A Survey on Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching

史素菡+姜乐伟+井媛+张迎+李芝良+范洁

【Abstract】This is a survey to describe and analyze representative teaching approaches and methods which generalize the creative outcomes of antecedents， who give great contribution to the research of language teaching approaches and methods so as to bring inspiration to language teaching in practices.

【Key words】 survey； approaches and Methods； Language Teaching

【中圖分类号】H319 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2017）51-0133-01

The paper talks about the nature of approaches and methods in language teaching， in which the model demonstrating any language teaching method is put forward， the model is identified at the levels of approach， design， and procedure， which sets a basic framework for the description and analysis of the approaches and methods in language. The author attempt to make each of those features of approach， design， and procedure explicit with reference to the major language teaching approaches and methods in use today.

The oral approach and situational language teaching approach began with the work of British applied linguists in the 1920s and 1930s. Two of the leaders were palmer and Hornby. What they attempted was to develop a more scientific foundation for an oral approach to teaching English than was evidenced in the Direct Method. It was called “oral approach” and was changed into “situational approach” after 1950s. The situational approach is the development of oral approach. This method is familiar for us and the sponsors have not only done a lot on vocabulary， grammar and textbooks， but also done a lot of teaching experiments by themselves.

The audiolingual method began in 1943 with the antetype of Army Method， like the Direct Method， derived from the intensity of contact with the target language rather than from any well-developed methodological basis. The emergence of the Audiolingual Method resulted from the increased attention given to foreign language teaching in the United States toward the end of the 1950s. Audiolingualism holds that language learning is like other forms of learning. Since language is a formal， rule-governed system， it can be formally organized to maximize teaching and learning efficiency.

The Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） is to be found in the changes in the British language teaching tradition dating from the late 1960s. Yalden （1983） discusses six Communicative Language Teaching design alternatives， ranging from a model in which communicative exercises are grafted onto an existing structural syllabus， to a learner-generated view of syllabus design， Howatt distinguishes between a “strong” and a “weak” version of Communicative Language Teaching.endprint

Total physical Response （TPR） is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action； it attempts to teach language through physical （motor） activity developed by James Asher. It draws on several traditions， including developmental psychology， learning theory， and humanistic pedagogy. It is a sense a revival and extension of Palmer and Palmers English through Actions， updated with references to more recent psychological theories.

The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb Cattegno. It is based on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom and the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible. Silence is considered the best vehicle for learning， because in Silence students concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the potential means to its accomplishment. sequence and timing in Silent Way classes are more important than in many kinds of languages teaching classes， and the teachers sensitivity to and management of them is critical.

In the above sections， the fundamental characteristics of eight language teaching proposals in terms of approach， design， and procedure have been examined. The use of a common model for the analysis of different teaching philosophies is needed to define elements that are common to all approaches and methods and to highlight areas where approaches and methods differ.

References：

[1]Ashton-Warner， S.1965. Teacher. New York： Bantam.

[2]Cohen， D.N.1984.Historical TEFL： a case study. RELC Journal 51（1）：30-50.

[3]Curran， C.1976. Counseling-Learning in Second Languages. Apple River， Ill： Apple River Press.

[4]Glass， G. V. and F. S. Ellett. 1980. Evaluation research. Annual Review of Psychology 31：211-28.

[5]Kennedy， G. 1973.Conditions for language learning. In J.W. Oller and J. C. Richards（eds.）， Focus on the Learner， pp.66-80. Rowley， Mass. Newbury House.endprint