Traditional Methods of Language Teaching
The paper discuses the various traditional methods of language teaching, namely:
Grammar Translation Method
The Audio-lingual Method
The Direct Method
The Silent Way
The Communicative Approach
Cognitive code learning
The Natural Approach
Behaviorist approach
Functional-Notional Approach and The task-based approach
The paper discusses each approach in details and describes its various chief principles and how it helps both teachers and students to teach, understand, learn, and practice all the skills they learn through these approaches.
Grammar Translation Method
This method involves the learner to spend a lot of time in understanding the language structure. Though both listening as well as speaking suffer because of it. However, grammar and vocabulary are being stressed throughout the teaching method.
The grammar translation method has been derived from traditional approaches to the teaching of Latin and Greek in the nineteenth century (Selected Lesson Plans). It was originally used to teach 'dead' languages as well as literatures for instance Latin and Greek, and was accounted for its heavy bias towards written work to the virtual leaving out of oral production. However, its main features are as follow (Kitao):
careful analysis of the target written language, particularly its grammar.
The Grammar rules are presented and learned clearly From bilingual word lists, vocabulary is learned paramount use of translation exercises
The medium of instruction is mother tongue
Less or no attention is paid to speaking and listening skills.
The Audio-lingual Method
Also known, as the aural-oral method is a self-teaching method. The audio lingual method resembles the Direct Method and its learning is based on repetition of dialogues about every day situations that are copied and is practiced to make the reply automatic and both reading and writing are the reinforcements of what the learner practices.
The Audio-Lingual Method also permits the learner to communicate fast but within the limited range that the repetition allows and provides a good comprehension only if the speaker exercise what the learner has studied. However, not only reading is limited, but also an understanding of how to use the language is very bounded. Thus, this method is used when a live trainer is not available (Welcome to ELT Net). Its main features are given as follow:
Speaking and listening capability lead ability in reading and writing
The mother tongue usage is discouraged in the classroom
Language skills are habit formulation; therefore, students should practice specific patterns of language through structured dialogues and drills till the language is adequately practiced for replies to be automatic.
The Direct Method
The Direct Method provides the learner the ability to communicate fast since the learner is encouraged to be creative during practice. It also provides the widest range of ability to understand what other person says to him as well as in developing his potential to speak.
This method is of choice for teaching with a live trainer and where speaking and listening are most vital and valuable. However, the direct method is developed as a reaction against the grammar-translation method (Capes - History of Language Teaching 2). Below are its key features:
The target language is only used in class
The learner is vigorously involved in using the language in realistic day-to-day circumstances
Encouragement is given to students to think in the target language
First speaking is taught and later only reading and writing (HET Team; Sim).
The Silent Way
The Silent Way is the name given to a method of language teaching that was developed by Caleb Gattegno. This traditional teaching method make use of imitate, gesture, all kinds of visual aids that includes color-coded pronunciation wall charts and, specially, Cuisiniere rods. In this process, the teacher has the aim to encourage the student of the language to be progressively more self-reliant and independent of the teacher where teacher just guides the complete process but saying as less as possible (Benstein).
It is largely by such means, that Gattegno as well as followers argued that learners appropriately retain grammatical structures and vocabulary items at a deeper level of awareness.
Thus learning theories that come under Gattegno's work were that learning a language is more effectual if learners take responsibility for their learning by finding out means for themselves instead of simply repeating input from the teacher (Capes - History of Language Teaching 2).
The Communicative Approach
This is an approach to foreign language teaching. This method highlights the learner's ability to use the language correctly in particular situations and makes the learners 'communicatively competent. However, learners should be able to choose and decide a specific kind of language and should know when, where and with whom they should use it (Sil International).
Furthermore, one of the major challenges of the communicative approach is to put together the functions of a language, which are information...
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