Recent Innovations in Language Teaching Methodology

Abstract

Five innovative methodologies currently practiced in the teaching of foreign languages are discussed: the Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, the Comprehension Approach, and the Communicative Approach. In order to understand how these methodologies are innovative, a discussion of teaching practices during the first half of the twentieth century is offered. Following the historical perspective, the five innovative methodologies are analyzed in terms of their goals, features of the teaching and learning process, characteristics of teachers and learners, and their views of language and culture. Then a summary of what they have in common is provided. The article concludes with the identification of questions concerning methodologies that need to be addressed in the field and with some specific recommendations for a national agenda for foreign language instruction.

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References

1. The description of this method and the others discussed in this article have been drawn from Diane Larsen-Freeman , Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986).

2. J. Donald Bowen , Harold Madsen , and Ann Hilferty , TESOL Techniques and Procedures (Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1985), p. 20.

3. Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rogers , Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 10.

4. Algernon Coleman , The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages in the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1929).

5. Richards and Rogers , Approaches and Methods, p. 11.

6. Bowen, Madsen , and Hilferty , TESOL Techniques and Procedures, p. 33.

7. Richards and Rogers , Approaches and Methods, p. 45.

8. Bowen, Madsen , and Hilferty , TESOL Techniques and Procedures, p. 37.

9. Richards and Rogers , Approaches and Methods, p. 60.

10.

10. Larsen-Freeman , Techniques and Principles, pp. 2-3.

11.

11. Caleb Gattegno , The Common Sense of Teaching Foreign Languages (New York: Educational Solutions, 1976), p. vii.

12.

12. Georgi Lozanov , “Suggestology and Suggestopedia,” in Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching, ed. Robert W. Blair (Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1982), p. 151.

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13. Charles A. Curran , “A Linguistic Model for Learning and Living in the New Age of the Person,” in Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching, ed. Blair , p. 141.

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14. Jennybelle Rardin, personal communication, 1984.

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15. Charles A. Curran , Counseling-Learning in Second Languages (Apple River, IL: Apple River Press, 1976), p. 41.

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16. James J. Asher , Learning Another Language through Actions: The Complete Teacher's Guidebook, 2nd ed. (Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Production, 1982).

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17. Stephan Krashen and Tracy Terrell , The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom (Hayward, CA: Alemany Press, 1983).

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18. Harris Winitz , The Learnables (Kansas City, MO: International Linguistics, 1978).

19.

19. Larsen-Freeman , Techniques and Principles, p. 131.

20.

20. Keith Morrow , “Principles of Communicative Methodology,” in Communication in the Classroom, ed. Keith Johnson and Keith Morrow (Essex: Longman, 1981), pp. 62-63.

21.

21. William Littlewood , Communicative Language Teaching (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), p. 19.

22.

22. Bowen, Madsen , and Hilferty , TESOL Techniques and Procedures, p. 29.

23.

23. Diane Larsen-Freeman and Marianne Celce-Murcia , “Defining the Challenge: An Additional Choice in Course Design” (Paper delivered at the TESOL Convention, New York City, NY, 1985).

24.

24. S. Pit Corder , “The Significance of Learners' Errors,” International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5(4) (Dec. 1967).