Language students and teachers around the world know that the Callan Method works, and that Callan is particularly effective at helping students to understand easily and speak confidently and fluently in English or Spanish. However, a stand-out difference with Callan is how quickly students learn, and how well they can speak and use the language in real life.

Some essential features of the Callan Method are explained in Why the Callan Method works, but here are some more detailed pedagogical reasons why the Callan Method is so effective:

It offers a coherent curriculum

The Callan Method ensures that the curriculum a student experiences is coherent both horizontally and vertically. The largely scripted nature of the Callan Method means that students at the same level can expect to study the same material in the same way regardless of the particular teacher they have. Furthermore, the stages of the Callan Method flow seamlessly and systematically from one to the next, ensuring vertical coherence. For example, in the Callan English course, the content found at the start of Stage 6 follows on naturally from content in Stage 5, with new language being introduced but vocabulary and grammar from Stage 5 also being revised and recycled, as if there were no division at all between the two stages.

It avoids overloading the learner

Callan Method students know that they will not be overloaded during lessons. When they are learning a new word, for example, the teacher asks questions to practise it, but the new word is always and only surrounded by language the students already know from earlier in their studies. This enables the learner to focus effectively on the new language without being overwhelmed. Consequently, students are not placed under stress, and can therefore absorb new information and learn more effectively.

It deals systematically with phrases, word groupings and collocation

Much language exists in common groups or clusters of words, and the idea that learners can benefit from being made aware of such groupings is well known. Words may exist in groups because they form a fixed expression (e.g. “What a pity!”, “as a rule” etc.) or because they collocate strongly or are just used together frequently (e.g. “a heavy sleeper”, “… at the end of …”). Of course, the Callan Method teaches common phrases and idioms, but it takes word grouping into account in several other ways as well:

• The main content of the Callan Method books ensures that students are continually exposed to common collocations and groupings.
• When a class does a dictation, each part of every sentence is delivered as a natural grouping of words.
• Teachers speak along with students during their answers. The aim is to speak as fluently as possible ‘alongside’ the student to lend support as and when it is needed, but the teacher also makes sure that any momentary pause in their delivery always occurs at a natural boundary between word groups or phrases.
• The Callan A2, B1 and B2 Student’s Grammar Workbooks place great emphasis on phrasing and collocation.

It encourages fluency

A properly trained Callan Method teacher encourages students to speak under their own steam. Although the teacher speaks along with the student during the answer, the timing of this ‘feeding’ is such that it supports the student and enables them to maintain fluency. If the student needs no support, they will hardly notice that the teacher is speaking simultaneously with them. At no time does the student simply repeat sentences after the teacher. The overall effect of the teacher’s support is that students feel engaged by the challenge of speaking with fluency and encouraged by their success in doing so.

It immerses the learner in the target language

Students learning with the Callan Method are constantly alert in class, and from the first second of a lesson they are immersed in the target language, which is continuously being used. When a student speaks, they are engaged by the challenge of communicating as fluently and accurately as possible without first translating into their mother tongue. Also, the pace of the Method, the relatively small class sizes (an ideal maximum of 12) and the lively teaching style all combine to ensure that no student has the inclination or the opportunity to ‘switch off’. With the teacher distributing questions to pupils in an apparently random order, students know they may be required to participate actively at any moment, and so they focus on the teacher at all times.

It offers constant support

Students in a Callan Method lesson are given many opportunities to speak. In fact, they are placed in a position where they must speak; they are not given the option of adopting a passive role. For each question asked in class, the teacher indicates a specific student to answer. To the untrained eye, it may look like the student is placed firmly ‘on the spot’. However, the Method ensures that quite the opposite is true. As the teacher finishes asking a question, they seamlessly tag on “the prompt” (the first two or three words of the answer). There are several reasons for providing an immediate prompt, and one of these is that it enables the student to start speaking. Students are never left struggling to recall words ‘under the spotlight’.

As the student continues to say their answer, the teacher speaks along with them, effectively supporting them if needed. Should the student forget a word, hesitate over pronunciation etc., the teacher is immediately there to help and then encourage the student to continue with their answer. Similarly, when a student makes a mistake, the teacher corrects the mistake immediately, quickly and simply. Again, the moment the student has repeated the correct language, the teacher encourages them to continue speaking. This constant support, encouragement and absence of any dwelling on errors helps to minimize stress for learners.

It caters for mixed abilities

Language classes are normally mixed ability, and a challenge for any teacher is to differentiate effectively and cater for weaker and stronger learners in the same lesson. When introducing new language, Callan Method teachers can easily do this by targeting stronger students with the longer or more complex questions and reserving shorter or easier ones for students who may struggle. In later revision work, these same questions can be shared out more evenly.

A trained Callan Method teacher will also be able to vary the timing of their feeding (speaking along with students during answers) in a way that provides more support for weaker class members. The Callan Method Organisation official teacher training courses provide guidance on how to do this.

It includes assessment as a matter of course

In practice, Callan Method teachers assess their students on a lesson-by-lesson basis, as they are always interacting individually with students and are aware of how much support each particular student requires.

If a student is struggling, there are various options. The teacher can provide simple advice on revising effectively at home, and encourage the use of the Callan App exercises. Beyond this, a school may be able to offer the student a more suitable class at a less challenging level. Such measures can be undertaken at any time.

Summative assessment can take place at the end of each stage, by using the stage exams provided.

If you would like more information about the Callan Method, please contact us at cmo@callan.co.uk