chapter two general introduction to foreign language methodology.doc

Chapter Two General Introduction to Foreign Language Methodology Key Points (学习要点) The goal of foreign language teaching — the goal is to help the learner master the target language in the shortest possible time. What do we mean by mastering the target language? — We mean that the learner is able to have successful communications with others in the target language. The Nature of FLTM （外语教学法的性质） Foreign language teaching methodology (FLTM) is a science which studies the process and patterns of foreign language teaching. Its aim is to reveal (show) the nature and laws of foreign language teaching. It involves (includes) a lot of disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. Therefore, we say that FLTM is an inter-disciplinary science and it makes use of many subjects. Theories of Linguistics（语言学理论） Traditional linguistics（传统语言学） Traditional linguistics has a tradition of more than 2000 years. It was started by the Greeks in the fifth century B.C. The two controversies on the relations between form and meaning — (A) The naturalists argued that the forms of words reflected directly the nature of objects while the conventionalists thought that language was conventional and there was no logic connection between form and meaning of words. (B) The other was between the analogists and anomalists —the analogists thought that language in general was regular and there were rules for people to follow while the anomalists thought that language was basically irregular and that was why there were so many exceptions and irregularities in the Greek language. Nature of traditional linguistics — Traditional linguistics was practical in nature. People made a study of language in order to understand the classic words of ancient times and to teach students. They gave often took a prescriptive approach when they discussed rules of language. American structuralism（美国结构主义语言学） American structuralism started at the beginning of the 20th c