-
Period: 1491 to 1547
Standard Grammar
It emerged in European Education during the reign of Henry VIII -
1582
“First part of the elementarie”
Richard Mulcaster said English was the language of our liberty and freedom. His book sets a programme of the codification of the English language. -
First German Mother Tongue School
Founded by Wolfgang Ratke, eventually failed. -
“Methodus”
Ratke’s basic principle “Methodus” In everything we should follow the order of nature. -
“Great Didactic”
The great Comenious underlined the central role of the mother tongue in the child’s exploration of meaning. -
Teaching Grammar
Young children would learn Latin grammar better and quicker if they learnt English grammar first. -
“Some thoughts concerning education”
John Locke “Some thoughts concerning education” contained a sensible advice on a modern system of education to replace the horrors of the grammar schools. -
Period: to
Vernacular Movement
It gradually gathered support, but progress was slow and it was always seen as “second best” to the traditional if increasingly moribund Latin grammar school tradition. -
Daniel Duncan
“The learning of dead languages is a yoke that neither were nor our fore-fathers could ever bear when we were children. And I fancy the loathsomeness of that dry study comes for want of reasoning previously with them enough about the nature of words and their dependency on one another in their own mother tongue.” -
Joseph Priestley; Robert Lowth.
Joseph Priestley:
“The propriety of introducing the English grammar into English schools cannot be disputed.” Robert Lowth:
“To enter at once upon science of grammar and the study of a foreign language is to encounter two difficulties together, each of which would be much lessened by being taken separately in its proper order.” -
"Short Introduction to English Grammar"; "Emile".
In this year was published Lowth's "Short Introduction to English Grammar" that the twenty century loves to hate. On the other hand, one curious coincidence was Rousseau's "Emile", or education the equally influential quasi-novel about teaching. -
Kindergarten
Pestalozzi’s disciple, Friedrich Froebel, creates an educational institution for very young children known as the “kindergarten”. -
Direct Methods and Natural Approaches
The emergence of direct methods and natural approaches modified the methodology of the teaching-learning process; this lead the creation of activities in classroom that included foreign languages. -
Period: to
Second Language Education
The language was designated as a mere medium of communication and children learned by the ability of flexibility and adaptation. The way children acquired a second language depended on how adults used to talk to children to make the understand. The education of the second language regarded as inferior to education in the mother tongue. Foreign languages were essentially perimentheral skills which can be acquired as and when they are needed. -
Modern Languages Discussion
It was discussed that “was not desirable to introduce modern languages into elementary schools” -
Bilingual Education
One practical outcome has been the expansion of bilingual education programmes in areas of the world like Britain. North America proved successful in promoting practical second language skills among very young children. The Canadian programme was remarkable for the strength of commitment it revealed majority-language speakers to encourage the learning of minority language. -
William Penfield
William Penfield supported the view that pre-adolescent children were particularly well-suited to the acquisition of foreign languages. -
FLES type project
A small experiment to teach French to primary school children was carried by a native-speaking teacher. A support system was created with the help of the Nuffield Foundation, and later the schools Council for the production of materials; the National Foundation for Educational Research [NFER] was enlisted to evaluate and assess the project.