Language Teaching Approaches an Overview.docx

Language Teaching Approaches an Overview.docx

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LanguageTeachingApproachesanOverview

LanguageTeachingApproaches:

AnOverview1

MARIANNECELCE-MURCIA

In“LanguageTeachingApproaches:

AnOverview，”Celce-Murciagivessomehistoricalbackground,thenoutlinestheprincipalapproachestosecondandforeignlanguageteachingthatwereusedduringthetwentiethcentury.Shepreviews（预审）thebookasawholeandprojects（阐明；预计，推断）sometrendsforlanguageinstructioninthenewmillennium.

INTRODUCTION

Thefieldofsecond（orforeign）languageteachinghasundergonemanyfluctuationsandshiftsovertheyears.Differentfromphysicsorchemistry,inwhichprogressismoreorlesssteadyuntilamajordiscoverycausesaradical（根本的；彻底的，激进的）theoreticalrevision（Kuhn1970）,languageteachingisafieldinwhichfads（风气；时尚；一时的流行）andheroeshavecomeandgoneinamannerfairlyconsistentwith（与…一致）thekindsofchangesthatoccurinyouthculture.Ibelievethatonereasonforthefrequentswingsofthependulum（钟摆；摇摆不定的事态或局面）thathavebeentakingplaceuntilfairlyrecentlyisthefactthatveryfewlanguageteachershaveasenseofhistoryabouttheirprofessionandarethusunawareofthehistoricalbasesofthemanymethodologicaloptionstheyhaveattheirdisposal（供他们使用；他们可以自由处理）.Itishopedthatthisbriefandnecessarilyoversimplifiedsurvey（概论）willencouragemanylanguageteacherstolearnmoreabouttheoriginsoftheirprofession.Suchknowledgewillensuresomeperspective（洞察力；眼力）whenteachersevaluateanyso-calledinnovationsornewapproachestomethodology,whichwillsurelycontinuetoemerge（浮现；出现；问题等发生，显露）fromtimetotime.

Pre-twentieth-CenturyTrends:

ABriefSurvey

Priortothetwentiethcentury,languageteachingmethodologyvacillated（动摇；波动）betweentwotypesofapproaches:

gettinglearnerstousealanguage（i.e.,tospeakandunderstandit）versusgettinglearnerstoanalyzealanguage（i.e.,tolearnitsgrammaticalrules）.

BoththeclassicalGreekandmedievalLatinperiodswerecharacterizedbyanemphasisonteachingpeopletouseforeignlanguages.Theclassicallanguages,firstGreekandthenLatin,wereusedaslinguafranca（意大利混杂语；混合方言）.HigherlearningwasconductedprimarilythroughtheselanguagesalloverEurope.Theywereusedwidelyinphilosophy,religion,politics,andbusiness.Thustheeducatedelite（精华；精英；优秀分子）becamefluentspeakers,readers,andwritersoftheappropriateclassicallanguage.Wecanassumethattheteachersortutorsusedinformalandmoreorlessdirectapproachestoconvey（传达；传递；表达）theformandmeaningofthelanguagetheywereteachingandthattheyusedaural-oraltechniqueswithnolanguagetextbooksperse（本身；本来；本质）,butratherasmallstockofhand-copiedwrittenmanuscripts（手稿）ofsomesort,perhapsafewtextsinthetargetlanguage,orcrude（粗糙；粗陋）dictionariesthatlistedequivalent（相等；同义）wordsintwoormorelanguagessidebyside.

DuringtheRenaissance,theformalstudyofthegrammarsofGreekandLatinbecamepopularthroughthemassproductionofbooksmadepossiblebytheinventionoftheprintingpress.InthecaseofLatinbeingusedasalinguafranca---thelattersubsequently（随后的；继起的）beinglabeledvulgate（公认的文本的）Latin,i.e.,Latinofthecommonpeople.MajordifferenceshaddevelopedbetweentheclassicalLatindescribedintheRenaissancegrammars,whichbecametheformalobjectofinstructioninschools,andtheLatinbeingusedforeverydaypurposes.ThisoccurredataboutthesametimethatLatinbegantobeabandonedasalinguafranca.（NoonewasspeakingclassicalLatinanymore,andvariousEuropeanvernaculars（方言；本族语）hadbeguntoriseinrespectabilityandpopularity.）thus,inretrospect（回顾）,strangeasitmayseem,theRenaissancepreoccupation（先取；偏见）withtheformalstudyofclassicalLatinmayhavecontributedtothedemise（死亡；终止）ofLatinasalinguafrancainWesternEurope.

SincetheEuropeanvernaculars（方言；本族语）hadgrowninprestige（名望;声望;威望）andutility（效用;实用）,itisnotsurprisingthatpeopleinonecountryorregionbegantofinditnecessaryandusefultolearnthelanguageofanothercountryorregion.Thusthefocusinlanguagestudyshiftedbacktoutilityratherthananalysisduringtheseventeenthcentury.PerhapsthemostfamouslanguageteacherandmethodologistofthisperiodisJohannAmosComenius,aCzech（捷克）scholarandteacher,whopublishedbooksabouthisteachingtechniquesthatComenius（夸美纽斯）usedandespoused（拥护;支持;信奉）werethefollowing:

Useimitationinsteadofrulestoteachalanguage.

Haveyourstudentsrepeatafteryou.

Usealimitedvocabularyinitially（开始;最初）.

Helpyourstudentspracticereadingandspeaking.

Teachlanguagethroughpicturestomakeitmeaningful.

ThusComenius,perhapsforthefirsttime,madeexplicit（详尽;明确;不含糊）aninductiveapproachtolearningaforeignlanguage,thegoalofwhichwastoteachuseratherthananalysisofthelanguagebeingtaught.

