3. Approach
a well informed set of assumptions and beliefs
about the nature of teaching and learning
4. Method
a generalized set of rules that should be followed
when teaching language
primarily concerned with the teacher and the
students’ roles as opposed to subject-matter
objectives
5. Technique
specific activities manifested in the classroom
consistent with a method and therefore in
harmony with an approach as well
6. Curriculum/syllabus
a design for carrying out a particular language
program
consists of specification of linguistic and subject-
matter objectives, sequencing, and materials to
meet the needs of a designated group of learners
in a defined context
7. Methodology
a theoretical framework
pedagogical practices in general and
considerations involved in “how to teach”
based on an epistemological stance (how do we
learn)
9. Classical Period
Education as an arm of theocracy
Purpose of education was to teach
religious orthodoxy and good moral
character
Emphasis on learning to read and write
Little importance on placed on higher
education
Latin Grammar Schools
Latin and Greek to Understand the Holy
Scriptures
Modern Languages were learned by
studying abroad or from private tutors
10. American Revolution to
the Civil War
The Age of Enlightenment
Expanding trade and commerce
Cultural Nationalism
Careers available in book-keeping and
foreign trade for children of the upper-
class
Secular control of education
Emergence of academies and high
schools
Modern and Foreign Language Teaching
Begins in the mid-eighteen century and it
was considered a “frill” subject; not
enough of a mental discipline
11. The “Boom Period”—Civil
War to World War I
Tax-Supported Public Education
(response to influx of immigrants),
Decline of private academies
Decline in Latin and Classical
Studies,German and French the
most popular languages
Dominance of traditional methods,
Emphasis on memorization and
grammar-translation methods;
reading as a foreign language
12. continued
Establishment of the Modern
Language Association of America
(MLA) in 1883
Stressed need for L2 study as
intellectual discipline
Emergence of psychology as a
science and psychological theory
and practice influence teaching
methods and learning theory
Introduction of the “Direct Method”
Role of L1 and L2 is assessed
13. World War I to 1952
Post-War Isolationism
Disillusion with American omnipotence
in world affairs
Goal to educate all America’s
children
Focus away from education of the
elite; foreign language study only for
the “college bound”
The “Melting Pot”
Assimilation or “Americanization” of
immigrants stressed as the role of the
public schools
14. Continued
Emergence of cultural
anthropology and linguistics
Leonard Bloomfield criticizes L2
methodologies; declares “primacy
of oral language”
Behaviorism
B. F. Skinner and Verbal Behavior,
stimulus response learning theory;
emphasis on scientific methods of
observation
15. 1950s Trends that Last into
the 1960s
Age of Material comfort and
psychological discomfort
Era of bomb shelters, “hippies” rise of
subcultures, the “Great Society”
Expanding academic, vocational and
general education programs
Public schools seen as the vehicle for
progress and social change
New Approaches to teaching
Team-teaching; non-graded classes;
open classrooms; individualized
instruction; programmed instruction;
flexible and core curriculum scheduling
16. Continued
The Audiolingual Method
A marriage of stimulus response (B. F. Skinner)
learning theory and linguistics
Rise and fall of media and computer technology
Diffusion and later abandonment of the language
laboratory; growing expansion of technology
17. Continued
1952—William Riley Parker’s National
Interest and Foreign Languages
Expounds on how expanding global
interests of the United States require
people who are multilingual and
multicultural for business, industry,
foreign relations, education
1957 Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures
Emergence of generative-
transformational grammar; the
competence/performance distinction
18. The 1960s Wedding of
Disciplines
1964—Emergence of psycholinguistic theory and
interest in childhood vs. adult education
Emergence of eclecticism
The “great debate” over L2 methods resulting
from disillusion with audiolingual method; impact
of cognitive psychology; examination of L2
teaching “mythology”
19. Continued
Competence-based Education
Age of social engineering;
emergence of the behavioral
objective and Bloom’s taxonomy of
cognitive and effective objectives
Rise of Humanistic Psychology
Student-centered classrooms;
explorations in values education;
cognitive styles; attitudes and
motivation; group dynamics
1966- TESOL is founded
20. Back to the Basics
Movement
Disassembling of “innovations”; emphasis
on accountability reforms in teacher
education to emphasize knowledge of
subject matter vs. pedagogy
Abolition of language requirements
De-emphasis of grammar instruction;
focus on pragmatic L2 instruction and
communicative competence
Incorporation of research findings in L2
theory and teaching
Examination of the nature of language
proficiency in varying contexts
21. Language Education 1970
to the Present
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 and 1974
(Title VII) and Lau vs. Nichols. Emphasis on second
vs. foreign language studies. Rise of Paolo Freire’s
critical pedagogy; cultural pluralism;
acculturation; multicultural education. Focus on
teaching L2 culture in the classroom
22. Continued
Emergence of new methodologies
and curriculum models
Innovative methods include the
Natural or Communicative Approach;
Social therapeutic orientations such as
Community Learning, suggestopedia;
the Notional-Functional Syllabus
Theorists link cognitive and linguistic
development and explain bilingual
language development and
competence
Shift in emphasis to literacy and
content area instruction
23. Continued
Constructivist theory leads to Whole Language
Movement and renewed study of the role of
language proficiency in reading and writing;
Methods focus on integration of language and
content area teaching such as Sheltered English,
Integrated Thematic Instruction
24. English-Only versus English
plus Movements
There was a heated debate in political
arenas and the public sector over the
role of foreign languages and bilingualism
in American society; emergence of
immersion vs. transitional and two-way
bilingual models. Rise of the English-only
movement; Proposition 227 in California
virtually eliminates bilingual education
programs; “Sheltered Immersion”
becomes the state-mandated model of
instruction; bilingual education preserved
and expanded in Texas, New York and
Florida.
