Methods and Approaches of Teaching English: a Historical Review

Abstract

It might be quite difficult to say that one teaching method or approach is the best to be adopted in English classes. A little knowledge of the history of these methods and approaches can lead to unsuccessful application inside language classrooms. Therefore, this methodological research paper presents a historical background of some teaching methods and approaches which have been used in language education throughout history of teaching/learning English. It introduces the principles on which each teaching method and approach is based. Furthermore, it provides details about the advantages and disadvantages of each method and approach besides their limitations. The paper deals with only five methods and approaches of teaching English because of the limited number of pages determined by the journal. Namely they are: Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching, Audio-Lingual Method, and Communicative Language Teaching. Finally, the paper ends with a conclusion showing the result of its research and intended work to be done in the near future.