Historical overview of second language learning theories

In the following, five second language learning theories will be presented: the Grammar Translation method, the Direct method the Audio Lingual method, the Communicative method and Task Based Language Learning. This is a simplified overview of the different views on teaching methods. These methods have been chosen because they have all had great impact on how English as a second language has been taught in Norway and worldwide, and they all have clear views of what role grammar should play in the teaching.

2.3.1. The Grammar Translation method

One of the traditional teaching styles for second language learning is the Grammar Translation method. The Grammar Translation method was commonly used in second language teaching from the early to the mid-nineteenth century (Johnson, 2001, p. 164) .The lessons start with a statement of rule and continue with vocabulary lists to be learned by heart.

18 The lesson activity that has given name to the method is the translation between the first and the second language. The texts used are constructed sentences with the purpose to

demonstrate a rule. As a consequence, the sentences do not resemble authentic text. Linguistic competence is seen as the same as knowing and being able to use grammatical rules and demonstrating vocabulary knowledge. The syllabus, therefore, consists of grammatical points and vocabulary lists (Cook, Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 2016, pp.

261-266). The grammatical content follows the traditional view of grammar, focusing on analyzing sentences, labelling the different parts and teaching rules explaining how the words can make sentences. It has its roots in the teaching of Latin and the English grammars of the eighteenth century. According to Johnson (2001, p. 165) , modern languages were fighting to become acknowledged as serious university subjects. In order to compete with the traditional languages at the universities in the nineteenth century, it was important to make the subject intellectually challenging. Grammar translation aimed to develop intellectual discipline, and not to teach the students to communicate. The method aims to prescribe linguistic elements (Cook, Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 2016, p. 27). The name Grammar Translation method was given in order to compare the more communicative

methods that became popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a group of linguists got together and called themselves Quousque Tandem, a Latin phrase meaning “how long is all this going to go on for”. Their aim was to reform foreign language teaching practice (Johnson, 2001, p. 166). Even though a cry for reform came before entering the 20^th century, it seems to have taken time before the Grammar Translation method lost ground. Simensen claims that in Norway, the grammar translation method influenced language teaching until the 1940s (1995).

2.3.2. The direct method and the reading method

The response to the shortcomings of the grammar translation method came in the form of the direct method by the end of the 19th century. In France, François Gouin published his work with the direct method in 1880. The method was based on the importance of learning the student to use the language, not analyzing it. It was introduced in the United States in early 20th century (Celce-Murcia, 1991). Imitating how children learn their first language was seen as the best way to learn a second language. As a consequence, no other languages than the target language should be used in class, and the learning order should be listening, speaking, reading and writing. The method was inspired by the philosopher-scientist Alexander von

19 Humbolt who claimed that it is not possible to teach a language; one can only create

conditions for learning to take place. Actions and illustrations are used to explain meaning.

Grammar is not explicitly explained, only learned inductively by generalizing from examples. One disadvantage of the method is that students get confused about grammar rules and can also induce incorrect rules (Teflpedia, 2020). In order to teach a language by the direct method, the teacher must be a native speaker, or have nativelike proficiency in the language (Celce-Murcia, 1991, pp. 2-4). The Coleman report was a study on the state of foreign language teaching that was published in 1929. It stated that the most needed skill in foreign languages was reading. At the same time, Michael West emphasized the importance of vocabulary learning to improve reading skills.

This led to the approach called the Reading Method. With the method, it became common to recommend high frequency word lists (Tan, 2016). Both the direct method and the reading method were based on inductive grammar teaching and the learning of a second language with the same principles as learning a first language.

2.3.3. The Audio-Lingual method

The reading method was commonly used until the 1940s when the World War II created new needs in second language learning. The U.S. military then needed a method to teach foreign languages quickly and efficiently. They therefore hired linguists to develop teaching material.

This was the starting point of the Audio-Lingual method (Celce-Murcia, 1991, p. 2).

In 1964, Robert Lado presented a teaching method consisting of dialogues and drills. The method works with dialogues and gradually introduces new vocabulary and new structures. It is based on a behaviorist view of language acquisition and the principle that language is doing, not knowing. Language learning is seen as the formation of habits. The language learner develops language abilities through stimulus and response. Through hearing the language and responding to the language, habits are formed, and through reinforcement, habits become stronger. An important aspect in Second Language Learning is the difference between the learners’ first language and the learners’ second language. It is easier for the learner to learn a new language when the linguistic structures of the first and second language resemble. Therefore, special attention was put on areas of contrast between the languages.

Consequently, the teacher should have knowledge of the language structures, and contrastive analysis, in which to say the study of differences between languages, became popular among researchers (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, pp. 30-32). Grammar is seen as structures where one or a few words can be replaced to change the meaning. The Audio-Lingual method is related to the technical development in the 60s where language laboratories made it possible to listen

20 and repeat (Cook, Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 2016, pp. 267-274).

