Often desperate to learn a foreign language, recalling their school experience, are tempted by promises to quickly learn the language using the latest method. Moreover, often no distinction is made between what are methods of teaching a foreign language and what are private methods. You can hear a lot about the game method, all kinds of copyright programs. We will consider the current methods and techniques of teaching a foreign language and emphasize their advantages for solving particular problems.
1. The traditional grammar-translation and modern lexico-grammatical method
This traditional approach to learning in its purest form was used in schools and universities until the mid-20th century and longer. The training was based on a solid grammatical foundation and memorization of vocabulary (in our country, vocabulary is ideologically correct and in real communication of little use). The main skill mastered by those who managed to maintain interest in the language and not give up even at the beginning of a difficult and long journey is reading and translating texts, often of a highly specialized orientation.
Despite the shortcomings of this method - poor motivation of students, the formation of a language barrier, inability to communicate in real situations - it has its advantages. First of all, this is a solid knowledge of grammar. This method is suitable for students with analytical thinking, for whom the structure of the material and the presence of a logical explanation of the phenomenon are a big plus, and not clear diagrams and tables in this case are a good auxiliary tool.
After decades during which the traditional methods of teaching a foreign language were subjected to comprehensive criticism, it was time to realize its advantages. And today, in its improved form, this method is called lexico-grammatical. Attention is paid to all four aspects of the language, that is, not only reading and writing, but also speaking and listening. It is successfully used by teachers of the "old school" and allows you to clearly demonstrate the similarities and differences between the native and studied languages.
2. The communicative method
It is fundamentally the opposite of the above. As the name implies, it is designed to teach communication. This requires the most natural learning conditions and a real need for interaction. The communicative method involves communication between the teacher and the student in the language being studied, the explanation of grammar is minimized. It is assumed that it should be absorbed intuitively. Mistakes in speech, if possible, are not corrected if they do not impede understanding. The introduction of this method began in the 1970s with the filing of both foreign and domestic authors. He allowed many to get rid of the language barrier, learn to understand the language and speak it much faster. Of particular interest is the modern, colorful textbooks with relevant content. Particularly high results were achieved by students of primary school age, for whom, with sufficient motivation, language learning does occur in a "natural" way. Today, the communicative method is recognized as the most effective for group learning and is suitable for most language learners. However, he requires a high level of training from the teacher. It is with insufficient qualifications and an understanding of the fundamentals of this method that its criticism is connected, the essence of which is that the student does not learn to speak correctly and does not own grammar. This is not entirely true, since much depends on the duration of the training and on the efforts made by the trainee.
Methods, forms and techniques
Often in advertisements of educational institutions one can hear that in the classroom the latest methods of teaching a foreign language are used. Rather, we are talking about various forms of training (immersion method, audio lingual, etc.). And here the word "method" should not be understood as a fundamental approach, but as a way of presenting knowledge. In particular, many say that they use interactive methods of teaching a foreign language. Here we are talking about unconditionally useful online resources, which is more of an aid than methods. A form of training is also popular when communication with a teacher occurs, for example, via Skype.
Summarizing the above, we can say that today it has become clear that the methods of teaching a foreign language are selected based on the tasks and features of the group or specific student. You should distinguish them from methods and forms of training and understand that none of the methods will allow you to learn a language in 2 months without making your own efforts.