UNIT 1 STAGES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING.

CURRENT
TRENDS IN THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

1. INTRODUCTION

By adopting a historical perspective we will see an obsession for the

search of the “right” method, a method which will work for all learners in
all contexts. But the truth is that there never was and probably never will
be a perfect method for all. All methods offer something positive, so it’s
important that we are aware of their methodologies so that we can
incorporate the advantages of each one in our classroom practice and we
can form a principled basis upon which to develop our own teaching
approaches and methods.
Since there is no general consensus regarding the terms approach,
method and technique and they are often used when talking about foreign
language teaching, I shall begin by briefly explaining them

2. METHOD, APPROACH AND THECHNIQUE

The term approach indicates that an idea or theory is applied.. the

teacher do something based on theoretical principles (i.e behaviourist
approach). Techniques are specific teaching procedures (i.e drilling
techniques). And finally method is a collection of principles or techniques
used in a systematic way (i.e audiolingual method)

3. STAGES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Although we have no evidence of language learning procedures in

ancient civilizations, it is thought the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians…
sent bilingual delegates.; while Romans were taught Greek by teacher-
slaves with a reading and then discussing the texts methodology.
During the middle ages, Latin was the most important language,
usually used as a second language because it was the language of education,
government and commerce, and it was taught in the monastic schools
through rote learning of grammar rules and translation.

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 In the 16th and 17th century, vernacular languages displaced Latin.
However it maintained a certain importance as a grammar and rhetoric
model for foreign language study
In the 18th century, other languages entered the curriculum of
European schools that were taught according to traditional methodology,
that is, textbooks were full of abstract grammar rules, lists of vocabulary
and sentences for translation, with very little oral practice (just reading)
In the 19th century the GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD was
the principal approach to language learning, although now most teachers
recognise that it does little to meet the students needs and interests.
This method derived from the way in which Latin and Greek were taught. It
was based almost exclusively on the analysis of written language and thee
main goal was to read and translate the classic works of literature.
Learning involved the memorisation of rules, paradigms and long lists
of vocabulary. Texts were selected by their prestigious content rather
than for their interest or level of linguistic difficulty. Listening and
speaking received little or no attention and the students’ mother tongue
was used as the means of instruction.

4. CURRENT TRENDS IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

4.1 THE REFORM MOVEMENT

By the end of the 19th century there was a reform movement which
represents a shift from Grammar-translation methods to Natural(direct)
methods. This came as a result of the interests in and observation of the
way a child learn its mother tongue. In general the reformers advocated:
the primacy of speech over writing, the importance of context to guess
meaning, the application of Phonetics to teaching and inductive learning.
Some of the linguists who participated in the reform were:
• MARCEL (gave importance to meaning and reading)
• PRENDERGAST (defended the use of contextual and situational
information and the grading of language)
• GOUIN (defended the importance of gestures, actions and context
for meaning)
• SWEET(suggested teaching the 4 skills and using graded material)
VIËTOR(placed emphasis on Speech patterns and Phonetics)

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 4.2 THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ASSOCIATION (1886)

The emphasis of reformers on the learning of phonetics lead to the

founding of an International Phonetic Association in1886 which brought
about the reform of language learning methodology. Reformers agreed on a
number of principles to provide theoretical foundations in 2nd language
teaching:
• Oral based language learning, so, oral forms are introduced before
written ones and phonetics are present in teacher training. The
mother tongue is used for explanations and checking comprehension
• Grammar is taught inductively, translation avoided and language is
used in context

4.3. THE DIRECT METHOD

Berlitz realised that the study of grammar rules and literary texts
was of little use when trying to understand and to be understood in a
foreign language, so he developed the Direct Method in the 19th century,
called like this because meaning is not translated but associated with the
foreign language.
This method is based on the active involvement of the learner in
speaking and listening to the foreign language in everyday situations. So
grammar is taught inductively, that is, through examples students derive
the rule.
There’s no use of the mother tongue, so students are encouraged to
think in the foreign language, not to translate. So, meaning is clear through
realia, pantomime and pictures
There’s an emphasis on good pronunciation and no attention is placed
on grammar rules and terminology
When the principles of the direct method were systematised into
teaching procedures the direct method developed into the Audiolingual
Method in USA and the Oral/Situational Language Teaching Method in the
UK
• Audiolingual Method: Learning is viewed as a formation of habits
through repetition and reinforcement. Students listen and repeat,
perform tasks of substitution and transformation known as drills.
There’s little discussion of grammatical rules and the emphasis is on
spoken language. Cognitive Code learning was against Audiolingualism
which views learning as a process between the organism an its
enviroment

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 • Oral/Situational Language Teaching Method: It highlights the
relationship between linguistic structures and social situations in
which they occur, so new language items are practised in situations
such as at the airport, office, etc. Unlike the direct method lexical
and grammatical items were carefully graded

5. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Communication is defined as the exchange of meanings between

individuals through a common system of symbols. It is very complex, but it
fulfils some characteristics which seem to apply to every situation.
According to Harmer, communicative teaching fulfils these characteristics:
• A person speaks because he wants, it’s his decision
• He has a communicative purpose, he wants to get a result
• He selects from a store, choosing appropriate language for a purpose
These factors enter in the classroom with the arrival of the
Communicative Language teaching. During the 1970’s there was a reaction
against traditional methods which stressed the teaching of grammatical
forms. Now the Communicative Approach stresses communication. It
emphasises “communicative” foreign language teaching by focusing on the
learners’ knowledge of the functions of language and their ability to select
appropriate kinds of language for using in specific situations. The most
relevant theories of the communicative approach are: Silent Way,
Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, Total Physical Response

• Suggestopedia: its aim is to create an atmosphere of relaxation in

which learning is incidental
• Silent way: in which each student has to learn how to learn using a
question answer basis and coloured visual stimuli
• Community Language Learning: it takes into account the students
feelings and reactions to language learning, to foster links between
teacher and student
• Total Physical Response: it is the idea that the combination of
listening and body movement leads to language acquisition

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 But, What does Communicative Competence means?
For Chomsky language consists of a finite system or rules which
allows us to produce an infinite set of grammatically correct sentences. He
believed people had a subconscious knowledge of grammatical rules that he
called “Linguistic Competence”
By the contrary Hymes believed that a language was much more than
a system of rules. According to him effective communication was reached
by the ability of the speaker to select certain grammatical structures
depending on the social situation, this is what he called “Communicative
Competence”.

