Language teaching methods are used by teachers to practice in the classroom to teach different languages. There are lots of methods , we are going to analyse the top used ones. Let’s learn together how these methods were created and how they are used within a class.
1. Grammar Translation Method
This is one of the oldest language teaching method. This method originated from the practice of teaching Latin. In the early 16th century, Latin was used for comminication however, after a while, Latin language died out, not spoken anymore so it was used only for a academic purposes. So thats why it only focused on reading and writing and not speaking purposes.
This method is conducted in the students’ native language. They learn grammar rules and vocabulary by using their native language and translate it in target language. This method mostly focus on reading and writing. As a result of that speaking and listening skills are mostly overlooked.
In the classroom, the role of the teacher is explaining the rules and students’ role is to memorize and translate it. The teacher explains grammar rules explicitly, often in detail Exercises that are used in the classroom involve “filling in blanks, translating sentences”
Accuracy is really important in the clasroom and errors were corrected immediately.
But over time, the use of this method declined because educators criticized it for not improving speaking and listening skills. As the world developed, using this method in situations such as travel and trade would not be effective. Linguists suggested that one of the best ways to learn a new language is by using it.
For this reason, a gradual shift to the Direct Method began.