LANGUAGE TEACHING b. Lessons begin with dialogues and
APPROACHES: AN OVERVIEW anecdotes in modern
conversational style.
MARIANNE CELCE-MURCIA c. Actions and pictures are used to
In "Language Teaching Approaches: An make meanings clear.
Overview Celce-Murcia gives some historical d. Grammar is learned inductively.
background, then outlines the principal e. Literary texts are read for pleasure
approaches to second and foreign language and are not analyzed
teaching that were used during the twentieth grammatically.
century. She previews the book as a whole and f. The target culture is also taught
projects some trends for language instruction inductively.
in the new millennium. g. The teacher must be a native
speaker or have nativelike
Pre-twentieth-Century Trends: A Brief Survey proficiency in the target language.
Prior to the twentieth century, language 3. Reading Approach
teaching methodology vacillated between two (a reaction to the problems experienced in
types of approaches: getting learners to use a implementing the
language (i.e., to speak and understand it) Direct Approach; reading was viewed as the
versus getting learners to analyze a language most usable skill to have in a foreign
(i.e., to learn its grammatical rules). language since not many people traveled
abroad at that time; also, few teachers could
1. Grammar-Translation Approach a. use their foreign language well enough
(an extension of the approach used to teach to use a direct approach effectively in
classical languages to the teaching of modern class)
languages) a. Only the grammar useful for reading
a. Instruction is given in the native com prehension is taught.
language of the students. b. Vocabulary is controlled at first (based
b. There is little use of the target on frequency and usefulness) and then
language for communication. b. expanded.
c. Focus is on grammatical parsing. Le.. c. Translation is once more a respectable
the form and inflection of words. class room procedure.
d. There is early reading of difficult d. Reading comprehension is the only
texts. language skill emphasized.
e. A typical exercise is to translate e. The teacher does not need to have
sentences from the target language good oral proficiency in the target
into the mother. tongue (or vice language.
versa). 4. Audiolingualism (a reaction to the Reading
f. The result of this approach is usually Approach and its lack of emphasis on
an inability on the part of the student oral-aural skills; this approach became
to use the language for dominant in the United States during the
communication. 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s; it draws from the
g. The teacher does not have to be able Reform Movement and the Direct
to speak the target language. Approach but adds features from structural
2. Direct Approach linguistics (Bloomfield 1933] and
(a reaction to the Grammar Translation behavioral psychology (Skinner 1957))
Approach and its failure to a. Lessons begin with dialogues.
produce learners who could communicate in b. Mimicry and memorization are used,
the foreign language they had been based on the assumption that language
studying) is habit formation.
a. No use of the mother tongue is c. Grammatical structures are sequenced
permitted (ie., the teacher does not and rules are taught inductively.
need to know the students' native d. Skills are sequenced: listening,
language). speaking reading, writing postponed.
e. Pronunciation is stressed from the
beginning.
APPROACHES: AN OVERVIEW anecdotes in modern
conversational style.
MARIANNE CELCE-MURCIA c. Actions and pictures are used to
In "Language Teaching Approaches: An make meanings clear.
Overview Celce-Murcia gives some historical d. Grammar is learned inductively.
background, then outlines the principal e. Literary texts are read for pleasure
approaches to second and foreign language and are not analyzed
teaching that were used during the twentieth grammatically.
century. She previews the book as a whole and f. The target culture is also taught
projects some trends for language instruction inductively.
in the new millennium. g. The teacher must be a native
speaker or have nativelike
Pre-twentieth-Century Trends: A Brief Survey proficiency in the target language.
Prior to the twentieth century, language 3. Reading Approach
teaching methodology vacillated between two (a reaction to the problems experienced in
types of approaches: getting learners to use a implementing the
language (i.e., to speak and understand it) Direct Approach; reading was viewed as the
versus getting learners to analyze a language most usable skill to have in a foreign
(i.e., to learn its grammatical rules). language since not many people traveled
abroad at that time; also, few teachers could
1. Grammar-Translation Approach a. use their foreign language well enough
(an extension of the approach used to teach to use a direct approach effectively in
classical languages to the teaching of modern class)
languages) a. Only the grammar useful for reading
a. Instruction is given in the native com prehension is taught.
language of the students. b. Vocabulary is controlled at first (based
b. There is little use of the target on frequency and usefulness) and then
language for communication. b. expanded.
c. Focus is on grammatical parsing. Le.. c. Translation is once more a respectable
the form and inflection of words. class room procedure.
d. There is early reading of difficult d. Reading comprehension is the only
texts. language skill emphasized.
e. A typical exercise is to translate e. The teacher does not need to have
sentences from the target language good oral proficiency in the target
into the mother. tongue (or vice language.
versa). 4. Audiolingualism (a reaction to the Reading
f. The result of this approach is usually Approach and its lack of emphasis on
an inability on the part of the student oral-aural skills; this approach became
to use the language for dominant in the United States during the
communication. 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s; it draws from the
g. The teacher does not have to be able Reform Movement and the Direct
to speak the target language. Approach but adds features from structural
2. Direct Approach linguistics (Bloomfield 1933] and
(a reaction to the Grammar Translation behavioral psychology (Skinner 1957))
Approach and its failure to a. Lessons begin with dialogues.
produce learners who could communicate in b. Mimicry and memorization are used,
the foreign language they had been based on the assumption that language
studying) is habit formation.
a. No use of the mother tongue is c. Grammatical structures are sequenced
permitted (ie., the teacher does not and rules are taught inductively.
need to know the students' native d. Skills are sequenced: listening,
language). speaking reading, writing postponed.
e. Pronunciation is stressed from the
beginning.
