III. Fashionable Scorn for Traditional Approaches
This is a pity,-because, once again, things which began as sensible suggestions, e.g.: 1) teachers should not be dominated by textbooks, 2) unseen dictations at too early a level are risky, 3) reading unprepared material round the class can be bori,ng and frustrating, etc. become extreme pronouncements: 1) textbooks are useless, 2) dictations are useless, 3) reading aloud is useless, etc.
IV. Taking Too Much for Granted
Oral approach techniques and principles which seem so interesting, sensible and useful to teachers encountering them for the first time, should all be thought about in order to decide on their real functions, and hence their advantages and dangers.
V. Not Looking Before You Leap
Enthusiasts among oral approach teachers — like all fashions — change rapidly, because there's always someone coining a tasty new phrase, which is seized and used for a few weeks until the new one arrives. One day it's: "Examples should be striking, unusual, and memorable: none of this boring old cleaning-the-car stuff." The next it's: "Examples should be normal, familiar and everyday: none of this bizarre desert-island stuff."
We should be willing to say that there's a place for both suggestions and leave it at that.
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VI. And So…
My general points, out of everything above, are that in advocating an "oral approach" style of teaching, especially on teacher-train- ing courses, we should:
avoid presenting particular techniques as dogma, set techniques as simply possible means to an end, see oral approach techniques in the perspective of other methods, not take any oral approach elements on trust, respect the demands of different students and different circumstances,
and decide whether we really know what we mean by "oral approach" before telling people how marvellous it is.
(Abridgedfrom: ELT Journal. 1976. No. 2)
Answer the following questions:
I. Judging by the article, what are the critisisms of the oral ap proach? Do you think the close adherence 
приверженность to its principles has brought the desired results in English schools? List the points used by the author as counter-arguments against the oral approach. 2. Were the elements of an oral approach used in foreign-language teaching in the Soviet Union? What did the experience show? (Speak on school level.)
Give a summary of the article.
П. What are the current trends in foreign-language teaching abroad? Read the following for information:
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Many teachers using the audio-lingual method[3][5] had long wished for some improvement or modification of the accepted methodology 
. Although they found the memorization and pattern-practice exercises useful for the early stages, they felt a need to build a bridge from those highly structured activities to the freer, more creative use of the language at the intermediate and advanced levels. The audio-
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lingual method and its proponents did not provide a satisfactory solution to this important problem.
Creative teachers, who early saw that a potential drawback 
помеха of the audio-lingual method was its tendency to be dull and uninspiring (for both student and teacher), tried to make the drills подготовки more interesting by varying their form, by providing a meaningful context, and by using visual aids. Resourceful teachers often succeeded admittably by such means. But there was a limit to what they could accomplish without making use of more "cognitive" activities.
Other sources of disillusionment with the audio-lingual approach were its emphasis on speech and the rigid order it prescribed for teaching the skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Judging from techniques and trends of the past few years, we can see that current thinking in methodology seems to be in the direction of: (a) relaxation of some of the more extreme restrictions of the audio-lingual method, and (b) development of techniques requiring a more active use of the students' mental powers.
The trend toward a more active use of the students' mental powers probably represents the most important effect of the current cognitive theory of language acquisition.[4][6] This mental activity goes well beyond the more passive "activity" that the audio-lingual method called for.
Viewing language learning as a natural creative process rather than as habit formation suggests that the teacher should provide guided practice in thinking in the language rather than mere repetition drill подготовка. Such mental involvement tends to make language learning more enjoyable for the student — which must itself be a positive factor contributing to improved attitudes and better results.
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This kind of mental activity is quite different from memorising grammar rules, as in the old grammar-translation method. Nor is it simply the manipulation of examples of grammar rules — an activity that was largely discredited by the early proponents of the audio- lingual method.
(Abridgedfrom: "English Teaching Forum", 1974)
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