| Most people
would agree on the absolute necessity of learning a foreign language
in today’s society. But what is the most
adequate, most effective way to do it? Here things get a little
bit more complicated. Different answers to this question have guided
the various methods employed in the language classrooms throughout
the years.
If you grew up during the 70s or 80s you’ve probably been
studying a second language at least since you were in high school.
Studying is the key word here, because most likely, at the time,
you used to complain about the fact that, in spite of hours and
hours of study, in the end you could not use the language at all.
Well, it is time for you to know that this was not your fault.
It was the consequence of a traditional approach to language teaching
with an enormous emphasis on grammar. At the time, it was thought
that the grammatical rules of a language were its most important
aspect. Consequently, students were forced to memorize hundreds
of verb tenses and word lists. But they were never taught to use
the language. The writing and reading skills were also given precedence under
the traditional method in detriment of the listening and speaking
ones. As a result, the overall communicative competence of the students
was very poor. Think about this: after several years of studying,
let’s say, Spanish, were you able to follow a film or a television
program in that language? Did you feel comfortable speaking Spanish?
Or did you panic at the thought of having to travel and encountering
native speakers? This is what having a poor communicative competence
means, and it is typical of ‘traditional’ students.
Later on, you may have decided to attend a language school. There
you probably found a radically different approach: you spent hours
and hours repeating sentences after the teacher, without even knowing
how they were spelled or what the individual words meant. You were
told that this was not necessary. That ‘communicating’ was the important thing. Most
likely the motto of the school was that learning a second language
was as easy as learning your native one. This is a typical example
of the audio-lingual method, a response to the traditional one.
Speaking and listening are the skills stressed here, so students
almost never write or read. Unfortunately, most of the conversations
drilled are not even near to a real conversation with a native speaker.
When you as a student are old enough to understand this, it will
be almost impossible to be motivated, and who can blame you?
You’ve probably guessed by now that the most comprehensive
method to learn a foreign language should be a combination of
traditional with new techniques. This approach would try to
pay equal attention to and combine the four different skills
by, for example, trying to present the grammar in a conversational
format. Students also need meaningful activities that correspond
to what they do in the real world. In other words, language
teaching needs to be oriented towards a context that is relevant
for learners, with materials that engage them and make them
become active in their learning. |
