9/1 Readings

References:
1) TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends, R. Kumaravadivelu
2) Language Teaching Approaches: An Overview, Marianne Celce-Murcia

 While both articles were extremely informative, I found Celce-Murcia's to be a little more user-friendly and approaching the ideas in a simple manner. I still find the idea of the development of English as the lingua franca to be very intriguing, and I enjoyed reading about how Latin lost its popularity over time. It makes me wonder, though, if English will follow the same pattern as Latin since Latin lost its strength after becoming "Vulgate", or vulgar, the language of the people. I feel though that English is used by almost everyone in so many different ways that it will be less possible for it to die out the same way that Latin did as a spoken language. English has become entirely "vulgar" according to these terms, and plus the invention of the internet as a global resource has projected English to an entirely new level that Latin could never accomplish. However, Latin was the written word, the desirable language and English echoes that same belief. I do have to wonder if it could ever happen?

Anyway, trying to grasp all these different language approaches is a bit overwhelming. While they share beliefs and systems, they still have entirely different bases for their actions. The Grammar-Translation approach to me is quite dated, considering it was used at a time when language was for the sole purpose of global communication, when other countries did not have English as a primary or secondary language. Today, many countries have English required in their schools and you would not be hard-pressed to find anyone in Germany, Spain, or Italy that did not know at least a little bit of English. Obviously, the international business world has opened up many opportunities as well in this realm. It made me wonder what my approach to language is; I think to me, the oral and listening comprehension is key to succeeding in a language. If you do not possess communicative or strategic competence at the very best, it will be difficult to achieve any language goals you may have. I learned this when going to Spain and I only truly knew the linguistic structure. However, I did have above-average listening comprehension skills, so I did my best to express myself. I still had many communication breakdowns where I did not know the phrasing or colloquialisms. For example, I went into a shoe store and had absolutely no idea how to ask for my size. I was thrown for a loop because I thought I had it together in my head, but I could not produce it. It just goes to show that language is truly a life-long process and could always do with improvement.