Compared to the Grammar Translation method it does not contain an explicit explanation of grammar, but the grammar is very much present in the structures learned from the textbook.

The students will not be explained the grammatical elements, but a linguistic consciousness is necessary for those elaborating the course. The method builds on the linguistic systems found in the language.

2.3.4. The Communicative method

In the 1970s, the perspective in second language learning shifted from form to communication. The purpose of the subject changed from linguistic competence to

communicative competence. This implies that it is not necessary to correct incorrect language (compared to the language of a native speaker), as long as the student is able to communicate a message. The concept of error analysis is born. Error is no longer seen as only a mistake needed to be corrected, but as a sign of language development. The learner goes through stages of development when learning a new language, and the differences between the learner’s language and the target language are indications of the learners own linguistic system. Larry Selinker introduced the term interlanguage in 1972 (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, pp. 37-39).

Closely related to the understanding of second language acquisition is the relationship between first language acquisition and second language acquisition. In the first and second language acquisition, the language learner goes through specific stages. These stages seem to be fixed, independent of the input or teaching available to the learner. The interest in the studying of first language acquisition and its similarity to second language learning, strengthens the understanding that a second language learner can learn without specific grammar teaching, just like a child learns a language without grammar teaching (Mitchell &

Myles, 2004, pp. 78-79). Typical teaching methods are information gap exercises, guided role-plays and tasks.

The communicative method is strongly influenced by the idea of Noam Chomsky’s universal grammar. Chomsky based his theories on the observation that when learning a language, the learner is able to produce sentences that they have not learned. Therefore, the learner must internalize language rules and not strings of words. The linguistic rules necessary to understand how to make correct utterances are so complicated that it is not probable that

21 children learn a language only by receiving input. Chomsky claimed that all people are born with an innate language system (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, pp. 32-33). By the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, the work of Stephen Krashen influenced second language learning theory by claiming that acquisition and learning are separate processes. Acquisition refers to a subconscious process that takes place as a result of natural interaction with the target

language. Learning, on the other hand, is the result of classroom teaching where the learner is taught form and linguistic rules. Meaningful communication is necessary for language

acquisition to take place because it will trigger subconscious processes (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, pp. 44-45). Second language acquisition takes place when the learner receives comprehensible input, which is input just beyond the competence level of the learner.

Krashen influenced the second language acquisition field with his hypothesis but has been criticized for his lack of testing of the hypothesizes before using it as a basis for pedagogical implications (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, pp. 47-49) In the communicative method the student will learn by trying out and using the language. Traditional grammar teaching is not present in the communicative method, but on some occasions, substitution tables can be used. Correct language use will have a structuralist approach and resembles the grammar focus in the Audio Lingual method; however, since the emphasis is taken away from correct speech, grammar plays a less significant role (Cook, Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 2016, pp. 273-284).

2.3.5. Task Based Language Teaching

In Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) the emphasis is entirely on a task that completes a need for communication. A traditional language learning exercise aiming to teach a linguistic structure is not regarded as a task in this method because it does not have a communicative purpose. At the beginning of the 1980s, Michael H. Long argues that interactions are important for language learning to take place. Long argues that the focus entirely on the meaning found in the communicative approaches has proven inefficient. It is necessary for a language learner to receive comprehensible L2 input, but this is not sufficient if the goal is to master the L2. When learners engage with others in negotiation around meaning, the learner can make more use of the input he receives. In interactions, the two parts paraphrase the utterances in order to achieve an understanding of meaning. The interactions that happen are therefore well targeted to the language level and development need of the learner. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Merill Swain uses examples from French immersion schools in Canada to prove Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis as insufficient. The Canadian

22 schools, using French as the language of instruction to English speaking students resulted in students that could easily comprehend French but did not reach the same proficiency level when producing in the French language (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, p. 160).

Focus on Form is presented by Long as a theory that answers the need for more interaction in language learning. The direction in the language classroom should still be on communicating meaning, but in addition, the students’ attention should be drawn to linguistic elements such as words, collocations and grammatical structures. Compared to the traditional Grammar Translation method, the syllable and the lesson should not be structured based on grammatical features, but the focus on the linguistic form should arise from the students’ needs when communicating (Long, 1997). Hossein Nassaji and Sandra Fotos related their work to current research when they in 2004 claimed that “grammar feedback is necessary in order for

language learners to attain high levels of language proficiency in the target language” (Nassaji

& Fotos, 2004). The learner must notice linguistic forms and be repeatedly exposed to meaningful input containing the forms.

This historical overview has shown us that the view on specific grammar teaching has differed greatly. In the Grammar Translation method, grammar teaching was the core of which the language class evolved around, whereas, in the Direct Method and the Audiolingual Method, linguistic structure was necessary for the forming of the material and the classes. In the Communicative Method, grammar seems to have been of little to none importance,

whereas a new shift came in the Task Based language learning theory, and grammar reentered the classroom.