CHAPTER 3
Psycholinguistics and foreign language teaching
In Chapter 2 we have said that whenever we discuss language teaching methodology, we have to bear in mind – among other sciences – linguistics, sociolinguistics, pedagogy, and last but not least, psycholinguistics. It is indeed psycholinguistics which has proved to be one of the sciences most closely related to our field of work.
Certain psycholinguistic theories have had a profound effect upon the teaching field. Therefore, in this chapter I will try to discuss two of the most common theories that have greatly influenced foreign language teaching in the last decades: behaviourism and mentalism.
In any formal or informal teaching situation, our actions might be a product of the influences exerted by psychological theories of learning. It seems as if a theoretical framework – whether consciously or unconsciously present in our minds – determines the swing of the pendulum to favour most of the times one theory over another.
More specifically, I shall be discussing some contributions that the above theories have made – directly or indirectly – to the progressive development of foreign language teaching. It is my intention to deal only with those psychological assumptions that have been considered of utmost relevance to classroom practices.
