Ingls y su Enseanza II Prof Adriana M.

Fernndez
A Brief History of English Language Teaching
(Summarized from Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching by J. Ri!ards " #. Rodgers. $%&'. ()P. (!a*
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(!anges in language ,ea!ing me,!ods ,!roug!ou, !is,ory !a-e refle,ed
reogni,ion of !anges in ,!e .ind of *rofiieny learners need/ su! as a mo-e ,o0ard
oral *rofiieny ra,!er ,!an reading om*re!ension as ,!e goal of language s,udy1 ,!ey
!a-e also refle,ed !anges in ,!eories of ,!e na,ure of language and of language
learning.
I, !as been es,ima,ed ,!a, some si2,y *er en, of ,!e 0orld3s *o*ula,ion ,oday is
mul,ilingual. 4o,! from a on,em*orary and a !is,orial *ers*e,i-e/ bilingualism or
mul,iul,uralism is ,!e norm ra,!er ,!an ,!e e2e*,ion. I, is fair/ ,!en/ ,o say ,!a,
,!roug!ou, !is,ory foreign language learning !as al0ays been an im*or,an, *ra,ial
onern. 5!ereas ,oday Englis! is ,!e 0orld3s mos, 0idely s,udied foreign language/
fi-e !undred years ago i, 0as 6a,in/ for i, 0as ,!e dominan, language of edua,ion/
ommere/ religion and go-ernmen, in ,!e 0es,ern 0orld. In ,!e si2,een,! en,ury/
!o0e-er/ Fren!/ I,alian and Englis! gained in im*or,ane as a resul, of *oli,ial
!anges in Euro*e/ and 6a,in gradually beame dis*laed as ,!e language of s*o.en and
0ri,,en ommunia,ion. #!e deline of 6a,in broug!, 0i,! i, a ne0 7us,ifia,ion for
,ea!ing i,1 6a,in 0as said ,o de-elo* in,elle,ual abili,ies/ and ,!e s,udy of 6a,in
grammar beame an end in i,self.
As modern languages began ,o en,er ,!e urriulum of Euro*ean s!ools in ,!e
eig!,een,! en,ury/ ,!ey 0ere ,aug!, using ,!e same basi *roedures ,!a, 0ere used for
,ea!ing 6a,in. #e2,boo.s onsis,ed of s,a,emen,s of abs,ra, grammar rules/ lis,s of
-oabulary and sen,enes for ,ransla,ion. S*ea.ing ,!e foreign language 0as no, ,!e
goal/ and oral *ra,ie 0as limi,ed ,o s,uden,s reading aloud ,!e sen,enes ,!ey !ad
,ransla,ed. #!ese sen,enes 0ere s,ru,ured ,o illus,ra,e ,!e gramma,ial sys,em of ,!e
language and onse8uen,ly bore no rela,ion ,o ,!e language of real ommunia,ion.
4y ,!e nine,een,! en,ury/ ,!is a**roa! based on ,!e s,udy of 6a,in !ad beome
,!e s,andard 0ay of s,udying foreign languages in s!ools. 9ral 0or. 0as redued ,o an
absolu,e minimum/ 0!ile a !andful of 0ri,,en e2erises/ ons,ru,ed a, random/ ame as
a sor, of a**endi2 ,o ,!e rules in ,e2,boo.s.
#!e goal of foreign language s,udy 0as ,o learn a language in order ,o read i,s
li,era,ure or in order ,o benefi, from ,!e men,al disi*line and in,elle,ual de-elo*men,
,!a, resul, from foreign language s,udy. #!e sen,ene 0as ,!e basi uni, of ,ea!ing and
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Ingls y su Enseanza II Prof Adriana M. Fernndez
language *ra,ie. :rammar 0as ,aug!, dedu,i-ely/ i.e./ by *resen,a,ion and s,udy of
grammar rules/ 0!i! 0ere ,!en *ra,ised ,!roug! ,ransla,ion e2erises/ and ,!e
s,uden,3s na,i-e language 0as ,!e medium of ins,ru,ion. #!is me,!odology domina,ed
Euro*e for a en,ury/ from ,!e $&;<3s ,o ,!e $%;<3s/ and in modified forms i, is
some,imes used in some *ar,s of ,!e 0orld s,ill ,oday/ ,!oug! 0i,! no, many ad-oa,es.
For many/ foreign language learning mean, ,!e ,edious e2*eriene of memorizing
endless lis,s of -oabulary and unusable grammar rules.