Comenius’sviewsheldsway（统治;支配）forsometime;however,bythebeginningofthenineteenthcentury,thesystematicstudyofthegrammarofclassicalLatinandofclassicaltextshadonceagaintakenover（接管）inschoolsanduniversitiesthroughoutEurope.TheanalyticalGrammar-TranslationApproachbecamefirmlyentrenched（根深蒂固）asamethodforteachingnotonlyLatinbut,byextension,modernlanguagesaswell.Itwasperhapsbestcodified（编纂;整理）intheworkofKarlPloetz,aGermanscholarwhohadatremendousinfluenceonthelanguageteachingprofessionduringhislifetimeandafterwards.（Hediedin1881.）

However,theswingingofthependulum（钟摆;摇摆不定的事态）continued.Bytheendofthenineteenthcentury,theabilitytouseratherthantoanalyzealanguageasthegoaloflanguageinstruction,hadbeguntofunctionasaviable（有生存的;能活的;可行的）alternativetoGrammar-Translation.FrancoisGouin,aFrenchman,begantopublishin1880concerninghisworkwiththeDirectMethod.Headvocatedexclusive（独占的）useofthetargetlanguageintheclassroom,havingbeeninfluencedbyanolderfriend,theGermanphilosopher-scientistAlexandervonHumboldt,whohadespoused（拥护;支持;信奉）thenotionthatalanguagecannotbetaught,thatonecanonlycreateconditionsforlearningtotakeplace（Kelly1969）

TheDirectMethodbecameverypopularinFranceandGermany,andhasenthusiasticfollowersamonglanguageteacherseventoday（AsdoestheGrammar-TranslationApproach.）

In1886,duringthesameperiodthattheDirectMethodfirstbecamepopularinEurope,theInternationalPhoneticAssociationwasestablishedbyscholarssuchasHenrySweet,WilhelmVietor,andPaulPassy.TheydevelopedtheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet（IPA）andbecamepartofReformMovementinlanguageteachinginthe1890s.Thesephoneticiansmadesomeofthefirsttrulyscientificcontributionstolanguageteachingwhentheyadvocatedprinciplessuchasfollowing:

■thespokenformofalanguageisprimaryandshouldbetaughtfirst;

■thefindingsofphoneticsshouldbeappliedtolanguageteaching;

■languageteachersmusthavesolidtraininginphonetics;

■learnersshouldbegivenphonetictrainingtoestablishgoodspeechhabits.

Theworkofthesephoneticiansfocusedontheteachingofpronunciationandoralskills,whichtheyfelthadbeenignoredinGrammar-Translation.Thus,althoughtheReformMovementisnotnecessarilyconsideredafull-blown（充分发展的）pedagogicalapproachtolanguageteaching,itsadherents（支持者;拥护者）didhaveaninfluenceonfutureapproaches,asweshallsee.

Quiteapartfrom（更何况;更不用说）theworkoftheReformMovement,theinfluenceoftheDirectMethodgrew;itcrossedtheAtlanticintheearlytwentiethcenturywhenEmiledeSauze,adiscipleofGouin,cametoCleveland,Ohio,inordertoseetoitthat（务必使…;保证使…seetoitvi.注意做到;务必要）allforeignlanguageinstructioninthepublicschoolsthereimplemented（实施;执行）theDirectMethod.DeSauze’sendeavor（努力;尽力）,however,wasnotcompletelysuccessful（inClevelandorelsewhere）sincethereweretoofewforeignlanguageteachersintheUnitedStateswhowerefluentspeakersofthelanguagetheytaught.Later,theModernLanguageAssociationofAmerica,basedontheColemanReport（Coleman1929）,endorsed（赞同;认可）theReadingApproachtolanguageteaching,sincegiventheskillsandlimitationsofmostlanguageteachers,allthatonecouldreasonablyexpectwasthatstudentswouldcomeawayfromthestudyofaforeignlanguageabletoreadthetargetlanguage---withemphasisonsomeofthegreatworksofliteratureandphilosophythathadbeenproducedinthelanguage.

TheReadingApproach,asreflectedintheworkofMichaelWest（1941）andothers,heldswayintheUnitedStatesuntilthelate1930sandearly1940s,whenWorldWar

brokeoutandmadeitimperative（adj.命令式的，急需的）fortheU.S.militarytoquicklyandefficientlyteachforeignlanguagelearnershowtospeakandunderstandalanguage.AtthistimetheU.S.governmenthiredlinguiststohelpteachlanguagesanddevelopmaterials:

theAudiolingualApproach（Fries1945）,whichdrewheavilyonstructurallinguistics（Bloomfield1933）andbehavioralpsychology（Skinner1957）,wasborn.InBritainthesamehistoricalpressuresgaverisetotheOralorSituationalApproach（e.g.,Pittman1963）,whichdrewon（vt.吸收，利用）FirthianLinguistics（codifiedintheworksofFirth’sbest-knownstudent,M.A.K.Halliday[1973]）aswellasdrawingontheexperienceofBritain’slanguageeducatorswithoralapproachestoforeignlanguageteaching.Althoughsomewhat（adv.多少，几分）influencedby,butlessdogmatic（adj.教条的，武断的）than,itsAmericancounterpart（theAudiolingualApproach）,theOralorSituationalApproachadvocatedorganizingstructuresaroundsituationsthatwouldprovidethelearnerwithmaximumopportunitytopracticethetargetlanguage,with“practice”nonetheless（adv.尽管如此（仍然））beinglittlemorethanchoral（adj.合唱的，集体朗诵的）repetition.