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TEMA 13
HISTORIA DE LA EVOLUCIN DE LA DIDCTICA
DE LAS LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: DE LOS
MTODOS DE GRAMTICA-TRADUCCIN A LOS
ENFOQUES ACTUALES.

UNIT 13
HISTORY OF THE DIDACTIC EVOLUTION OF
FOREIGN LANGUAGES: FROM THE GRAMMAR
TRANSLATION METHOD TO THE CURRENT
APPROACHES.
By Cristbal Martnez Alfaro

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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. A HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING.
2.1. Early Language Learning Methods.
2.2. First Approaches to the Teaching of Modern Languages.
2.3. Twentieth Century Innovations.
2.4. Present-day Trends.

3. WHAT'S NOW, WHAT'S NEXT?

4. CONCLUSION.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

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1. INTRODUCTION.
Language is a pure human activity and involves the communication of
ideas from the mind of a speaker to the mind of a listener. Great importance has
been given to the study of language from very early stages in human history,
people our early ancestors came in contact with. We know that language is
learnt or acquired but we do not know how first language is learned, that is,
every child can learn any natural language as a first language, under the
appropriate conditions and no theory can explain this fact.
The psycholinguistic field is now an important area for research and its
results are likely to have interesting implications for the learning of a second
language.
Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century.
Central to this phenomenon was the emergence of the concept of "methods" of
language teaching. The method concept in language teachingthe notion of a
systematic set of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language
and language learningis a powerful one, and the quest for better methods
was a preoccupation of teachers and applied linguists throughout the 20th
century. Howatt's (1984) overview documents the history of changes of practice
in language teaching throughout history, bringing the chronology up through the
Direct Method in the 20th century. One of the most lasting legacies of the Direct
Method has been the notion of "method" itself.
Methodology in language teaching has been characterized in a variety of
ways. A more or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that
which links theory and practice. Theory statements would include theories of
what language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories of
second language acquisition (SLA). Such theories are linked to various design
features of language instruction. These design features might include stated
objectives, syllabus specifications, types of activities, roles of teachers,
learners, materials, and so forth. Design features in turn are linked to actual
teaching and learning practices as observed in the environments where
language teaching and learning take place. This whole complex of elements
defines language teaching methodology.

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Figure 1. Language Teaching Methodology

The content of this unit has an extremely useful value at classroom level,
since the methodology used in our daily didactic organization and lesson
planning plays a relevant role in the exploitation of the for macro-skills, included
both in the Curricular Treatment

stated by the current legislation and in

programming of didactic units. Therefore, the connection of this theoretical

component is referred to how we can make a good use of all the elements
taking part in the teaching learning process, which are summarised as follows:
Communicative approach.
Strategies to exploit L, S, R, & W.
Individualised teaching.
Appropriate setting.
Classroom grouping & management.
Changeable role of the teacher.
2. A HISTORY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING.
Within methodology a distinction is often made between methods and
approaches, in which methods are held to be fixed teaching systems with
prescribed techniques and practices, whereas approaches represent language
teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of
different ways in the classroom. This distinction is probably most usefully seen
as defining a continuum of entities ranging from highly prescribed methods to
loosely described approaches.
Two approaches to TEFL can be appreciated, namely, the traditional one
and the communicative one. The most outstanding differences between them
are:

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a) The communicative approach concentrates on the rules needed whereas the

traditional approach concentrates on the grammatical rules that are needed
to produce correct sentences.
b) A great deal of work in the classroom is concerned with learning in the
communicative approach and with teaching in the traditional approach.
c) Fluency is prior to accuracy in the communicative approach but grammatical
correctness comes first in the traditional approach.
d) The concept of language use differs in both approaches; the communicative
approach sees language use as something dynamic, as the creation of
meaning by negotiation; on the other hand, the traditional approach sees
language use as being static.
e) This point leads up to the role of both teacher and student and the
relationship between them. The communicative approach defends the active
participation of the student in the class and sees the teacher as an adviser. In
the traditional approach the teacher is the protagonist and the student has to
listen, copy and answer when asked, without much active participation and
little interaction with his/her fellow-students.
f) The communicative approach concentrates on oral English whereas the
traditional approach concentrates on written English.
g) The traditional approach is deductive, whereas the communicative approach
is inductive. For instance, if the third person singular of the present simple
has to be taught, it can be presented as follows: (see table 1)
TABLE 1
METHOD

1st STEP

2nd STEP
3rd person singular takes

Inductive.

She jobs every day.

an

in

the

simple

present affirmative.
3rd person singular takes
Deductive.

an

in

the

simple

She jobs every day.

present affirmative.
Since it is the communicative approach which is widely used nowadays,
we shall concentrate further on its characteristics. Following Brumfit (1985),
these are the major developments in communicative teaching:
a. The needs of the learners are taken into account so as to provide them with
the necessary kinds of language use.
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b. Materials force students to express themselves through the language.

c. Group work and pair work are used to allow students to work intensively on
their own.
d. Materials and techniques are devised to individualise work, that is, to allow all
students in a class to work in different ways and in their own time.
e. Mistakes are seen as a natural phenomenon when learning a new language,
so students must be given the opportunity to experiment with English.
Of the above mentioned methods, only Grammar-Translation is
considered to be completely traditional. The rest are taught in a communicative
way or by combining both approaches, There exists so much literature on them
that there is a constant risk of confusion. Therefore, we have considered it
convenient to give a general outline.
2.1. Early Language Learning Methods.
Languages were studied even in the most ancient civilizations. The
Egyptian, Babylonian and Assyrian Kings sent bilingual representatives in their
delegations to foreign countries, and wealthy Romans were taught Greek by
teacher-slaves. Teaching in those

days was probably done through

conversation, grammar learning, reading and writing.

