An overview of English Language Approaches.

I. A glance back in history reveals few if any research-based language teaching methods prior to the 20th century. In the Western world, “foreign” language learning in schools was synonymous with the learning of Latin or Greek. They were taught by means of classical method: focus on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary,of various declensions and conjugations, translation of texts, doing written exercises. The classical languages, first Greek then Latin, were used as lingua francas. They were widely used in philosophy, religion, politics, and business. Major differences had developed between the classical Latin described in the Renaissance Grammars and the Latin being used for every day purposes. Latin began to be abandoned as lingua franca. Various European vernaculars (национальные языки) had begun to rise in prestige and utility. The most famous language teacher and methodologist of this period is Johann Amos Comenius, a Czech scholar and teacher, who published books about his teaching techniques between 1631 & 1658. Some of the techniques that Comenius used and espoused were the following:

Ø Use imitation instead of rules to teach a language

Ø Have your students repeat after you

Ø Use a limited vocabulary initially

Ø Help your students practice reading and speaking

Ø Teach language through pictures to make it meaningful

Thus Comenius, perhaps for the first time, made explicit an inductive approach to learning a foreign language. Comenius’s views held sway for some time, however by the beginning of the 19^th century, the analytical Grammar-Translation Approach became firmly entrenched as the method for teaching not only Latin, but, by extension modern languages as well. It was codified in the work of Carl Ploetz, a German Scholar, who had a tremendous influence on the language teaching profession during his lifetime and afterwards (he died in 1881).

By the end of the 19^th century, the Direct Method, which stressed the ability to use rather than to analyze a language as the goal of language instruction, had began to function as a viable alternative to Grammar-Translation Method. Francois Gouin, a Frenchman, is an advocate of this method. He advocated exclusive use of the target language in the classroom. He had been greatly influenced by the German philosopher-scientist Alexander von Humboldt, who had espoused the notion that a language cannot be taught, one can only create conditions for learning to take place.

In 1886s the International Phonetic Association was established by scholars such as Henry Sweet, Wilhelm Vietor and Paul Passy. They developed the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and became part of the Reform Movement in language teaching in the 1890s. These phoneticians advocated principles such as the following.

· the spoken form of a language is primary and should be taught first

· the findings of phonetics should be applied to language teaching

· language teachers must have solid training in phonetics

· learners must have phonetic training to establish good speech habits.

The work of these phoneticians focused on the teaching of pronunciation and oral skills, which they felt had been ignored in Grammar-Translation Method. Quite apart from the work of the Reform Movement, the influence of the Direct Method grew. Emile de Sauze, a disciple of Gouin, came to Cleveland, Ohio, in order to see to it that all Foreign Language instruction in the public schools implemented the Direct Method. Later, the Modern Language Association of America, based on the Coleman Report, endorsed the Reading Approach to language teaching. The Reading Approach, as reflected in the work of Michael West (1941) and others, held sway in the US until the late 1930s and early 1940s, when the World War II broke out and made it imperative for the US military to quickly and efficiently teach Foreign Language learners how to speak and understand a language. At this time the US government hired linguists to help teach languages and develop materials. The audio-lingual Approach (Fries, 1945), which drew heavily on structural linguistics (Bloomfield 1933) and behavioral psychology (Scinner 1957) was born. In Britain the same historical pressures gave rise to Oral or Situation Approach (Pittman, Firth, Halliday). There are four other discernable approaches to FLT that developed and were widely used during the final quarter of the 20^th century.

Before listing the features of each approach let’s clarify some terminology that is crucial to this discussion. Namely, what do we mean by the terms approach, method and technique?

-An approach to language teaching is something that reflects a certain model or research paradigm, a theory. This term is the broadest of the three.

-A method is a set of procedures, a system that spells out rather precisely how to teach a SL. It is more specific then an approach but less specific than a technique.

- A technique is a classroom device or activity. It is the narrowest of the three concepts.

Some techniques are widely used and found in many methods. The most problematic of Anthony’s three terms is Method. Methods proliferated in the 1970s. They were specific in terms of procedures and the materials. They were almost always developed and defined by one person. Here are some methods and their originators:

v Silent way (Gattegno 1976)

v Community language learning (Curran, 1976)

v Total Physical Response (Asher, 1977)

v Suggestology, Suggetopedia, or Accelerated Learning (Lozanov, 1978)

The lack of flexibility in such methods led some linguist (Richards 1984) to question their usefulness. Many educators argued that there is no such thing as the best “method”.

2.Nine 20^th century approaches to language Teaching.

1.Grammar Translation Approach (extension of the approach used to teach classical languages to the teaching of modern languages).

a.Instruction is given in the native languages of the students.

b.There is little use of the target language for communication

c.Focus is on the grammatical parsing, i.e. the form & the inflection of the words

d.There is early reading of the texts

e.A typical exercise is to translate sentences from the target language for communication

f.The result of the approach is inability of the student to use the language for communication

g.The teacher does not have to be able to speak the target language.

