BRIEF HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

There have been most of changes in language teaching throughout the history.

In order to know how to teach in ancient times and how to teach now.

Throughout history foreign language learning has always been an important practical concern.

WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW THE HISTORY OF

LANGUAGE TEACHING?

500 years ago the world’s most widely studied foreign language is Latin.

It was the dominant language of education , commerce, religion and goverment in the Western world.

Today this language is English

A way of teaching a language which is based on …

Systematic principles and procedures

An application of views on how a language is best taught and learned.

WHAT IS A TEACHING METHOD?

Grammar translation was in fact known in the United States as the Prussian Method.

The principal characteristicsL2 was learned to read and translate literary textsSpeaking and listening skills are neglectedVocabulary based on the texts usedSentence as the basic unit of teaching and

language practiceGrammar taught in a deductive way L1 is the basic medium of instruction

THE GRAMMAR -TRANSLATION METHOD

Grammar translation dominated european and foreign language teaching from the 1840s to the 1940s,and in modified form it continious to be widely used in some parts of the world today.

In the mid and late nineteenth century,oppposition to the grammar trasnlation method gradually developed in several European countries.

Increased opportunies for communications among Europeans created a demand for oral proficiency in foreign language.

Prominent specialist Marcel , Prendergast , 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.

INNOVATION IN THE NINETEENH CENTURY

MARCELReferred to children’s language lerarning as a

model for language teaching .

Emphasizing the importance of meaning in learning , proposed reading should be taught before other skills.

Tried to locate language teaching within a broader educational frame work

PRENDERGASTProposed the first “structural syllbus” advocating that

learners be taught the most basic structural patterns occurring in the language.

GOUINGouin is the best known of this mid nineteeth century

reformers. Gouin developed an approach to teaching a foreign language based on his observation of children’s use of language.

Believed language learning was facilitated through using language to accomplish events consisting of a sequence of related actions .

Gouin’s emphasize on the need to present new teaching items in a context that makes their meaning clear and the use of gestures and actions to convey the meaning of utterances.

Practical minded linguist such as Sweet,Vietor and Passy began to be leader to give reformist great acceptance and trustworthiness.Linguist emphasized that speech is more important than written words.

REFORM MOVEMENT

The discipline of linguistics was revitalized.Phonetics- the scientific analysis and description of the sound system of languages was established,giving new insights into speech processes.

The international phonetic asssociation was founded in 1886.It advocated;

1: the study of spoken language.2:phonetic training in order to establish good

pronunciation habits.3: the use of conversation texts and diologues to

introduce conversational phrases and idioms.

4: an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar.

5: teaching new meanings by establishing associations within the target language not the native language.

Sweet, Vietor and Passy provided suggestions on how these principles could best be put into practice.

The Reform Movement was an interest in developing principals for language teaching out of naturalistic principles.

This approach eventually led to the development of the Direct Method.

HENRY SWEETArgued that sound

methodological principals should be based on analysis of language.

Strongly criticized the inadequacies of Grammar Translation.

WILHELM VIETORArgued that training in

phonetics would enable teachers to pronounce the language accurately.

Speech patterns were considered the fundamentel elements of language .

Knowing a language is being able to speak itGreat stress on correct pronunciatiın and target

language from outset.Second language learning must be an imitation of

first language learning,as this is the natural way humans learn any language.

The late nineteenth-century shared the following beliefs:

The written word/writing should be delayed until after the printed word has been introduced.The learning of grammar deductively/translating skills should be avoided

Dırect method ‘s name comes from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed directly in target language.

İt’s also called Natural Method as it’s based on the way children learn their language.

The Dırect Method

Aim:The direct Method aims at establishing the direct bond between thought and expressions and between experience the new language .

It is based on the assumption that the learner should experience the new language in the same way as he experienced his mother tongue.

1.Only the use of target language is allowed in class2.students are encouraged to think in the target

language3.grammar should be taught inductively4.this method is based on sound principles of

education.It believes in introducing the particular before general,concrete before abstract and practice before theory.

Its main features are:

5.The teacher should demonsrate not explain or translate.

6.vocabulary should be learned in full sentences rather than memorizing word lists.

7.self -correction facilitates language learning.

8.first speaking is taught and then reading and writing.

9.the learner should use the target language in realistic everday situation.

Direct method 1.avoids close

association between the second language and mother tongue

2.lays emphasis on speech.