Later on the first Christian missionaries were forced to learn the language
of the people they were trying to convert as the only means of communicating
with them. Nevertheless, during the Middle Ages the only languages considered
fit for learning were Latin, Greek and Hebrew which were taught in the monastic
schools.
In the Renaissance, Queen Elizabeth I is reported to have known
Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin and the entry requirement for Harvard when
it was founded in 1636 was to understand any Latin Classic on sight.
In the 18th century, the study of modern languages was first introduced
officially in the United States.
2.2. First Approaches to the Teaching of Modern Languages.
During the 19th century and in the 20th, foreign languages were taught in
the same way as classical ones though different approaches have coexisted for
longer than it is thought. There are several methods in the teaching of
languages, most of which are analysed below.

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The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as
"The Age of Methods," during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for
language teaching were proposed. Situational Language Teaching evolved in
the United Kingdom while a parallel method, Audio-Lingualism, emerged in the
United States. In the middle-methods period, a variety of methods were
proclaimed as successors to the then prevailing Situational Language Teaching
and Audio-Lingual methods. These alternatives were promoted under such titles
as Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, and Total
Physical Response. In the 1980s, these methods in turn came to be
overshadowed by more interactive views of language teaching, which
collectively came to be known as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
Communicative Language Teaching advocates subscribed to a broad set of
principles such as these:

Learners learn a language through using it to communicate.

Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of

classroom activities.

Fluency is an important dimension of communication.

Communication involves the integration of different language skills.

Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.

However, CLT advocates avoided prescribing the set of practices

through which these principles could best be realized, thus putting CLT clearly
on the approach rather than the method end of the spectrum.
Communicative Language Teaching has spawned a number of off-shoots
that share the same basic set of principles, but which spell out philosophical
details or envision instructional practices in somewhat diverse ways. These CLT
spin-off approaches include The Natural Approach, Cooperative Language
Learning, Content-Based Teaching, and Task-Based Teaching.
It is difficult to describe these various methods briefly and yet fairly, and
such a task is well beyond the scope of this paper. However, several up-to-date
texts are available that do detail differences and similarities among the many
different approaches and methods that have been proposed. (See, e.g., LarsenFreeman, 2000, and Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Perhaps it is possible to get a
sense of the range of method proposals by looking at a synoptic view of the

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roles defined for teachers and learners within various methods. Such a synoptic
(perhaps scanty) view can be seen in the following chart.
TEACHING METHODS AND TEACHER & LEARNER ROLES
Method
Teacher Roles
Learner Roles
Situational Language
Context Setter
Imitator
Teaching
Audio-lingualism
Communicative Language
Teaching
Total Physical Response
Community Language
Learning
The Natural Approach
Suggestopedia

Error Corrector
Language Modeller

Memorizer
Pattern Practicer

Drill Leader
Needs Analyst

Accuracy Enthusiast
Improvisor

Task Designer
Commander

Negotiator
Order Taker

Action Monitor
Counsellor

Performer
Collaborator

Paraphraser
Actor

Whole Person
Guesser

Props User
Auto-hypnotist

Immerser
Relaxer

Authority Figure
True-Believer
Figure 2. Methods and Teachers and Learners Roles
As suggested in the chart, some schools of methodology see the teacher

as ideal language model and commander of classroom activity (e.g., AudioLingual Method, Natural Approach, Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response)
whereas others see the teacher as background facilitator and classroom
colleague

to

the

learners

(e.g.,

Communicative

Language

Teaching,

Cooperative Language Learning).

There are other global issues to which spokespersons for the various
methods and approaches respond in alternative ways. For example, should
second language learning by adults be modelled on first language learning by
children? One set of schools (e.g., Total Physical Response, Natural Approach)
notes that first language acquisition is the only universally successful model of
language learning we have, and thus that second language pedagogy must
necessarily model itself on first language acquisition. An opposed view (e.g.,
Silent Way, Suggestopedia) observes that adults have different brains,
interests, timing constraints, and learning environments than do children, and
that adult classroom learning therefore has to be fashioned in a way quite

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dissimilar to the way in which nature fashions how first languages are learned
by children.
Another key distinction turns on the role of perception versus production
in early stages of language learning. One school of thought proposes that
learners should begin to communicate, to use a new language actively, on first
contact (e.g., Audio-Lingual Method, Silent Way, Community Language
Learning), while the other school of thought states that an initial and prolonged
period of reception (listening, reading) should precede any attempts at
production (e.g., Natural Approach).
Once having presented an overall view of the general evolution of all the
different methods, a more detailed analysis will be provided below.

Grammar-Translation Method.
It has been used up to very recent times. The Grammar is presented in a
rigid way and it is based on Latin and Greek. In this method, students of foreign
languages had to master the terminology of Latin grammar. The vocabulary
learnt was predominantly literary using passages for translation from Molire,
Shakespeare or Cervantes. At the beginning, students were also given very
simple sentences to translate including the grammar and vocabulary just learnt
which were not meaningful and disconnected form real life. This methodology
did not include conversation because the purpose of foreign language learning
was to assimilate the prescriptive grammar of the language and to read its
literature. The student acquired a thorough knowledge of grammar, syntax, etc.,
and this could obviously be transformed into conversational knowledge as it has
happened in many cases.

Direct or Natural Method.

The best known early example of natural foreign language teaching
dates back to the 16th century when Montaigne's father decided to have his son
taught Latin by a German tutor, totally ignorant of French, before he even learnt
to speak his mother tongue, while the rest of the members of the family were
forbidden to speak anything but Latin in his presence.
Locke defended that as soon as the child could speak English it was time
for him to learn some other language and stated that the natural approach is the
fundamental one, applicable to all in the early stages.

