Didactic Evolution of Languages, Current Tendencies in English Teaching

Didactic Evolution of Languages

Current Tendencies in English Teaching

Maite Calatayud Puerto. Oposiciones de secundaria. Temario de ingles. maitecp82@hotmail.com

TOPIC 1. DIDACTIC EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGES. CURRENT TENDENCIES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. COMMUNICATIVE APPROACHES

1.1. JUSTIFICATION. 1.2. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES. 1.3. INTRODUCTION. 1.4. LANGUAGE LEARNING. 1.5. TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. 1.6. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING. 1.7. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH. 1.8. CONCLUSION.

1Maite Calatayud Puerto. Oposiciones de secundaria. Temario de inglés. maitecp82@hotmail.com

Justification for Language Teaching

1.1. JUSTIFICATION. The topic in question is one of the most relevant when teaching secondary and bachillerato school students, since they are expected to develop reading, listening, speaking and writing skills and learn how to produce and understand different types of texts and registers at these levels. In addition, communication is basic to human beings, and language functions appear in every utterance and in any language, also in Spanish and in English. That is why the curriculum includes all these aspects at secondary and bachillerato levels.

Bibliographical Resources for Language Teaching

1.2. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES. The content of this topic is based mainly on Brown and Yule's (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language, Canale and Swain's (1980) Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing, Howatt's (1985) A History of English Teaching, Hymes' (1972) "On Communicative Competence", in J. B. Pride and J. Holmes' Sociolinguistics and Widdowson's (1978) Teaching Language as Communication. Quite significant are also the works by Canale's (1983) From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy, in Richards and Schmidt's Language and Communication, and Chomsky's (1975) Reflections on Language and his Aspects of the Theory of Syntax.

Introduction to Communicative Language Teaching

1.3. INTRODUCTION. According to linguist Canale, "Communication is understood as the exchange and negotiation of information between at least two individuals through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral and written/visual modes and production and comprehension processes." Our task as teachers is trying to make our students effective communicators in English, so it implies improving and adapting our teaching methods constantly and applying a communicative language teaching method. In this topic we will deal with this in more detail. A historical and cultural setting links the nature of language to a theory of language teaching and a tradition in teaching English as a foreign language from ancient roots to present-day trends. In order to do so, subsequent sections will enable us to become better informed about the different methods, approaches and language acquisition theories on English teaching as a foreign language at different periods, where special attention is paid to present-day communicative approaches. Many theories about the learning and teaching of languages have been proposed from a historical perspective and many changes in language teaching methods have occurred as well as changes in the kind of learners' need. Developments in other fields such as linguistics, psychology, anthropology and sociology have been the source of many methods and approaches which 2Maite Calatayud Puerto. Oposiciones de secundaria. Temario de ingles. maitecp82@hotmail.com searched continuously the most effective method for students to learn a new language. The study of these theories is called today applied linguistics.

Historical Overview of Language Learning

1.4. LANGUAGE LEARNING. Language teaching traces back to ancient civilisations. The function of the earliest educational systems was primarily to teach religion and to promote the traditions of the people. Thus, in the Old Testament, one of the aims and methods of education among the ancient Jewish traditions was to teach their children a foreign language. In addition, such ancient civilizations, as for example Romans, people were taught Greek by slave teachers. During the Middle Ages (15th-16th century), the early educational systems of the nations of the Western world emanated from the Judea-Christian religious traditions, which combined with traditions derived from ancient Greece philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Latin was the most important language, usually used as a second language, especially in the domains of education, government and commerce, and it was taught in monastic schools. In the 16th and 17th centuries, vernacular languages displaced Latin. However, it maintained a certain importance, as Latin grammar and rhetoric became the model for foreign language study, and Latin was studied as mental training and as the basis for all forms of higher education. Moreover, during the 17th century there was a rapid growth of scientific knowledge, which gave rise to its inclusion in courses in the universities of the European countries and led to the exchange and spread of scientific and cultural ideas throughout Europe. Children entering grammar school in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England were initially given a rigorous introduction to Latin grammar and were often met with brutal punishment. Latin was said to develop intellectual abilities and the study of Latin grammar became an end in itself. In the 18th century other languages entered the curriculum of European schools. These languages were taught according to traditional methodology. Teaching procedures were based on Latin learning traditions, the textbooks were mainly abstract grammar rules, lists of vocabulary and sentences for translation, and oral practice was limited to reading aloud written texts, which was within the normal confines of the classical methodology. In the 19th century the Grammar-Translation method was the principal approach to language learning, especially between 1840 and 1940. It was of German origin and it was known in the USA as The Prussian Method. Its principal proponents were Plötz, Ollendorf and Meidinger. The grammatical terminology of Latin was applied to early grammars of European languages. Its goals were to enable learners to read classical literature and to bring about benefit from the mental discipline. As to skills, the focus was on reading and writing, and little or no importance was given to oral skills, as speaking and 3Maite Calatayud Puerto. Oposiciones de secundaria. Temario de ingles. maitecp82@hotmail.com listening. The syllabus consisted of a sequence of grammar points and a vocabulary selection based on reading texts. The sentence was taken to be the basic unit of language teaching. The normal procedure was based on the following features:

• Grammar rules were taught deductively;
• Vocabulary items were presented with their translation equivalents;
• Translation exercises of written texts were prescribed;
• Accuracy was emphasized;
• The students' mother tongue was the medium of instruction;
• Formal written examinations had to be passed.

The main failures of the method are that it did not sound natural to a native speaker, produced difficult mistakes to eradicate and a tedious experience of memorising endless lists of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary, and little stress on accurate pronunciation. As a result, it often created frustration for students.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Reform Movement in English Language Teaching

1.5. TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. The Reform Movement represented a shift from grammar-translation methods to natural methods. This came as a result of interest in and observation of the way a child learned his or her mother tongue. It was based on the ideas of linguistic specialists on language teaching from different parts of Europe. Marcel's (1793-1896) main innovations were that child language learning was taken as a model for language teaching. He gave a greater importance to meaning in learning, and his main skill focus was on reading. Language teaching was considered by him within a broader educational framework. Prendergast's (1806-1886) main points were the use of contextual and situational cues to interpret utterances; the use of routines in speaking, proposing the learning of chunks of language even though the meaning of the individual parts was unknown. He also proposed the first structural syllabus and the grading of language according to its grammatical complexity. Gouin's (1831-1896) proposals of methodology for second language learning were based on the observation of First Language Acquisition (FLA), which included language learning through using language to accomplish events and the use of situations to organize and present oral language. Sequences of actions provided the syllabus, as language sentences were removed from a given context and grammatically analysed, repeated, practiced .... The context 4Maite Calatayud Puerto. Oposiciones de secundaria. Temario de ingles. maitecp82@hotmail.com was also used to make meaning clear, and gestures and actions to convey the meaning of utterances. Sweet's (1845-1912) main work was The Practical Study of Language (1899). In it, he proposed a careful selection of what is to be taught, the marking of limits on what is to be taught, the arrangement of what is to be taught in terms of the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and the grading of material from simple to complex. Viëtor (1850-1918) wrote Language Teaching Must Be Afresh (1882). In it he presented the ideas that speech patterns are the fundamental elements of language, and the importance of training in phonetics. This tendency to consider phonetics as an essential element in language learning led to the founding of an international phonetic association. The International Phonetic Association (1886) was responsible for the introduction of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Its goals were the study of the spoken language, phonetic training in order to establish good pronunciation habits, the use of conversation texts and dialogues to introduce conversational phrases and idioms, an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar, and teaching new meanings through establishing associations within the target language rather than by establishing associations with the mother tongue. The Association brought about a reform of language learning methodology. Reformers agreed on a number of principles to provide the theoretical foundations in second language teaching: spoken language is primary, so language learning should be oral-based; phonetics should be present in teacher training as in second language teaching; oral forms should be introduced to learners before written forms; language should be used in context; grammar should be taught inductively; translation should be avoided, although the mother tongue could be used for explanations and checking comprehension. This interest for developing teaching principles from principles in first language acquisition led to the development of The Direct Method (1860-1920). This method is a method of teaching a foreign language, through conversation, discussion, and reading in the language itself without use of the pupil's language, without translation, and without the study of formal grammar. The first words are taught by pointing to objects or pictures, or by performing actions. Sauveur (1826-1907) wrote An Introduction to the Teaching of Living Languages without Grammar or Dictionaries (1874). In it he expounded a communicative approach to language teaching. He founded The Language School in Boston in 1860. Its main procedures were an intensive oral interaction in the target language and the use of questions as a way of presenting and eliciting language.

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