2.Direct Approach a reaction to the GTA approach and its failure to produce learners able to communicate in the target language.

a) No use of the mother tongue is permitted (i.e. the teacher does not need to know the students’ native language)

b) Lessons begin with dialogues and anecdotes in modern conversational style.

c) Actions and pictures are used to make meaning clear

d) Grammar is learned inductively

e) Literary texts are read for pleasure and are not analyzed grammatically

f) The target culture is also taught inductively

The teacher must be a native speaker or have native like proficiency in the target language

3.Reading Approach(a reaction to the problems experienced in implementing the DA; reading was viewed as the most usable skill to have in a foreign language since not many people traveled abroad at that time; also, few teachers could use their foreign language well enough to use DA effectively

a .Only the grammar useful for reading comprehension is taught

b. Vocabulary is controlled at first (based on frequency and usefulness) and then expanded.

c. Translation is once more a respectable classroom procedure.

d. Reading Comprehension skill is the only language skill emphasized.

e. The teacher does not need to have good oral proficiency in the target language.

4Audiolingualism (reaction to the reading approach and its lack of emphasis on oral-aural skills. This approach became dominant in the US during 1940s, 1950s, 1960s; it draws from the Reform Movement and the Direct Approach. But adds features from structural linguistics (Bloomfield 1933) and behavioral psychology (Skinner 1957)

a. Lessons begin with dialogues

b. Mimicry and memorization are used, based on the assumption that language is habit formation.

c. Grammatical structures are sequenced and rules are taught inductively.

d. Skills are sequenced: listening, speaking → reading and writing postponed.

e Pronunciation is stressed from the beginning.

f. Vocabulary is severely limited in initial stages.

g. A great effort is made to prevent learner errors.

h. Language is often manipulated without regard to meaning or context.

i. The teacher must be proficient only in the structures, vocabulary, etc. that he is teaching since learning activities and materials are carefully controlled.

5. Oral-Situational Approach (this approach was dominant in Britain during 1940s, 50s, 60s.)

a. The spoken language is primary.

b. All language material is practiced orally before being presented in written form.

c. Only the target language should be used in the classroom.

d. The most general and useful lexical items are presented.

e. Grammatical structures are graded from simple to complex.

f. New items (lexical and grammatical) are introduced and practiced situationally (e.g. at the post office, at the bank).

6. Cognitive Approach (a reaction to the behaviorist features of the Audiolingual Approach; influenced by cognitive psychology (Neisser, 1967) and Chomskyan linguistics (Chomsky, 1959,1965) Language is regarded as rule-governed cognitive behavior

a. Language learning is viewed as rule acquisition, not habit formation.

b. Instruction is individualized; learners are responsible for their own learning.

c. Grammar must be taught, but it can be taught deductively or inductively.

d. Pronunciation is de-emphasized perfection is viewed as unrealistic and unattainable.

e. Reading and writing are as important as listening and speaking.

f. Vocabularu is important.

g. Errors are viewed as inevitable, to be used constructively in the learning process.

h. The teacher must have good general proficiency, an ability to analize the target language.

7. Affective – Humanistic Approach ( a reaction to the general lack of affective considerations in both Audiolingualizm and the Cognitive Approach; eg: Moscowitz 1978, Curran 1976) Learning a FL is a process of self-realization.

a. Respect is emphasized for the individual (each student, the teacher) and for his feelings.

b. Meaningful Communication is emphasized.

c. Instruction involves much Pair and Group Work.

d. Class atmosphere is important.

e. Peer support and interaction are necessary for learning.

f. Learning of FL is a self-realization experience.

g. The teacher is a councelor or facilitator.

h. The teacher is proficient in the target language and the students’ native language, since translation is used heavily in the initial stages to help students feel at ease; later it is gradually phased out.

8. Comprehension-based Approach(based on the assumption that second or foreign language learning is very similar to first language acquisition (Postovsky 1974; Winitz 1981, Krashen and Terrel 1983) Language acquisition occurs if and only if the learner comprehends meaningful input.

a.Listening comprehension is viewed as basic skill.

b.Learners should begin by listening to meaningful speech and by responding nonverbally before they produce any language themselves.

c.Learners should not speak until they feel ready to do so.

d. Learners progress by exposure to the higher level of their competence.

e.Error corection is seen as unnecessary.

f.Audiotapes, Videotapes must be available.

9. Communicative Approach (an outgrowth of the work of anthropological linguists (Hymes 1972, Halliday 1973) who view language as system for communication. The purpose of language teaching is communication.

a. The goal of LT is learner ability to communicate in the target language.

b. The content of the language course includes semantic notions and social functions, not just linguistic structures.

c. Regular pair and group work to negotiate meaning in sutuations.

d. Role play and dramatization of different social contexts.

e. Authentic classroom activities and materials.

f. Integration of all skills.

g. The teacher’s role is to facilitate communication and only secondarily to correct errors.

h.The teacher uses the target the language fluently and appropriately.

We can see that several features of the first 5 approaches arose in reaction to in adequacies or impracticalities in earlier approaches. The 4 more recently developed approaches also do this to some extent. However, each one is grounded on a slightly different theory or view of how people learn second or foreign languages or how people use languages, and each has a central point around which everything revolves.

These four recent Approaches are not in conflict or incompatible. In fact many teachers would find an integrated approach very attractive.