How to Learn a Foreign Language
Different methods of learning languages have been favoured at different times. The common sense approach has usually overruled, and most teachers have adapted a mixture of them. We all have different preferences, in any case, in the way in which we learn. No method will work, however, unless the learner is engaged in their learning and takes responsibility for it.
Grammar Grind
A rather cruel name for something which actually worked quite well. It was favoured up until the mid-sixties and derided in the seventies. You worked systematically through the grammar, starting with the easiest point and coming finally to the most complex. It could leave learners with a thorough understanding of the grammar of the language but unable to use it.
The Direct Method
This was an attempt to mimic the way we acquire our own language. The teacher would rush into the lesson, shouting 'Good morning, class.' Everyone thought they meant 'I'm sorry I'm late.' Learners under this method were never put off when they went abroad. But neither could they make themselves understood. They did develop some good coping strategies, however.
Drills and Patterns
Language stucture is introduced as you need to know it and drilled into you. There is still an emphasis on grammar, but it is not made explicit to the learner. You practise a pattern. New language was often introduced with flash cards, and then you completed the drill on the language laboratory.
Communicative Language Learning
The message here is communication, communication, communication. Exercises are set up so that the learner is genuinely communicating. The language has worked if the outcome is correct. Often each partner has information the other doesn't. A simple example is that each has half a TV guide. They ask each other such questions as 'What is on Channel 4 at 7 pm?' These are very realistic exercises, but do not always develop grammatical and structural accuracy.
Target Language
The teacher speaks all the time in the language you are learning. They do this, however, in a much more conscious way than with the direct method. They always aim to make sure the student understands. At the same time the student becomes used to hearing language as communication. The learner develops coping strategies. Again, little time is available for adding in the knowledge of accurate structure.
