Language Learning and Language Acquisition

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Language Learning and Language Acquisition A Quick Glance A glance through the past century or so of language teaching will give an interesting picture of how varied the interpretations have been regarding the best way to teach a foreign language. Language teaching methods have constantly waxed and waned in popularity. Albert Marckwardt saw these “changing winds and shifting sands” as a cynical pattern in which a new method emerges every quarter of a century. Each new method broke from the old but took with it some of the positive aspects of the previous practices. Some General Ideas  Human language is unique and species specific.  Children are not born with a mind that is like a blank slate, but we are pre-wired to learn language.  Children do not start with a fully formed grammar or with knowledge of social and communicative intercourse.  Linguistic competence develops by stages. Observations of children in different language areas of the world reveal that the stages are similar possibly universal.  Some of the stages last for a short time; others remain longer. The following is a sketch of the various principles and methods of language teaching that have evolved over the years. The Grammar Translation Method In the western world, “foreign” language learning in schools was synonymous with the learning of Latin and Greek. Latin was taught by means of what has been called the Classical Method; where the focus is on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary, translation of texts and doing written exercises. As other languages began to be taught in educational institutions in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Classical Method became the chief method of teaching a foreign language. Little thought was given to teaching someone how to speak the language; as languages were taught not to learn communication skills
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