The Evolution of Foreign & Second language Education

By Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D. San Diego State University

Contributions of other disciplines to foreign and second language teaching

Linguistics

Description of the components and structure of language: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax,    Grammar, Lexicon; Discourse analysis; Concept of language universals and Surface vs. deep structure of language.

Psycholinguistics

Understanding of the process of language acquisition in a first and second language; Competence vs. performance; Affective variables in language learning; Cognitive strategies of language learners; Effects of bilingualism on cognitive development.

Sociolinguistics

Perception of the total language environment:  Communication & the functions of language; Cultural factors that influence language learning; Social and interpersonal language learning variables; Studies of language variations, language prestige and bilingualism in social contexts.

Educational psychology

Understanding of self-esteem and motivation in students; Sequential nature of language learning; Theories of cognitive development and learning strategies; Elements of sound curriculum design; Characteristics of effective teaching.

Classical period

EDUCATION AS AN ARM OF THE THEOCRACY: Purpose of education to teach religious orthodoxy and good moral character.

EMPHASIS ON LEARNING TO READ & WRITE: Little importance placed on higher education.

LATIN GRAMMAR SCHOOL: Latin and Greek learned to understand the Holy Scriptures.

MODERN LANGUAGES: Learned by studying abroad or from private tutors.

American Revolution to the civil war

THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: Expanding trade and commerce.

CULTURAL NATIONALISM: Careers available in book-keeping and foreign trade for children of the upper-class.

SECULAR CONTROL OF EDUCATION: Emergence of academies & high schools.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING: Begins in mid-eighteen century. Considered a "frill" subject; not enough of a "mental discipline"

The "Boom Period"--Civil War to World War I

TAX-SUPPORTED PUBLIC EDUCATION: Decline of private academies.

DECLINE IN LATIN & CLASSICAL STUDIES: German & French the most popular languages.

DOMINANCE OF TRADITIONAL METHODS: Emphasis on memorization and grammar-translation methods; reading a foreign language.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (MLA) IN 1883: Stressed need for L2 study as intellectual discipline.

EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE: Psychological theory and practice influence teaching methods and learning theory.

INTRODUCTION OF THE "DIRECT METHOD": Role of L1 in L2 learning reassessed.

World War I to 1952

POST-WAR ISOLATIONISM: Disillusion with American omnipotence in world affairs, failure of the League of Nations.

GOAL TO EDUCATE ALL AMERICA'S CHILDREN: Focus away from education of the elite; foreign language study only for the "college bound"; "Life-adjustment" and "progressive" education.

THE "MELTING POT": Assimilation or "Americanization" of immigrants stressed as the role of the public schools.

EMERGENCE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY & LINGUISTICS: Leonard Bloomfield criticizes L2 methodologies; declares "primacy of oral language".

BEHAVIORISM: B.F. Skinner and Verbal Behavior; stimulus-response learning theory; emphasis on scientific methods of observation

 

1950’s Trends that last into 1960'S

AGE OF MATERIAL COMFORT & PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCOMFORT: Era of bomb shelters, "hippies", rise of subcultures, the "Great Society".

EXPANDING ACADEMIC, VOCATIONAL & GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS: Public schools see as the vehicle for progress and social change.

NEW APPROACHES TO TEACHING: Team teaching; non-graded classes; open classrooms; individualized instruction; programmed instruction; flexible and "core curriculum" scheduling.

THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD: A marriage of Stimulus-Response (B.F. Skinner) learning theory and linguistics.

RISE AND FALL OF MEDIA AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY: Diffusion and later "abandonment" of the language laboratory; growing expansion of technology.

1952 - William Riley Parker's THE NATIONAL INTEREST AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

Expounds on how expanding global interests of the United States require people who are multilingual and multicultural for business, industry, foreign relations and education.

1957 - LAUNCH OF THE RUSSIAN SPUTNIK: Resulted in the National Defense Education Act in 1958.

1957 - CHOMSKY'S SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES: Emergence of generative-transformational grammar; the competence/performance distinction

The 1960’s Wedding of disciplines

1964--PENFIELD'S THE UNCOMMITTED CORTEX: Emergence of psycholinguistic theory and interest in childhood vs. adult bilingualism.

EMERGENCE OF ECLECTICISM: The "great debate" over L2 methods resulting from disillusion with audio-lingual method; impact of cognitive psychology; examination of L2 teaching "mythology".

COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION: Age of social engineering; emergence of the behavioral objective & Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive and affective objectives.

RISE OF HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY: Student-centered classrooms; explorations in values education; cognitive styles; attitudes & motivation; group dynamics.

"BACK-TO-THE-BASICS" MOVEMENT: Disassembling of "innovations"; emphasis on "accountability"; reforms in teacher education to emphasize knowledge of subject matter vs. pedagogy

ABOLITION OF LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: De-emphasis of grammar instruction; focus on pragmatic L2 instruction & communicative competence.

INCORPORATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS IN L2 THEORY & TEACHING: Examination of the nature of language proficiency in varying contexts.

Language Education 1970 to the present

THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION ACT OF 1968 & 1974: (Title VII) & Lau v. Nichols. Emphasis on second vs. foreign language studies. Rise of Paolo Freire’s critical pedagogy; cultural pluralism; acculturation; multicultural education. Focus on teaching L2 culture in the classroom.

EMERGENCE OF NEW METHODOLOGIES & CURRICULUM MODELS: Innovative methods include the Natural or Communicative Approach; Social-therapeutic orientations such as Community Learning, Suggestopedia; the Notional-Functional Syllabus.

"ICEBERGS" & "BALLOONS": Theorists link cognitive and linguistic development and explain bilingual language development and competence.

SHIFT IN EMPHASIS TO LITERACY AND CONTENT AREA INSTRUCTION: Constructivist theory leads to Whole Language Movement and renewed study of the role of language proficiency in reading & writing; Methods focus on integration of language and content area teaching such as Sheltered English, SDAIE, English Language Development; Integrated Thematic Instruction.

ENGLISH-ONLY VERSUS ENGLISH PLUS MOVEMENTS: Heated debate in political arenas and the public sector over the role of foreign languages and bilingualism in American society; Emergence of Immersion vs. transitional and two-way bilingual education models. Rise of the English-only Movement; Proposition 227 in California virtually eliminates bilingual education programs; "Sheltered Immersion" becomes the state- mandated model of instruction.

Sources

Chastain, K. (1976). Developing Second-language Skills: Theory to Practice. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally College Publishing.

Brown, H.D. (1980). Principles of Language Learning & Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Diaz-Rico, L.T. & Weed, K.Z. (1995). The Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development Handbook. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.