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J. S. Blackie, a 19th century Scottish professor of Latin and Greek, gives

us a detailed natural method teaching syllabus in eighteen steps and
denunciates not only the existing methods but also the public attitudes towards
foreign language teaching and the appalling state of the teaching profession.
Blackie said that normal and healthy specimens of the genus homo, can speak
two, three or more languages if only external circumstances were favourable for
such a result. The problem is that external circumstances in mid-nineteenth
century were extremely unfavourable in England: teachers were badly prepared
and had the neglect of society towards educational problems.
Blackie established four elements to teach languages which were the
basis for the natural method: first step, -a direct appeal to the ear because it is
the natural organ by which the language is acquired. Secondly, this appeal
should be made in circumstances where there is a direct relation between the
sound and the thing signified. Thirdly, the same living appeal to the ear is
continuously

repeated.

Fourthly,

the

appeal

should

be

made

under

circumstances which excite the attention and engage the sympathies of the
hearer. Unfortunately these suggestions were not paid much attention until a
generation later.
Sauveur in his book "An Introduction to the Teaching of Living
Languages without Grammar or Dictionary" (1874), described that his students
did not start the book until they had spent a month on intensive oral work in
class. He was famous for his method and was seriously considered in language
teaching in America.
In Europe, 'Direct Methods' became important towards the end of the
19th century. Vitor published, 'L'Art d'Enseigner et d'tudier les Langues',
which was not translated into English until 1889. In this book, he maintained
that a foreign language should be learned in the same way as the mother
tongue.
In 1890, phonetic was passed as the basis of language teaching. Passy,
Vitor and Henry Sweet were in favour of using phonetics and phonetic script in
language teaching. Grammar was not taught but it was to be learnt inductively
through experience in the language. Words were incorporated into the student's
vocabulary by direct association, as far as possible. The significant unit of
language was considered to be the sentence rather than the word. But when
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adapted schools, programmes, materials and the textbooks provided the

method presented problems. For the method to be successful, able teachers
were required, the method demanded an awful amount of effort from the
teacher and the use of active methods often led to lapses in discipline.
So we could summarize the belief of the Direct Methodists as follows:
1) Languages should first be taught through speech. The written language is
only presented at a later stage.
2) Language should be learnt by using the language rather than by memorizing
grammatical rules. The real unit of language is the sentence rather than the
word. Translation was to be avoided.
3) The mother tongue was not to be used. Words were to be explained through
direct association.
2.3. Twentieth Century Innovations.
At the beginning of the 20th century several efforts were made to change
language teaching. More current literary texts were given for translation and
there was an effort to provide some conversation, which was not always
successful as many of the conversational sentences and phrases were artificial
and stilted.

The Berlitz School.

It was founded in 1878 in Rhode Island, whose slogan was 'The eye is
the enemy of the ear'. Its founder Maximilian Berlitz, made the Direct Method
available to large number of language learners in Europe and America through
his system of schools, and by 1914 had nearly 200 schools, the largest number
in Germany. Berlitz was an excellent systematizer of basic language teaching
materials on the direct method line. His teachers were all native speakers many
of them young and rarely trained linguists. The teacher's directions are: no
translation under any circumstances, a strong emphasis on oral word,
avoidance of grammatical explanations until late in the course, and the
maximum use of question-and-answer techniques. The use of the mother
tongue was prohibited during the class.

The Contribution of Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology.

o Basic English.
It was based on the following discoveries made by language research:

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1) Every language has a basic grammar as well as complicated grammatical

structure. The basic grammar should be taught first.
2) There is greater frequency of some words than others. The basic vocabulary
should be taught first.
Several years before the Second World War C. K. Ogden and I. A.
Richards who were working on a semantical treatise were struck by the
recurrence of certain common, frequently used words. They found that it was
possible to classify 850 basic words in English which occur most frequently.
Basic English eliminates all but eighteen verbs which combined

with

operational works or with nouns would replace any other verb in the English
language. It also contains 400 general nouns, 200 picturable objects and 150
adjectives. Basic English works through paraphrases; 'small tree' for 'bush'.
However, it has as its starting point the living language so it must be seen from
two points of view, that of the native speaker, who must learn Basic in order to
communicate and that of the non-speaker of English speaker would probably
have as much difficulty expressing himself in Basic English as learning to use a
foreign language. And, it also presents difficulties for foreigners.
o Structuralism: The A.S.P.T. Contribution.
The main figures in American linguistics were Edward Sapir and Leonard
Bloomfield both worked on Structuralism but along different lines: Sapir was
interested in linguistics and anthropology, the social aspect of language and the
relationship between race, culture and language. Bloomfield contributed more to
the spreading of American Structuralism. He makes linguistics as scientific as
possible. He was influenced by behaviourist psychology seeing language as a
series of stimuli and responses.
* The A.S.T.P. Contribution.
With the intervention of America in the Second World War there was both
a motivation to learn European languages and the opportunity to practise them.
This was also the opportunity for linguists to use some of their theoretical
notions in a practical way because conventional methods were both slow and
inadequate to make soldiers speak and understand the many languages they
would come in contact with. So, it was created the Army Specialized Training
Programme

(A.S.T.P.)

