APPROACHES and METHODS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

APPROACHES and METHODS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING A BRIEF HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING • Foreign language teaching- an important issue • 60 percent of the world population is multilingual • Latin – as a language of education, commerce, religion, and government in the western world • Sts. were introduced to the advanced study of grammar and rhetoric (composition of words) • School experiencing with brutal punishments

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING • French, Italian and English- a language of spoken and written communication = as a result of political changes in Europe Same system of Latin teaching • Textbooks with grammar rules • Lists of vocabulary to memorize • Sentences for translation

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING • Speaking a foreign language was not the goal • Oral practice was limited to reading aloud long sentences which were translated • Grammatical system of the language was studied with rules of morphology and syntax • Minimum oral work • Maximum written exercises

Grammar Translation Method The principal characteristics • The goal of foreign language learning is to learn a language in order to read its literature or benefit from the mental discipline • It approaches the language through detailed analysis of grammar rules followed by translating sentences in to the mother tongue • Little attention is paid to speaking and writing, reading and writing are the major focus

Grammar Translation Method • The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice. Much of the lesson is devoted to translating sentences • Accuracy is emphasized. Students are expected to attain high standards in translation • The students’ native language is the medium of instruction • Words are taught through bilingual lists, dictionary work and memorization

Learner roles • A student in thismethodisviewed as a processor and passive holder for the information given to him. • This meansthathedoes not influence the process of learning or evenotherstudents. • In factlearners are totallydependent on the teacher

Teacher roles • The teacher’sroleis central as hecontrols and determineseverything in the classroomwhetheritis content, taskor else, as well as correctingimmediately the errors made by the students. • This makeslearnerstotallydependent on the teacher as the source of information and direction as well.

Reform movement • Communication among Europeans demanded for oral proficiency in foreign languages • The need for speaking proficiency rather than reading comprehension as the goal for foreign language programs • Linguists emphasized that the primary form of language is the speech rather than the written word

Reform movement • International Phonetic Association (IPA) 1886 was founded to improve the teaching of modern languages It advocated • the study of the spoken language • phonetic training in order to establish good pronunciation habits • the use of dialogues to introduce conversational phrases and idioms • an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar • teaching new meanings through establishing associations within the target language

Reform movement • The Practical Study of Languages by Henry Sweet Principles for the development of teaching method • careful selection what is to be taught • imposing limits on what is to taught • arranging the four skills as listening, speaking, reading and writing • grading materials from simple to complex

The reformers believed that… • the spoken language is primary • the findings of phonetics should be applied to teaching and to teacher training • learners should hear the language first before the written form • words should be presented in sentences and practiced in meaningful contexts • the rules of grammar should be taught only after the students have practiced the grammar points in context- that is, grammar to be taught inductively • translation should be avoided as much as possible

APPROACHES and METHODS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING