语言教学的流派第一章.docx

语言教学的流派第一章.docx

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语言教学的流派第一章

语言教学的流派第一章

Thesentenceisthebasicunitofteachingandlanguagepractice.Muchofthelessonisdevotedtotranslatingsentencesintoandoutofthetargetlanguage，anditisthis

focusonthesentencethatisadistinctivefeatureofthemethod.Earlierapproachestoforeignlanguagestudyusedgrammarasanaidtothestudyoftextsinaforeignlanguage.Butthiswasthoughttobetoodifficultforstudentsinsecondaryschools,andthefocusonthesentencewasanattempttomakelanguagelearningeasier.

Accuracyisemphasized.Studentsareexpectedtoattainhighstandardsintranslation,becauseof“thehighpriorityattachedtometiculousstandardsofaccuracywhich,aswellashavinganintrinsicmoralvalue,wasaprerequisiteforpassingtheincreasingnumberofformalwrittenexaminationsthatgrewupduringthecentury.”

Grammaristaughtdeductively-thatis,bypresentationandstudyofgrammarrules,whicharethenpracticedthroughtranslationexercises.InmostGrammar-Translationtexts,asyllabuswasfollowedforthesequencingofgrammarpointsthroughoutatext,andtherewasanattempttoteachgrammarinanorganizedandsystematicway.

Thestudent’snativelanguageisthemediumofinstruction.Itisusedtoexplainnewitemsandtoenablecomparisonstobemadebetween

foreignlanguageandthestudent’snativelanguage.

GrammarTranslationdominatedEuropeanandforeignlanguageteachingfromthe1840stothe1940s,andinmodifiedformitcontinuestobewidelyusedinsomepartsoftheworldtoday.Atitsbest,asHowatt（1984）pointsout,itwasnotnecessarilythehorrorthatitscriticsdepicteditas.ItsworstexcesseswereintroducedbythosewhowantedtodemonstratethatthestudyofFrenchorGermanwasnolessrigorousthanthestudyofclassicallanguage.ThisresultedinthetypeofGrammar-Translationcoursesrememberedwithdistastebythousandsofschoollearners,forwhomforeignlanguagelearningmeantatediousexperienceofmemorizingendlesslistsofunusablegrammarrulesandvocabularyandattemptingtoproduceperfecttranslationsofstiltedorliteraryprose.AlthoughtheGrammar-TranslationMethodoftencreatesfrustrationforstudents,itmakesfewdemandsonteachers.Itisstillusedinsituationswhereunderstandingliterarytextsistheprimaryfocusofforeignlanguagestudyandthereislittleneedforaspeakingknowledgeofthelanguage.ContemporarytextsfortheteachingofforeignlanguagesatcollegeleveloftenreflectGrammar-Translationprinciples.Thesetextsarefrequentlytheproducesofpeopletrainedinliteratureratherthaninlanguageteachingorappliedlinguistics.Consequently,thoughitmaybetruetosaythatthe

Grammar-TranslationMethodisstillwidelypracticed,ithasnoadvocates.Itisamethodforwhichthereisnotheory.Thereisnoliteraturethatoffersarationaleorjustificationforitorthatattemptstorelateittoissuesinlinguistics,psychology,or

educationaltheory.Inthemid-andlatenineteenthcenturyoppositiontotheGrammar-TranslationMethodgraduallydevelopedinseveralEuropeancountries.ThisReformMovement,asitwasreferredto,laidthefoundationsforthedevelopmentofnewwaysofteachinglanguagesandraisedcontroversiesthathavecontinuedtothepresentday.

Languageteachinginnovationsinthenineteenthcentury

Towardthemid-nineteenthcenturyseveralfactorscontributedtoaquestioningandrejectionoftheGrammar-TranslationMethod.IncreasedopportunitiesforcommunicationamongEuropeanscreatedademandfororalproficiencyinforeignlanguages.

Emphasizedtheimportanceofmeaninginlearning,proposedthatreadingbetaughtbeforeotherskills,andtriedtolocatelanguageteachingwithinabroadereducationalframework.TheEnglishmanT.Prendergastwasoneofthefirsttorecordtheobservationthatchildrenusecontextualandsituationalcuestointerpretutterancesandthattheyusememorizedphrasesand“routines”inspeaking.Heproposedthefirst“structuralsyllabus,”advocatingthatlearnersbe

taughtthemostbasicstructuralpatternsoccurringinthelanguage.Inthiswayhewasanticipatinganissuethatwastobetakenupinthe1920sand1930s,asweshallseeinChapter3.TheFrenchmanF.Gouinisperhapsthebestknownofthesemid-nineteenthcenturyreformers.Gouindevelopedanapproachtoteachingaforeignlanguagebasedonhisobservationsofchildren’suseoflanguage.Hebelievedthat

languagelearningwasfacilitatedthroughusinglanguagetoaccomplisheventsconsistingofasequenceofrelatedactions.Hismethodusedsituationsandthemesaswaysoforganizingandpresentingorallanguage–thefamousGouin“series,”which

includessequencesofsentencesrelatedtosuchactivitiesaschoppingwoodandopeningthedoor.Gouinestablishedschoolstoteachaccordingtohismethod,anditwasquitepopularforatime.Inthefirstlessonofaforeignlanguagethefollowingserieswouldbelearned:

Gouin’semphasisontheneedtopresentnewteachingitemsinacontextthatmakestheirmeaningclear,andtheuseofgesturesandactionstoconveythemeaningofutterances,arepracticesthatlaterbecamepartofsuchapproachesandmethodsasSituationalLanguageTeaching（Chapter3）andTotalPhysicalResponse（Chapter6）.

