Scott Thornbury is an internationally recognised academic and writes books about language and teaching. He is the author of 30 Language Teaching Methods and 101 Grammar Questions.
He is also the series editor of the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers. At this year’s Better Learning Conference, Scott spoke about the history of teaching methodologies and how they can be reconciled with modern teaching. Many methods competed for attention in the 20th century. Audiolingualism, for example, was extremely popular. When it was discredited in the mid-century, this left a gap in the pedagogical discourse. It was a gap filled by a variety of prominently marketed methods.
In his talk, Scott goes over the methods of teaching in the 20th century. He reveals their shifting nature, which belies the traditional idea that teaching is more progressive today than ever. One quotation from 1956 says that language should not be taught as a ‘sterile subject’. Another calls for a greater emphasis on ‘reading, speaking and writing’ over ‘rigid instruction’. These forward-thinking call to arms show how some 20th century methods are not as rigid as we think.
Scott finishes by considering the best method needed for today’s teaching.
Watch the full recording of his talk here:
If you’re interested in hearing more from Scott, he has previously written a piece on how to design a method. You can also read a sample chapter from ‘Scott Thornbury’s 30 Language Teaching Methods’ on ‘Communicative Language Teaching’.