The History of Methodology

 

History of language teaching has 3 periods:

1. 17, 18, & the greater part of the 19^th century
2. end of the 19^th – the first 3 decades of the 20^th
3. development of contemporary methods

 

During the 1 period the 2 main methods were grammar translation method & text-based translation method. In those days Latin was the dominant foreign language. It was the L of international legal & scholarly communication. The main aspects were: grammar, vocabulary. Major skill: translation. Grammar translation method consisted in presenting grammar rules much consciously, though not functionally. Vocabulary was supplied just to illustrate the usage of grammar patterns. Texts for reading did not have any educational value. They were supposed to be imitated doing back translation. They were intentionally disconnected in order not to distract the learners from grammar. The text based translation method on the contrary did not focus on grammar & offered no explicit release. Neither grammar nor vocabulary was specially selected & graded. The only thig carefully selected were texts for reading, but we not adapted & simply to the view of their educational value.

 

A kind of revolution was in the 2^nd period. The science of phonetic appeared. The goal became pragmatic. The chief aspect – phonetics. Imitation & memorization.

 

Neo-direct methods

Harold Palmer – “The Scientific Study & Teaching of Languages”. “This Language Learning Business”

Michael West – “teaching English in difficult circumstances” “Learning to read a foreign language”

Palmer worked in Japan, in elite schools, many of his learners later went to English Universities. He had ample time for teaching English. He taught all the major skill focusing on speaking, listening.

West worked in India in ordinary schools. A class there would have 40-50 pupils. With practically no equipment, textbooks were in short supply, students often dropped out of school as soon as they achieve adolescence. Most teachers were native teachers, that is Hindi. There command of English was very far to be desired. He taught to very large audiences which can be retained or revived so to say. The only skill which did not require the fluency of the teacher as the sample was reading. He started devoting readers. He started with primer (букварь), then books called readers (хрестоматии).he took into consideration the interests of each age group. For 7 year olds he focused on fairy tales. For adolescences he gave adventure stories. He did not use the native language of the learners, instead of it he used direct demonstrations. He gave a lot of attach to the sense of achievement. Nearly lesson is concluded “now you know … (number) words”. He was the 1^st to introduce the ides of before-questions & after-questions. He introduced such terms as searching reading, skipping reading & observational reading. He was the 1^st who insisted on “read, look up & say” technique. He was the 1^st to introduce the substitution tables, though much more was done by Palmer. He also insisted that teachers should not talk too much in the classroom & gave the learners a chance of ample practice.

Palmer was the 1^st to suggest certain principles of vocabulary & grammar selection. He introduced the idea of graded difficulties. Snowball was his idea. He believed in minimizing the language material during the early stages to achieve maximum perfection. Hi minimized the language material. He offered texts based on super primitive vocabulary.

 

	Palmer	West
Goals	Practical – mainly, oral speech	Practical – mainly, reading
Aspect	Phonetics – grammar – vocabulary	Vocabulary – grammar
Major skills & their order	Listening – speaking – reading – writing	Reading – writing – listening – speaking
Approach	Mainly, intuitive (from analysis to synthesis)	Mainly intuitive (from synthesis to analysis)
Selection of language units	Imitation, memorization, substitution tables, patterns for oral substitution	“read, look up & say”, before & after questions, addressed speech

 

Contemporary Methods

Suggestopedia – a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. It learning can occur several times as quickly as it occurs in traditional teaching. Learners were able to memorize several hundred words per lesson. This method is subconscious.

Theoretical principles:

1. releasing subconscious channels for super-memorization;
2. creating a learner-friendly relaxed atmosphere to add a psycho-therapeutic effect to learning;

 

Basis strategies:

1. infantilization – encouraging adult learners to relax & play their parts as children do;
2. music as background contributing to relaxation;
3. no performance, however wrong linguistically, is ever censured; students are encouraged (praised) & offered the correct version;
4. adult learners are given “legends”, so as to cast away their real self, while in class;
5. “intoning” («интонационные качели»);

 

Four phases of a language lass:

1. Introduction. the teacher teaches the material in a “playful manner” instead of analyzing lexis & grammar of the text in a directive manner;
2. Concert session (active & passive). In the active session the teacher reads with intoning as selected music is played. Occasionally, the students read the text together with the teacher & listen only to the music as the teacher pauses in particular patterns. The passive session is done mare calmly
3. Elaboration. The students sing classical songs & play games while the teacher acts more like a consultant.
4. Production. The students spontaneously speak & interact in the target without interruption or correction.

 

Content-Based Education (контекстный метод)

It is treated for non-linguistic students of English. Students should receive new professionally oriented information through English. This education can be applied both to schools & to language universities. It overlaps the ideas of global education. It can be practically totally absorbed by the cognitive communicative method.

Postulate:

1. focus on issues that they would find worth discussing in their mother tongue, too; make personal decisions;
2. manifest or acquire awareness of various spheres of human experience, where the linguistic & functional skills in the target language become a means to an end, a vehicle for exchange of information;
3. are taught to perceive the world holistically, to see cause0effect relationships, predict consequences, regard the same phenomenon in divers perspectives;
4. are exposed to АД culture as compared with that of the native tongue in the wider context of world culture;
5. are encouraged to look for information both in the native & foreign languages, so as to share in the classroom;
6. Are taught to perceive language as content, too, rather that an empty vessel, i.e., to develop a vision of the world in a linguistic perspective.

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