Development of Language Teaching

1. DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE TEACHING. CURRENT TRENDS.
THE
COMMUNICATIVE APROACH
GLOSSARY
Differences between Approach, Method, Procedures
An approach is a set of common assumptions about what language is and how it is
learned. It is the sum of our philosophy on both the theory of language and the theory
of learning. In other words, a language teaching approach explains:(a) The nature of
language,(b) How knowledge of a language is acquired,(c) And the conditions that
encourage language acquisition.
A method is a practical application of an approach. That is to say, how a theory is put

into practice. It is a type of arranging system that is based on the philosophical grounds
of an approach.
J. Harper (2001) defines a procedure as an organized set of techniques They are the
step-by-step procedures for carrying out a method.
INTRODUCTION
The Common European Framework for the Teaching of Languages establishes
Plurilingualism as the natural state of a European citizen.
Though all roads lead to Rome, there are some of them which are shorter than others.
The evolution of language teaching has provided a great range of solutions to this
question: What road shall I take? This topic covers the development of language
teaching and helps language teachers to choose and design methods that best suit
their students’ needs.
In order to do so, the first section of this unit sets out to explore the evolution of
language teaching and its methodologies until the 1960s, when the influence of the
emerging cognitive theories shifted the focus of language and language teaching
theories. In the second section, a range of current trends in language teaching is
presented, including experimental methods like Suggestopedia and the most recent
ones, such as Computer Aided Language Learning or ContentBased Instruction.
Finally, we will focus specifically on the communicative approach to language teaching,
which has become the central paradigm of language teaching in our times despite, or
we would rather say thanks to its broad diversity of techniques and materials.
1. EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE TEACHING
Richards and Rodgers (1986) acknowledge that changes in language teaching methods
throughout history have reflected the recognition of changes in the kind of proficiency learners
need, as well as changes in theories of the nature of language and of language learning.
Grammar school in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a rigorous
introduction to Latin grammar. When the need of learning Latin as a means of
communication diminished, the study of classical Latin became the model for foreign
language study from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
Though there were occasional attempts to promote alternative approaches to
education, by Roger Ascham and Montaigne in the sixteenth century and Jan
Comenius and John Locke in the seventeenth, Latin had been long-established as the
language of culture, so the study of Latin grammar became an end in itself.
Today, English is the most widely studied foreign language but, for many years Latin
was the dominant language for education, religion, commerce and government.
The Introduction of Modern Languages in Schools
Modern languages in European schools in the 18 cent were taught using the
methodology and procedures used for teaching Latin.
The Grammar-Translation Method became the standard way of studying foreign
languages in schools. A typical textbook in the mid-nineteenth century consisted of
chapters or lessons organized around grammar points. The goal of language teaching
was to enable students to read Latin so that oral practice was inexistent.
In time, this method of foreign language teaching based on Latin grammar and
structures came to be known as the Grammar-Translation Method
The Grammar-Translation Method (created by german intellectuals)

GTM is a way of studying a language that approaches the language first through a
detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by the application of this knowledge to
the task of translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language.
Rules are presented, a list of vocabulary items is presented with their translation
equivalents, and translation exercises are prescribed. The sentence is the basic unit of
teaching and language practice. Much of the lesson is devoted to translating sentences
into and out of the target language, and it is this focus on the sentence that is a
distinctive feature of the method. Grammar is taught deductively – that is, by
presentation and study of grammar rules, which are then practiced through translation
exercises. The student's native language is the medium of instruction.
In the mid-and late 19th century, opposition to the Grammar-Translation Method
gradually developed in several European countries.
2. TIMELINE

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1. DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE TEACHING. CURRENT TRENDS.

A method is a practical application of an approach. That is to say, how a theory is put

The Grammar-Translation Method (created by german intellectuals)

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