Language Teaching Methodology and Second Language Acquisition

The first part of the article focuses on language teaching. After a historical overview of foreign language teaching methods, the key issues in language teaching are outlined. A special section is devoted to communicative language teaching, the current approach to foreign language teaching, and two important aspects that reflect tendencies in modern language teaching – learner-centeredness and use of IT. This is followed by sections on the content that is actually taught (e.g. pronunciation, grammar etc.), on teaching the four foreign language skills, role and types of language syllabi and teaching materials, and the issue of language assessment. The rest of the first part looks at language teaching from the different perspectives: those of the language learner, the context of learning (the language classroom) and the language teacher. The second part of the article is devoted to second language acquisition. Following the definition and the goals of this new discipline within applied linguistics, the authors offer an overview of its development throughout its relatively short history that traces it back to the times of contrastive analysis and error analysis. The section on current research issues offers also an insight into the current interests and foci of second language acquisition experts. The last section focuses on SLA research methodology and current SLA theories.