Teaching English

Nancy Grimm, Michael Meyer, Laurenz Volkmann

• Publisher: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9783823300021
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Sprachwissenschaft

Teaching English covers all of the major issues and current trends in language learning and teaching, such as the trends toward empiricism, constructivism, differentiation, learner- and output-orientation, intercultural learning, and the use of multimedia. This book bridges the gap between the suggestions of theoretical approaches to foreign language teaching and the practical needs of both the educators (regardless of the institutions they are teaching and the experiences they have gathered) as well as the students. It will help readers profit from the materials and reflected practices for use in their own classrooms. And lastly, the book offers optimal preparation for exams in university courses and in teacher-training seminars.

Unit 1 [1]The framework: history and politics

Contents

• 1.1
  Teaching English as a Foreign Language
• 1.2
  Current educational standards and curricula
• 1.3
  Teacher education in Germany
  Recommended reading

AbstractThis chapter provides the historical background and current framework of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). The overview of the historical development of basic issues in teaching and learning foreign languages helps to understand and evaluate contemporary discussions of language education and the development of TEFL in Germany within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF, Gemeinsamer Europäischer Referenzrahmen für Sprachen). This chapter ends with a glance at the education and practical training of English teachers in Germany.

Have a look at the cartoon on the next page: on the basis of your own experience, think about central aims, problems, and methods of teaching and learning English. Which of these do you consider to be fundamental at any time, and for which reasons?

1.1 [2]Teaching English as a Foreign Language

1.1.1 The historical perspective

Fig. 1.1

William Hogarth: Scholars at a Lecture (1736)

The significance of (foreign) language teaching and learning is dependent upon a framework of social, economic, political, cultural, and academic interests, which have varied across history. It would be tempting – but wrong – to tell a linear story of progress in language teaching and learning. Many of the issues debated today have been part and parcel of teaching and learning languages since time immemorial. Pertinent topics include (1) principles of language acquisition and teaching a foreign language (FL), and (2) the political decision whether to train practical language skills only or pursue further educational objectives.

Latin and GreekEnglish is not the first and only global language. In the Roman Empire, Latin served as a lingua franca, a common language used among speakers not sharing a native language (cf. James 2008: 134, Musumeci 2011: 43). In the Middle Ages, the alliance of the church and the state in Europe was firmly based on Christianity. Many political and legal documents employed Latin, as did formal education and the central medium of religious service, the Bible. Renaissance Humanists of the 15^th and 16^th centuries favored Greek over Latin in order to be able to read fundamental literary, political, and philosophical texts to provide a rounded education (Allgemeinbildung) for a rather small elite.

Fig. 1.2

[3]Johan-Amos Comenius

Early methodsThe early modern period from the 15^th to the 17^th century was dominated by two models of teaching and learning a FL: (1) the instruction in FL as a system and (2) learning a modern FL for communicative purposes – often in the form of pattern drills to habitualize formulaic expressions: (1) using the Grammar-Translation Method, the Jesuits gave students Latin sample sentences and explained the words and the rules of grammar in detail and in the students’ native language (cf. Musumeci 2011: 51–53). (2) However, international tradesmen acquired oral skills in the modern languages of their customers in order to negotiate business deals. The Czech scholar Comenius (see fig. 1.2), who was frustrated with the slow progress of language learners, found fault with the Grammar-Translation Method and the instructional material used. He considered efficient learning as a motivating process that should move from simple to complex issues and from content to form. He argued for a holistic style of learning (ganzheitliches Lernen), for which he developed multilingual textbooks with pictures and stories (e.g., Latin/English; see ch. 9.3). His objectives for foreign language learning were both practical communication and knowledge of the language system. In addition to learning their own language and Latin in vernacular schools at home, students should study modern languages abroad – an approach to FL learning which today is called ‘immersion’ (cf. Musumeci 2011: 54–58; see ch. 4.4).

The English philosopher and teacher John Locke (1693) considered the Grammar-Translation Method as an apt way of teaching the reading of classical Latin texts, but recommended early beginning in modern foreign languages according to what is now called the Direct or Natural Method. Based on mechanisms of learning the mother tongue, and on the observation that learning grammar rules at school is far less efficient than practicing communication with a native speaker, he advocated extensive monolingual input and practice in the foreign language. The teacher should form the model to be emulated, using playful exercises rather than painful drills. Practice should take the form of playful habit formation through imitating good examples, being more effective than rules children forget...