The teaching of language lesson planning and syllabus design

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Essay title: The teaching of language lesson planning and syllabus design.
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The modern world has transformed from the days when people learnt, spoke and
conducted all necessary activities in their maternal language; it is now a multi lingual society.
Until the sixteenth century, Latin was the most common foreign language taught in various
countries. French, English and Italian soon took over when Europe underwent political
transformations and Latin became an optional language in schools1.
In order to effectively teach the foreign languages, the language instructors used the
approach of analyzing classical Latin works in terms of the rhetoric and grammar used. All
students in England’s grammar schools went through painstaking sessions of syntax,
conjugation, translation and oral or written exercises to master whichever foreign language they
were learning. The concept of teaching foreign language through Latin grammar and translation
had become the norm in schools by the nineteenth century2 . This was the grammar-translation
method which focused on theory than oral aspects of a foreign language.
1
Richards, J. C. and Rodgers, T. S., Approaches and methods in language teaching, 2nd Ed, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University, 2001), p. 3
2
Ibid, p.4.

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Setting up a proper methodology for teaching language requires one need to carefully
pick what will be taught, putting limits on it, organizing the material to be taught in such a way
that it inculcates all four areas of learning; listening, reading, speaking and writing3. This
prompted reforms from the scholars about how foreign language should be taught. They came up
with a new approach of teaching known as the direct method. It is a naturalistic way of learning a
language which presents similar settings to those when one is learning his first language; through
oral interaction4.
This form of teaching was embraced by France and Germany because the oral sessions
were interactive with the teachers and students asking and answering questions. The words
taught were mostly those used in every day communication and interactions. Phonetics classes
ensured proper pronunciation while morphology and syntax enhanced grammar. The guiding
principles for teaching oral lessons as employed in Berlitz schools were as follows: demonstrate
not translate, use sentences instead of single words, let the students do much of the talking and
finally use a lesson plan instead of relying on the textbooks to teach5. It worked in the private
schools but posed a lot of challenges in the public schools hence led to integration of both
methods for effective teaching and learning.
A third method soon came up during the 20th century; the audio-lingual method. It sought
to make learning a foreign language reachable by any group of students by focusing on the
syntax than the semantics and morphology of a language. With its base in linguistics and
psychology, it advocated for language to be taught in a descriptive and structural way using
stimulus, response and reinforcement. Mastering the components of a language from the
phoneme to a sentence enables effective teaching and learning. It also focused on the four skills
3
Ibid, p.10.
Ibid, p.11.
5
Ibid, p.12.
4

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of listening reading, writing and speaking. Dialogue was encouraged hence students spent hours
in the language laboratories doing drills and mimicry. The only setback of this method was its
theoretical approach and that students were unable to transfer the classroom knowledge to
everyday communication6.
There was still a gap in language teaching which led to introduction of a fourth method
known as the communicative approach. It incorporated linguistics, sociolinguistics and
philosophy to make the process of teaching a language concentrate on effective communication
than on the composite structures like syntax and morphology. The four skills of reading, writing,
speaking and listening were intertwined to ensure holistic teaching and learning. The students
were presented with real life settings in which they attempted to communicate with each other as
they performed the tasks. The teacher had responsibilities such as guide, counselor, analyst and
organizer7. This method was widely accepted and used in many school settings as it made the
lessons interesting and lively. The students mastered the basics of a language while at the same
time communicated effectively. The only concern was whether it could apply to all levels of
teaching and modes of evaluation.
Teaching a language is usually based on three concepts; science research, theoryphilosophy and art-craft concepts. In both science-related and philosophy-theory, focus is on the
teachers understanding the required learning principles and come up with tasks and activities that
conform to these principles. Science-research however focuses on students’ performance while
theory philosophy focuses on teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom 8. The art-craft concept is
6
7
8
Ibid, p.13.
Ibid, p.14.
Brown, H. D., Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, 2nd Ed,
(White Plains: Longman, 2001), p.21.

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focused on taking each learning session as a unique experience; the teacher identifies factors that
set apart the various situations and uses a variety of teaching strategies. New methods are
experimented on while those that are not workable are modified to meet the expected standards9.
9
Ibid.

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Bibliography.
Brown, H. D., Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, 2nd Ed,
White Plains: Longman, 2001, p.21.
Richards, J. C. and Rogers, T. S., Approaches and methods in language teaching, 2nd Ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2001, p. 3-17.

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Bibliography.
Brown, H. D., Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, 2nd Ed,
White Plains: Longman, 2001, p.21.
Richards, J. C. and Rogers, T. S., Approaches and methods in language teaching, 2nd Ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2001, p. 3-17.