Contemporary Issues in

Language Teaching and

Learning
HISTORY OF LANGUAGE
TEACHING
Why do we need to know the history
of language teaching?
• Key to the understanding of the way
things are and why they are that way.

• Teachers may better comprehend the

forces that influence their profession.
CLASSICAL PERIOD (17th,18th & 19th centuries)
Education as a form of theocracy
-Purpose of education to teach religious
orthodoxy and good moral character

Foreign Language Learning Associated with

the learning of Greek and Latin
-Purpose of learning a foreign language to
promote speakers’ intellectuality
1850’s to 1950’s: Grammar Translation
 Emphasis on learnıng to read & wrıte
 Focus on grammatical rules, syntactic
structures, rote memorization of voc. and
translation of literary texts
 Voc. is taught in the form of lists of isolated
words.
 Long, elaborate explanations of the
intricacies of grammar are given.
 Medium of instruction was the mother
tongue
 No provision for the oral use of language
 Speaking and listening were mediated via
“conversation classes”, add-ons to the main
course
 Demand for ability to speak a foreign
language
 Reformers reconsidering the nature of
language and learning
 Three Reformers (the way children learned
languages was relevant to how adults learned
languages)
A. Marcel
B. Gouin
C. Pendergast
A. Marcel
Emphasized the importance of understanding
meaning in language learning

B. Pendergast
Proposed the first structural syllabus (arranging
grammatical structures so that the easiest was
taught first)
C. Gouin
 Painful experience in learning German
 Tried to memorize a German grammar book
and a list of 248 irregular German verbs
 Observed his three-year old nephew
 Came up with the following insights
 Children use language to represent their
conceptions.
 Language is a means of thinking, of
representing the world to oneself.
Series Method
 A method that taught learners directly (without
translation) and conceptually (without
grammatical rules and explanations) a “series”
of connected sentences that are easy to
perceive.
 Emphasized presenting each item in context
and using gestures to supplement verbal
meaning
 Taught learners directly a series of connected
sentences.
 Ex. I stretch out my arm. I take hold of the handle. I
open the door. I pull the door.
Berlitz Direct Method (Posited by Charles Berlitz)
 Second language learning is similar to first
language learning
 Emphasis on
oral interaction
spontaneous use of language
no translation
little if any analysis of grammatical rules
and structures
Direct Method
The Principles of the Direct Method
Classroom instruction was conducted in
the target language
 There was an inductive approach to
grammar
Only everyday vocabulary was taught
Concrete vocabulary was taught
through pictures and objects
Abstract vocabulary was taught by
association of ideas
New teaching points were introduced
orally
 Communication skills were organized
around question-answer exchanges
between teachers and students
 Speech and listening comprehension
were taught
 Correct pronunciation and grammar
were emphasized
Critiques of Direct Method
Successful in private language schools
(small classes, individual attention and
intensive study)

 Required native speakers as teachers

 Its success depended on teacher’s skill and

personality more than on the methodology
itself
The Audio Lingual Method (1950’s)
 Outbreak of the World War II
Heightened the need to become orally
proficient
 “the Army Method” (an oral-based approach
to language learning)
 Charles Fries and Leonard Bloomfield
(structural linguist)
İdentify the grammatical structures and the
basic sentence patterns
 Practice these patterns by systematic
attention to pronunciation and intensive oral
drilling
Features of SLM
 New material is presented in dialogue form
 There is dependency on mimicry, memorization
of set phrases, and overlearning.
 There is little or no grammatical explanation.
Grammar is taught inductively.
 Great importance is attached to pronunciation.
 Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is
permitted.
 Successful responses are reinforced.
 There is great effort to get students to produce
error free utterances
How ALM differs from Direct Method
 ALM- grammar or structure is the starting point.
Language was identified with speech and speech
was approached through language

 DM- No basis in applied linguistics learners are

exposed to the language, use it and gradually
absorb its grammatical structures

 ALM differs from the Direct Method in that

vocabulary and grammar are carefully selected
and graded, and it’s based on behaviorist habit-
formation theory.
Structural-Situational Language
Teaching (1960’s-1080’s)
 Pragmatic version of Audiolingualism (UK)
 Language presentation and practice was
situationalized
 All techniques of ALM + situation (use of concrete
objects, pictures, and realia together with
gestures and actions)
 Speaking and listening (most important)
 Gave rise to the idea of PPP (presentation,
practice, production)
The Designer Method of the 1970’s
Chomsky- drew the attention to the “deep
structure” of language