Theworkofindividuallanguagespecialistslikethesereflectsthe

changingclimateofthetimesinwhichtheyworked.Educatorsrecognizedtheneedforspeakingproficiencyratherthanreadingcomprehension,grammar,orliteraryappreciationasthegoalforforeignlanguageprograms;therewasaninterestinhowchildrenlearnlanguage,whichpromptedattemptstodevelopteachingprinciplesfromobservationofchildlanguagelearning.ButtheideasandmethodsofMarcel,Prendergast,Gouin,andotherinnovatorsweredevelopedoutsidethecontextofestablishedcirclesofeducationandhencelackedthemeansforwiderdissemination,

acceptance,andimplementation.Theywerewritingatatimewhentherewasnotsufficientorganizationalstructureinthelanguageteachingprofessiontoenablenewideastodevelopintoaneducationalmovement.Thisbegantochangetowardtheendofthenineteenthcentury,however,whenamoreconcertedeffortaroseinwhichtheinterestsofreform-mindedlanguageteachers,andlinguists,coincided.Teachersandlinguistsbegantowriteabouttheneedfornewapproachestolanguageteaching,andthroughtheirpamphlets,books,speeches,andarticles,thefoundationformorewidespreadpedagogicalreformswaslaid.ThiseffortbecameknownastheReformMovementinlanguageteaching.

TheReformMovement

LanguageteachingspecialistslikeMarcel,Prendergast,andGouin

haddonemuchtopromotealternativeapproachestolanguagetwaching,buttheirideasfailedtoreceivewidespreadsupportorattention.Fromthe1880s,however,practicallymindedlinguistslikeHenrySweetinEngland,WilhelmVietorinGermany,andPaulPassyinFrancebegantoprovidetheintellectualleadershipneededtogivereformistideasgreatercredibilityandacceptance.Thedisciplineoflinguisticswasrevitalized.Phonetic-thescientificanalysisanddescriptionofthesoundsystemsoflanguage-wasestablished,givingnewinsightsintospeechprocesses.Linguistsemphasizedthatspeech,ratherthanthewrittenword,wastheprimaryformoflanguage.TheInternationalPhoneticAssociationwasfoundedin1886,anditsInternationalAlphabetwasdesignedtoenablethesoundsofanylanguagetobeaccuratelytranscribed.Oneoftheearliestgoalsoftheassociationwastoimprovetheteachingofmodernlanguages.Itadvocated.

Linguiststoobecameinterestedinthecontroversiesthatemergedaboutthebestwaytoteachforeignlanguages,andideaswerefiercelydiscussedanddefendedinbooks,articles,andpamphlets.HenrySweet（1845-1912）arguedthatsoundmethodologicalprincipleshouldbebasedonascientificanalysisoflanguageandastudyofpsychology.InhisbookThePracticalStudyofLanguages（1899）hesetforthprincipleforthedevelopmentof

teachingmethod.Theseinclude:

Carefulselectionofwhatistobetaught.

Imposinglimits

InGermanytheprominentscholarWilhelmVietor（1850-1918）usedlinguistictheorytojustifyhisviewsonlanguageteaching.Hearguedthattraininginphoneticswouldenableteacherstopronouncethelanguageaccurately.Speechpattern,ratherthangrammar,werethefundamentalelementsoflanguage.In1882hepublishedhisviewsinaninfluentialpamphlet,LanguageTeachingMustStartAfresh,inwhichhestronglycriticizedtheinadequaciesofGrammarTranslationandstressedthevalueoftrainingteachersinthenewscienceofphonetics.

Vietor,Sweet,andotherreformersinthelatenineteenthcenturysharedmanybeliefsabouttheprinciplesonwhichanewapproachtoteachingforeignlanguageshouldbebased,althoughtheyoftendifferedconsiderablyinthespecificprocedurestheyadvocatedforteachingalanguage.Ingeneralthereformersbelievedthat.

1Thespokenlanguageisprimaryandthatthisshouldbe

reflectedinanoral-basedmethodology.

2Thefindingsofphoneticsshouldbeappliedtoteachingandtoteachertraining.

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Theseprinciplesprovidedthetheoreticalfoundationsforaprincipledapproachtolanguageteaching,onebasedonascientificapproachtothestudyoflanguageandoflanguagelearning.Theyrefeltthebeginningsofthedisciplineofappliedlinguistics-thatbranchoflanguagestudyconcernedwiththescientificstudyofsecondandforeignlanguageteachingandlearning.ThewritingsofsuchscholarsasSweet,Vietor,andPassyprovidedsuggestionsonhowtheseappliedlinguisticprinciplescouldbestbeputintopractice.Noneoftheseproposalsassumedthestatusofamethod,