Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century.

Central to
this
phenomenon was the emergence of the concept of "methods of language teaching,
The method
concept in language teaching - the notion of a systematic set of teaching practices
based on a
particular theory of language and language learning - is a powerful one, and the
quest for better
methods was a preoccupation of teachers and applied linguists throughout the 20"
century.
Thus we understand the word "methods" (or methodology) in the following three
meanings:
! methods as a pedagogical science which combines general features of any other
science (theoretical background, experimental base, objects of checking the
hypothesis) and
specific features connected with peculiarities of a certain subject;
! methods as a combination of forms, methods and techniques of the teacher's job;
sometimes - techniques used by a certain group of teachers in their practical work;
! methods as a university discipline.
Methodology of teaching English is closely related to such sciences as Pedagogies.
Psychology, Physiology, Linguistics, and some others.
Pedagogics is the science concerned with general teaching and education. One
branch of
Pedagogics is called Didactics which studies general ways of teaching in schools.
Methodology,
as compared to Didactics, studies the specific ways of teaching a definite subject.
Thus
Methodology may be considered as a special Didactics. In the foreign language
teaching, as well
as in the teaching of other school subjects, general principles of Didactics are
applied, and in
their turn, influence and enrich Didactics. Eg., the so called principle of
visualization was first
introduced in teaching foreign languages, now it has become one of the
fundamental principles
of Didactics and is used in teaching all school subjects. Programmed instruction
was first applied
in teaching Mathematics. Now through Didactics it is used in teaching many
subjects, including
foreign languages.
It would be impossible to develop language habits and speech skills without
information
about the ways of forming them, the influence of formerly acquired habits on the
formation of
new ones which is supplied by Psychology. Eg., effective learning a foreign
language depends to
a great extent on the pupil's memory. That is why a teacher must know how he can
help his
pupils to successfully memorize and retain in memory the language material they
learn. Here
psychological investigations are significant. Psychologists proved that in learning a
subject both
voluntary and involuntary memories are of great importance. They also came to a
conclusion that
involuntary memory is retentive. Consequently, in teaching English teachers
should create
favourable conditions for involuntary memorizing. Methodology of foreign
language teaching
has a definite relation to Physiology of the pupils' higher nervous system. Pavlov's
theory of
"conditioned reflexes" is the example. According to Pavlov habits are conditioned
reflexes, and a
conditioned reflex is an action performed automatically in response to a definite
stimulus as a
result of previous frequent repetitions of the same action. If we thoroughly study
this theory we
shall see that it explains and confirms the necessity for frequent repetition and
revision of
material the pupils study as one of the means of habits formation.
Methodology of foreign language teaching is closely related to Linguistics, since
Linguistics deals with the problems that are of great importance to Methodology:
language and
specch, grammar and vocabulary, the relationship between grammar and
vocabulary, and many
others, Methodology successfully uses, for example, the results of linguistic
investigation in the
selection and arrangement of language material for teaching.