The method of foreign language teaching has been developing according to linguistics. Instead of the grammar- translation method based on prescriptive grammar, the audio - lingual approach appeared along with structural grammar. Reflecting the idea of...
The method of foreign language teaching has been developing according to linguistics. Instead of the grammar- translation method based on prescriptive grammar, the audio - lingual approach appeared along with structural grammar. Reflecting the idea of stimulus → reaction relation and empiricism on language acquisition, it recommended to teach speaking and hearing prior to grammar and translation. It doubtlessly contributed much to the teaching of living language, while it depended on the mechanical drill of fixed sentence patterns too much, thus causing the originality of learners to be checked.
Reflecting the idea of rationalism on language acquisition according to transformational grammar, the cognitive code theory put emphasis on the cultivation of the active originality as well as the linguistic competence of learners, by teaching them sentence structures through transformation drill.
But the linguistic competence of transformational grammar is criticized as restrictive by the communicative approach based on socio - linguistics. Considering the socio - cultural and psycho - linguistic relation, the communicative approach insists that it is important to heighten the learners' will to learn by teaching them contextually appropriate language rather than grammatical sentence structures.
Those methods above criticize each other, but they should rather complement each other, I think. The repetition drill of audio- lingual approach should be extended to the voluntary command of the language, and the linguistic competence of cognitive code theory should be supplemented to teach the appropriate language to the given situation. A foreign language, thus, should be taught as a natural language, harmonizing linguistic performance, linguistic competence and contextual appropriacy.