An overview of approaches and methods in language teaching.

There has been a continual debate about how to describe the processes of teaching and learning a language in different contexts and what the best ways of doing it are. Much current teaching practice has also been the direct result of such a discussion. There have been some traditional techniques which have been applied for many years.

In more recent times, some teaching models have had a strong influence in the classroom practices and which teachers still make use or refer to. The idea here is to provide an overview of these methods and approaches, as well as think of other possibilities like building our own path and pioneers in our teaching practices, as it has been poited out by authors like Kumaravadivelu (2006). Along the years, some of most popular methods and approaches are: grammar translation, audio-lingualism, presentation-practice and production (PPP), communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based learning (TBL).

The Grammar Translation Method was probably the most commonly used way of learning a language for hundreds of years. Inspired by the teaching of classical languages such as Latin and Greek, the method worked by analyzing the grammar and by finding equivalents between the students’ language and the target one. The learning was based on the construction of sentences to be translated, corrected grammatically and the focus was concerned on the written language . Obviously, grammar and translation as well as vocabulary play very important roles along different levels of language learning, but a strict concentration in structural aspects may prevent students from acquiring the kind of natural language input which may enable them to learn language as a whole. It is important to point out here that “the danger” with this method was that it taught people about the language rather than the language itself. Establishing different approaches to language classes was necessary, especially the focus on speaking skills rather than just writing.

One method heavily based on psychological behaviorist theories was the so called Audio Lingualism. These conceptions suggested that much learning is the result of habit formation through conditioning. So audio-lingual classes concentrated on long repetition- drill stages in which the teacher expected the students would acquire good language habits such as native-like pronunciation. Audio Lingualism gained much popularity in the US where it was called the Army Method and also in many countries studying English as a foreign language (EFL) especially because learners could actually listen and repeat the target language orally. Critics of this method argued that learning a language was far more subtle than simply work on habit formation, repetitive drills and conditioning students to learn structural aspects of the language. It cannot be denied the fact that drilling is very useful in low level stages of learning, but there was a need of real contextualization of the teaching practices.

The Presentation Practice and Production (PPP) method was very similar to the audio lingual approach. It consisted on drills presented to the students as a language situation in which students could practice in a more controlled way at first and later talk more freely as a stage known as Production as a three-stage activity. But still classes were too much attached to language structure what was more effective for beginners but too mechanical and predictable for intermediate and advanced levels in the language learning process.

At this time there was a need to apply a different approach to language classes, learners should have a reason to interact. Functional aspects of language had been pointed out as essential features of a language; it had to be seen beyond the structural view. Language involves acts of speech contextualized by situations as inviting, agreeing, disagreeing, suggesting, etc. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) developed from the idea that students need exposure to the language and opportunities to use it and once learners are motivated to do so, the learning process will take care of itself. Inspired by these theoretical views, the task- based learning (TBL) put the emphasis on tasks rather than in language. Learners would be challenged to interact in specific situations, a task in order to “solve” a problem by interacting, negotiating and communicating. Negociate became a key word for TBL practioners especially for speaking tasks. The teacher would provide guidance and language tools fitting to a contextualized situation, so students could actually use language more effectively most of the time. This would build up the learners’ confidence as well as more positive results in the learning process.

Debate still continues, but more important than trying to find a “perfect methodology” is to be aware of the teaching context and make use of  adequate approaches in different learning processes always taking into account the faxt that different contexts (ESL/EFL) will require different approaches. We should frequently ask ourselves what those learners' needs are. What English should I teach? What is the cultural relevance? What is my social role as a language teacher? We certainly have more questions than answers, but that is definitely a construction in process with several posibilities.