linguistic

programme

which

was

considered

revolutionary: it combined the Berlitz technique, mechanical aids, some

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controversial features incorporated from the new methodology developed in the

study of Indian languages and phrase books and phonographic recordings
prepared for self-instruction.
The programme was intensive during a six to eight week period. The
average number of students per class was 10 or 12 and the acquisition of
conversational skills was stressed to the partial exclusion of reading, writing,
composition and literature. Conversational practice and drills were imported by
native speakers who were not necessarily teachers. Grammatical instruction
was imported by trained teachers; mechanical and phonograph recordings,
radio broadcasts, foreign language films, etc. were all used extensively. Only
students with a previous linguistic background, a high level of intelligence and
high motivations were accepted.
After the war progressive institutions began to use the most practical of
its features. Conversational fluency became one of the aims of language
teaching and most colleges and universities continued to experiment with
various modifications of the intensive language course, stressing conversation,
small groups, native speakers and mechanical aids hut, nobody could supply
the main factor which probably made success possible, the strong motivation.
Structuralist grammars are compiled on the assumption that every
language consists of a series of unique structures and the construction of
sentences follows certain regular patterns. Linguists compares the structures of
the pupil's mother tongue (L1) with the structures of the target language (L2).
The similar structures can be transferred positively to the pupil and different
structures can cause interference.
Pattern practice is essential, tape recording and oral work is necessary.

Criticism to the Direct Method.

In reaction to the antiquated method of grammar-translation the
advocates of the Direct Method went to the opposite extreme, as translation can
play a useful role in language teaching. The inductive method of learning
grammar can be extremely slow, and for many adult pupils the learning of a
certain number of grammatical rules tends to make learning more rapid.

Criticism to Structuralist Method.

Chomsky is one of the linguists who have shown the deficiencies of
structural grammar: the first one is that it only deals with surface structure. It
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does not take into account ambiguity and intuition, which form part of deep
structure. Other linguists are no longer so enthusiastic about structuralism
because the traditional structural drill exercises are purely mechanical and have
no connection with actual situations. Another criticism is that this method did not
show how to teach the material and did not contribute to advances in language
teaching methodology.
2.4. Present-Day Trends.

The Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching.

Palmer, Hornby and other British applied linguists from the 1920s onward
developed an approach to methodology that involved systematic principles of
selection. S.L.T. adopts an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar. The
meaning of the words or structures is not to be given through explanation in
either the native tongue or the target language but is to be induced from the
way the form is used in a situation. If we give the meaning of a new word, either
by translation into the home language by an equivalent in the same language,
as soon as we introduced it, we weaken the impression which the word makes
on the mind.

The Audiolingual Method.

The emergence of the audiolingual method resulted from the increased
attention given to foreign language teaching in the United States toward the end
of the 1950s. The combination of structural linguistic theory, contrastive
analysis, aural procedures and behaviourist psychology led to the Audiolingual
Method. Audiolingualism claimed to have transformed language teaching from
an art to a science, which would enable learners to achieve the mastery of a
foreign language. Language is primarily speech in audiolingual theory, the
mechanistic aspects of language learning and language use are stressed.

Transformational Generative Grammar.

In 1957 the publication of Syntactic structures by Noam Chomsky offered
a different approach to linguistics based on a theory of transformational
generative grammar. He pursued the theoretical implications of generative
grammar into other areas of linguistic enquiry, notably the psychology of
language, which was dominated at the time by the behaviourism of writers like
Skinner.
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Transformational grammar presents a criticism to structuralist grammar

Chomsky criticized that structural grammar deals only with surface structure
and not with deep structure. Language is essentially creative for him, which
means that a native speaker is able to generate an infinite number of sentences
which he has never heard nor will hear again, yet they are grammatical correct.
He is concerned with the structure of language and the nature of cognitive
processes. Transformational grammar has shown that although certain
differences in surface structure may exist the deep structure may be similar,
though this theory is debated at present, too.
Until Chomsky's days it was preached that pupils should only be given
grammatically correct examples. Now it is thought that there is a value in
offering him ungrammatical examples. He can study and compare them with
grammatical forms and decide himself what the difference is. Pupils should be
allowed to make errors, because the learner can test like that his hypotheses
about the nature of the language he is learning. The structuralists banished
explanations almost completely.
Priority is given to free expression and creativity.

The Notion of 'Situation'.

The concept of 'situation' has played a central role in the thinking of Firth
and the `London School of Linguistics', and it is an important contribution in the
field of language teaching. From Malinowski, Firth derived the concept of
'context of situation' which says that the meaning of an utterance is a function of
the cultural and situational context in which it occurs. The proposed three major
categories in terms of which language events could be described: The verbal
and non-verbal action of the participants in the event; what he called the
'relevant objects'. The observable effect of the verbal action. He places
emphasis on the unity of language and social activity. He was working on the
idea of the existence of specialized varieties of language related to social roles,
professional interests, working activities, etc.

The Notion of Communication.

After 1970 new ideas in the teaching profession were accelerated, this
was due to the expansion of university-level courses to meet a growing demand
for professional qualifications and to the appearance of large numbers of
overseas students. Publishers were them tempted into expansionist investment
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policies which brought about a large growth of the teaching materials available
up to the moment.
o The Threshold Level.
It began as a result of a symposium held in 1971. It set out a model of
the European adult learner of foreign languages in terms of an analysis of
communicative needs, then, it was attempted to create a syllabus for the
fundamental 'common core' which all learners would need before moving to
their special areas of interest.
Its author, Wilkings, started from Jespersen's national categories and
recognizes three different types of categories:
1).- Semantic-grammatical categories: future, location, etc.
2).- Categories of modality: possibility, necessity, obligation, etc.
3).- Categories of communicative function, which include asking
questions, making requests, expressing agreement and disagreement, etc.

The Notion of Cognition.

