UNIT 13

TOPIC 13
HISTORY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING-METHODS. FROM GRAMMAR
TRANSLATION TO NOWADAYS APPROACHES

0. INTRODUCTION.

1. GRAMMAR - TRANSLATION.

2. DIRECT METHOD.

3. READING METHOD.

4. AUDIO – LINGUAL METHOD.

5. COGNITIVE CODE.

6. AFFECTIVE – HUMANISTIC APPROACH.

 Total Physical Response.
 Silent Way.
 Suggestopedia.
 Community Language Learning.
 Natural Approach.

7. FUNCTIONAL APPROACH.

8. PROJECT WORK.

9. TASK – BASED SYLLABUS.

10. COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH.

11. CONCLUSION.

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0. INTRODUCTION.
Teaching is the purposeful imparting of knowledge or skills to an individual or group. Learning can
occur without a teacher, but teaching cannot occur without a student. Learning is the responsibility of
both, the students and the teacher, the LOE 2/2006 3 rd May and the LOMCE 8/2014 9 th December, set the
importance of making students be aware of the importance of their own effort as a tool for learning, and
the necessity of developing teacher training programmes to update their teaching practice
The English language teaching has been subjected to a tremendous change, especially throughout the
twentieth century. In the long search for the best way of teaching a foreign language, hundreds of
different approaches or methods have been devised.
According to RICHARDS & ROGERS a Method is in theory related to an Approach, it is
organizationally determined by a Design and is realized with a Techniques:
METHOD
APPROACH DESIGN TECHNIQUES
A theory of language Objectives of a Method activities
A theory of learning A syllabus model
Types of activities
Learners roles
Teachers roles
The main methods are:
1. GRAMMAR – TRANSLATION
This method involves two components: explicit study of grammatical rules and vocabulary and use of
translation. The teacher explains the grammatical rules to his pupils who must memorize and apply them.
The instructions are given in the student’s mother tongue. Difficult classic texts are read from the
beginning. In fact, this method derives from the traditional approach to the teaching of Latin and Greek.
A typical exercise in this method consists of translating sentences from the target language to the mother
tongue.
This approach does not meet the language needs and interests of today's learners:
- There is no learning theory to justify it.
- It puts great strain on students' memories. Learnings becomes tedious and disheartening.
- Translation helps to know about the language but it does not teach how to use it.
Despite of its disadvantages it is useful in some situations, such us understanding literary text and it is
very easy to apply.
2. DIRECT METHOD
It is based on the idea that second language learning is similar to first language learning. In this line,
there should be lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation, and little of any
analysis of grammatical rules and syntactic structures. In short, the principles of the Direct Method were:
 Classroom instruction was conducted in the target language.
 There was an inductive approach to grammar.
 Only everyday vocabulary was taught.
 Concrete vocabulary was taught through pictures and objects, while abstract vocabulary was
taught by association of ideas.

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The Direct Method enjoyed great popularity at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the
twentieth but it was difficult to use, because of the constraints of budget, time, and classroom size.
The advantages of this method are:
- Thinking in the foreign language is encouraged, since translation is avoided.
- The teaching takes place through demonstration and action.
- Correct pronunciation is emphasized.
The Direct Method continues to attract enthusiasm, but it is not easy to use in schools, due to:
- In the classroom it is difficult to generate natural learning situations.
- It requires native teachers.
- Avoiding completely the mother tongue by the teacher is can be counterproductive.
3. READING METHOD.
This approach is selected for practical and academic reasons. It is used for specific uses of the language
in graduate or scientific studies. The approach is for whom reading is the one usable skill in a foreign
language. Minimal attention is paid to pronunciation or gaining conversational skills in the target
language. From the beginning, a great amount of reading is done in L2. Vocabulary is expanded as
quickly as possible, since the acquisition of vocabulary is considered more important than grammatical
skill. Translation reappears in this approach as a respectable classroom procedure related to
comprehension of the written text.
4. AUDIO – LINGUAL METHOD
This method is the direct successor to the direct method. The following points sum up the characteristics
of the method:
 Dependence on memorisation of set phrases.
 Teaching structural patterns by means of repetitive drills.
 No grammatical explanation.
 Learning vocabulary in a context.
 Use of tapes and visual aids.
 Focus on pronunciation.
 Immediate reinforcement of correct responses.
 Lessons start with dialogues, about everyday situations.
 These dialogues are imitated and drilled until the pupil’s responses became automatic.
 Language work is first heard, and then practised orally before being seen and used in written form.
 A great effort is made in order to avoid errors.
The advantages of this method are:
- It provides the learner with considerable conversational fluency.
- Language is practised orally before being seen and used in the written form.
- Students proceed in very easy steps.
It disadvantages are:
- It is boring due to it is a very mechanical drilling method.
- It is possible students utter patterns without realizing what they are saying.
- Many student cannot use the learnt language in real situation outside the classroom.
5. COGNITIVE CODE

