Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical Approaches

Before I start to explain about the advantages and disadvantages of historical approaches, first I will explain about the definition of approaches in according to our book an approach is viewed as an over all theory about learning language, which then lends it-self to “approaching” language teaching and learning in a certain manner. (D. L. Norland and Terry Pruett-Said : 2006) which means that Approach is discussing about underpinning theory of language and the application of that theory. In our book, there are three things in the historical approaches chapter that I am going to explain about their advantages and disadvantages.
They are Audio-Lingual Method, Direct Method, and Grammar-based Approaches.

            The Audio-Lingual Method is based on the behaviorist belief that language learning is the acquisition of a set of correct language habits. The learner repeats patterns until able to produce them spontaneously. The teacher directs and controls students' behavior, provides a model, and reinforces correct responses. There are some advantages of this method. The first is students will reinforce their memorizing ability because they are accustomed to memorize what the teacher say and repeat it correctly. Second, evolving students speaking ability although the students are the quiet or shy because like or dislike they have to speak. And the last is controlled drills will make the students accustomed to produce correct language. But it has some disadvantages too. First one, at the beginning it will be very confuse for the slow-brain students to follow this method because it needs a lot of concentration to focus on what the teacher say in order to repeat it correctly. Second, it cannot guarantee that the students writing ability will be as good as their speaking ability because this method is more focus on speaking and memorizing skills.

            The Direct Method allows students to perceive meaning directly through the language because no translation is allowed. Visual aids and pantomime are used to clarify the meaning of vocabulary items and concepts. Students speak a great deal in the target language and communicate as if in real situations. The advantages of this method are it will make the students aware and pay attention more to their lesson because it needs a concentration to understand the meaning of what the teacher show. Students will be interest to follow this method because it can use a lot of visual aid like video, film, tape recorder, or the teacher action. This method will give the student a direct experience and make the teacher creative to deliver the lesson. Students can memorize new vocabularies with a creative way not just memorize it directly from dictionary without understand their actually meaning. However, this method also has some disadvantages. It can be a passive teaching and learning process if the teacher cannot make the students get the meaning of what the teacher show. This method will minimize the systematic writing and reading skills because it just focused more on speaking skills. Some abstract vocabularies will be hard to explain just by using visual aid so it will make the teacher give more time and energy to think about how to make the students understand the meaning of those vocabularies without translate it.

            Grammar-based approaches or the most well known of it is grammar-translation method focuses on developing students' appreciation of the target language's literature as well a teaching the language. Students are presented with target-language reading passages and answer questions that follow. Other activities include translating literary passages from one language into the other, memorizing grammar rules, and memorizing native-language equivalents of target language vocabulary. Class work is highly structured, with the teacher controlling all activities. Some advantages of this method are it will emphasis students knowledge about writing grammar because it elaborate explanations of grammatical structure, students will have no difficulties to understands the lesson as the lesson  is translated, it is the best way to explain the lesson about grammar because the teacher translate all the explanations. Some disadvantages of this method are students only learn about writing grammatical aspect of the language not another aspect because it only focused on grammatical subject, students will understand about grammar rules but they may not know how to use it in a daily communication language because in class the grammar explanation is translated. There will be a little of an active role from the student because the teacher focus more on explaining, it may make the teaching and learning process boring because it all about grammar which is a bit difficult to understand.

From : a lot of sources