 Earl Stevick- take account the affective

and interpersonal nature of language
learning and teaching
The Designer Method of the 1970’s & 1980’s

 Suggestopedia (Lazanov)
 Used relaxation as means of retaining
knowledge and material
Music plays a pivotal role (Baroque
music with its 60 beats per minute and its
specific rhythm created “relaxed
concentration” which led to “super
learning)
The Silent Way (Caleb Gattegno)
 Characterized by a problem-solving approach.
 Develops independence and autonomy and
encourages students to cooperate with each
other.
 Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or
creates rather than remembers and repeats
what is to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying
(mediating) physical objects).
 Learning is facilitated by problem solving the
material to be learned
Humanistic Approaches
 Community Language Teaching (developed by
Charles A. Curran)
Applies psychological counseling techniques to learning
 Learners in a classroom were not regarded as a “class” but
as a “group” in need of certain therapy and counseling.
 Basic procedures of CLL derives from counselor-client
relationship
 Open interpersonal communication and the role of
supportive community was emphasized
 CLL can also be linked to language alternation used in
bilingual education (lesson presented first in NL and again in
the SL)
Total Physical Response (James Asher)

 Adult second language learning as a parallel

process to child first language acquisition
 Undemanding in terms of linguistic production
 Attempts to teach language through physical
motor activity (by the use of imperatives)
1980’s Interactive views of language teaching
 Communicative Language Teaching
Learners learn a language through using it to
communicate
 Authentic and meaningful communication should
be the goal of classroom activities
Fluency is an important dimension of
communication
Communication involves the integration of different
language skills
 Learning is a process of creative construction and
involves trial and error
Spin-off Approaches of CLT
 These approaches share the same basic set of
principles of CLT, but which spell out
philosophical details or envision instructional
practices in somewhat different ways
The Natural Approach
Cooperative Language Teaching
 Content- Based Language Teaching
 Task-Based Language Teaching
Language Teaching Methodology
Theories of Language and Learning
 Nature of language
 Structural View of Language
 Functional View of Language
 Interactional View of Language
 Nature of Language Learning
Process-oriented theories
 What are the psychological and cognitive
processes involved (habit formation, induction,
inferencing, generalization)
 Condition-oriented theories
What are the conditions that need to be met for
these learning processes to be activated
•Your understanding of what language is
and how the learner learns will
determine to a large extent, your
philosophy of education, and how you
teach English: your teaching style, your
approach, methods and classroom
technique.
• Language is a system of structurally related
elements for the coding of meaning.

What dimension of language is prioritized?

Grammatical dimension

What needs to be taught?

 Phonological units
 Grammatical units and operations
 Lexical items
• Language is a vehicle for the expression of
functional meaning.

What dimension of language is prioritized?

semantic and communicative dimension of
language

What needs to be taught?

functions, notions of language
• Language is a vehicle for the realization of
interpersonal relations and for the
performance of social transactions between
individuals

What dimension of language is prioritized?

 Interactive dimension of language

What needs to be taught?

Patterns of moves, acts negotiation and
interaction found in conversational exchanges.
Elements and Sub-elements of Method
 Approach
Assumptions and beliefs about language teaching
and learning
 Design
A method is theoretically
Objectives
related to an approach, is
 Syllabus
 Activities organizationally determined
 Roles of Teachers by a design, and is practically
 Roles of Learners realized in procedure
 Materials
Definition of language:
A language is considered to be a
system of communicating with other
people using sounds, symbols and words in
expressing a meaning, idea or thought.
POPULAR IDEAS ABOUT
LANGUAGE LEARNING
1. Languages are learned
mainly through imitation
 Some children imitate a great deal
as they acquire their first language,
but they do not imitate everything
they hear. Instead, they selectively
imitate certain words or structures
that they are in the process of
learning.
 Imitation is clearly important in developing
pronunciation and intonation.

 For some advanced learners who are

determined to improve their pronunciation,
careful listening and imitation in a language lab
can be very valuable.

 For beginning learners, imitation and rote

memorization might not lead to much language
development.
If imitation doesn't lead to much language
development, then how can learners develop
their TL ability?

 Learners need to do more than recite bits of

accurate language (like the ones they repeat
in class).

 They actually learn as they make the effort

needed to understand and make themselves
understood in meaningful interaction.
2. Parents usually correct young
children when they make
grammatical errors
 Do parents usually correct young children when
they make grammatical errors?

 There is considerable variation in the extent to

which parents correct their children's speech.