P. Corder stated that given motivation in a normal human being would
learn not only his mother tongue but also any other languages he was exposed
to. He also studied the role played by the interference of the first language in
the acquisition of the second one and paid attention to the strategies used by
second language learners. The practical value of psycholinguistic research will
lie probably in providing teachers with an insight into the learning processes of
their students. According to this, the aim of a language teaching course is to
promote

communicative

performance.

The

real

contribution

of

the

communicative approach has been 'to enrich and extend the traditions of
language teaching initiated by the reformers at the end of the last century'.

Total Physical Response (TPR).

TPR is a language teaching method built around the coordination of
speech and action, it attempts to teach language through physical activity. It
was developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology in California.
The general objectives of TPR are to teach oral proficiency at a
beginning level. Comprehension is a means to an end, and the main aim is to
teach basic speaking skills. A TPR course aims to produce learners who are
capable of an uninhibited communication that is intelligible to a native speaker.

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Imperative drills are the major classroom activity in TPR. They are
typically used to elicit physical actions and activity on the part of the learners.
Conversational dialogues are delayed until after 120 hours of instruction. Other
class activities include role plays and slide presentations, centred on everyday
situations, such as the restaurant, supermarket...
Learners listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by
the teacher.

The Silent Way.

The silent way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by
Caleb Gattegno. It is based on the premise that the teacher should be silent as
much as possible in the classroom and the learner should as possible.
The general objective is to give students oral and aural facility in basic
elements of the target language. A correct pronunciation and the mastery of the
prosodic elements are emphasised. The learner is provided with a basic
practical knowledge of the grammar. The teacher may say a word and have a
student guess what sequence of symbols comprised the word. After practice
with the sounds of the language, sentence patterns structure, and vocabulary
are practised. The teacher models an utterance while creating a visual
realization of it.

Suggestopedia.
It is a method developed by the Bulgarian psychiatrist educator Georgi
Lozanov is a specific set of learning recommendation derived from
Suggestology, which he describes as a science concerned with the systematic
beings are constantly responding to. The main characteristics of suggestopedia
are decoration, furniture and arrangement of the classroom, the use of music
and the authoritative behaviour of the teacher.
The claims for suggestopedia learning are dramatic. The memorization in
learning by suggestopedic method seems to be accelerated 25 times over that
in learning by conventional methods.
Suggestopedia can perhaps be best understood as one of range of
theories that describe now attentiveness is manipulated to optimize learning
and recall. A number of researchers have attempted to identify the optimal
mental states for facilitating memorization and facilitating recall.

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The European Language Portfolio.

The European Language Portfolio was developed and piloted by the
Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, from 1998 until
2000. It was launched on a pan-European level during the European Year of
Languages as a tool to support the development of plurilingualism and
pluriculturalism. What is a European Language Portfolio?
It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a
language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their
language learning and cultural experiences.
The portfolio contains a language passport which its owner regularly
updates. A grid is provided where his/her language competences can be
described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and which
can serve as a complement to customary certificates. The document also
contains a detailed language biography describing the owner's experiences in
each language and which is designed to guide the learner in planning and
assessing progress. Finally, there is a dossier where examples of personal work
can be kept to illustrate one's language competences.
The European Language Portfolio project has two main aims:
a) to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify
their language skills at all levels;
b) to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to
be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level
or seeking employment at home or abroad).
Points a) and b) refer to the two basic functions of the European Language
Portfolio:
a) The pedagogic function:
Enhance the motivation of the learners
- to improve their ability to communicative in different languages
- to learn additional languages
- to seek new intercultural experiences
Incite and help learners to
- reflect their objectives, ways of learning and success in language learning
- plan their learning
- learn autonomously
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Encourage learners to enhance their plurilingual and intercultural experience,

for example through
- contacts and visits
-

reading

use of the media

projects

b) The documentation and reporting function:

The European Language Portfolio aims to document its holder's
plurilingual language proficiency and experiences in other languages in a
comprehensive, informative, transparent and reliable way. The instruments
contained in the ELP help learners to take stock of the levels of competence
they have reached in their learning of one or several foreign languages in order
to enable them to inform others in a detailed and internationally comparable
manner.
There are many occasions to present a Language Portfolio which is up to
date, for example a transfer to another school, change to a higher educational
sector, the beginning of a language course, a meeting with a career advisor, or
an application for a new post. In these cases the ELP is addressed to persons
who have a role in decisions which are important for the owner of the Language
Portfolio. A learner may also be interested in having such documentation for
him-/herself.
Principles
All competence is valued, regardless whether gained inside or outside of formal
education.
-

The European Language Portfolio is the property of the learner.

It is linked to the Common European Framework of reference for

Languages.

A set of common principles ad guidelines have been agreed for all

Portfolios.
The Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern

Languages recommends among other measures the development and use by

learners of a personal document (European Language Portfolio) to record their
qualifications and other significant linguistic and cultural experiences in an

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internationally transparent manner as part of an effort to extend and diversify

language learning at all levels in a lifelong perspective.
The Ministers of Education of all the member States of the Council of
Europe have recommended that governments, in keeping with their education
policy, support the introduction of a European Language Portfolio.
Levels:

C2

Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise
information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and
accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very
fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex
situations.

C1

Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit
meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious
searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social,
academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed
text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns,
connectors and cohesive devices.

B2

Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics,
including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a
degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers
quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a
wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the
advantages and disadvantages of various options.

B1

Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to
arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple
connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe
experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and
explanations for opinions and plans.

