The influence of linguistic theories upon foreign language teaching in Polish secondary schools in the 1960s and 1970s

Anna Maria Harbig

Uniwerstet w Białymstoku

Abstract

The article presents linguistic theories of the 1960s and 1970s in the USA and Western Europe in the context of foreign language teaching and investigates their reception in Polish glottodidactics. The selected research subject are secondary school curricula for teaching English, French and German. A conclusion drawn on the basis of the analysis of the 1964 and 1966 curricula is that teaching West European languages was influenced by structuralism, British contextualism in particular. The curricula were characterized by a structural-situational approach expressed by the predominance of a spoken language, linguistic models’ situationalism and authenticity (dialogues in everyday life situations), a privileged position of syntax and the use of pattern drill. The analysis of the 1977 curriculum reveals a continuation of previous theoretical assumptions to a great extent. On the other hand, the impact of pragmalinguistics helped to include such issues as learner’s needs, focusing linguistic material on expressing intentions, or paying attention to language register and utterance adequacy, particularly in the context of linguistic errors’ evaluation. Even though the curriculum itself was not implemented into practice due to abandonment of the educational system reform, it formed the basis for works on curriculum in the 1980s. To sum up, it may be claimed that in spite of mostly unfavourable political conditions of the 1960s and 1970s, Polish glottodidactics aimed to maintain a contact with Western linguistics and attempted to transfer linguistic theories formed on its basis into foreign language teaching in Polish schools.