A Short Historiographical Study in Language Teaching Methodology

Abstract

Language teaching has been around for many aeons, and over the thousands of years it has been around, it has evolved and changed. Various influences have affected language teaching methodologies. Reasons for learning language have been different in different periods. In some eras, languages were mainly taught for the purpose of study of scripture. In others, it was taught mainly to people who needed to use it orally. These differences influenced how language was taught in various periods. Also, theories about the nature of language and the nature of learning have changed. However, many of the current issues in language teaching have been considered off and on throughout history. The history language teaching goes back at least to the ancient Greeks. They were interested in what they could learn about the mind and the will through language learning. The Romans were probably the first to study a foreign language formally. They studied Greek, taught by Greek tutors and slaves. Their approach was less philosophical and more practical than that of the Greeks. In fact, these two ancient people gave form to the signifier “pedagogy.”