The Major Trends in Language

Teaching
During the 20th
Century
 It has been estimated that some 60 percent of
today’s world population is multilingual.
 English is the world’s most widely studied foreign
language, 500 years ago it was Latin.
 French, Italian, and English gained in importance as
a result of political changes in Europe, and Latin
gradually became displaced as a language of spoken
and written communication.

 Grammar translation is a way of studying a

language.
 The goal of foreign language is to learn a language.
 Reading and writing is the major focus.
 Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading
text used.
 The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and
language practice
 Grammar is taught deductively
 The student’s native language is the medium of
instruction.
The Major Trends in Language
Teaching During the 20th
Century
 The direct method is known as the natural method.
 Teachers must encourage direct and spontaneous use
of the foreign language in the classroom.
 Learners would then be able to induce rules of
grammar.
 Speaking began with systematic attention to
pronunciation.
 Known words could be used to teach new vocabulary,
using mime, demonstration, and pictures.

 The oral approach should not be confused with the

Direct Method.
 Language teaching begins with the spoken language.
 The target langue is the language in the classroom.
 New language points are introduced and practiced.
 Vocabulary must be selected minutely.
 Reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient
lexical and grammatical basis is established.

 Audiolingualism is a linguistic, or structure-based,

approach to language teaching.
 The language skills are taught in the order of
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
 Listening is viewed largely as training in aural
discrimination of basic sound patterns.
 The language may be presented entirely orally at first.