Plan Introduction I. Modern approaches and innovations in language skills

II. FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS
2.1.Modern FLT approaches
First of all, it is expedient to briefly explain the concepts of approach or principles, methods and techniques that are interrelated and hierarchically related. They actually represent the three levels of teacher decision-making and analysis in teaching and learning English in the classroom. An approach or strategy is the most abstract of the three concepts and refers to linguistic, psycho- and sociolinguistic principles based on methods and techniques. In fact, every teacher has some theoretical principles that serve as the basis for their ideas about their methods and techniques. On the other hand, the technique is the narrowest of the three; just one procedure to use in this class. Methods mediate between approaches and methods, only between theory (approach) and class practice. Some methods can share a number of techniques, and while some techniques are developed autonomously, the most important ones start with the basic methods.
It seems appropriate to mention the three main language learning issues that language pedagogy and ELT have addressed over the course of this century and are of constant concern to researchers and the teaching profession. Stern (1983: 401-5) defines them as follows:
The L1-L2 relationship, i.e., the imbalance between the inevitable dominance of the mother tongue in the student’s mind and the weaknesses of second language knowledge.
The obvious-bad option is the choice between more conscious ways of learning a foreign language and more conscious or automatic ways of learning it. This issue remains largely unresolved and has often created a dilemma for the FLT profession and research, for example, during the debates between cognitivism and audiolingual approaches in the 1960s and later with Krashen’s Monitor Theory. the difference between language learning (explicit and conscious) and language acquisition (complete and unconscious).
The code-communication dilemma has recently become a major problem. This means the challenges that students have to overcome when learning a new language because they are on the one hand
Each of the basic FLT methods we present here was not replaced by the next as soon as it appeared, but instead it continued to live, a new one was added to the first. We can even say that the emergence of a new method coincides with the development of theory, research, and school practice experience, as well as the despair of the former. In general, there is no clear line between the different methods, but there is often an eclectic mix between the methods.
In this sense, methods are the expression of linguistic knowledge for pedagogical purposes and are part of the paradigm (unit of theory, research, and practice) and represent the primary method of creating theories, researching, and implementing classroom activities. In fact, FLT methods have emerged as a result of the application of new theoretical findings. The methods are also conditioned by the philosophy of education, the nature of the language and the approaches to how it can be taught and learned, and the concepts of classroom interaction. All of this is encompassed by values ​​relevant to society and human relations. When these aspects begin to change, it can be said that the model shifts (Alcaraz 1990: 10-14).
Traditional or grammatical-translation method. This method was used to study Latin and Greek grammars in foreign languages ​​from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Although this method was widely used in the study of foreign languages ​​in the 19th century, by the end of the century there was a transition to the direct method. Even today, despite its obsolescence, it has not completely disappeared, as some textbooks are still in use and the practice of some classes needs to be proven.
Principles of grammar-translation method. The most relevant principles of this method can be summarized as follows (based on Larsen-Freeman 1986 and Richards and Rodgers 1986):
Emphasis is placed on the study and translation of written language, as it is superior to spoken language.
Successful students are those who translate each language into another, but they cannot communicate orally.
Reading and writing are basic language skills.
Teachers play an authoritarian role in the classroom, and teacher-student interactions predominate.
Students should be able to openly learn grammar rules and conclude that they are applying them to the lesson.
Students should be aware of verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms.
The basic unit of education is speech.
The student’s native language is a teaching tool and is also used to compare with the language being studied.
Basic techniques of grammar-translation method. The grammar-translation method teaches foreign language grammar by providing rules along with a list of some exceptions and dictionaries translated into the native language.