Foreign Language Teaching: Methods and Approaches

Posted on Jan 23, 2025 in Other civil servant exams

Many different methods and approaches have been devised in the search for the best way of teaching a foreign language. It is advisable for the English teacher to be aware of all the methods available; they’ll be able to find more efficient and effective ways of teaching. In this unit, we will study widely-known approaches and methods and their influence on the story of FLT.

The Traditional Approach: The Grammar-Translation Method

This method derives from the traditional approach to teaching languages such as Latin and Greek. In the 18th century, modern languages began to enter the curriculum of European schools, but they were taught using the same procedures that were used for teaching Latin. Textbooks consisted of abstract grammar rules, lists of vocabulary and sentences for translation. Oral practice was limited to students reading the sentences they had translated out loud. By the 19th century, this approach became the Grammar-Translation Method. The goal is to learn a foreign language in order to read its literature or benefit from the mental discipline of studying it. Vocabulary is taught through bilingual word lists and memorization. Accuracy is emphasized; the students have to produce perfect translations. The mother tongue is used to explain new items and the material used is the textbook.

We can point out some advantages of this method: it is useful when understanding literary texts. It is an easy method to apply. There are also many disadvantages: There is no learning theory behind this method. It puts great strain on student’s memory and the translation might be useful as an exercise, but not as a method to learn a language.

Modern Approaches

The Direct Method

A. Background: Towards the mid-19th century, those who believed in natural methods claimed that a foreign language could be learnt without translation or the use of the learners’ native tongue. The simple idea behind the Direct Method was that people learnt languages by hearing them and engaging in conversation.

B. Characteristics:

  • Oral communication is the main objective.
  • The skills of listening comprehension and speaking are taught gradually and systematically. Reading and writing can be developed later.
  • New teaching items are taught orally, through demonstration, objects and pictures.
  • Correct pronunciation and grammar is emphasized.
  • Grammar is taught inductively.
  • Translation is avoided.
  • Teachers don’t follow a textbook; they follow their own plan.

C. Advantages:

  • The learners are encouraged to think in the foreign language.
  • The teaching takes place through demonstration and action.
  • Correct pronunciation is emphasized.

Disadvantages:

  • The classroom is an artificial environment where it is difficult to generate natural learning situations.
  • It requires native teachers or speakers with native-like fluency in the foreign language.

The Oral Approach

A. Background. This approach began with the work of British applied linguists in the 1920s and ’30s. Speech is the basis of language and structure the heart of speaking ability. The main classroom activity is the oral practice of structures.

B. Characteristics.

  • The objective of this method is to teach the basic skills of language.
  • Oral skills are taught first.
  • Structures are taught within sentences.
  • Situations are used to present new sentence patterns.
  • Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar is regarded as crucial.
  • Learners are not given grammatical explanations.
  • The Method is dependent on both a textbook and visual aids.

C. Advantages.

  • Language teaching begins with the spoken language.
  • Items of grammar follow the principle that simple forms must be taught before complex ones.
  • Language is always presented and practiced within a situation.

In the mid-60’s, however, this Method began to be questioned, because the learner was often unable to use the language for real communication outside the classroom.

Current Approaches

The Communicative Approach

A. Background. The Communicative Approach arose in the 1970s as a reaction to the Audiolingual method, which paid more attention to structure than to its function. What struck Noam Chomsky about language was its creativity, the capacity to generate completely novel sentences endlessly. He argued that sentences are not learnt by imitation and repetition but generated from the learners’ competence, so learners should be encouraged to use their innate and creative abilities. The Council of Europe incorporated this communicative view into a set of specifications for a First Level Communicative Language Syllabus called Threshold Level English in the 1980s. The current educational law in Spain has also incorporated the communicative principles into its syllabus design.

B. Characteristics.

  • The goal of language teaching is for the learner to develop communicative competence.
  • Contextualization of language items is a basic premise: teaching items are introduced in a meaningful context.
  • A functional syllabus consists of arranging the functions of language.
  • Translation may be used where and when students need or benefit from it.
  • Fluency and acceptable language are prior to accuracy.
  • Grammar explanation is used if the students benefit from it.
  • A judicious use of the mother tongue is also accepted.
  • Materials have a very important role in promoting communicative language use, such as audio-visual materials, task-based communication activities, games, role-plays, realia.

C. Advantages:

  • The teaching focuses its attention on real world language use.
  • The role of the learner in the teaching – learning process is emphasized: the learners’ perceptions, feelings and attitudes are taken into account. The learner is also encouraged to work independently from the teacher, through pair and group work.
  • The role of the teacher is to help learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language.

Disadvantages:

  • Many teachers consider that the functional syllabus is more suitable for intermediate students, who have already learnt the basic grammatical items.
  • It is argued that students must inevitably learn the grammar of the language. They’ll still have to drill structures and organize grammatical items into a suitable form of grading.

Humanistic Approaches

The Humanistic Approaches focus on the learners’ emotional factors. The creation of a positive mood in the learner will facilitate learning.

Total Physical Response

This method was developed by James Asher. The method attempts to teach language through physical activity.

Principles:

  • Comprehension abilities precede productive skills.
  • Teaching should focus on meaning rather than form.
  • Teaching should reduce learner stress.
  • The verb in the imperative is the central linguistic form around which language learning is organized.

Advantages:

  • The important role of comprehension.
  • The reduction of stress in the learner.

To be able to judge the effectiveness of this method, however, we must use it in association with other methods and techniques.

