Chapter II
Approaches to
Foreign Language
Teaching
Objectives of Methodology of Second/
Foreign Language Instruction
1. To familiarize students with the common
traditional language teaching approaches.
2. To familiarize students with the major
innovative language teaching approaches.
3. To enable students to outline language
teaching approaches in terms of their
emphasis and deemphasis on language
skills, language patterns and classroom
activities.
4. To acquaint students with the practical
procedures applied in traditional
language teaching approaches.
5. To help students learn the practical
procedures of communication oriented
approaches.
1- Grammar-Translation Approach
(an extension of the approach used to teach
classical languages to the teaching of modern
languages)
1) Instruction is given in the native
language of the students.
2) There is little use of the target language
for communication.
3) Focus is on grammatical parsing i.e., the
form and inflection of words.
4) There is early reading of difficult texts.
5) A typical exercise is to translate sentences
from the target language into the mother
tongue (or vice versa).
6) The result of this approach is usually an
inability on the part of the student to use
the language for communication.
7) The teacher does not have to be able to
speak the target language.
8. It neglects the natural order of learning
(listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
9. It neglects speech.
10. The only exercised skill was reading but
only in the context of translation.
11. Grammar is taught deductively.
12. Focus is on reading and writing.
13. Accuracy is emphasized .
14. Grammar
points
are
presented
contextually in the textbook.
2- Direct Approach
( a reaction to the Grammar-Translation
Approach and its failure to produce learners
who could communicate in the foreign
language they had been studying)
1) No use of the mother longue is permitted
(i.e., the teacher does not need to know the
students’ native language).
2) Lessons begin with dialogues and anecdotes
in modern conversational style.
3) Actions and pictures are used to make
meanings clear.
4) Grammar is learned inductively.
5) Literary texts are read for pleasure and
are not analyzed grammatically.
6) The target culture is also taught
inductively.
7) The teacher must be a native speaker or
have nativelike proficiency in the target
language.
8) Only everyday vocabulary is used.
9) Greater focus is on oral communication.
10) Classroom instruction was conducted in
the target language.
3- Reading Approach
( a reaction to the problems experienced in
implementing the Direct Approach; reading
was viewed as the most usable skill to have in
a foreign language since not many people
traveled abroad at that time; also, few
teachers could use their foreign language well
enough to use a direct approach effectively in
class)
1. Only the grammar useful for reading
comprehension is taught.
2) Vocabulary is controlled at first (based
on frequency and usefulness) and then
expanded.
3) Translation is once more a respectable
classroom procedure.
4) Reading comprehension is the only
language skill emphasized.
5) The teacher does not need to have good
oral proficiency in the target language.
4- Audiolingual Approach
(a reaction to the Reading Approach and its
lack of emphasis on oral-aural skills; this
approach became dominant in the United
States during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s;
it draws from the Reform Movement and
the Direct Approach but adds features from
structural linguistics [Bloomfield, 1933] and
behavioral psychology[Skinner, 1957].
1. Lessons begin with dialogues.
2. Mimicry and memorization are used, based
on the assumption that language is habit
formation.
3. Grammatical structures are sequenced and
rules are taught inductively.
4. Skills are sequenced : listening, speakingreading , writing postponed.
5. Pronunciation is stressed from the
beginning.
6. Vocabulary is severely limited in initial
stages.
7. A great effort is made to prevent learner
errors.
8. Language is often manipulated without
regard to meaning or context.
9. The teacher must be proficient only in
the structures, vocabulary, etc. that he or
she is teaching since learning activities
and materials are carefully controlled.
10. Foreign language learning is a process of
habit formation.
11. Errors are the result of L1 interference.
12. No grammatical explanation.
13. Learning vocabulary is in context.
14. It is teacher-centered.
15. Use of tapes and visual aids.
5- oral-Situational Approach
( a reaction to the Reading Approach and its lack
of emphasis on oral-aural skills; this approach
was dominant in Britain during the 1940s, 1950s,
and 1960s; it draws from the Reform Movement
and the Direct Approach but adds features from
Firthian linguistics and the emerging professional
field of language pedagogy).
1. The spoken language is primary.
2. All language material is practised orally
before being presented in written form
(reading and writing are taught only after
an oral base in lexical and grammatical
forms has been established).
3. Only the target language should be used
in the classroom.
4. Efforts are made to ensure that the most
general and useful lexical items are
presented.
5. Grammatical structures are graded from
simple to complex.
6. New items (lexical and grammatical) are
introduced and practised situationally
(e.g., at the post office, at the bank, at the
dinner table).
7. Vocabulary is considered a very important
aspect.
8. Grammar is learned inductively.
9. Students are expected to deduce word
meaning from context.
10. Oral language comes first, then written
language.
11. Language learning is a habit formation.
12. Language skills are presented orally.
6-Cognitive Approach
(a reaction to the behaviorist features of the
Audiolingual Approach; influenced by
cognitive psychology [Neisser, 1967] and
Chomskyan linguistics [Chomsky, 1959,1965]).
1. Language learning is viewed as rule
acquisition, not habit formation.
2. Instruction is often individualized;
learners are responsible for their own
learning.
3. Grammar must be taught but it can be
taught deductively (rules first, practice
later) and or inductively (rules can either
be stated after practice or left as implicit
information for the learners to process on
their own).
4. Pronunciation
is
de-emphasized;
perfection is viewed as unrealistic and
unattainable.
5. Reading and writing are once again as
important as listening and speaking.
6. Vocabulary instruction is once again
important, especially at intermediate and
advanced levels.
