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What are the theories of language teaching? 


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The theories of language teaching can be categorized into different paradigms and approaches. In the 19th and 20th centuries, three main linguistic paradigms emerged: traditional, formal, and functional or communicative . These paradigms influenced the evolution of language teaching models and methods, from the audio-oral method to the notional-functional method . In China, various teaching methods have been introduced and popularized, causing confusion for teachers. The importance of English learning has led to the exploration of cognitive processes and the use of schema theory to understand reading comprehension . The use of theory and practice in language teacher education is seen as a continuum, with both being important for professional expertise . Linguistic theories, such as structuralism and transformational generative theory, and psychological theories, including behaviorism, nativism, cognitivism, functionalism, constructivism, humanism, and cybernetics, have influenced language teaching perspectives . Different schools of thought have developed, inheriting methods from translation and direct approaches, each with their own advantages and disadvantages .

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The paper discusses various schools of thought in foreign language teaching methods, including the translation method, conscious-comparative method, cognitive method, audiolingual method, and audio-visual method.
Open accessJournal ArticleDOI
20 Jun 2018
3 Citations
The paper discusses several language theories, including structuralism and transformational generative theory, but does not specifically mention theories of language teaching.
The paper discusses various learning and language acquisition theories, but it does not explicitly mention specific theories of language teaching.
The paper discusses three linguistic paradigms that influenced language teaching: traditional, formal, and functional/communicative.

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