Now we can answer, What does Communicative Competence involves?

Students must Know that linguistic exponents can be used for a
single function and vice verse, that one linguistic exponent has different
functions. So, if students acquire communicative competence they are able
to choose the most appropriate form given the social situation and the role
of the interlocutors

Communicative Competence involves:

• Linguistic/Grammar Competence: It means recognising and using

grammatical structures ;improving vocabulary from the sources;
using a functional model to satisfy communication needs; using
suitable pronunciation, intonation, rhythm and stress

• Sociolinguistic Competence: It involves Knowing the rules to use

language according to the situation and the speaker. So, in a given
social context they must adapt their level of language to the
situation where the communication takes place

• Discourse Competence: Learners have to use discursive markers

which give coherence and cohesion to the language. It has to do
mainly with writing. Being discourse competent helps to understand
what the interlocutor is going to say next

• Strategic Competence: It involves the students’ use of several

learning strategies:
- Applying to the foreign language strategies from the
mother tongue
- Using context to solve problems

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 - Using verbal/non-verbal strategies to compensate
conversation breakdowns
- Interacting new with acquired models of language
- Reflecting on their own learning and previous Knowledge

• Sociocultural Competence: Knowledge of the cultural aspects of

the target language speaking countries

5.1. THE ROLE OF STUDENT AND TEACHER IN THE

COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

As I have mentioned communication in classroom must include all the

five linguistic competences. The application of the communicative approach
in our classrooms brings about not only changes in the role of the teachers
and learner but also changes in language activities. Krashen distinguished
acquisition (subconscious process, more successful and longer lasting) and
learning (conscious process, it results only in knowing about the langue): the
teacher plays an important role in helping the learner to acquire the ability
to enter in communication.

In this approach the teacher is a facilitator of the students’

learning. So, he has many roles to fulfil: he is a manager of classroom
activities which promote communication; he acts as advisor, answering
questions and monitoring performance; other times he may be a co-
communicator in the communicative activity along with students.
As regards students, they are primarily involved in the task of
communicating. Spoken language is given great importance, and its use is
encouraged by using the target language in classroom interaction. The
principle is to learn to speak by speaking. With reference to writing skills.
An awareness of text-type, layout and register promote comprehension;
and there’s an emphasis on the process of writing, not on the final product.
A further characteristic of this approach is the use of authentic
materials in order to give students the opportunity to develop strategies
for understanding language as it is actually used by native speakers

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 5.2 COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

A communicative activity is any act from our daily life in which two or
more interlocutors interact in an oral or written way to get information
they wish to know for certain reasons

Features that communicative activities share:

• There’s an information gap
• They are interacting and cooperating
• They have a goal
• Materials and situation must be real
• Language must be challenging, a bit higher than students level
• They give an idea of competition
• The four skills are involved
• Students have the opportunity to express themselves
• The student is the protagonist
• They practice choosing register, grammar and vocabulary
• They can practice grammar points without being aware

According to Harmer communicative activities share a desire to

communicate, have a communicative purpose, content not form, a variety of
language, no teacher intervention, no materials control. Apart from this,
they should follow 3 principles: Communicative Learning principle (real
communication to promote learning), task principle(activity in which
language is used for carrying out a meaningful task promote learning),
meaningful principle (meaningful language supports the learning process)

Planning activities. Planning a unit of work must move from controlled

to free activities
• Controlled activities: Those in which the teacher can predict the
language students are going to use. Strategies: identifying,
repeating, substituting, transforming specific language exponents
• Semi-controlled activities: those in which students take decisions on
the language from among a limited core and in a specific context.
Strategies: Skimming, scanning, cued dialogues, pair dictation
• Free activities: those in which students work on their own, deciding
what language they are likely to use depending on the situation with a
clearly set aim in mind

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 These activities also move from what could be called:
• Pre-communicative activities: They help the learner to be ready to
interact in specific communication since they acquire specific
contents which will make it possible for them to carry out other
tasks later on; their aim is to improve the linguistic competence
• Semi-communicative activities: they imitate real communication;
students interchange communication, strategic competence is
important
• Communicative activities: where all competences are involved

These activities contribute to the increase of talking, listening time

of our pupils, which is the main objective in Secondary Education

6. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, although there is no perfect method communicative

techniques tend to be more appealing and motivating for students, through
them students see the foreign language in a useful way and close to the
real world, to their world. This enhances the motivation that is so
important to attract students’ interest in the new language

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Some of the books I have checked to elaborate this unit, all of them
published in the 2nd half of the 20th century, are the following:

• BROWN,G. & JULE,G. 1983. Teaching the Spoken Language.

• CANALE,M. & SWAIM,M. 1980. Communicative Approaches to
Second Language Teaching and Testing
• CHOMSKY,N.1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
• HYMES,D. 1972. On Communicative Competence