2nd Assignment: Historical Background of English Language Teaching

Maulina Adzkiyah

2201409033

TiAL Study Group 405-406

2^nd Assignment

Historical Background of English Language Teaching

The globalization which is increasing has created a large need for people in the world either in the work world or education world who can communicate in multiple languages. The uses of common languages are in such area of business, technology, media, science, tourism, and many others. As one of the international languages, English has its own popularity to be learnt by people around the world. For such of those reasons, learning English either as a second language or foreign become more important to be done. So, let’s take a look first on the historical background of English Language Teaching.

Language teaching in the last 50 years is divided into three phases. They are traditional approaches (up to the late 1960s), classic communicative language teaching (1970s to 1990s), and current communicative language teaching (late 1990s to the present). Let’s see the explanation of those three phases one by one.

·         Traditional Approaches (up to late 1960s)

Latin which was believed to develop intellectual abilities was the popular language in Europe in the 16^th century. The main objectives of learning this language were to understand the classical text, grammar of Latin and translation. By the time went on, Latin was disappeared from a spoken language. This was the opportunity for English to reach its popularity. But, the problem was that English was taught using the same way as Latin. Grammar Translation Method was the method used in this phase. The teaching was focused on the grammar of English. Instead of inductive approach, deductive approach was used to teach grammar. That was by presenting the students with the grammar rule and then let them practice using it. The more surprising one was the belief that grammar could be learnt through direct instruction and a methodology that made much use in repetitive practice and drilling.

Memorization of the words was very important. The techniques used in teaching activity were memorization of dialogue, question and answer practice, substitution drills, and various forms of guided speaking and writing practice. It was assumed that students’ errors would quickly become a permanent part of the learner’s speech so a great attention to accurate pronunciation and grammar was stressed from the beginning stages of language learning.

The methodologies include:

1.      Audiolingualism (in North America) (also known as the Aural - Oral Method)

2.      The Structural-Situaltional Approach in the UK (also known as Situational Language Teaching)

Procedures observed in audio lingual lesson.

a.       Students first hear a model dialogue.

b.      The dialogue is adapted into students’ interest or situation through changing certain keywords or phrases.

c.       Drills are done based on certain key structures.

d.      Students may refer to their textbook.

e.       Follow-up activities.

3.      P-P-P (Presentation – Practice - Production) Methodology.

Grammar – based methodologies such as P-P-P, under the influence of CLT theory, have given way to functional and skill – based teaching, and accuracy activities such as drill and grammar practice have been replaced by fluency activities based on interactive small – group work. This led to the emergence of a ‘fluency-first’ pedagogy (Brumfit 1984) in which students’ grammar needs are determined on the basis of performance on fluency tasks rather than predetermined by a grammatical syllabus.

·         Classic Communicative Language Teaching (1970s to 1990s)

The Audiolingualism and Structural – Situational Approach were out of date in the 1970s. But then the reaction to traditional language approaches began and soon spread around the world. Using language to communicate communicatively was actually the main purpose of learning a second or foreign language. So, what was needed to reach gain this purpose was communicative competence. This was a broader concept that that of grammatical competence included what to say and how to say it appropriately based on the situation, the participants and their roles and intentions. The notion of communicative competence was developed within the discipline of linguistics (or more accurately, the sub-discipline of sociolinguistics).

The idea of CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) created a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement when it first appeared. This idea had some principles such as language was for expression of meaning and its primary function was interaction and communication. By this idea, language teaching started to be different since teachers begin to rethink their teaching method, syllabus, and material learning. There are some aspects that should be identified by the syllabus so that communicative competence could be developed. These are the aspects:

1.      Purpose

2.      Setting

3.      Role

4.      Communicative events

5.      Language functions

6.      Notions

7.      Discourse and rhetorical skills

8.      Variety

9.      Grammatical content

10.  Lexical content

These are the two important directions in the 1970s and 1980s proposals for a communicative syllabus, and the ESP movement.

a.      Proposals for a communicative syllabus.

ü  A skills-based syllabus: this focuses on the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and breaks each skill down into its component micro skills.

ü  A functional syllabus: this is organized according to the functions the learner should be able to carry out in English.

b.      English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Many learners needed English in order to use it in specific occupational or educational settings. It would be more efficient if they were taught using certain or specific kinds of language and communicative skills that were different with the usual one. The differences might include differences in vocabulary choice, grammar, kinds of texts commonly occurring, functions, and the need for particular skills.

Implications for methodology

The new communicative approach to teaching prompted a rethinking of classroom teaching methodology. There were arguments that learners learn a language through the process of communication in it, and that communication is meaningful to the learner provides a better opportunity for learning than through a grammar – based approach.

These were the important principles of CLT at that time:

1.      Real communication as the focus of learning

2.      Provide opportunities to experiment and trying out

3.      Tolerance on learners’ errors

4.      Link four language skills together

5.      Let students induce discover grammar rules

If we want to apply those principles, new classroom techniques and activities were needed.

REFERENCES

Kesuma, Barlin. 2011. A Brief History of English Language Teaching. Downloaded at http://englishteachingmethod.blogspot.com/2011/02/brief-history-of-english-language.html (March 29, 2012).

Wikipedia. Language Education. Downloaded at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_education (March 29, 2012)

Richard, Jack C. Communicative Language Teaching Today. Downloaded at http://www.professorjackrichards.com/pdfs/communicative-language-teaching-today-v2.pdf (March 29, 2012)