G.T.M1.maintains close

association between the language and the mother tongue

2lays emphasis on translation

A comparison between the direct method and the grammar translation method

3.follows the child’s natural way of learning a language.

4.teaches the language by ‘use’

5.does not favour the teaching of formal grammar at the early stage.

3.follows the adult’s natural way of learning a language.

4.teaches the language by’rule’

5.teaches formal grammar from the very begining.

There were many linguists in the 19th century who tried to apply natural principles of learning language,as a child does,to the second language classroom.

Among those who best presented the method wereF.FRANKE:thought a language could best be taught

by using it actively in classroom.L.SAUVEUR:used intensive oral interaction in the

target languageM.BERLİTZ:referred to Direct Method used in his

school as the ‘BERLİTZ METHOD2

The main guidelines for teaching oral language in Berlitz scholls:

Never translate:demonsrateNever explain:actNever make a speech:ask questionNever imitate mistakes:correct

Never speak with single words:use sentencesNever speak too much:make students speak muchNever use the book:use your lesson planNever jump around:follow your plan

Never go too fast:keep the pace of the studentNever speak too slowly:speak normallyNever speak too quickly:speak naturallyNever speak too loudly:speak naturallyNever be impatient:take it easy

Q&A:the teacher asks questions of any nature and the students answer.

Dictation:The teacher chooses a grade appropriate passage and reads the text aloud.Teacher reads the passage three times.

Strategies using direct method

Reading aloud:students take turn readings section of a passage play or dialogue out loud.

Gettin students to self correct: The teacher should have the students self correct by offering the a choice between what they said and the correct answer.

Conversation Practice:The teascher asks students a number of questions in the target language which the students are able to answer correctly.Later,the student ask each other their own questions using the same grammatical structures.

Map Drawing:Students are given a map without labelled then students label it by using the directions the teacher gives.

Paragraph Writing:The students are asked to write a passage in their own words.They can do this from memory or use a reading passage in the lesson as a model.

The Goal of the teachers is to encourage students to think in the target language.

The Role of the teacher is to direct the class activities and the role of the student is more active

than they are in Grammar Translation Method

The interactions between “student-teacher” can go both ways

Teacher to studentsStudent to teacher

Teacher and the students are like partners in the teaching/learning process.

Students can also converse each other in the target language.

One of its positive point is that it promises to teach the language and Not about the laguage

It is a natural method which teaches language in the same way the mother tongue is acquired.only the target language .only the target languages used and the learning is contextualized.

Advantages

Its emphasis on speech made it more attractive for those who have needs of real communication in the target language.

It is one of the first methods to introduce the teaching of vocabulary

In spide of its achievements, direct method fell short from fullfilling the needs of educational systems.

One of its major shortcomings is that is was hard for public schools to integrate it.

CRITICISM

As R.Brown points out, the Direct Method did not take well in public school where the constraints of budget, classroom size, time and teacher background(native speakers or nativelike fluency) made such a method difficult to use.

After short popularity in the beginning of the 20th century, it soon began to lose its appeal because of these constraints.

This method was widely used in the United States and other countries in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This method says that language is a process of habit formation.

Grammer teaching is inductive rather than deductiveThe meanings of words can be learned only in a

linguistics and cultural context

AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

Input is highly refined.It is teacher centered.Relies heavily on drills.Based on behaviorism.

THEORY OF LEARNINGBehaviorism , including the following principles:

Mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as theymake bad habits.Language skills are learned more effectively if they

are presented orally first,then in written form.Possive reinforcement helps to develop correct

habits

Accurate pronunciation and grammar .Ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech

situations.Knowledge of sufficent vocabulary to use with

grammar patterns.

THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS METHOD

ALM-grammar or structure is the starting point.Language was identified with speech and speech was approached through language.

DM- No basis in applied linguistics learners are exposed tp the language ,use it and gradually absorb its grammatical structures.

ALM differs from the Direct Method in that vocabulary ang grammar are carefully selected and graded, and it’s based on behaviorist habit fotmation theory

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUDIOLINGUAL AND DIRECT METHOD

Larsen –Freeman,D.2000.Tecniques and Principles in Language Teaching; Oxford University Press.

Richards, J.C.&Rodgers T.S.2001. Aproaches and Methods in Language Teaching; Cambridge University Press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/direct _method_educationhttp://purwano-linguistics.blogspot.com/2006/01/apro

aches.htmlhttp://www.englishraven.com/method_grammer.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

grammar_translation_method_education

Bibliography and Further Reading