Natural Approach

In the 1970s, for Stephen Krashen, the term natural emphasizes that the principles underlying the method conform to the principles of how children learn their first language. Krashen considered successful acquisition to be bound up with the nature of language input the pupils receive in class. The Natural Approach gives importance to comprehension over production.

The main features of this method are:

  • As much comprehensible input as possible must be presented.
  • Whatever helps comprehension is important. Focus on listening and reading; speaking should be allowed to emerge.
  • A relaxed classroom atmosphere.
  • The Natural Approach emphasizes comprehension and meaningful communication, as well as the importance of emotional rather than cognitive factors in learning.

However, some authors point out problems: acquisition takes a long time, and it doesn’t make sense that learnt language doesn’t lead to acquisition.

The Silent Way

This method was devised by Caleb Gattegno. It is based on the principle that the teacher should be as silent as possible, and the learner should be encouraged to speak as much as possible. The Silent Way focuses on the capacity for self-awareness. The innovations in Gattegno’s method are to be found in the indirect role of the teacher of monitoring learners’ performance, the responsibility placed upon learners to figure out how language works, and the materials used to elicit language.

Community Language Learning

The method was developed by Charles A. Curran. It is based on the principle that “true” human learning is both cognitive and affective. This is the procedure: a student whispers a message in the mother tongue; the teacher translates it into the target language; the student repeats the message in the foreign language into a cassette. Students compose further messages with the teacher’s help, and then reflect upon their messages and their feelings. Feelings of security, belonging, independence and assertion are developed in stages.

Suggestopedia

This is a method developed by Georgi Lozanov. It is based on the non-conscious influences that human beings have when learning. Suggestopedia tries to optimize the learning by creating a relaxing and enjoyable classroom atmosphere. The teacher presents linguistic material in a way most likely to encourage positive reception and retention. The idea is to convey that language learning is easy and natural.

The Learner-Centred Approach

A. Background: Since the 1970s, methodologists claimed that learners had an active role in their learning processes.

B. Characteristics:

  • The aim is to train students to be good learners.
  • The teacher is a helper who assists what to do, but he/she does not teach directly.
  • Learner autonomy is the goal of learner training.
  • Three main areas are involved in a learner training programme: Personal assessment, Learning strategies, Language awareness.

C. Advantages.

  • Students take on more responsibility for their own learning.

Disadvantage is the difficulty in matching individual needs with group needs.

Task-Based Learning

In the 1970s, Task-Based Learning aims to create opportunities for language use, to help language learners activate whatever language they know, and to discover for themselves what other language they need to learn. It’s a goal orientated communicative activity in which learners talk or write to each other. Tasks involve pupils exchanging real meanings for a real purpose. TBL methodologists also reject the presentation-practice-production methodology (PPP framework). Students are expected to produce language only after they have practiced the structures.

A Task-Based learning framework consist of three phases:

  1. The pre-task phase. The teacher introduces and defines the topic, and helps students activate the structures and lexis that will be useful for the completion of the task.
  2. The task-cycle phase. This is divided into three sub-stages: the task itself, the planning and the report.
  3. The language-focus phase. This provides opportunities for explicit language instruction.

The teacher monitors all the phases and acts as a language adviser.

Advantages:

  • TBL promotes attention to meaning.
  • It develops communication strategies.
  • It promotes learner training for problem solving.
  • It makes the learner more aware of the learning process.

Disadvantages:

  • Students gain fluency at the expense of accuracy.
  • Primary students usually lack the intellectual capabilities and responsibility to direct their learning process.
  • Difficulties in designing genuine and meaningful tasks, as well as in sequencing and grading those tasks.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

We are in a globalization era, where teaching integrated learning is turning into a modern strategy to equip students with the adequate skills to manage in the global age. CLIL embraces different approaches in which some school subjects are covered through a foreign language, being the goals and outcomes related to both content and the foreign language.

Conclusion

Much research has been conducted on the effectiveness of different methods of teaching a foreign language. As we have already seen, all methods have advantages and disadvantages. It’s important for teachers to be aware of the theoretical principles that lie behind the main methods and approaches in Foreign Language Teaching. He/she will therefore develop a critical attitude, which may help him/her find more efficient and effective ways of teaching languages. As Widdowson said, “The essential point is that there are no universal solutions”. He seems to justify and favor an eclectic approach to FLT.

Bibliography: The bibliography used to develop this unit includes: ANDERSON, L W, & KRATHWOHL D R (eds.) (2001). Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman. /BREWSTER, J. ELLIS, G. and GIRARD, D. (2002). The Primary English Teacher’s Guide, New Edition. Pearson Education Limited, Essex, U.K../BYRNE, D. (1997). Teaching oral English. England, UK: Longman. /COUNCIL OF EUROPE. (2003).Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. United Kingdom, U.K: Cambridge University Press./GARDNER, H. (2001): Reformulated Intelligence. Multiple Intelligences in XXI Century. Buenos Aires: Paidós. /HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 2008 (4th ed.)./NUNAN, D. (2010): Language Teaching Methodology. Anaheim University Press. As to the Legal framework I will take into account the Decree 89/2014, of the 24th of July, which establishes the curriculum for Primary in Madrid. / LOE (Organic Law of Education), 2/ 2006 of the 3rd of May. / Organic Law for the Improvement in Educational Quality 8/2013, 9th December, LOMCE (BOE 10/12/2013)./ Royal Decree 126/2014, 28th February, by which the Basic Curriculum of Primary Education is established. Moreover, I will include the research into some webpages such as http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ http://www.learningkids.com http://bbc.co.uk/