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1.Foreignlanguageteachinginahistoricalperspective
Theinventionofprintingaround1455helpedtoreproducetheGreekand
LatinclassicstobeusedastextsforteachingthroughoutEurope.Thelanguagein
whichthetextswerewrittenwasseveralcenturiesolderthantheLatinspokenby
theeducatedusersatthetime,butitwasconsideredtobethecorrectformof
Latinonwhichthegrammarsandteachingshouldbebased.Grammarbasedon
thesetextsgrewmoreandmorecomplicatedandbecameanendinitselfrather
thanthemeanstoreadingtheclassics.AlthoughLatinbecameadeadlanguage
andwasgraduallyreplacedbythenationallanguagesinEurope,itretainedthe
centralpositionasmodelforforeignlanguagegrammar.
AlthoughLatinceasedtobethemediumofinstruction,teachingLatin
grammarwasregardedasbeneficialmentalgymnasticsoramentaldiscipline.
Theseadvantageshadtheircritics,suchasMontaigneorComenius,givingriseto
thedirectapproachestolanguageteachinginwhichgrammarruleswereconsid-
eredunnecessary.
JanAmosKomensky,orComenius,(1592–1670)aCzechfromMoravia,whowrote
andtaughtinvariousplacesacrossEurope,wasthegreatesteducationistoftheseven-
teenthcentury.Howatt(1984)considershimtobeagenius,probablytheonlygeniusin
thehistoryoflanguageteaching.Comeniuswasinterestedingeneraleducationaswell
asintheproblemsoflanguageteaching.HisworksincludeDidacticaMagna(1657,‘The
GreatDidactic,),JanuaLinguarumReserataAurea(1631,‘TheGoldenGateto
LanguagesUnlocked,),inspiredbyBath,sJanuaLinguarum(‘TheGatetoLanguages,).
ThebookwasdevotedtoteachingLatinandcontainedeightthousandwordsofcom-
monuseillustratedwithvarioussentences,oreventextsinLatinofincreasingdiffi-
cultyandtranslatedintothevernacular.Heconsideredlanguagelearningtobeamat-
terofintuition,facilitatedbylinkingwordstobelearnedwiththeirimageswhichare
formedthroughsensoryexperience(Titone,1968).ThisideawasputtopracticeinOrbis
SensualiumPictus(1658,‘TheWorldinPictures,),wherehestressedtheneedforthe
childtolearnwordsandlinktheirmeaningtoobjects.Hismainpedagogicalprinciple
wastoaddressallthematerialinlanguageteachingtothesenseofperceptionandlearn-
ingbydirectpractice,suchasreading,repeating,copyingandimitation,ratherthanthe
rulesofgrammar.Althoughhestressedtheneedtoorderthematerialsystematically
andhierarchicallyfromthefamiliartotheunknown,hebelievedinthenecessarylink
betweenthecurriculumandtheinnerdevelopmentofthelearner(Titone,1984).
Howatt(1984:43)pointsout:‘ItisratherironicalthatComeniusshouldberemembered
forwritingLatintextbookswhenwhathereallywantedwasasystemofeducationin
whichthemothertonguewouldplayacentralroleandforeignlanguageswouldbe
learnedasandwhentheywereneededforpracticalpurposes.,
1.2.Grammarasthekeytoforeignlanguagelearning.
TheGrammarTranslationMethod
Mackeymakesaveryimportantpointthat‘languageteachershavealwaystended
toapplylanguageanalysistotheteachingoflanguage;infact,someofthefirst
descriptionsofalanguageweremadeforthepurposeofteachingit.,(quotedafter
Kelly,1969:34).Mackey(1965)addsthatfromthepointofviewofteaching,lan-