Second language study in French universities includes both modern language (literary) and foreign language (communicative) approaches, although teaching is dominated by the literary strand. Traditional educational models based on the transmission of knowledge are unable to accommodate recent progress in our understanding of learning theory, which…

Airs pros and cons of direct method, grammar translation method, and audiolingual method in foreign language teaching. Suggests that the eclectic method which does not follow one principle, but combines three methods and follows psycholinguistic issues, is most effective. (DS)

Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, March 1971, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (DS)

This Middlebury College summer 1974 commencement address is an informal presentation of the author's experiences as a language learner. The effectiveness of such pedagogical methods as the grammar-translation, audio-lingual, and "balanced" approaches, and of language learning with the aid of an informant, is discussed. It is concluded that, given…

A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A LARGE SCALE, TWO-YEAR EXPERIMENTAL STUDY COMPARING AN AUDIOLINGUAL WITH A TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES IS PRESENTED. THIS EXPERIMENT WAS CARRIED OUT WITH STUDENTS IN FIRST- AND SECOND-YEAR GERMAN CLASSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FROM 1960 TO 1962. RESULTS OF TESTS SEEM TO…

THE AMBIGUITY AND AMBIVALENCE THAT CHARACTERIZE ALL DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PERTAINING TO LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY ARE DERIVED FROM THE "DOUBLE NATURE" OF THE SUBJECT. TO COMPLICATE THE SITUATION FURTHER, THERE IS NO CERTAINTY THAT EITHER THE "CONDITIONED" OR "CONCEPTUAL" MODES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING REALLY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER. THE…

The question in English-As-Second-Language (ESL) classrooms is not whether a teaching method is good or not, but whether the teacher knows how, for what purpose, for what kind of students, and in what language situation a particular method is used to enhance learning effectively. In teaching English to Chinese students at Xi'an Foreign Language…

This paper presents historical information about language teaching methods and focuses on "formal" and "functional" strategies of teaching and learning. Particular attention is directed toward the immersion type of education. A table that lists developments in language teaching theory from 1840-1977 is presented. A table that summarizes…

Language, considered as a liberal art, is examined in the light of other philosophical viewpoints concerning the nature of language in relation to second language instruction in this paper. Critical of an earlier mechanistic audio-lingual learning theory, translation approaches to language learning, vocabulary list-oriented courses, graduate…

Trends in foreign language teaching are indicated through an examination of studies and projects conducted during the period 1953-58. Areas covered are the FLES programs, the problems of articulation, the language curriculum in secondary schools and colleges, teacher education, research interpretation, and testing as a key to evaluation. The…