ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

English Language Teaching (ELT)

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English Language Teaching (ELT)

Introduction

The teaching of English language has evolved considerably over the history. First, the English language was not taught at all. Later, the various authors took the task of teaching English to those who wanted to learn. These included immigrants and traders. However, formal teaching of English is very old and there did not appear many texts in history that specifically taught English. Still, the history shows that some English was taught in various modes and methods. Those modes and methods were quintessential of their times and did not represent any formal methods of teaching English which exist nowadays.

Likewise, the English language teaching also remained a totally global phenomenon. The English language was not only taught in the United Kingdom, but also was taught in all of the other countries in the world. The teaching of English was done in all countries ranging from Singapore to Hungary. However, it is correctly expected that the methodologies for teaching English differed in all of the various countries. Each country took its own method of teaching English to students and to others who wanted to learn English (Braine, 2005).

However, the historical development of English language teaching did influence the way it is taught today. Still, it is worthwhile to look at the historical development of English language teaching to know as to how it evolved and what can we observe with this as the future of English language teaching going forward in time. Also, the history of English language teaching is very important and exciting. It shows as to how the teaching of English language evolved in the world from earlier times to present day mode of post-method English language teaching (Hall, 2011).

In addition, it has also been found that management of the curriculum in schools which teach the English language is quite complex (White, Martin, Stimson, and Hodge, 1991). The language materials also contain both texts and tasks (Harwood, 2010). Likewise, the job of English Language Teaching (ELT) has also been described as very interesting (Target, 2003).

Methods and Approaches to English Language

When we talk about approach, it refers to various theories about the language learning and the theories about the nature of the language which serves as the principles in the teaching of the language and as a source of practice. Approach basically describes the way people acquire and learn their knowledge related to the language and also develop statements about the various conditions which can help promote successful learning of the language (Brown, 2001).

Method on the other hand is the practical realization of an approach. It includes various techniques and procedures which is a part of the standard fare.

The Grammar translation method has been used for many years by many language teachers. It was also known as the classical method at one time, since its use was first initiated in the teaching of the Latin and Greek classical languages. It was also reported to help students in the purpose of appreciating and ...