HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING Introduction

The term Teaching English as a foreign language or TEFL is predominantly used when English is being taught in a country where it is not the native language ( for example teaching English to Spanish people in Spain). English has become the dominant language of the world in the 21st century. It is the language of science, air traffic control, tourism, internet, and, to a large extent, of trade and export. At least one billion people speak or try to speak English at the present time and of those about 300 million people are actively studying English Language. About 60% Of todays world population is multilingual.
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ANCIENT EDUCATION
About 3000 B.C., with the advent of writing, education became more conscious or selfreflective with specialized occupations requiring particular skills and knowledge on how to be a scribe, an astronomer, an alchemist, mathematician, etc. Plato describes, in his Republic, a system of instruction that he felt would lead to an ideal state.
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 Comenius wanted all boys and girls to learn. In his The World in Pictures , he gave the first vivid illustrated textbook which contained much that children would be familiar with in everyday life. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Emile , presented methodology to teach children the elements of science. He says the world is ones book. Pestalozzi of Switzerland enabled refugee children to learn and love to learn during the Napoleonic warfare.
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In modern times, educators believe that all children are equally capable of learning regardless of ethnic background or social class, or gender. the purpose of all education is to like the world through knowing it.

TEFL
In the western world back in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, FL learning was associated with the learning of Latin and Greek. The focus was on grammatical rules, syntactic structures and rote memorization of vocabulary and translation of literary texts. Both languages were not used for the purpose of communication. Late in the 19th century, the Classical Method came to be known as the Grammar Translation Method.
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Diversity in Teaching in the classroom

A teacher has many options in choosing a style to teach by. The teacher may write lesson plans of his own, borrow plans from other experienced teachers, or search online or within books for lesson plans. In deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher has to consider his students background knowledge, environment, and learning goals. A lesson plan may be carried out in several ways:
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 Questioning: (similar to testing) the teacher asks a series of questions to collect information of what students have learned and what needs to be taught. He/she can test them on what was previously taught in order to identify if they have learned the material. Explaining: (similar to lecturing) in certain big classes, the teacher would be the only speaker, he gives a speech on a specific subject that is open to the public, usually in the classroom as there will be no enough time for every individual student to participate. Demonstrating: providing an opportunity in learning new exploration and visual learning tasks from a different perspective. It can be exercised in several ways. For instance, Microsoft PowerPoint is a program that allows the teacher put together a presentation to present to the class on a computer projector.
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 Modeling: using visual aids, such as flash cards, video clips, cassette recorder, CDs, charts, maps, life objects, etc. students can visualize an object or problem, then use reasoning and hypothesizing to determine an answer. Collaborating: students working in groups, it allows students talk among each other and listen to all view points of discussion or assignment. It helps them think in unbiased way. L by T: (learning by teaching), students take teachers role and teach their peers (micro teaching).
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Some basic terms in language teaching

L1: a persons mother tongue or the language acquired first. In multilingual communities, where a child may gradually shift from the main use of one language to the main use of another (e.g. because of the influence of a school language), L1 may refer to the language the child feels most comfortable using. Often this term is used synonymously with native language.
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 ESL: A) the role of English for immigrants and other minorities in English speaking countries. These people may use their mother tongue at home or among friends, but use English at school and at work. It is called ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) . B) the role of English in countries where it is widely used within the country (e.g. as a language of instruction at school, as a language of business and government, and of everyday communication by some people) but is not the first language of the population( e.g. in Singapore, the Philippines, India, and Nigeria). C) In US usage, the role of English in countries where it is not a first language (e.g. Germany and Japan). In British usage, this is called (English as a Foreign Language) EFL
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 EFL: The role of English in countries where it is taught as a subject in schools but not as a medium of instruction in education nor as a language of communication (e.g. in government, business, or industry) within the country.

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Goals, Aims, and Objectives

Objective is a goal of a course of instruction. Two different types of objectives may be distinguished: General objectives, or aims, are the underlying reasons for or purposes of a course of instruction. E.g., the aims of teaching a foreign language in a particular country might be: to teach students to read and write a foreign language, to improve their knowledge of a foreign culture, to teach conversation in a foreign language, etc. aims are long-term goals, described in very general terms. Specific objectives are descriptions of what is to be achieved in a course. They are more detailed descriptions of exactly what a learner is expected to be able to do at the end of a period of instruction ( a single lesson, a chapter of a book, or a terms work). They are called behavioral objectives.
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Syllabus, Approach, Technique, and Methodology Syllabus refers to the description of the course content and the order in which they are to be taught. It includes students role or participation, teachers role, and constructions of the material presented. Approach refers to the theoretical bases which determine the ways in which the syllabus is treated (or taught). It encompasses both theories of language teaching and language learning.