A2

Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most
immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping,
local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks
requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine
matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate
environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

A1

Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed
at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others
and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives,
people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided
the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

Proficient
User

Independent
User

Basic
User

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U
N
D
E
R
S
T
A
N
D
I
N
G

S
P
E
A
K
I
N
G

Listening

Spoken
Interaction

I
N
G

A2

B1

I can recognise familiar words

and very basic phrases
concerning myself, my family
and immediate concrete
surroundings when people speak
slowly and clearly.

I can understand phrases and the

highest frequency vocabulary
related to areas of most
immediate personal relevance
(e.g. very basic personal and
family information, shopping,
local area, employment). I can
catch the main point in short,
clear, simple messages and
announcements.

I can understand the main points of

clear standard speech on familiar
matters regularly encountered in work,
school, leisure, etc. I can understand
the main point of many radio or TV
programmes on current affairs or
topics of personal or professional
interest when the delivery is relatively
slow and clear.

I can understand extended speech and

lectures and follow even complex lines
of argument provided the topic is
reasonably familiar. I can understand
most TV news and current affairs
programmes. I can understand the
majority of films in standard dialect.

I can understand extended speech even

when it is not clearly structured and
when relationships are only implied and
not signalled explicitly. I can
understand television programmes and
films without too much effort.

I have no difficulty in understanding any

kind of spoken language, whether live or
broadcast, even when delivered at fast
native speed, provided. I have some time
to get familiar with the accent.

I can understand familiar names,

words and very simple sentences,
for example on notices and
posters or in catalogues.

I can read very short, simple

texts. I can find specific,
predictable information in
simple everyday material such as
advertisements, prospectuses,
menus and timetables and I can
understand short simple personal
letters.

I can understand texts that consist

mainly of high frequency everyday or
job-related language. I can understand
the description of events, feelings and
wishes in personal letters.

I can read articles and reports concerned

with contemporary problems in which
the writers adopt particular attitudes or
viewpoints. I can understand
contemporary literary prose.

I can understand long and complex

factual and literary texts, appreciating
distinctions of style. I can understand
specialised articles and longer technical
instructions, even when they do not
relate to my field.

I can read with ease virtually all forms of

the written language, including abstract,
structurally or linguistically complex texts
such as manuals, specialised articles and
literary works.

I can interact in a simple way

provided the other person is
prepared to repeat or rephrase
things at a slower rate of speech
and help me formulate what I'm
trying to say. I can ask and
answer simple questions in areas
of immediate need or on very
familiar topics.

I can communicate in simple and

routine tasks requiring a simple
and direct exchange of
information on familiar topics
and activities. I can handle very
short social exchanges, even
though I can't usually understand
enough to keep the conversation
going myself.

I can deal with most situations likely

to arise whilst travelling in an area
where the language is spoken. I can
enter unprepared into conversation on
topics that are familiar, of personal
interest or pertinent to everyday life
(e.g. family, hobbies, work, travel and
current events).

I can interact with a degree of fluency

and spontaneity that makes regular
interaction with native speakers quite
possible. I can take an active part in
discussion in familiar contexts,
accounting for and sustaining my views.

I can express myself fluently and

spontaneously without much obvious
searching for expressions. I can use
language flexibly and effectively for
social and professional purposes. I can
formulate ideas and opinions with
precision and relate my contribution
skilfully to those of other speakers.

I can take part effortlessly in any

conversation or discussion and have a
good familiarity with idiomatic
expressions and colloquialisms. I can
express myself fluently and convey finer
shades of meaning precisely. If I do have a
problem I can backtrack and restructure
around the difficulty so smoothly that
other people are hardly aware of it.

I can use simple phrases and

sentences to describe where I live
and people I know.

I can use a series of phrases and

sentences to describe in simple
terms my family and other
people, living conditions, my
educational background and my
present or most recent job.

I can connect phrases in a simple way

in order to describe experiences and
events, my dreams, hopes and
ambitions. I can briefly give reasons
and explanations for opinions and
plans. I can narrate a story or relate the
plot of a book or film and describe my
reactions.

I can present clear, detailed descriptions

on a wide range of subjects related to my
field of interest. I can explain a
viewpoint on a topical issue giving the
advantages and disadvantages of various
options.

I can present clear, detailed descriptions

of complex subjects integrating subthemes, developing particular points
and rounding off with an appropriate
conclusion.

I can present a clear, smoothly-flowing

description or argument in a style
appropriate to the context and with an
effective logical structure which helps the
recipient to notice and remember
significant points.

I can write a short, simple

postcard, for example sending
holiday greetings. I can fill in
forms with personal details, for
example entering my name,
nationality and address on a hotel
registration form.

I can write short, simple notes

and messages relating to matters
in areas of immediate needs. I
can write a very simple personal
letter, for example thanking
someone for something.

I can write simple connected text on

topics which are familiar or of
personal interest. I can write personal
letters describing experiences and
impressions.

I can write clear, detailed text on a wide

range of subjects related to my interests.
I can write an essay or report, passing on
information or giving reasons in support
of or against a particular point of view. I
can write letters highlighting the
personal significance of events and
experiences.

I can express myself in clear, wellstructured text, expressing points of

view at some length. I can write about
complex subjects in a letter, an essay or
a report, underlining what I consider to
be the salient issues. I can select style
appropriate to the reader in mind.

I can write clear, smoothly-flowing text in

an appropriate style. I can write complex
letters, reports or articles which present a
case with an effective logical structure
which helps the recipient to notice and
remember significant points. I can write
summaries and reviews of professional or
literary works.

