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Goethezitat (und Bibelzitat, wesentlich geändert): "Im Anfang war das Wort / die Tat." Ancient history: The Bible gives us the story of the confused world of multiple languages (Babel) and the report of the first "Oral Proficiency Interview" test, which was very short and VERY high stakes ("shibboleth") US: • First college professor of foreign languages: _____________ (answer at bottom of page) • language study as: 1) for the elite; 2) classics-based (OSU required Latin for ADMISSION until 1926, and Greek until ca. 1880) • "grammar-translation" as a method / goal in itself, and as a sub-stratum to many other methods (WBF in high school: ALM with GT, especially since the teacher didn't know much German) • ALM: foundation in Behaviorism (B. F. Skinner), and obvious connection to technology, and more than a whiff of child abuse 1957 (Sputnik): crash program to teach languages; ALM + language lab 1970s ("Nation at Risk"): emergence of "standards-based" education; evolution of ILR/ETS/ACTFL Guidelines (with early PSU participation - thanks to Louis J. Elteto, chair of department) 1980s: continued emergence of language teaching as a profession & academic specialization Late 19th Century: An astounding early example of a proficiency-oriented German textbook, with an unfortunate title: "Der Führer." (My next DSAP presentation??) 1780s: Thomas Jefferson recruits Italian scholar to teach Italian and French at the College of William & Mary. Method was no doubt grammar-translation, but we should remember that the students no doubt got much communicative learning from their "Grand Tours" of Europe. |