered the primary method in teaching hearing impaired students, this method
will be used dominantly in the instructional materials. Besides the mentioned reason, this method is chosen because it uses dialogues and drills as the basic
practices. The dialogues can function as a means to contextualize key structures and to illustrate situations in which the structures might be applied. Meanwhile,
the drills can emphasize the correct pronunciation so that enable the students to get used to pronouncing English utterances correctly Richards and Rodgers,
2003, p. 59. Grammar Translation Method is the second method applied in the
instructional materials. This method is chosen since it has the strength on introducing English vocabulary and its equivalents in Bahasa Indonesia. The
selection of vocabulary is taken only from the used texts Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p.6. Then, this method is combined with Direct Method to make the
students able to have real description in mind about concrete vocabulary through demonstration, objects, and pictures for and abstract vocabulary by association of
ideas Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 12. Communicative Language Teaching is the only approach implemented
in the instructional materials. This approach is chosen to let the students acquire the language through communication. As a result, the students get the knowledge
of the language since they are accustomed communicate in the language. In other words, with communication, the students stimulate the language system itself.
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This is appropriate to teach English grammar implicitly Richards and Rodgers, 2003, p. 155.
7. Hearing Impairment
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