#o0ard ,!e mid=nine,een,! en,ury se-eral fa,ors on,ribu,ed ,o a 8ues,ioning
and re7e,ion of ,!is me,!od. Inreased o**or,uni,ies for ommunia,ion among
Euro*eans rea,ed a demand for oral *rofiieny in foreign languages. Ini,ially ,!is
rea,ed a mar.e, for on-ersa,ion boo.s and *!rase boo.s in,ended for *ri-a,e s,udy/
bu, language ,ea!ing s*eialis,s also ,urned ,!eir a,,en,ion ,o ,!e 0ay modern
languages 0ere being ,aug!, in seondary s!ools. #!e Fren!man Marel ($>%?=$&%'+/
0!o em*!asized ,!e im*or,ane of meaning in learning/ *ro*osed ,!a, reading be ,aug!,
before o,!er s.ills. #!e Englis!man Prendergas, ($&<'=$&&'+ 0as one of ,!e firs, ,o
reord ,!e obser-a,ion ,!a, !ildren use on,e2,ual and si,ua,ional ues ,o in,er*re,
u,,eranes and ,!a, ,!ey use memorized *!rases and @rou,inesA in s*ea.ing. Be
*ro*osed ,!e firs, @s,ru,ural syllabusA/ ad-oa,ing ,!a, learners be ,aug!, ,!e mos, basi
s,ru,ural *a,,erns ouring in ,!e language.
#!is 0or. of indi-idual language s*eialis,s refle,s ,!a, edua,ors reognized
,!e need for s*ea.ing *rofiieny ra,!er ,!an reading om*re!ension/ grammar or
li,erary a**reia,ion as ,!e goal for foreign language *rogrammes. #!ere 0as an in,eres,
in !o0 !ildren learn languages. Bo0e-er/ ,!ese ideas 0ere de-elo*ed ou,side ,!e
on,e2, of es,ablis!ed irles of edua,ion and/ ,!erefore/ la.ed ,!e means for 0ider
dissemina,ion/ ae*,ane/ and im*lemen,a,ion. #!is Reform Mo-emen,/ as i, 0as
referred ,o/ laid ,!e founda,ions for ,!e de-elo*men, of ne0 0ays of ,ea!ing languages
and raised on,ro-ersies ,!a, !a-e on,inued ,o ,!e *resen, day.
#!ese indi-idual effor,s began ,o !ange ,o0ard ,!e end of ,!e nine,een,!
en,ury/ 0!en a more onerned effor, arose in 0!i! ,!e in,eres,s of reform=minded
language ,ea!ers/ and linguis,s/ oinided. #ea!ers and linguis,s began ,o 0ri,e abou,
,!e need for ne0 a**roa!es ,o language ,ea!ing/ and ,!roug! ,!eir *am*!le,s/ boo.s/
s*ee!es and ar,iles/ ,!e founda,ion for more 0ides*read *edagogial reforms 0as laid
(,!e Reform Mo-emen,+
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Ingls y su Enseanza II Prof Adriana M. Fernndez
6a,er on/ ,!e disi*line of linguis,is 0as re-i,alized. P!one,is/ ,!e sien,ifi
analysis and desri*,ion of ,!e sound sys,ems of languages/ 0as es,ablis!ed/ gi-ing ne0
insig!,s in,o s*ee! *roesses. 6inguis,s em*!asized ,!a, s*ee!/ ra,!er ,!an ,!e 0ri,,en
0ord/ 0as ,!e *rimary form of language. #!e In,erna,ional P!one,i Assoia,ion 0as
founded in $&&' and i,s In,erna,ional P!one,i Al*!abe, 0as designed ,o enable ,!e
sounds of any language ,o be aura,ely ,ransribed.
6inguis,s ,oo beame in,eres,ed in ,!e on,ro-ersies ,!a, emerged abou, ,!e bes,
0ay ,o ,ea! foreign languages and argued ,!a, sound me,!odologial *rini*les s!ould
be based on a sien,ifi analysis of language and ,!e s,udy of *sy!ology. In ,!is 0ay/
many differen, me,!odologies !a-e de-elo*ed ,!roug! ,ime/ ea! ans0ering ,!e
demands of ,!e geogra*!ial or !is,orial momen, in 0!i! ,!ey 0ere de-elo*ed/ and
among ,!e mos, modern ones/ ,!ere are ,!ose 0!i! are based on a ne0 a**roa! ,!a,
0as being born around ,!e $%'<3s/ A**lied 6inguis,is/ ,!e sien,ifi s,udy of Seond or
Foreign 6anguage #ea!ing and 6earning.=
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