Weighing the Ways of the Flow: Twentieth Century Language Instruction

Abstract

A traditional metaphor for changes in language teaching methodologies has been that of a pendulum swinging back and forth. However, this historical review of methodology articles in the MLJ suggests a new, more dynamic, metaphor-that of a river flowing. We examine first the major mainstream methods discussed in the Journal, showing how they came into being and what caused them, as opposed to other methods, to become so strong. Then we examine other historical and academic factors that caused the methods to divert and divide into several channels. Finally, we suggest potential areas of exploration that might lead to the development of new water sources or the diversion of the current stream into new channels. The new metaphor and historical review of MLJ methodology articles allow us to see how our work has progressed over the years and how it has not just swung like a pendulum between two opposing positions.

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and the Oral Proficiency Interview: A Brief History and Analysis of Their Survival

“…In their review of approaches to foreign language instruction in the twentieth century, Mitchell and Vidal (2001) used the metaphor of a flowing river to account for the impact of the proficiency movement. According to their analysis, the proficiency movement promoted the conjoining of the streams of communicative language teaching and of language assessment, which had begun to influence each other in the late 1970s and early 1980s (p. 32).…”

Second-language instruction as a semiotic activity

“…In a truly masterly synthesis of second-language instruction in the twentieth century, Danesi provides an exceptional account of this revolutionary period (Brown Mitchell and Ellingson Vidal 2001;Chaudron 2001;Kelly 1969;Lantolf and Sunderman 2001;Musumeci 1997;Titone 1968). In a succinct fashion, Danesi analyzes the major methodologies of the past century including the direct method, the reading and oral methods, the audiolingual approach, the cognitivecode approach, communicative language instruction, and humanistic language instruction (Larsen-Freeman 1986).…”

MLJ Editorial Policy: Reflections on the Profession, Definition of Its Disciplines

“…Toward its generalist orientation, Schulz (2000) stresses the important role of the MLJ in preparing future teachers; Horwitz (2000) recommends a learners' column; Spolsky (2000) mentions the importance of publishing articles about testing that are directed to a general readership, such as state-of-the-art reviews and discussion of major controversial developments, especially in areas where testing impacts teaching; Liskin-Gasparro (2001) considers the advantages of an online forum for discussing books and their reviews; and Brown Mitchell and Vidal (2001) predict that teaching techniques, ideas, and small experiments will continue to be reported in the pages of the MLJ. Focusing directly on its broad scope, Byrnes (2000) encourages the Journal to promote and assure "professional multilingualism" (p. 492) by providing space for many interdisciplinary voices.…”