Best Practices For Teaching Languages ​​

Language is a system used by people in which thoughts are expressed in linguistic signs, abstractions. When it comes to language teaching, it is important to distinguish between mother tongue and foreign languages.

Learning a new language means knowing and embracing the new sign system and its rules and practices. In this article, we look at the most appropriate methods for teaching languages ​​in order to achieve the above goal.

Different methods for teaching languages

Grammar and translation

The oldest and most traditional method of teaching a language is to focus on grammar and translate texts and phrases from one language to another. This method focuses specifically on the grammatical rules and structures of the language. It emphasizes how the grammatical formulas of that language correspond to universal formulas. This method involves learning thousands of words, rules, and sentences taken out of context.

A method based on verbal communication

The use of this method began to grow in the late 20th century. This method focuses on verbal communication, rather than looking at the grammar of phrases and sentences used. The underlying idea of ​​this method is that a person can learn a language and use it intelligibly without mastering grammar perfectly.

With this method, the grammar of a language is learned intuitively, meaning that errors are reduced as a person learns the right relationship between a foreign word and the situation associated with it.

Audio-lingual method

The audio-linguistic method has much in common with the above-mentioned method based on verbal communication. Both methods give priority to spoken language, in which oral expression and listening play an important role. The difference is that this method utilizes the repetition of words and sentences as a teaching strategy.

The best methods for teaching languages

Over time, various methods have been developed to teach foreign languages. While it is impossible to say that one method is best for teaching languages, some methods may be better than others.

Take, for example, the communicative method. With this approach, other languages ​​can be taught through a process that is more functional than structural. In other words, the most important aspect is communication, rather than learning the grammar of a foreign language.

The communicative method takes into account all the above methods and focuses on the practical, i.e. practical, necessity of learning a foreign language. It also aims to learn to interact communicatively in the right context using that language.

When it comes to language teaching, at the heart of the communicative method is communicative activity in problematic situations, with grammatical rules moving into the background. However, it is important that the learner also internalizes grammatical rules, but the main goal of language learning is to use it for communication.

The problematic situations mentioned above refer to different scenarios that a person might face in their daily life. These can be met, for example, at work, at the airport or on the go. For example, a person may make various purchases or have to give advice in difficult situations. In order to cope with such situations, the learner must progressively develop his or her ability to use a foreign language.

Communication is the key to language teaching

It is important to emphasize that any of the above methods are valid for teaching a foreign language. However, the specific characteristics and learning needs of each student should be taken into account. The educator should be flexible in choosing the teaching method, and different methods can be combined with each other.

Repetition, learning, and knowing grammatical rules can be valid strategies when studying a foreign language. However, it would be good to be able to use them in various problem-solving and decision-making situations, examples of which were presented in the context of the communicative method. The aim of language teaching is to understand foreign languages ​​and to be understood using them.