Blair 1982

Blair, Robert W. (editor). 1982.Innovative approaches to language teaching. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 257 pages. Location: Dallas SIL Library 407 I58. Interest level: specialist.

Begins with personal use of teaching the language learning ideas of Bloomfield, Brooks, and Skinner. Ideas are based on

• drill
• practice
• habit-forming paradigms, and
• stimulus-response paradigms.

Continues with personal search for other ideas and better ways to learn languages. Includes original writings of a number of different theorists, with succinct comments on their varying practices.

Stephen Krashen emphasizes the importance of natural acquisition, in contrast to formal instruction.

Nida, who worked as Secretary of the American Bible Society, writes about "Learning by listening" and gives guidelines for both passive and selective listening.

Palmer's chapter on "The prespeech phase in language learning," and Postovsky's "Delayed oral practice" show the need for a period of listening and comprehension preceding attempts at production.

Asher details aspects of Total Physical Response approach.

Other contributors include

• Burling
• Newmark
• Stevick
• Curran
• Lozanov
• Terrell
• Galyean
• Gattegno, and
• Harvey.

Blair concludes with personal, integrated approach based on

• bilingual stories about everyday happenings
• copious use of familiar stories from classic children's literature, and
• Bible literature as dramatic narrative.

• Bibliography module: Blair 1982
• In overview module: Bibliography (Literacy): B
• In modular book: Bibliography (Literacy), by Doris Gallemore, Trudi C. Hunt, Jeanne Swanson, and Stephen L. Walter
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 May 1999

© 1999 SIL International