a brief history of language teaching

A Brief History of Language Teaching.

This writing is a kind of summary taken from the book of Jack C Richard and Theodore S Rodgers, entitled “ Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, a description an analysis”
Changes in language teaching methods have occurred so many times. Most of the changes are in the kind of proficiency learner needs, such as a move toward oral proficiency rather than reading comprehension as a goal language study. Language experts such as Kelly ( 1969) and Howatt ( 1984) stated that many current issues in language teaching are not really new.

Grammar Translation Method
As we know that English is the most widely used for communication today. Five hundred years ago, it was Latin. English replaced the importance of Latin as a result of political changes in Europe, but the way of studying foreign languages still used the standard way of studying Latin in schools. The lessons covered grammar point. Each grammar point was listed, rules on its use were explained and illustrated by sample sentences. Oral work was reduced. Most of the teaching were: lists of vocabulary, grammar rules, sentences for translation. Speaking ability was not the ultimate goal. So that there was not, sometimes, relation between studying the language with the real communication. This way of teaching became known today as “ The Grammar Translation Method (GTM) ” or well known in The US as The Prussian Method.
The main characteristics of GTM were:
1. The main goal of the learning is to read literature in order to benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development.
2. Reading and writing are the major focus. Speaking and listening are less taught.
3. Vocabulary selection is based on reading text used.
4. Sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice. Most of the lessons is devoted to translating sentences into and out of target language.
5. Grammatical accurateness is emphasized.
6. The students’ native language is the medium of the instruction.
This method was very hard for students. They got bored memorizing thousands of words and rules, thus it did not give good result for speaking proficiency. In the middle of nineteenth century several factors rejected the GTM.

Direct Method (DM)
This method was the result of observation of children’s language acquisition. Sauveur, the founder of the method, argued that foreign language could be taught without translation or the use of the learners’ native tongue thus it could be obtained naturally. This is why it was also called Natural Method. It emphasized teaching process in the classroom by encouraging students to speak spontaneously and directly and less attention to the grammar and rules. Vocabulary was taught using mime, demonstration and pictures. Some of the Direct Methods principles were: only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught, Oral communication skills were built up in carefully graded progression, grammar was taught inductively, new teaching points were introduced orally.
Unfortunately this method only quite successful in private school, and difficult to implement in public school because it had some weaknesses such as: It required native speakers or those who had proficiency in foreign language, and it was difficult for teacher to avoid using mother tongue during the learning process. By the 1920s the use of DM gradually declined. In France and Germany the DM was modified into version that combined some DM techniques with more controlled grammar- based activities.