Oral approach and Situational language teaching developed by British applied linguists in the 1930s. The focus of this approach was mainly on vocabulary and grammar control then in the sixties there was emphasis on introducing and practicing new language points situationally, it was then the term situational; because of American structuralists such as Fries but with the notion of the British applied linguists such as Firth and Halliday, that structures must be presented in situations in which they could be used, gave its distinctiveness to Situational language teaching referring to the Oral approach. Halliday stated “when we acquire our primary language, we do so by learning how to behave in situations, not by learning rules about what to say”.
The Situational language teaching is a term not commonly used today but has survived according to A. FKI-Aouam in his article, so far by completing later approaches and methodologies such as Audio-Lingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching, Total Physical Response, The Silent Way, Community Language Learning, The Natural Approach, Suggesstopedia, etc.
The theory of learning underlying Situational Language Teaching is behaviorism, addressing more the processes than the conditions of learning according to Majid Al-Humaidi in his article. And it includes the following principles;
1. Language learning is habit formation.
2. Mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make bad habits.
3. Language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form.
4. Analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis.
5. The meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.
In his article Majid Al-Humaidi also mentions the objectives of Situational Language Teaching;
1. A practical command of the four basic skills of language, through structure.
2. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar.
3. Ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations.
4. Automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns.
And the procedures are;
1. Procedures move from controlled to freer practice of structures.
2. Procedures move from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading and writing.
Majid Al-Humaidi also points out in his article some disadvantages to this approach in his country;
1. Focus is primarily given to speech which was regarded the basis and structure viewed as the heart of speaking ability, which led to disregard of other abilities such as writing.
2. It’s time consuming, because insisting on giving the meaning of words and structures with drama, demo and association without using the 1st language led to using other techniques and wasting time.
3. The learner is expected to understand the meaning of a structure or vocabulary from the situation given in class which might lead to confusion or misunderstanding.
4. The learner is expected to use the language learned in the classroom outside the classroom, but would be hard to do in countries where the language learned is not used frequently.
5. Errors are not permitted; this could cause stress which may affect the learning process.
6. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar are regarded as crucial.
7. There is no mention to communicative ability and appropriacy in this method.
And A. FKI-Aouam in his article states “since the purpose of teaching a foreign language is to enable the learners to use it, then it must be heard, spoken, read and written in suitable realistic situations. Neither translation nor mechanical drills can help if they are not connected to practical life.”
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