Evolution of Language Teaching PDF

The topic chosen for this official written exam is topic number one in the set of topics, whose name is ‘Evolution of Language Teaching. Present-Day Trends in the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Communicative Approaches.’ To develop this topic consistently, we have structured it following fai...

The topic chosen for this official written exam is topic number one in the set of topics, whose name is ‘Evolution of Language Teaching. Present-Day Trends in the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Communicative Approaches.’ To develop this topic consistently, we have structured it following faithfully the name in the official set, regulated by the Order of September 9 th, 1993. First, we will introduce the topic. In section two, a history of language teaching, we will offer the reader an overview of how languages have been taught throughout history, especially in the 20th century. Section three deals with the present-day trends in teaching English as a foreign language. This is a significant section of the topic because we will analyze the current methodological trends implemented in today’s classrooms. This topic is significant for foreign language teachers because it is the only one in the set that analyzes the teaching of languages throughout history, focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries. As English teachers, we should be well-versed in methodology and how it has evolved over the centuries to the current methodological scenario. We aim to develop this topic comprehensively, hoping the examiners find it amusing, informative, and valuable for them and their teaching practice. Introduction Both teaching and learning languages are part of a journey with many risks and uncertainties. The learner is determined to embark on this journey and wants to find the shortest, straightest one to master the new language. However, once on the road, choices must be made, and a method for teaching and learning may seem wide and straight but later revealed as narrow or have plenty of drawbacks. The evolution of language teaching has provided many solutions to this question: What road shall I take? Many theories and models have been proposed, from the security and stability of the Grammar-Translation Method to the focus on communication and language use of Communicative Language Teaching. All of them have contributed some positive aspects and presented shortcomings or have not reached their goal. However, a survey of the evolution of language teaching until the 21st century is necessary for any foreign language teacher, who must be aware of history to make their choices and create a personal teaching style.  We have introduced the topic by commenting on the methods that greatly aid language teaching and learning. Let us now analyze the history of language teaching in depth. For this section, we have referred to Howatt, A., A History of English Teaching, and Larsen-Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. History of Language Teaching Early Language-Learning Methods Languages were studied even in the most ancient civilizations. The Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian Kings sent bilingual representatives in their delegations to foreign countries, and teacher-slaves taught wealthy Romans Greek. Later, the first Christian missionaries were forced to learn the language of the people they were trying to convert as their only means of communicating with them. In the 17th century, a key influence in language teaching was Johan Comenius, a Czech scholar and teacher. He focused on the spiritual development of children and claimed that they learned through association with the world around them. Comenius was the first to introduce an inductive approach to language teaching, aiming to teach students to use the language rather than just the rules. He emphasized imitation over rules and encouraged teaching languages through pictures and the practice of reading and speaking. The Pre-Method Era Comenius was quite revolutionary. However, by the beginning of the 19th century, the systematic study of the grammar of classical Latin and classical texts had again taken over in European schools and universities. The 19th century was also characterized by the so-called grammar-translation method. Let us analyze it in more detail. Grammar-Translation Method The 19th century saw the first fundamental change. The importance of studying Latin and Greek to access ancient literature bled over into teaching modern languages, too. The approach had (and, indeed, still has) five main strains: Conscious memorizing of grammatical rules Focus on the sentence as the unit of study Conscious memorizing of lists of lexis with their mother-tongue translations Translating in and out of the target language as practice Reading the literature on the target language The grammar translation method is not dead, and its influence is widely felt. Many self-help teaching manuals establish grammar rules, followed by a list of translated lexis to learn and exercises (including translation) to practice what has been studied. Secondary and primary schools around the world consistently adopt this approach. As a reaction to the grammar-translation method, a reform period emerged that dates from 1880 to 1920. The most essential method from the reform period, still influential today, was the Direct or Natural Method.  Direct or Natural Method The Direct Method was popularised by Maximilian Berlitz (1852-1921) and is still used in many schools. The Direct Method was so called because it insists that only the target language is used from day one of the course and meaning is conveyed by pointing, gestures, tone of voice, etc. Of course, many methods take a similar approach today, such as denigrating or forbidding translation. So, we could summarize the beliefs of the direct methodists as follows: 1) Languages should first be taught through speech. The written language is only presented at a later stage. 2) Language should be learned using the language rather than memorizing grammatical rules. 