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1.Foreignlanguageteachinginahistoricalperspective
tencesmodelledbytheteacher,and,lastbutnotleast,memorization.Thechoiceof
activitiesisconnectedwiththeeverydaylifeandinterestsofthestudentswhereasthe
memoryprocessesareenhancedbythemeaningfulconnectionbetweeneachelement
intheactivityseries.However,Titone(1968)noticesthatthesubdivisionoftheactivi-
tyintominutecomponentswasexaggeratedandinconflictwiththepracticalneeds
ofthestudents.Howatt(1984)pointsoutthatthesentencesarepredominantlythird
personstatements,thedrawbackthatGouintriedtoeliminatebyincludingsomedia-
logues.Thematerialheusesisfocusedononlyoneofanumberoffunctionsoflan-
guagecommentingonanactivity.Theadvantageoftheseriesisthatthestepsofthe
activityareeasytorememberbecausememoryprocessesaresupportedbymeaningful
linksinthematerialitself.Butalthoughtheyfollowanaturalplanfortheactivity,
thereareotherplanstoorganizelanguage,asreflectedinvariouslanguagegenres,for
examplenarrative,description,argumentativewriting,eye-witnessaccounts,etc.
Howatt(1984)regardstheGouinseriesastoolimitedintheprinciplesandthechoice
ofthematerialtobecalledamethod.
Onamoregeneralnote,itshouldbepointedoutthatsuchadvantagesoftheGouin
Seriesasthesensiblelinksinthematerial,theassociationwithreallifeactivity(an
episode),andthelinksbetweenlanguageandactioncomplywiththemoregeneral
lawsofhumanlearning.Theyarebynomeanslimitedtotheverb-centredactivities
highlightedintheseries,butapplytoallthelanguagematerialusedinverbalcom-
munication:e.g.descriptions,instructions,roaddirections,cookingrecipes,stories,
dramatizationofvariousemotions,etc.
1.3.1.TheReformMovement
AmostviolentattackontheGrammarTranslationMethodcamefromaGerman
specialist,Viëtor(1850–1918),in1882inacelebratedpamphletDer
Sprachunterrichtmussumkehren!EinBeitragzurÜberbürdungsfrage(Languagelearn-
ingmuststartafresh!Acontributiontothequestionofstressandoverworkin
schools.).HefirstwroteitunderthepseudonymQuosqueTandem,which,as
pointedoutbyHowatt(1984:189),referstotheopeningphraseinCicero,saddress
totheSenateontheCatilinaconspiracyandmeans:Howmuchlongeristhis
goingtogoon?ThepamphletheraldedtheReformMovementandwasespecial-
lyinfluentialinGermany.Viëtorstressedtheneedtofocusonthespokenlan-
guage,theuseofconnectedsentencesandillustrations(gestures,pictures),to
teachspeakingfirstandreadingatalaterstage,aswellastheneedtodevelopthe
knowledgeoftheforeigncountryanditsculture.Grammarwastobelearned
inductively.Viëtorwascriticalofthefactthatstudentswereoverburdenedwith
workleadingtomentalstressandfatigue.Hissolutionwastoeliminatewritten
homeworkandtointroducesongsandgamestotheteachingprocess.
ThekeyprinciplesoftheReformMovement,accordingtoHowatt(1984),
includedtheprimacyofspeechandoralactivitiesandthecentralpositionof
aconnectedtextusedfortheinductiveteachingofgrammar.Theemphasisonthe
spokenlanguagewasreinforcedbytheroleofphoneticsandphoneticianssuchas
JespersenandSweet.Phoneticsprovidedforeignlanguageteachingwithscienti-
ficfoundationswhichwerehardtoresist.Itwasessentialthatthelearnersstart