Lecture 1 Methods of Foreign LanguageTeaching as a Science

Psychology allows the methodologists to determine the so-called psychological content of teaching i.e. in what habits and skills should be developed in pupils to acquire language proficiently.
Psychology also helps Methods in selecting techniques for teaching and learning, i.e. in how to teach in a most effective way, for example, underwhat conditions pupils can learn words, phrases, sentence-patterns more effectively, or how to ensure pupils memorizing new words in an easier way. Since progress in learning is made by the addition of new knowledge may be imparted in teaching a certain group of pupils,what psychological factors should be taken into consideration when imparting a new
knowledge to pupils.


c) Relations of Methods of Foreign Language Teaching to Physiology of the Higher Nervous system.
Being connected with the psychology methods of foreign language teaching takes into account functions of the brain and the higher nervous system, I.P.Ivanov’s theory of the higher nervous activity his interrelated theories of “conditional reflexes” of the “second signaling system” and of “dynamic stereotype” bears a direct relation to the teaching of a foreign language. Pavlov writes that all human physical activity is the result of the physiological activity of the definite mass of the brain. Pavlov showed that man’s higher nervous activities-speaking and thinking-are the functions of a
special system of organic structures within the nervous system.
Pavlov’s theory of conditioned reflexes explains and confirms the necessity for the cultivation of habits and for frequent repetitions and revision of the material dealtwith in the teaching of all the subjects of instruction, in particular in the teaching of foreign languages, where those precepts arte of special importance. Consequently, one of the forms of human behavior, i.e. speech response to different communication situations. Therefore, in teaching a foreign language we must bear in mind that pupilsshould acquire the language they study as a behavior, as something that helps people
to communicate with each other in various real situations of intercourse. Hence a foreign language should be taught in through such situations.
Pavlov’s theory “dynamic stereotype” also furnished the psychological base for many important principles of language teaching, e.g. for the topical vocabulary arrangements.

d) Relations of Methods of Foreign Language Teaching to Linguistics.

While linguistics is a science, language as a subject of instruction is not a science, but an activity. Methods of foreign language teaching is most closely related to linguistics deals with the problems which are of paramount importance to methods, with language and thinking, grammar and vocabulary, the relationship between grammar and vocabulary and many others. Methods successfully use, for example, the results of linguistic investigation in the selection and arrangement of language material for teaching.
Many prominent linguists have not only developed the theory of linguistics, butalso tried to apply it to language teaching. The following quotation may serve as a proof of this: "It has occurred to the linguist as well as to the psychologist that the foreign language classroom should be an excellent laboratory in which to test new theories of language acquisition”.
Methods of Foreign Language Teaching like any other science have definite ways of investigating the problems which may arise. They are: 1) A critical study of the ways, foreign languages were taught in our country and abroad. 2) A through study and summing up of the experience of the best foreign language teachers in different types of schools. 3) Experimenting with the aim of confirming or refuting the working hypotheses that may arise during investigation.
Experimenting becomes more and more popular with methodologists. In experimenting, methodologists have to deal with different data that is why in arranging research work they use mathematics, statistics, and probability theory to interpret experimental results.