26. The Grammar Translation
Method
Vocabulary is taught in the form of lists or isolation
Long explanations of grammar rules
Readings of classical difficult texts
Grammatical analysis
Little or no attention to pronunciation
27. The Direct Method
Classroom instruction exclusively in
the target language
Grammar was taught inductively
(teacher is a facilitator)
New teaching points were taught
through modeling and practice
Both speech and listening
comprehension were taught
Correct pronunciation and
grammar were emphasized
28. The Audiolingual Method
New material is presented in dialogue form
Memorization
Set phrases
Drills
Tapes, language lab, visual aids
Successful responses immediately reinforced
29. Cognitive code learning
Deep structure of language
Chomsky LAD (language acquisition device)
Deductive
Conscious awareness of rules
Generative transformational grammar
30. “Designer” Methods of the
Spirited 1970s
Separation of ESL and linguistics as a field of study
Language acquisition studies based on language
learning inside and outside of the classroom
Innovative methods were conceived
31. Community Language
Learning
Language learning was visualized as a counseling
session
Rogers’s views on language learning
Avoids threatening environment
Deductive learning (when A then B, knowledge is
“transferred” from the teacher to the learner,
information according to established knowledge)
33. The Silent Way
Learning is facilitated by physical objects
Problem solving involving the material to be
learned
Rods to introduce vocabulary
Charts to introduce pronunciation models,
grammatical paradigms
34. Total Physical Response
Commands are given
Listening and acting
No verbal response is necessary
35. Krashen
Acquisition Learning Hypothesis
(learning vs. acquisition)
The Natural Order (grammatical rules
are learned in a predictable way)
The Monitor Hypothesis (checks and
monitor output of what has been
learned)
The Input Hypothesis (I + 1) a little
beyond the comprehension level
The Affective Filter Hypothesis
(motivation)
37. The Pull of Methods
Teachers want to believe that if they just do X
their students will learn language.
Students also want to believe that there is some
magic pill that if the teacher would just give it to
them, they would learn.
38. Positivist vs. critical
perspective
Postivist (or scientist) orientation:
empirical-analytic approach, claims
of objectivity, how we teach is based
on knowledge derived through
experimental research
Critical theory: all knowledge is social,
cultural, and political; produced in a
particular economic, historical
context; claims to knowledge
represent the interests of certain
individuals or groups
39. But…
Researchers still do not know exactly how we
learn a second language
Human learning can’t be reliably studied with
experimental research designs
So…we cannot produce the “magic bullet”!
40. Discussion
What is Prabhu’s problem with people saying “There is no
best method”?
What does Pennycook mean when her says that “all
education is political” and that “all knowledge is ‘interested’”
(p. 590)? Use the example of English education in Puerto
Rico (or language education in another context that you
know well) to illustrate his two claims.
What is Pennycook’s problem with the concept of Methos as
published by different scholars? (see pp. 599-606)
Pennycook argues that the concept of Method is patriarchal
(it imposes ideas developed by mostly male linguists on the
mostly female workforce of ESL teachers) and imperialistic (it
assumes that Methods, developed in the West, are the best
way to teach ESL across the world). Do you agree with
Pennycook? Why or why not?
What do you think is the relationship between method and
what teachers actually are doing (and have been doing) in
the classroom?
41. Prabhu
Best method varies from context to context
Still left with search to find the best method for a
particular context.
There is truth in every method
But which parts are true?
Objective method evaluation is impossible
