Different Approaches

1. Grammar - Translation Approach - (an extension of the approach used to teach classical language to the teaching of modern languages.)

a. Instruction is given in the native language of the students.
b. There is little use of the target language.
c. Focus is on grammatical parsing, i.e, the form and inflection of words.
d. There is early reading of difficult classical texts.
e. A typical exercise is to translate sentences target language into the mother tongue.
f. The result of this approach is usually an inability on the prat of the student to use the language for communication.
g. The teacher does not have to be able to speak the target language.

2. Direct Approach (a reaction to the grammar - translation approach and its failure to produce learners who could learn the foreign language they had been studying.

a. No use of the mother tongue is permitted i.e., teacher does not need to know the students native language.
b. Lessons begin with dialogues and anecdotes in modern conversational style.
c. Actions and visual aids are used to make meanings clear.
d. Grammar is learned inductively (use the language first, study the rules later.)
e. Literary texts are read for pleasure and are not analyzed grammatically.
f. The target culture is also taught inductively.
g. The teacher must be a native speaker or have a native like proficiency in the target language.

3. Reading Approach - (a reaction to the impracticality of the direct approach - reading was viewed as the most usable skill to have in a foreign language since not many people traveled abroad around 19:30; also few teachers could use a foreign language enough to use a direct approach in class.

a. Only the grammar useful for reading comprehension is taught.
b. Vocabulary is controlled at first based on frequently and usefulness and expanded.
c. Translation is once more a respectable classroom procedure.
d. Reading comprehension is the only language skill emphasized.
e. The teacher does not need to have good oral proficiency in the target language.

4. Audiolingualism (a reaction to the reading approach and its lack of emphasis on oral-aural skills; this approach became dominant in the United States during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, takes much from the direct approach but adds features from structural linguistics and behavioral psychology.)

a. Lessons begin with dialogues.
b. Mimicry and memorization are used based on the assumption that language is habit formation.
c. Grammatical sequences and rules are taught inductively.
d. Skills are sequenced: listening, speaking, reading, writing.
e. Pronunciation is stressed from the beginning.
f. Vocabulary is severely limited to initial stages.
g. A great effort is made to prevent learner errors.
h. Language is often manipulated without regard to meaning or context.
i. The teacher must be proficient only in the structures, vocabulary, etc. that he is teaching since learning activities and materials are carefully controlled.