 The variation is based partly on:

 the children's age
 the parents' social, linguistic, and
educational background
Parents’ Correction and Children’s Age

 When children are very young, parents rarely

comment on grammatical errors although
they may correct errors that are related to
politeness or if the choice of a word doesn't
make sense.

 As children reach school age, parents may

correct the kinds of non-standard speech that
they want their children to outgrow
Children cannot depend on corrective feedback of
parents in order to learn the basic structure of their
language. Why?

 Because parents tend to focus on meaning rather

than form when they correct children's speech.

 Thus, they may correct an incorrect word choice, an

incorrect statement of the facts, or a rude remark,
but they do not often react to errors that do not
interfere with communication.
The case for second language learners is more complex
than that of children.

 On the other hand, the evidence suggests that,

without feedback and guidance, second language
learners may persist in using certain ungrammatical
forms for years (fossilization).
3. Highly intelligent people are
good language learners
Are highly intelligent people good language learners?

 The kind of intelligence that is measured by IQ tests is

often a good predictor of success in classrooms
where the emphasis is on learning about the
language (e.g. grammar rules and vocabulary
items).

 However, in natural language learning settings and

classrooms where interactive language use is
emphasized, research has shown that learners with a
wide variety of intellectual abilities (not necessarily
those who score high in IQ tests) can be successful
language learners.
Are highly intelligent people good language
learners?

 This is especially true if the emphasis of is on oral

communication skills rather than metalinguistic knowledge.
 Most important, is the fact that language
learning involves a great variety of skills and
abilities.

 Students should not be excluded from

opportunities to learn another language on
the grounds that they do not have the
academic ability to succeed.
4. The best predictor of success
in SLA is motivation
 Students come to classrooms from
different backgrounds and life
experiences, all of which have
contributed to their motivation to
learn and attitudes toward the TL and
its community.
How can teachers influence learners' motivation?
They can do so by:
 making the classroom a supportive environment in
which students are stimulated, engaged in
activities that are appropriate to their age, interests,
and cultural backgrounds
 and, most importantly, where students can
experience success.

This in turn can contribute to positive motivation,

leading to still greater success.
5. The earlier an L2 is introduced in
school programs, the greater the
likelihood of success in learning
Is it true that the earlier an L2 is introduced in
school programs, the greater the likelihood of
success in learning?

 The decision about WHEN to introduce second or

foreign language instruction must depend on the
objectives of the language program in the particular
social context of the school.
When the objective is native-like performance in
the second language:

 then it may be better to begin exposure to the

language as early as possible.

 There is strong research evidence that those who

begin second language learning at an early age are
most likely to eventually be indistinguishable from (just
like) native speakers.
Disadvantages of an early start for second
language learning:

 If an early start means that children have little

opportunity to continue to develop their first
language, the resulting subtractive bilingualism may
have lasting negative consequences.

 Research shows that a good foundation in the child's

first language, including the development of literacy,
is a strong base to build on.
Children who can begin their schooling in a
language they already know (their first language
that is used at home):

 will be more self-confident

 will be able to learn more effectively in the
early school years
 will not lose valuable time in a period of
nothingness during which they struggle just to
understand what is happening in the
classroom.
When the target is NOT native-like performance,
the situation is quite different.

When would it be more efficient to begin second

language teaching later?

 If the goal of the educational program is basic

communicative skill not native-like proficiency.

 If there is a strong commitment to maintaining and

developing the child's 1st language.
 Older children (for example, ten-year old) are
able to catch up quickly to those who began
earlier (for example, at six- or seven-years old)
in programs offering only a few hours a week of
instruction.

 This is especially true if the foreign language

course includes a period of more intensive
exposure to the new language.

 All school programs should be based on

realistic estimates of how long it takes to
learn a second language.
 One or two hours a week-even for seven or
eight years-will not produce advanced second
language speakers.

 The 'drip-feed' approach often leads to

frustration as learners feel that they have been
studying 'for years' without making much
progress. Sadly, they are sometimes right about
this.
6. Most of the mistakes that second
language learners make are due to
interference from their first language
Is it true that most of the mistakes that second language
learners make are due to interference from their first
language?

 The first language has its positive and negative

influence on learning the second language.

 Knowledge of one or more languages can contribute

positively to many aspects of second or foreign
language learning. If the languages are relatively
close cousins (e.g. English and German), there is much
that learners already 'know'- including the alphabet,
cognate words, and some basic principles of syntax.
 When errors are caused by learners' perception of
some partial similarity between the first and
second languages, they may be difficult to
overcome, especially when learners are frequently
in contact with other learners who make the same
errors.
Is it true then that the first language (that is not close to the
TL, e.g. Arabic and English) has a very bad influence on TL
development?

