Language in Theory

The English language has been a subject who changed over the years, especially throughout the twentieth century. This subject has various modifications, taught in language classrooms all around the world for centuries.  The methodology of teaching Biology or Math remain more or less the same, but with the English language it is different. Here are five examples of language methodology:

The Silent way

This methodology based on cognitive arguments, meaning that it is connected to your own thinking or conscious mental processes, rather than affective arguments. In this methodology they use a problem-solving approach for learning. The students have to look for answers to questions themselves without a teacher explaining everything to them. The teacher is supposed to be silent.

Communicative language teaching

This method, or should we say that it is an approach, focuses on all the details of communicative competence, meaning that this method usage different communicative skills and makes use of the language in a context that is not stated or rehearsed. This method doesn’t only focuses on grammatical or linguistic competence. Instead they engage the students by teaching them functional, useful language with a meaningful purposes. The students learn through actual communication, instead of just theorizing about it. This approach is a theoretical position about language learning and teaching.

Strategies-based instruction

This method is based on the work of O’Malley and Chamot and many other before them. In this method they focus on the importance of style awareness and strategy development in obtaining and studying a foreign language. The activities presented in this method offer guidelines on constructing strategy-building activities. An important aim of this method is: learners take charge of their own learning and do not expect the teacher to deliver everything to them.

The audiolingual method

This method find his origins during the outbreak of World War II and was used during this time area to learn the languages of their allies and enemies. The Direct Method functioned as base to create this method, what was referred to as the Army Method during that particular time. The method focuses on linguistic and psychological theory. Meaning that the method focuses on learning vocabulary in context, use of visual aids, focuses on pronunciation and the students receive immediate strengthening of correct responses. Throughout this process they discovered that language was not acquired through a process of habit formation.

Grammar translation

This method was found when the English languages began to be taught alongside Greek and Latin. They taught the English languages in the same way as Latin and Greek were taught. The method reached its highest point around the nineteenth century. This method still forms the basis of English teaching courses all over the world. During lessons following this method students learn grammatical rules and then the students have to translate sentences from the target language to their own first language, applying the grammatical rules. The two main aims of this methods are, to enable students to translate and read literature written in the foreign language they are studying. The second aim is to further the students general intellectual development. This means that they are focusing on the construction of the thought process, for example, remembering. This method usually does not include any listening or speaking practice. The main skill who is trained is reading and then only in the context of translation.