3) The mother tongue was not to be used. Words were to be explained through direct association. The Methods Era Other methods, such as situational language teaching, were created to give language teaching a more scientific foundation. However, the real change emerged with the Audiolingual Method in the 1950s. Let us analyze them in more detail. The Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching Palmer, Hornby, and other British applied linguists from the 1920s onward developed an approach to the methodology involving systematic selection principles. S.L.T. adopts an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar. The meaning of the words or structures is not to be given through explanation in either the native tongue or the target language but is to be induced from the way the form is used in a situation. The Situational Approach was productive, and many teaching materials still rely heavily on presenting language, often via dialogues, in settings such as at the coffee shop or in the station. The Audiolingual Method Initially called the Army Method, this teaching technique was the first to be based on linguistic theory and behavioural psychology. Skinner’s Behaviourism theory assumes that humans can be trained using a reinforcement system. Correct behaviour receives positive feedback, while errors receive negative feedback. The Audiolingual Method was widely used in the 1950s and 1960s. Its emphasis was not on understanding words but on acquiring structures and patterns in common everyday dialogue. Some characteristics of this method are: Drills are used to teach structural patterns Set phrases are memorized with a focus on intonation Grammatical explanations are kept to a minimum  Vocabulary is taught in context Audio-visual aids are used The focus is on pronunciation Correct responses are positively reinforced immediately Chomsky Before the 1960s, most psychologists supported B.F. Skinner's language acquisition theory explained language development through behaviorist principles and claimed that children learn a language through reinforcement. It was not until, as Skinner stated, "a 55-page typed review by someone I had never heard of named Noam Chomsky" was published in response to Skinner's 1957 book, Verbal Behavior, that a serious debate emerged. Within a few years, Chomsky's review "began to be widely cited and reproduced" and "became better known than the original book to which it responded," leading to a fierce debate among linguists of the time. As the two theories and their differences expanded, a competition between Skinner and Chomsky, which had not previously existed, was suggested and then intensified. In the 1970s and 80s, Communicative Language Teaching emerged as a method. This was thanks to Chomsky and the emergence of cognitive psychology, which claimed that language learning involved active mental processes and conscious learning. Communicative Language Teaching Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an influential teaching method today. It started as a reaction to grammar-oriented approaches that focused on accuracy. CLT argued that the goal of language teaching is communication, which is achieved by communicating in the target language in class. The main purpose behind CLT is to prepare students to be confident communicators in different real-life contexts through repetitive oral practices and student-student cooperation. In CLT, communication is both the end and the means of the teaching method. Total Physical Response (TPR) TPR is a language teaching method based on the coordination of speech and action. It attempts to teach language through physical activity. James Asher, a professor of psychology in California, developed it. The general objective of TPR is to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level. Comprehension is a means to an end; the main aim is to teach basic speaking skills. A TPR course aims to produce learners capable of uninhibited, intelligible communication with a native speaker. In the 1970s, humanistic language teaching emerged as a new orientation. This approach is based on the idea that all social and emotional beings, not just the mind, should be involved in learning a language. Between the 1970s and the 1980s, three key methods were associated with humanism: The Silent Way, Suggestopedia, and Community Language Learning. Let us analyze them in more detail. The Silent Way  The silent way is the name of a language teaching method devised by Caleb Gattegno. It is based on the premise that the teacher should be quiet as much as possible in the classroom and that the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible. Very broadly put, the learning hypotheses underlying Gattegno's work could be stated as follows: Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers rather than remembers and repeats. Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned. Suggestopedia Bulgarian psychiatrist and educator Georgi Lozanov developed Suggestopedia in the 1970s. As the name implies, it relies on the power of suggestion to acquire language knowledge. According to the theory, students are more receptive to learning new information if they feel relaxed and comfortable. This helps make language acquisition easier and more effective. Students learn quickly when they feel calm, interested, and positive. The memorization rate in understanding by the suggestopedic method seems to be twenty-five times faster than that in learning by conventional methods. Community Language Learning Charles Curran developed the CLL method, which involves applying psychological counselling techniques to learning aspects. Among the problems that impede foreign language learning are anxiety and negative emotions of defense. In this respect, Curran asserts that learning is a social phenomenon that should occur ‘within the supportive environment of a community' of one’s fellow learners.’ The teacher is viewed as a counselor responsible for creating a non-defensive environment and overcoming negative feelings about learning a new language. Finally, we will study the methodologies that have taken over the 21 st century. To develop this section, we have consulted Richards J & Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Present-Day Trends in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language Task-Based Language Teaching Task-based language teaching focuses on using authentic language to complete meaningful tasks in the target language. Examples of such tasks include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. TBLT is based on the idea that students can learn a language by doing tasks. Students are assessed on whether they manage to complete the task rather than on the language they use. CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning)  David Marsh and Anne Maljers created content- and language-integrated learning (CLIL) in 1994 as a methodology similar to but distinct from language immersion and content-based instruction. CLIL is an approach to learning content through an additional language (foreign or second), thus teaching both the subject and the language. It is fundamentally based on methodological principles established by research on "language immersion." This approach involves learning subjects such as history, geography, or others through an additional language. The European Language Portfolio & the CEFR The European Language Portfolio was developed and piloted by