NO.
 Second language learning is not simply a process of
putting second-language words into first-language
sentences.
 In fact, learners may not always be able to take
advantage of similarities unless they are pointed out to
them.
The first language is NOT the ONLY influence on second
language learning. What is the evidence?

 In such cases, second-language errors are evidence

of the learners' efforts to discover the structure of the
target language itself rather than attempts to transfer
patterns from their first language.
7. The best way to learn new
vocabulary is through reading
Is reading the best way to learn new vocabulary?

 It is absolutely true but it does not tell the whole story.

 Children expand their vocabulary dramatically during

their school years, and reading is the major source of
this growth.

 Second language learners can also increase their

vocabulary knowledge through reading.
 Research evidence suggests that second language
learners benefit from opportunities to read material
that is interesting and important to them.

 However, those who not only read but also receive

guidance from instruction (from teachers and learning
resources) and develop good strategies for learning
and remembering words will benefit more than those
who simply focus on getting the main ideas from a
text.
8. It is essential for learners to be
able to pronounce all the individual
sounds in the L2
 Research on pronunciation has shown that second
language speakers' ability to make themselves
understood (intelligibility) depends more on their
ability to reproduce the stress patterns than on their
ability to articulate each individual sound.

 Another important emphasis in current research is the

undeniable fact that most languages of the world are
spoken in many different varieties (different dialects
and accents).
 Thus, it no longer seems appropriate to insist that
learners be taught only one language variety (British
English or American English for example) or that only
native speakers of a particular variety are the best
teachers.

 Rather, learners need to learn to understand and

produce language varieties that will permit them to
engage in communicative interaction with the
interlocutor they are most likely to encounter (native
speakers or second language speakers, e.g. Indians or
French speaking English).
9. Once learners know roughly 1,000
words and the basic structure of a
second language, they can easily
participate in conversations with native
speaker
Does this mean that knowing words and sentence
structures is enough for language learners to understand
and make themselves understood?

NO.
 They also need to understand and be able to use
some of the pragmatic features of the TL. It might be
useful for them to focus on things like how speakers
show respect, apologize, or make requests.

 The cultural differences sometimes lead to

communication breakdown or misunderstandings,
even when the words and the sentence structures are
correct.
10. Teachers should present
grammatical rules one at a time, and
learners should practice examples of
each one before going on to another
Second language learning is NOT simply linear in its
development.

Learners:
 may use a particular form accurately at stage x
(suggesting that they have learned that form) e.g. went

 fail to produce the form at stage y (or make errors when

they attempt it) e.g. writed, wented, goed

 and produce it accurately again at stage z - e.g wrote,

went. The decline in accuracy at stage y may show that
learners are incorporating new information about the
language into their interlanguage.
 So, language development is not just adding one rule
after another.

 Rather, it involves processes of integrating new

language forms and patterns into an existing
interlanguage, readjusting and restructuring until all
the pieces fit.
11. Teachers should teach simple
language structures before complex
ones
Should teachers teach simple language structures
before complex ones?

NO.
 Research has shown that no matter how language is
presented to learners, certain structures are acquired
before others.

 This suggests that it is neither necessary nor desirable

to restrict learners' exposure to structures that are
perceived to be 'simple'
Does this mean that we can present complex structures
to learners?

 Second language learners benefit from the efforts of

native speakers and fluent bilinguals to modify speech
to help them understand.

 The language used in modified interaction may

contain a variety of linguistic structures, some 'simple'
and some 'complex'.

 However, it also includes a range of adjustments that

enable second language learners to engage in
interactions with native and more advanced speakers
of the second language more easily.
12. Learners' errors should be corrected
as soon as they are made in order to
prevent the formation of bad habits
 Errors are a natural part of language learning
process for both children learning their L1 children
and adults learning their L2.

 Teachers have a responsibility to help learners do

their best, and this includes the provision of explicit,
form-focused instruction and feedback on errors.
 When errors are persistent, especially when they are
shared by almost all students in a class, it is important
to bring the problem to their attention.

Does this mean that as soon as students are corrected,

they are expected to immediately adopt the correct
form or structure and start using it consistently?

 No, If the error is based on a developmental pattern,

the instruction or feedback may be useful only when
the learner is ready (in the right developmental stage)
for it. Therefore, it may be necessary for teachers to
repeat feedback on errors many times.
 Excessive feedback on error can have a negative
effect on motivation. Therefore, teachers must be
sensitive to their students' reactions to correction.
 Immediate reaction to errors in an oral
communication setting may embarrass some
students and discourage them from speaking.

