Theories and Language Teaching

Theories attempt to explain observed phenomena, in and out of classrooms. Teachers will want to know which theory is the “correct one” and miss the point that there are basic facts about acquisition that need to be explained by any theory and that these facts are useful in and of themselves. Language is the object of some kind of explicit teaching, learning, and testing in this scenario and the teacher’s job is to apply the principles, pedagogies, and methods used to teach other subject matter to the teaching of French, Spanish, and German. The level of explicitness and the kind of practice may vary from teacher to teacher and curriculum to curriculum but the fundamental similarity is the unstated belief that language is learned like any other subject matter. Teachers need to grapple with basic facts before grappling with any particular theory.