Language Teaching Traditions: Second Language

Language teaching has a long history in Western education, as the learning of Latin was fundamental to the curriculum for almost 2000 years. Throughout that history, proponents of educational reform have spoken to a handful of recurring themes; namely, whether language is best learned through use or by rule; the roles of age, aptitude, and motivation in the learning process; and the importance of second, or foreign, language in the curriculum. This overview of language teaching tradition provides a summary of the historical and philosophical contexts that shaped language praxis from the early Greeks to the 20th century.