the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, from 1998 until 2000. It is a tool to support the development of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. What is a European Language Portfolio? It is a document on which learners can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences. The portfolio includes an updated language passport featuring a grid for documenting language competences based on European standards, supplementing traditional certificates. It also contains a language biography outlining experiences with each language, aiding in planning and progress assessment. Additionally, a dossier showcases personal work examples illustrating language proficiency competences. Spanish Methodology The latest education laws in Spain propose a new teaching method based on communicative methods. Knowledge is less important than the development of skills. Teaching goals are imposed in every unit, and English has gained importance. Skills can be learned meaningfully by developing the competencies distributed in different content blocks. Successive Education Laws, from LOGSE 1/1990 to LOCE 10/2002, LOE 2/2006 to LOMCE 8/2013, and, ultimately, LOMLOE 3/2020, have also introduced a special interest in immigrant students and gifted and talented children. This latest law also emphasizes the importance of and effort made to foster reading for pleasure and the use of Information and Communications Technology. Competence-based Learning In Spain, LOE introduced, developed, and emphasized this competence-based methodology. LOMLOE has gone further by highlighting the key competencies that comprise the ‘output profile’ and the specific competences for each area. In addition, it has added a new key competency, the multilingual competency, and descriptors to identify it. It implies that learning activities and environments are chosen so that learners can acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they acquire to situations they encounter in everyday life. Competence-based curricula are usually designed around key competencies that can be cross-curricular and subject-bound. Project-based Learning Project-based learning is a methodology that allows students to acquire key knowledge and skills in the 21st century by developing projects that respond to real-life problems. Students become protagonists of their learning and develop their autonomy and responsibility since they are in charge of planning, structuring the work, and elaborating the product to solve the question posed. Its benefits are increased students’ motivation, preparation for real life, a real connection between school and real life, cooperative work, and increased social abilities and communication. Universal Design for Learning Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that gives all students an equal opportunity to succeed. This teaching and learning approach offers flexibility in how students access material. UDL also looks for different ways to keep students motivated. It is based on three main principles: 1. Principle I. Provide multiple means of representation. 2. Principle II. Provide multiple means of action and expression. 3. Principle III. Provide multiple means of engagement Gamification Games are used in today’s classrooms because they are strongly related to motivation. Games serve many purposes in school. We can use them to warm up the class, give the students a break, make grammar more fun, practice a specific vocabulary point, or just finish the class on a positive and fun note. They encourage cooperative learning and facilitate bonding between students and between the students and the teacher. The Flipped Classroom The phrase ‘flipped learning’ came into general use in the early-mid 2000s, popularised by chemistry teachers Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams (Bergmann and Sams 2012) and Salman Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy (TED 2011). Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which the conventional notion of classroom-based learning is inverted. Students are introduced to the learning material before class through video or audio, and classroom time is then used to deepen understanding through discussion with peers and problem-solving activities facilitated by teachers. The following section will show the relationship between methods and teaching practice. Topic Implications  This topic's content connects especially with the legislation in force, LOMLOE 3/2020, Royal Decree 217/2014, and Decrees _____ and _______, which regulate the curricula for the GCSE and Bachillerato stages in the Autonomous Community of _______. The new education law has posed a significant change in methodology. Under the new law, there is an emphasis on learning the stage objectives and acquiring the key competences. More particularly, the treatment of grammar and lexis has drastically changed. We will not assess grammar and Lexis as such, but implicitly, we will evaluate them as part of an integrated approach that considers the four skills. We are also moving towards a competence-based teaching approach, in which the competencies appear as skills and attitudes appropriate to each context and fundamental to each individual in a knowledge-based society. In this sense, we must mention the document that shapes these key competencies: Annex 1 of Royal Decree 217/2022 and the Output Profile. Conclusion We will conclude this topic by saying that it has been quite challenging to develop all the information regarding the methodology of language teaching from early times up to this day. Any study that aims to review the history of language teaching and the different approaches and methods that appeared in the 20th and 21st centuries may be qualified as ambitious. If we aim to do so in around three thousand words, we may qualify it as ambitious and probably unsuccessful. Nevertheless, this topic has shown significant trends in the history of language teaching, with a description of their fundamental principles, objectives, procedures, and techniques. Apart from these significant trends, the human factor must be considered. While these methods have led teachers and students over the years, teachers have made them successful. As Karl Menninger said, “What the teacher is is more important than what he teaches.” Finally, the bibliography consulted for the elaboration of this topic in order of appearance: Bibliography Howatt, A. (2000). A history of English teaching. Oxford University Press. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford University Press. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge University Press. Royal Decree 217/2022, of March 29, whereby the organization and minimum learning for secondary education is established. Official State Gazette (BOE).