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In Reaction against some characteristics of the Audio – lingual Method arose the Cognitive code.:
- Language is seen as an acquisition of rules not as a process of habit formation.
- The student is responsible for his/her own learning.
- There is less emphasis on pronunciation.
- Reading and writing are as important as speaking and understanding.
- Errors are necessary in the teaching learning process.
- The teacher’s role consists of helping the students to improve the mastering of language.
6. AFFECTIVE – HUMANISTIC APPROACH
The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as "The Age of Methods” due to
different methods arose. Humanistic approaches consider the following principles to be important:
- The development of human values.
- Growth in self–awareness and in the understanding of others.
- Sensitivity to human feelings and emotions.
- Active student involvement in learning and in the way learning takes place.
- Student– centred learning: students take part in a setting objective, there is a concern for the
student’s feelings and values, the teacher changes his role; he is seen as a helper, adviser or
counsellor.
The Humanistic approaches we can talk about are:
a) Total Physical Response
It is based on the co-ordination of speech and action. It was developed by James Asher. Second language
learning is parallel to first language learning and should reflect the same naturalistic processes:
 Listening should develop before speaking.
 Children respond physically to spoken language, and adult learners learn better if they do that too.
 Once listening comprehension has been developed, speech develops naturally and effortlessly.
 Delaying speech reduces stress.
 Teaching oral proficiency at a beginning level.
 Using comprehension as a means to speaking.
 Using action-based drills in the imperative form.
b) The Silent Way
It characterised by a problem-solving approach to learn. The teacher is supposed to be silent and must
disabuse himself of the tendency to explain everything to them.
The Silent Way was considered very harsh, as the teacher was distant and the teacher does not provide
sentences for students to imitate. It is the student who must provide the speech input. The teacher may
provide corrective feedback in the form of head-shakes or hand movements.
c) Suggestopedia.
Teaching involves the presentation of dialogues and vocabulary which the student has to study and
memorize. Once the pupils have memorized, communication appears. The emphasis is, then, on informal
communication; no attention is drawn to grammatical errors.
Suggestopedia promised great results if we use our brain power and inner capacities. Lozanov (1979)
believed that we are capable of learning much more than we think.
d) Community Language Learning (CLT)

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Which set the following principles:

 Learners learn a language through using it to communicate.
 Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of classroom activities.
 Fluency is an important dimension of communication.
 Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
 Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.
e) Natural Approach
It emphasizes the role of natural language acquisition. It stresses the importance of emotional rather than
cognitive factors in learning. It stresses mastering vocabulary rather than grammatical rules.
Its aim is to establish an ability to understand the basic content of a communication in an informal
setting. The acquisition happens by using the own language. It is something unconscious, without rules.
7. FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
This method is a communicative approach. The emphasis is on breaking down the global concept of
language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used. Situation
includes the following elements:
 People taking part in the speech act.
 The place where the conversation occurs.
 The time the speech act is taking place.
 The topic or activity that is being discussed.
The main idea is based on the use that students are going to do of language.
 A careful work is done in order to estimate the student’s needs.
 Real material is used.
 The skills that the student needs are practised from the beginning by the student.
 The teacher must have fluency in the student’s mother tongue and must control the target
language.
8. PROJECT WORK
Its main aim is to give chances to the pupil in order to use the known language in a natural context. It is a
method centred in the pupil, seeks for fluency rather than perfection in the use of the language.
There are several kinds of projects: Information and research projects. Learning projects. Production
projects. Organization projects.
9. TASK – BASED SYLLABUS
In this method the pupil’s own experience is very important. The lesson have two stages:
Pretask: It consists of a trial. The teacher does it in the class. When most of the students have understood
it, the teacher goes on with the task.
Task: It is the pupil’s individual work. The teacher presents the information to carry out the task. In the
process of teaching–learning, the elements that the pupils already know can be repeated again. The pupil
can turn to the mother tongue if necessary, or even turn to making gestures.
Advantages:
- It promotes attention of meaning.
- It develops communication strategies.

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- It promotes learner training for problem-solving.

- It makes the learner more aware of the learning process.
Its main disadvantage is that it is focused on the fluency and forgets the accuracy.
10. COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
It is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate
goal of study.
We can mention five features of the CLT:
1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
2. The introduction of authentic text into the learning situation.
3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on the
learning process itself.
4. An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important contributing elements to
classroom learning.
5. An attempt to link classroom language teaching with language activities outside the classroom.
The communicative approach refuses the practice of the different skills in an isolated way. When using a
language, we need the knowledge of the four skills.
Practitioners of CLT are very interested in the needs and desires of their learners as well as in the
connection between the language as it is taught in their classes and as it is used outside the classroom.
In order to make our students be competent in a language, activities in FLT must be communicative,
they should make students have a real communicative purpose and should focus more on the message
rather than on the language itself. This theory is based on the first language natural acquisition, children
learn their mother tongue without knowing the grammar.
Communicative activities must follow the next principles: Authentic language must be used; activities
that involve two or more people; there must be a need for communicating (information gap) and
activities must be set within a context.
The advantages of this method are:
- The teaching focuses on real world language use.
- The role of the learner is emphasized. The are encourage to work in pairs and group work.
12. CONCLUSION
Getting communicative competence in, at least one foreign language, is one of the objective set by the
current law of education , the LOE 2/2006 of 3 rd of May and the LOMCE 8/2014 9 th December, for the
primary educational stage.
This means to get the ability to use the language through communicative methods, although the use of
these techniques can be complicated at the beginning, teachers must incorporate in their lessons methods
and techniques which facilitate and motivate students to use the language, creating real communicative
situations.