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Teaching languages to young learners: patterns of history - Jesús Antonio Ríos Curiel - EIN - 472

By jarc251290
  • 1401

    15th Century

    In the middle ages there had been clear practical of uses for Latin skills most obviously in church but also secular activities such as Administration and law, vernacular languages began to take over functions.
  • 1501

    16th Century

    Education should grow out of the child's experience mother tongue and foreign languages. it had to grow and relegated to a subsidiary role.
  • 1582

    1582 - English spelling system

    Richard Mulcaster “First part of the elementarie” he spoke for the use of English. English was the language of our liberty and freedom. His book sets a programme of the codification of the English language. he contributes to the standardisation of the English spelling system.

  • 17th Century

    ‘English’ did not appear on any school curriculum until that period of time and the grammar schools rejected it until reform in the mid 19.

  • 1620 - German mother tongue school

    Wolfgang Ratke opened the first German mother tongue school, eventually failed

  • 1630 - Great Didactic

    “Great Didactic” the great Comenious underlined the central role of the mother tongue in the child’s exploration of meaning.

  • 1646 - Teaching grammar

    Young children would learn Latin grammar better and more quickly if they learnt English grammar first.

  • 1693 - “natural” conversation methods

    Living languages were typically taught by resident native-speaking tutors following “natural” conversation methods.

  • 18th Century

    Until the eighteenth century formal education in Europe consisted almost exclusively of the teaching foreign languages.

  • 1761 - Joseph Priestley

    “The propriety of introducing the English grammar into English schools cannot be disputed.”

  • 1762 - Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar

    In 1762 was published Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar that the twenty century loves to hate.

  • 19th Century

    Privilege was the hallmark of schooling throughout Europe for centuries and when basic education for all finally arrived in the late 19th century, did not include foreign language which were restricted to selective secondary schools.

  • Early 19th Century

    Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi develops the “object lesson”, in which the starting point is a simple object that the children can explore by describing its various characteristics.

  • Late 19th century - Secondary level of schooling

    Was stated that foreign languages “were unsuited to the needs of elementary schoolers”. According to that time’s experts, the introduction of foreign languages should take place in secondary level of schooling.

  • 1860 - Object lesson

    Gottlieb Heness is inspired by the “object lesson” to teach German as a foreign language to the children of the staff at Yale University.

  • 1878 - Direct methods and natural approaches

    The emergence of direct methods and natural approaches modified the methodology of the teaching-learning process, this lead the creation of activities in classroom that included foreign languages.

  • 1916 - Not languages into elementary

    It was discussed that “was not desirable to introduce modern languages into elementary schools”

  • 1950 - North America

    North America proved successful in promoting practical second language skills among very young children

  • 1953 - William Penfield

    William Penfield supported the view that pre-adolescent children were particularly well-suited to the acquisition of foreign languages.

  • 1960 - Absence of foreign languages

    The absence of foreign languages from most of the state education sector was seriously questioned.

  • 1960 - FLES

    The FLES (Foreign Languages in the Elementary School) programme continued until mid-60s with some success but new ideas failed to materialize.

  • 1961-2 - French to primary school children

    A small experiment to teach French to primary school children was carried by a native-speaking teacher.

  • 1969 - Foreign languages were reserved for bright adolescents

    In Britain before the 70s Foreign languages were reserved for bright adolescents, the top 20% who had passed the entrance test to the grammar schools.