Language Teaching Methods: A Historical Perspective

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching

  • Grammar-Translation Method (1849-1940)

    • The goal of foreign language is to learn a language in order to read its literature or to benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development that result from foreign-language study.
    • Reading and writing are the major focus; little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or listening.
    • Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts uses, and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study and memorization.
    • The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice.
    • Accuracy is emphasized.
    • Grammar is taught deductively-that is, by presentation and study of grammar rules, which are then practiced through translation exercises.
    • The student’s native language is the medium of instruction.
  • The Reform Movement

    • The spoken language is primary and this should be reflected in an oral-based methodology.
      • The findings of phonetics should be applied to teaching and to teacher training.
      • Learners should hear the language first, before seeing it in written form.
      • Words would be presented in sentences, and sentences should be practiced in meaningful context and not be taught as isolated, disconnected elements.
      • The rules of grammar should be taught only after the students have practiced the grammar points in context (inductively).
      • Translation should be avoided, although the mother tongue could be used to explain new words or check comprehension.
  • The Direct Method

    • Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.
    • Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught.
    • Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression: question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.
    • Grammar was taught inductively.
    • New teaching points were introduced orally.
    • Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects and pictures, abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.
    • Both speech and listening comprehension were taught.
    • Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.
  • The Oral Approach & Situational Language Teaching

    • Language teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form.
    • The target language is the language of the classroom.
    • New language points are introduced and practiced situationally.
    • Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered.
    • Items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones.
    • Reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is established.
  • The Structural Approach & The Audiolingual Method

    • WWII. The Army Specialized Training Program.
    • “Army Method”: intensity of contact with the target language rather than a well-developed methodological basis. 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. 15 hours of drill with native speakers + 20-30 hours of private study.
    • The structural approach advocated aural training first, then pronunciation training followed by speaking, reading and writing.
    • Language learning is like other forms of learning.
    • Language is a formal, rule-governed system which can be formally organized to maximize teaching and learning efficiency.
    • Audiolingualism stresses the mechanistic aspects of language learning and language use.
  • Communicative Language Teaching/Communicative Approach

    • The need to focus in language teaching on communicative proficiency rather than mere mastery of structure.
    • An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
    • The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
    • The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also in the learning process itself.
    • An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.
    • An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: role-play, interviews, information gap, games, language exchanges, surveys, pair-work, learning by teaching.

  • Functional-Notional Approach

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  • Task-Based Approach (TBA)

    • Students are encouraged to use language creatively and spontaneously through tasks and problem solving.
    • Students focus on a relationship that is comparable to real-world activities.
    • The conveyance of some sort of meaning is central to this method.
    • Assessment is primarily based on task outcome.
    • TBLT is student-centered.
    • Task-Based Language Teaching is the latest trend in SLL approaches.

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  • Humanistic Methods

    • The role of affective factors in language learning.
    • Humanistic techniques engage the whole person, including the emotions and feelings as well as the linguistic knowledge and behavioral skills.
  • The Silent Way

    • The teacher should be silent as much as possible and the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible.
    • Use of color charts and colored Cuisenaire rods.
    • Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learnt.
    • Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.
    • Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects. The rods and the colored-coded pronunciation.
    • Teacher and learner in a cooperative position. The student is not a bench-bound listener, but is taking part in the formulation and at times may play the principal role of it. Indirect role of the teacher + active role of the learner.
    • Vocabulary is central in language learning: the most important vocabulary deals with the most functional and versatile words of the language.
  • Community Language Learning

    • Teacher (counselor) + learner (client).
    • A group of learners sit in a circle with the teacher standing outside the group; a student whispers a message in the native language into a cassette; students compare further messages.
    • A learner presents a message in L1 to the knower. The message is translated into L2 by the knower. The learner then repeats the message in L2, addressing it to another learner with whom he or she wishes to communicate.
    • CLL learners are encouraged to attend to the “overhears” they experience between other learners and their knowers. The result of the overhear is that every member of the group can understand what any given learner is trying to communicate.
    • Teachers must be familiar with and sympathetic to the role of counselors in psychological counseling. They must resist the pressure to teach in the traditional sense.
    • The teacher must also be relatively non-directive and must be prepared to accept and encourage the adolescent aggression of the learner as he/she strives for independence.