overview of Language Teaching Methods

1. Different Types of Teaching Approaches:
 Grammar-Translation Method
 Direct Method
 Audiolingual Method (ALM)
 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)/ Communicative Approach
The Grammar-Translation Method
History:
 In the western world foreign language teaching was synonymous with learning Latin (which was thought to
promote intellectuality through “mental
gymnastics”) or Greek which was until recently held to be indispensable to an adequate higher education.
 Latin was taught by means of this Classical Method:
- Focus on grammatical rules
- Memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and conjugations
- Translation of texts
- Doing written exercises
 As other languages began to be taught in the 18th
& 19th
centuries, the same method was adopted as the main
method of teaching foreign languages.
 At that time, little thought was given to teaching oral use of languages; languages were not being taught
primarily to learn oral communication, but to learn for the sake of being “scholarly” or for gaining a reading
proficiency in a foreign language.
 Since there was little if any theoretical research on SLA in general, or on the acquisition of reading
proficiency, foreign languages were taught as any other skill was taught.
 Late in the 19th
century, the Classical Method came to be known as the Grammar Translation Method.

2. Characteristics:
According to Celce-Murcia (as cited in Brown, 2000, p. 15) the major characteristics of the Grammar
Translation Method are:
1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and
inflection of words.
5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.
7. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into
the mother tongue.
8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
Criticism:
 It does virtually nothing to enhance a student‟s communicative ability in the language.
 According to Richard & Rodgers (1986) (as cited in Brown, 2000, p.16):
- It is “remembered with distaste by thousands of school learners, for memorizing endless lists
of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary and attempting to produce perfect translation of
stilted or literary prose.”
- It has no advocates.
- It is a method of which there is no theory.
- There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempt to relate it to
issues in linguistic, psychology, or educational theory.

3. Charles Berlitz – The Direct Method
Overview
1. The Berlitz Method is a variation of the Direct Method.
2. The basic tenet of Berlitz's method was that second language learning is similar to first language
learning. In this light, there should be lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no
translation, and little if any analysis of grammatical rules and syntactic structures.
3. The direct method, sometimes also called natural method, is a method that refrains from using the
learners' native language and just uses the target language.
4. The direct method operates on the idea that second language learning must be an imitation of first
language learning, as this is the natural way humans learn any language - a child never relies on another
language to learn its first language, and thus the mother tongue is not necessary to learn a foreign
language.
5. This method places great stress on correct pronunciation and the target language from outset. It
advocates teaching of oral skills at the expense of every traditional aim of language teaching.
6. According to this method, printed language and text must be kept away from second language learner
for as long as possible, just as a first language learner does not use printed word until he has good grasp
of speech.
7. So, learning of writing and spelling should be delayed until after the printed word has been introduced
8. Grammar and translation should also be avoided because this would involve the application of the
learner's first language.
9. All above items must be avoided because they hinder the acquisition of a good oral proficiency

4. Characteristics:
Richard and Rodgers (1986) summarized the principles of the Direct Method:
1. Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language
2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught
3. Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression organized around
question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.
4. Grammar was taught inductively.
5. New teaching points were introduced orally.
6. Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures; abstract
vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.
7. Both speech and listening comprehensions are taught.
8. Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.

5. History:
• The Direct Method enjoyed considerable popularity at the end of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th.
• It was most widely accepted in private language schools were students were highly
motivated and were native-speaking teachers could be employed. Today, Berlitz language
schools are thriving in every country of the world.
• However, it was difficult to apply in public education, mainly because of the constraints of
budget, time, classroom size, and teacher background.
• By the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, the use of this method had declined both
in Europe and the US. Most language curricula returned back to the Grammar Translation
Method or to a “reading approach” that emphasized reading skills in foreign languages.
• Yet, after a period of decline, in the middle of the 20th century, this method has been
revived, leading to the emergence of the Audiolingual Method.