9 Outstanding Approaches in Language Teaching

Approach

Approach is described as “theories about the nature of language and language learning that serve as the source of practices and principles in language teaching” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986, p.16). However, none of the approaches can be referred as “the best” since they are quite prescriptive and lack of flexibility. Thus teachers should learn each one of them in details and decide which one fits well into the context they work. They can benefit from various approaches by employing different techniques.

The solution to make the right decision is to (1) assess student needs, (2) examine instructional constraints, (3) determine the attitudes and learning styles of the learners, (4) identify the discourse genres, speech activities, and text types that learners will learn, (5) specificy how the learners will be evaluated (Celce-Murcia, M., 2014).

Approaches in a histrocal view

1. Grammar-Translation Approach is an extension of the approach used to teach classical languages to the teaching of modern languages.
2. Direct Approach came out a a reaction to grammar-translation approach since it fails to enhance communcative skills of the foreign language learners.
3. Reading Approach is 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


4. Audiolingualism is a reaction to the Reading-Approach and its lack of emphasis on oral 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 and behavioral psychology.
5. Oral-Situational approach is a reaction to the Reading Approach and its lack of emphasis on oral skills. This approach was dominant in Britain during the 1940s, 1950s. and 1960s.
6. Cognitive approach is a reaction to the behaviorist features of the Audiolingual Approach; influenced by cognitive psychology and Chomskyan linguistics.


7. Affective-Humanistic approach is a reaction to the general lack of affective considerations in both Audiolingualism and the Cognitive Approach.
8. Comprehension approach is an outgrowth 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 (Krashen and Terrel).
9. Communicative approach is an outgrowth of the work of linguists who view language first and foremost as a system for communication.

The figure below provides a brief overview of the approaches.

For more information and resources, visit these websites:
Language teaching approaches.
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References

Celce-Murcia, M. (2014). An overview of language teaching methods and approaches. In M. Celce-Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 2-14). Boston, MA: Heinle

Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T.S. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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