Second Language Teaching Approaches

Jul 27, 2024

Second Language Teaching Approaches

Grammar Translation Method (GTM)

  • Origin: Late 19th and early 20th centuries
  • Purpose: Enrich literature and reading proficiency in classical languages (e.g., Latin, Greek)
  • Goals:
    • Enable reading and translation of target language literature
    • Enhance general intellectual development
  • Characteristics:
    • Classes taught in mother tongue
    • Translation of literary extracts
    • Vocabulary taught in isolated word lists
    • Emphasis on synonyms and antonyms
    • Little/no attention to pronunciation
    • Early focus on reading difficult texts
    • Emphasis on grammar explanations
    • Writing in target language
    • Memorization of vocabulary and grammar rules
  • Teacher Use:
    • Focus on grammar and sentence structure
    • Easy construction of grammar tests
    • Not reliant on verbal teaching
    • Suitable for teachers fluent in students' primary language

SWOT Analysis of GTM

  • Strengths:
    • Vocabulary acquisition
    • Reading and writing skills improvement
    • Develops mental and intellectual abilities
    • Easier for teachers with fewer specialized skills
    • Literature enriches multiple potentials of learners
  • Weaknesses:
    • Poor listening and speaking skills
    • Unnatural pronunciation
    • Lack of communication
    • Less engaging
  • Opportunities:
    • Learning new languages via textbooks
    • Bilingual vocabulary learning
  • Threats:
    • Lack of interaction and Student Talking Time (STT)

Audiolingualism

  • Focus: Learning grammatical and phonological structure for speaking and listening
  • Theoretical Basis: Behaviorism and structural linguistics
  • Characteristics:
    • Emphasis on repetition and mechanical drills
    • Error correction
    • Mastering building blocks of language
    • Stimulus-response-reinforcement pattern
    • Spoken language prioritized over written
    • Accurate pronunciation and structure control

Cognitive Approach

  • Focus: Mental processes like memory, problem solving
  • Influence: Reaction to behaviorism
  • Teacher Role: Facilitator of learning
    • Adapts foreign language structure to learner needs
    • Acknowledges role of mistakes
  • Learner Focus: Understanding language structure over usage facility
  • Advantages:
    • Revival of grammar in classrooms
    • Emphasis on guided discovery of rules
    • Rejection of habit formation
    • Learning requires cognitive processing
    • Creative language use
  • Disadvantages:
    • Theoretical rather than pedagogical
    • Limited use of authentic materials
    • Time-intensive for teachers
    • Overemphasis on cognitive processes
    • Ignores individual personalities and cultural factors

Chomsky's Influence

  • Rejected behaviorism and structuralism
  • Proposed the theory of universal grammar (UG)
  • Introduced concept of Language Acquisition Device (LAD)