 But for others, such correction is exactly what is

needed to help them notice a persistent error
at just the moment when it occurs.
13. Teachers should use materials that
expose students only to language structures
they have already been taught
Should teachers use materials that expose students only to
language structures they have already been taught?

 Students also need to develop strategies for dealing

with 'real' or 'authentic' material if they are eventually
going to be prepared for language use outside the
classroom. They do this first with the teacher's
guidance and then independently.
 We should remember that learners who successfully
acquire a second language outside classrooms
certainly are exposed to a great variety of forms and
structures they have not mastered.
14. When learners are allowed to interact
freely (for example, in group or pair
activities), they copy each other's mistakes
Do the learners copy each other’s mistakes when allowed
to interact freely?

 If the activities are well designed and learners are

appropriately matched, pair and group work provides
far more practice in speaking and participating in
conversations than a teacher-centered class ever
could.
 Research has shown that learners do NOT produce
any more errors in their speech when talking to
learners at similar levels of proficiency than they do
when speaking to learners at more advanced levels
or to native speakers.
 The research also shows, however, that learners
at similar levels cannot ordinarily provide each
other with information that would help to
correct those errors.
15. Students learn what they are taught
 Teachers know from experience that students
don't learn everything they are taught.

 Some teaching methods typically give learners

the opportunity to learn only a restricted
number of words and sentence types.
If the language teaching method provides richer language
input, does this mean that whatever is taught or made
available the input will be acquired by learners right away?

 No, some aspects of the second language emerge and

evolve according to 'natural' sequences of development
and learners may be more likely to learn certain language
features when they are developmentally 'ready'.

 Thus, attempting to teach aspects of language that are

too far away from the learner's current stage of
development will usually be frustrating.
 Other aspects of language, however, for example,
vocabulary, can be taught at any time, as long as the
learners are interested in the opportunity to learn and the
teaching methods are appropriate to the learner's age,
interests, needs, experiences, and learning styles.

So does this mean that learners ONLY learn what they are
taught?
 No, fortunately, learners can learn a great deal that no
one ever teaches them. They are able to use their own
internal learning mechanisms to discover many of the
complex rules and relationships that underlie the
language they are learning. In this sense, students learn
much more than they are taught.
16. Teachers should respond to
students' errors by correctly rephrasing
what they have said rather than by
explicitly pointing out the error
 Recast is a kind of feedback which has been found to
be by far the most common type of feedback in
second language classrooms.

What are the main advantages of 'recast'?

1.It does not interrupt the flow of interaction.
2.It is an indirect and polite way of correction.
3.It gives students the information they need without
embarrassing them.
Are recasts really effective in developing the learners
language ability?
 Research with adult learners in structure-based
classes (where the general focus is on grammar
and accurate language use) shows that learners
do respond to this kind of feedback.
 However, in content-based instruction (for example, immersion
classes) and in communicative instruction with younger
learners:

 more explicit forms of feedback have been found to be

more effective in getting learners to respond immediately.

 Recasts often appear to be misinterpreted. Learners seem

to hear them as confirmation of meaning rather than as
correction of form.

 In these situations, recasts have been found to be more

effective if the teacher has a method of signaling to the
student-tone of voice, gesture, or facial expression-that says
to the student, 'I think I understand what you are saying, and
I'm telling you how you can say it better‘.
17. Students can learn both language
and academic content simultaneously
in classes where the subject matter is
taught in their second language
What are the advantages of content-based
instruction?

 Motivation is increased when the material that is

used for language teaching has an important
value to the students. That is, it creates a genuine,
immediate need to learn the language.

 It is usually associated with the opportunity to

spend more time in contact with the language,
without losing out on instruction in other subject
matter.
 Research has confirmed that students in
content-based and immersion classes develop
comprehension skills, vocabulary, and general
communicative competence in the new
language.
What are the disadvantages of content-based
instruction?

 Teachers and researchers have found that the ability

to understand the content and to function in
classroom interaction does not ensure that students
will continue to improve in certain aspects of their
second language, especially in areas of accuracy on
language features that do not usually interfere with
meaning.

 Thus, for example, students can spend years in French

immersion without achieving accuracy in marking
nouns for gender or verbs for tense.
What is the solution?

 Studies in which an element of form-focused

instruction was added to the content-based
instruction have shown that, with guidance,
students can improve in these areas as well.

 Both teachers and students need to keep in

mind that content-based language teaching is
also language teaching.