The History of Language Teaching
- 1. The History of Language TeachingBy Eric Hoopengardner & Alexandra Thomas
- 2. Grammar Translation MethodThe offspring of German scholarship. (p5, Richards & Rodger) Principal Characteristics A way to study language that approaches the language first through detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by application of the knowledge to the task of translating sentences and text into and out of the target language.Reading and writing are the major focus.The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice.Accuracy is emphasized.Grammar is taught deductively.The student native language is the medium. (p6, Richards & Rodger) Dominated European and foreign language teaching from 1840 – 1940’s. (p5, Richards & Rodger)
- 3. 19th Century GrammarIncreased opportunities for communications among Europeans created a demand for oral proficiency in foreign language. (p7, Richards & Rodger) Prominent specialist Marcel, Prendergast, and Gouin created new teaching strategies for language teaching. The work of individual language specialist like these reflected the changing climate of the times in which they worked. (p8, Richards & Rodger) MarcelReferred to children's language learning as a model for language teaching. (p7, Richards & Rodger)
- 4. Emphasizing the importance of meaning in learning , proposed reading should be taught before other skills. (p7, Richards & Rodger)
- 5. Tried to locate language teaching within a broader educational frame work. (p7, Richards & Rodger) PrendergastProposed the first “structural syllabus” advocating that learners be taught the most basic structural patterns occurring in the language. (p7, Richards & Rodger) GouinBelieved language learning was facilitated through using language to accomplish events consisting of a sequence of related actions. (p8, Richards & Rodger) Reform MovementPractical minded linguist such as Sweet, Vietor, and Passy began to provide the intellectual leadership to give reformist greater credibility and acceptance. (p9, Richards & Rodger) Linguist emphasized that speech, rather than written word, was the primary form of language. (p9, Richards & Rodger) Sweet, Vietor, and Passy provided suggestions on how these principals could best be put into practice. (p10, Richards & Rodger) The Reform Movement was an interest in developing principals for language teaching out of naturalistic principals. This approach eventually led to the development of the Direct Method. (p11, Richards & Rodger)Henry SweetArgued that sound methodological principals should be based on a scientific analysis of language. (p9, Richards & Rodger) Wilhelm VietorArgued that training in phonetics would enable teachers to pronounce the language accurately. (p10, Richards & Rodger)
- 6. Speech patterns were considered the fundamental elements of language. (p10, Richards & Rodger)
- 7. Strongly criticized the inadequacies of Grammar Translation. (p10, Richards & Rodger) Direct MethodThe Direct Method was the outcome of a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. (¶1, The Direct Method)It is based on the assumption that the learner of a foreign language should think directly in the target language. (¶1, The Direct Method)It aims at establishing the direct bond between thought and expressions and between experience and language. (¶2, The Direct Method)It was difficult to implement in public secondary school education. (p12, Richards & Rodger) Although popular in Europe for a period, by the 1920’s it began to decline in noncommercial schools. (p13, Richards & Rodger)The Direct method paved the way for language teaching to enter the modern era. This is a short video of an example of the direct method in use.
- 8. Modern Era of GrammarThe most active period in the history of approaches and methods was from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. (p15, Richards & Rodger)The 1950’s & 1960’s saw the emergence of the Audio-lingual Method, Situational Method, and Communicative Methods. (p15, Richards & Rodger)In the 1990’s Content-Based Instruction and Task-Based Language teaching emerged. (p15, Richards & Rodger)Approaches such as cooperative learning, whole language approach, and multiple intelligences were used in general classrooms have been extended to the second language setting. (p15, Richards & Rodger)
- 9. Questions Slide1.Using your experiences from either learning or teaching a foreign language, which techniques did you find most successful and also which were least successful? Refer back to the different trends and principles mentioned in the article.2. What are your thoughts on the Direct Method? When reading the principles and procedures, do you think this method would work well in today’s schools? Why or why not?
- 10. The Direct Method. (2006, January, 17). Retrieved September 23, 2011. From http://purwarno-linguistics.blogspot.com/2006/01/direct-method.html.Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T. (2001). A brief history of language teaching. In Richards, J. & Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2nd Edition. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3-17.