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 Technique refers to an individual activity as it occurs in the classroom. Foe example, drills, dialogues, role-plays, sentence completion, etc. Methodology refers to the pedagogical practices. It refers to whatever considerations are involved in how to teach. It consists of three factors: syllabus, approach, and technique. It may refer to: 1. The analysis of the principles of the methods, rules and postulates employed by a discipline. 2. The systematic study of methods applied within a discipline. Or 3. A particular procedure or set of procedures.
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Language acquisition and Language learning

Language acquisition refers to the learning and development of a persons language. The term acquisition is often preferred to learning because the latter term is sometimes linked to a behaviorist theory of learning.

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General steps of teaching/learning

a) Input/ Presentation:
in language learning it refers to the language the learner hears or receives and from which he/she can learn. Input refers to all language material presented to the learners by the textbook or the teacher. The main aim of this step is to get the meaning of new language material into learners mind. In this step the teacher is the model. She/he presents the new material while pupils/students listen and watch to understand or recognize the material presented. The presentation should be meaningful, and the input should be comprehensible and motivating.
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 The material could be contextualized visually and verbally. Visual ways of showing meaning include the use of realia (real objects), drawings, pictures, actions, dramatization, and facial expressions. Visual ways of showing meaning require the use of known language material to introduce the unknown or to use the mother tongue when this saves time and energy. Sometimes a combination of visual and verbal ways of presentation may be needed.
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b) Intake / Practice:
the teacher and the pupil/student cooperate to practice the activity. The teacher asks the students the proper questions and they answer the teacher. As soon as learners get the meaning or recognize what is presented to them by the teacher, they are given enough time to practice it. The aim of this step is to prepare the learner for the final aim of teaching a foreign language which is getting the learners to use the language freely. Practice may take several forms such as choral repetition, individual repetition, and meaningful practice. Teachers role is to guide learners and to correct mistakes.
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c) Output / Production: The learners, in this stage, are ready to work on their own. Thats to say, they are able to produce. This is the final stage of learning in which pupils/students start to use the language they have already recognized and practiced in the two previous steps. Activities in this stage should be less controlled and the pupils use the language freely without or with little help from the teacher.
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Kinds of teachers
1. The explainer: Some teachers know the subject matter they teach very well, but they have limited knowledge of the methods of teaching. Those teachers rely mainly on exploring or lecturing as a way of conveying information to students. And students are listening, occasionally answering questions and perhaps making notes, but are mostly not being personally involved or challenged. The learners often get practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the lecture has finished.
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2- The involver: Some teachers know the subject matter they teach, they are also familiar with the teaching methodology; they are able to use appropriate teaching methods and organized procedures and techniques to help their students learn about the subject matter. Those teachers try to involve students in activities and put a great deal of effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this, while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.
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3- the enabler: Some teachers know the subject matter they teach, they are also familiar with the teaching methodology. They are aware of how individuals and groups are thinking and feeling within their class. Those teachers actively respond to this in their planning and working and in building effective relationships and try to create a good classroom atmosphere. They actively encourage learning. This kind of teachers is confident enough to share control with the learners or to entirely hand it over to them.
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Decisions made in their classroom may often be shared or negotiated. In many cases, such a teacher takes the lead from the students; seeing him/herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the students to learn for themselves, sometimes he/she will be involved in less traditional teaching; he/she may become a guide or a counselor or a resource of information when needed.

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The Process of Learning

Cooperative learning: It is a successful teaching
strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:
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 Gain from each others efforts. Recognize that all group members share a common fate. Feel proud and celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. Cooperative learning is an approach to organizing classroom activities into social learning experiences. Students must work in groups to complete the set of tasks collectively.
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 Jigsaw: it is a teaching technique used in small group instruction. Students of a normal-sized class (26-34 students) are broken into competency groups, each group is given a list of subtopics to research, with individual members of the group breaking off to work with the experts of other groups, then returning to their starting body in the role of instructor for their subcategory.
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Learning Strategies
It refers to the ways in which learners attempt to work out the meanings and uses of words, grammatical rules, and other aspects of the language in use. The strategies include: 1. Cognitive strategies: such as analyzing the target language, comparing what is newly encountered with what is already known in either the L1 or the L2 and organizing information. 2. Metacognitive strategies: includes being aware of ones own learning, making an organized plan, and monitoring ones progress
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3- Social strategies: such as seeking out friends who are native speakers of the target language or working with peers in a classroom setting. 4- Resource management strategies: such as setting aside a regular time and place for language study. Learning strategies may be applied to simple tasks such as learning a list of new words, or more complex tasks involving language comprehension
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