Spoken
Production

Writing

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Reading

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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the

elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations,
textbooks, etc. across Europe. It describes in a comprehensive way what
language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for
communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be
able to act effectively. The description also covers the cultural context in which
language is set. The Framework also defines levels of proficiency which allow
learners progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long
basis.
The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers
to communication among professionals working in the field of modern
languages arising from the different educational systems in Europe. It provides
the means for educational administrators, course designers, teachers, teacher
trainers, examining bodies, etc., to reflect on their current practice, with a view
to situating and co-ordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the
real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible.
By providing a common basis for the explicit description of objectives,
content and methods, the Framework will enhance the transparency of courses,
syllabuses and qualifications, thus promoting international co-operation in the
field of modern languages.
The provision of objective criteria for describing language proficiency will
facilitate the mutual recognition of qualifications gained in different learning
contexts, and accordingly will aid European mobility.
The taxonomic nature of the Framework inevitably means trying to
handle the great complexity of human language by breaking language
competence down into separate components. This confronts us with
psychological and pedagogical problems of some depth. Communication calls
upon the whole human being. The competences separated and classified below
interact in complex ways in the development of each unique human personality.
As a social agent, each individual forms relationships with a widening cluster of
overlapping social groups, which together define identity. In an intercultural
approach, it is a central objective of language education to promote the
favourable development of the learners whole personality and sense of identity
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in response to the enriching experience of otherness in language and culture. It

must be left to teachers and the learners themselves to reintegrate the many
parts into a healthily developing whole.

Spanish Methodology.

It is a new way of teaching in Spain based on communicative methods.

Knowledge is not as important as the development of skills. The goals are
proposed by the Ministry of Education in order to develop social interaction.
Didactic goals are imposed in every unit and English has gained importance.
Contents can be learnt in a meaningful way developing the skills by means of
concepts and attitudes. There is no specific methodology, although some basic
principles have been established. The pupil himself should construct his
learning and the teacher will take as an essential reference the students
previous knowledge and starting-off moment. There exists a continuous effort
and interest to achieve the autonomy of the student; on the other hand, special
emphasis is made on the oral use of the language. One important innovation
has been individual teaching, paying attention to the students mixed ability.
Successive Education Laws, from LOGSE 1/1990, LOCE 10/2002 to
LOE 2/2006, have also introduced a special interest towards immigrant students
and gifted and talented children. Some more characteristics of this latest
Organic Law are the importance and effort made on the fostering of Reading
and on the use of Information and Communication Technologies as two of our
countrys priorities, together with the emphasis made on immigration and the
contrast between the target foreign language or languages and those other
languages spoken by the students.
The evaluation is a continuous process, researching how the student
develops the four skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. The learner will
be able to contact foreign language speakers in everyday situations and they
will also be given the chance to maintain social contact with native speakers in
face-to-face communicative situations, through mass media, and Internet. Since
technological advances and their use is one more innovation of the Law.
3. WHAT'S NOW, WHAT'S NEXT?
The future is always uncertain, and this is no less true in anticipating
methodological directions in second language teaching than in any other field.
Some current predictions assume the carrying on and refinement of current
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trends; others appear a bit more science-fiction-like in their vision. Outlined

below are 10 scenarios that are likely to shape the teaching of second
languages in the next decades of the new millennium. These methodological
candidates are given identifying labels in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek style,
perhaps a bit reminiscent of yesteryear's method labels.
1. Teacher/Learner Collaborates
Matchmaking techniques will be developed which will link learners and
teachers with similar styles and approaches to language learning. Looking at
the Teacher and Learner roles, one can anticipate development of a system
in which the preferential ways in which teachers teach and learners learn
can be matched in instructional settings, perhaps via on-line computer
networks or other technological resources.
2. Method Synergistics
Crossbreeding elements from various methods into a common program of
instruction seems an appropriate way to find those practices which best
support effective learning. Methods and approaches have usually been
proposed as idiosyncratic and unique, yet it appears reasonable to combine
practices from different approaches where the philosophical foundations are
similar. One might call such an approach "Disciplined Eclecticism."
3. Curriculum Developmentalism
Language teaching has not profited much from more general views of
educational design. The curriculum perspective comes from general
education and views successful instruction as an interweaving of
Knowledge, Instructional, Learner, and Administrative considerations. From
this perspective, methodology is viewed as only one of several instructional
considerations that are necessarily thought out and realized in conjunction
with all other curricular considerations.
4. Content-Basics
Content-based instruction assumes that language learning is a by-product of
focus on meaning--on acquiring some specific topical content--and that
content topics to support language learning should be chosen to best match
learner needs and interests and to promote optimal development of second
language competence. A critical question for language educators is "what
content" and "how much content" best supports language learning. The
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natural content for language educators is literature and language itself, and
we are beginning to see a resurgence of interest in literature and in the topic
of "language: the basic human technology" as sources of content in
language teaching.
5. Multintelligencia
The notion here is adapted from the Multiple Intelligences view of human
talents proposed by Howard Gardner (1983). This model is one of a variety
of learning style models that have been proposed in general education with
follow-up inquiry by language educators. The chart below shows Gardner's
proposed eight native intelligences and indicates classroom language-rich
task types that play to each of these particular intelligences.
INTELLIGENCE TYPES AND
APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Intelligence Type
Educational Activities
Linguistic
lectures, worksheets, word games, journals, debates
Logical
puzzles, estimations, problem solving
Spatial
charts, diagrams, graphic organizers, drawing, films
Bodily
hands-on, mime, craft, demonstrations
Musical
singing, poetry, Jazz Chants, mood music
Interpersonal
group work, peer tutoring, class projects
Intrapersonal
reflection, interest centres, personal values tasks
Naturalist
field trips, show and tell, plant and animal projects
Figure 3. (Adapted from Christison, 1998)
The challenge here is to identify these intelligences in individual learners
and then to determine appropriate and realistic instructional tasks in response.
6. Total Functional Response
Communicative Language Teaching was founded (and floundered) on
earlier notional/functional proposals for the description of languages. Now
new leads in discourse and genre analysis, schema theory, pragmatics, and
systemic/functional grammar are rekindling an interest in functionally based
approaches to language teaching. One pedagogical proposal has led to a
widespread reconsideration of the first and second language program in
Australian schools where instruction turns on five basic text genres identified
as Report, Procedure, Explanation, Exposition, and Recount. Refinement of
functional models will lead to increased attention to genre and text types in
both first and second language instruction.
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7. Strategopedia
"Learning to Learn" is the key theme in an instructional focus on language
learning strategies. Such strategies include, at the most basic level, memory
tricks, and at higher levels, cognitive and metacognitive strategies for
learning, thinking, planning, and self-monitoring. Research findings suggest
that strategies can indeed be taught to language learners, that learners will
apply these strategies in language learning tasks, and that such application
does produce significant gains in language learning. Simple and yet highly
effective strategies, such as those that help learners remember and access
new