7. Errors are viewed as inevitable, to be
used constructively in the learning
process.
8. The teacher is expected to have good
general proficiency in the target
language as well as an ability to analyze
the target language.
7- Affective-Humanistic Approach
(a reaction to the general lack of affective
considerations in both Audiolingualism and the
Cognitive Approach; e.g., Moskowitz, 1978 and
Curran, 1976).
1. Respect is emphasized for the individual
(each student, the teacher) and for his or her
feelings.
2. Communication that is meaningful to the
learner is emphasized.
3. Instruction involves much work in pairs and
small groups.
4. Class atmosphere is viewed as more
important than materials or methods.
5. Peer support and interaction are viewed as
necessary for learning.
6. Learning a foreign language is viewed as a
self-realization experience.
7. The teacher is counselor or facilitator.
8. The teacher should be proficient in the
target language and the student’s native
language since translation may be used
heavily in the initial stages to help students
feel at ease; later it is gradually phased out.
8-Comprehension-Based Approach
( an out-growth of research in first language
acquisition
that
led
some
language
methodologists to assume that second or
foreign language learning is very similar to first
language acquisition; e.g., Postovsky, 1974;
Winitz, 1981; Krashen and Terrell, 1983).
1. Listening comprehension is very important
and is viewed as the basic skill that will
allow speaking, reading, and writing to
develop spontaneously over time, given
the right conditions.
2. Learners should begin by listening to
meaningful speech and by responding
nonverbally in meaningful ways before
they produce any language themselves.
3. Learners should not speak until they feel
ready to do so, this results in better
pronunciation than if the learner is forced
to speak immediately.
4. Learners progress by being exposed to
meaningful input that is just one step
beyond their level of competence.
5. Rule learning may help learners monitor (or
become aware of ) what they do, but it will not
aid their acquisition or spontaneous use of the
target language.
6. Error correction is seen as unnecessary and
perhaps even counterproductive; the important
thing is that the learners can understand and
can make themselves understood.
7. If the teacher is not a native (or near-native)
speaker, appropriate materials such as
audiotapes and videotapes must be available to
provide the appropriate input for the learners.
9- communicative Approach
(an outgrowth of the work of anthropological
linguists [e.g., Hymes 1972] and Firthian linguists
[e.g., Halliday, 1973], who view language first and
formost as a system for communication).
1. It is assumed that the goal of language
teaching is learner ability to communicate in
the target language.
2. It is assumed that the content of a language
course will include semantic notions and
social functions, not just linguistic structures.
3. Students regularly work in groups or pairs
to transfer ( and, if necessary, negotiate)
meaning in situations in which one person
has information that the other(s) lack.
4. Students often engage in role play or
dramatization to adjust their use of the
target language to different social
contexts.
5. Classroom materials and activities are
often authentic to reflect real- life
situations and demands.
6. Skills are integrated from the beginning; a
given activity might involve reading,
speaking, Listening, and also writing ( this
assumes the learners are ( this assumes
the learners are educated and literate).
7. The teacher’s role is primarily to facilitate
communication and only secondarily to
correct errors.
8. The teacher should be able to use the
target
language
fluently
and
appropriately.
10-The Total Physical Response (TPR)
1) This approach emphasizes that the door of
understanding is first opened as children
respond meaningfully to a particular type
of input-namely, directives in context-clear
situations that invite an action response
rather than a verbal response.
2) Their early social interaction is through a
physical response to invitations for
movement such as “Hey, come on!” “let’s
run” “throw the ball”.
3) The request is galvanized immediately
into action, i.e., the asked for physical
response take place and be visible, so
that both parties in the communication
can see at once how the message was
understood.
4) The mechanism is short and simple: (1)
the directive, (2) the hearing and
interpretation of the directive, (3) the
visible confirmation or disconfirmation
of comprehension.
5) At the start of TPR training a teacher plays
“follow the leader” or “ do what I do”,
modeling a couple of actions (e.g., stand
up!, sit down!) the first time or two in
calling For those actions. This enables the
learner to infer (and “perform”) the tie
between the command the desired
action.
6) Commands for single actions quickly give
way to two or three actions in sequence
(stand up, walk to the sofa, and sit down),
and then to more complicated actions,
sometimes involving imaginary scenarios
(John sit in the car, tarn the key, look around,
and honk the horn twice). For certain effect,
some teachers occasionally turn TPR into the
game “Somebody says….”.
7) Instruction in how to do or make things
through a succession of connected
activities- for example how to create a
doll out of a sock- lends itself easily to
TPR.
8) The simplicity, logic, and power of TPR
has stimulated the development of
syllabuses
for
teaching
various
languages.
9) The criticism against this approach is that
it deals with language in too general a
way and fails to train students to perform
“ survival” functions, such as exchanging
greetings, asking directions, and ordering
a meal.
10) TPR attaches great importance and
emphasis
to
listening
and
comprehension skills.
11) A language teacher utters an order in
the foreign language and then models
it with physical action.
12) Learners are encouraged to execute the
order with the appropriate body
movement.
13) Learners normally utter the same
commands unintentionally and make a
correlation
between
sound
and
movement when they respond to the
commands physically.
14) Advocates claim that the method
enhances memory.
15) Gradually they begin to speak L2 freely
and move to other language skills i.e.,
reading and writing.
16) Abstract vocabulary and tenses are
taught through the use of pictures and a
combination of familiar orders.
17) Novelty and creativity in the creation of
commands are extremely stressed.
Best of luck
Dr. Nissrein Abdel
Bassett El-Enany