second

language

vocabulary

items,

will

attract

considerable

instructional interest in Strategopedia.

8. Lexical Phraseology
The lexical phraseology view holds that only "a minority of spoken clauses
are entirely novel creations" and that "memorized clauses and clausesequences form a high proportion of the fluent stretches of speech heard in
every day conversation." One estimate is that "the number of memorized
complete clauses and sentences known to the mature English speaker
probably amounts, at least, to several hundreds of thousands" (Pawley &
Syder, 1983). Understanding of the use of lexical phrases has been
immensely aided by large-scale computer studies of language corpora,
which have provided hard data to support the speculative inquiries into
lexical phraseology of second language acquisition researchers. For
language teachers, the results of such inquiries have led to conclusions that
language teaching should center on these memorized lexical patterns and
the ways they can be pieced together, along with the ways they vary and the
situations in which they occur.
9. O-zone Whole Language
Renewed interest in some type of "Focus on Form" has provided a major
impetus for recent second language acquisition (SLA) research. "Focus on
Form" proposals, variously labelled as consciousness-raising, noticing,
attending, and enhancing input, are founded on the assumption that
students will learn only what they are aware of. Whole Language proponents
have claimed that one way to increase learner awareness of how language
works is through a course of study that incorporates broader engagement
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with language, including literary study, process writing, authentic content,

and learner collaboration.
10. Full-Frontal Communicativity
We know that the linguistic part of human communication represents only a
small fraction of total meaning. At least one applied linguist has gone so far
as to claim that, "We communicate so much information non-verbally in
conversations that often the verbal aspect of the conversation is negligible."
Despite these cautions, language teaching has chosen to restrict its
attention to the linguistic component of human communication, even when
the approach is labeled Communicative. The ethodological proposal is to
provide instructional focus on the non-linguistic aspects of communication,
including rhythm, speed, pitch, intonation, tone, and hesitation phenomena
in speech and gesture, facial expression, posture, and distance in nonverbal messaging.
4. CONCLUSION.
It is easy to get the impression that our ancestors had some magic
formula for the learning of foreign languages. Henry Sweet proclaimed that 'until
every one recognizes that there is no royal road to languages... the public will
continue to run after one new method after the other, only to return disappointed
to the old routine' and 'nothing will ever make the learning of languages easy'.
Despite the ever-expanding literature, learner autonomy remains a
minority pursuit, perhaps because all forms of 'autonomisation' threaten the
power structures of educational culture. The Council of Europe's European
Language Portfolio (ELP; Little 2002), however, is a tool that may bring
'autonomisation' to much larger numbers of learners. The ELP was first
launched as a concept in 1997 and has since been realised in almost 40
different models, all of which conform to Principles and Guidelines laid down by
the Council of Europe (http://culture.coe.int/portfolio). The ELP has three
obligatory components: a language passport, which summarises the owner's
linguistic identity; a language biography, which is designed to provide a
reflective accompaniment to the process of learning and using second and
foreign languages; and a dossier, in which the owner collects evidence of his or
her developing proficiency in second and foreign languages. Perhaps because
regular goal setting and self-assessment are central to its effective use, the ELP
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has been shown to engage teachers as well as learners in processes likely to

lead to more autonomous learning (see Schrer 2000, Little and Perclov 2001,
Ushioda and Ridley 2002). It seems probable that in the next few years much of
the research relevant to learner autonomy will be prompted by the desire to
explore the impact of the ELP on learners, teachers and educational systems.
Being rather sceptical about 'magic solutions', we would like, however, to
quote here an authority on the subject, Mary Finocchiaro, who wrote that the
best method is "a method which will work with your student population with your
school organization, with your personality, and in your environment".
This piece of advice is particularly valuable as it does not come from a
theoretician of language but from a very experience teacher who knew the
actual classroom environment.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Allen, J.P.B. and Corder, P. - Papers in Applied linguistics. The

Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics, Vol. 2, OUP. 1975.

Benson, P. (2001). Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language

Learning. Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education.

Campbell, R. Recent Advances in the Psychology of Language. Plenum

Press. N. York, 1978.

Christophersen, P. Second Language Learning. Hamondsworth, 1971

Dam, L. (1995). Learner Autonomy 3: From Theory to Classroom

Practice. Dublin: Authentik.

Dam, L. and L. Legenhausen (1996). The acquisition of vocabulary in an

autonomous learning environment - the first months of beginning English. In
R. Pemberton et al. (eds), Taking Control: Autonomy in Language Learning,
265-80. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Finocchiaro, M. Teaching English as a Second Language. Harper and

Row P.N. York, 1969.

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