Introduction PART ONE Clearing the ground 1 Talking about language teaching 2 Theory and practice 3 Towards a conceptual framework 4 Research PART TWO Historical perspectives 5 Approaches and studies 6 A sketch of recent and current trends: 1880-1980 PART THREE Concepts of language 7 Trends in linguistic theory 8 Linguistic theory and language teaching:emergence of a relationship 9 Linguistic theory and language teaching:reassessment and current status PART FOUR Concepts of society 10 ,Society, culture, and language 11 Aspects of sociolinguistics 12 The social sciences and the second language curriculum 13 The sociology of language teaching and learning PART FIVE Concepts of language learning 14 Psychological approaches to language and learning 15 Development of a psychological perspective in language teaching: a selective review 16 Models of second language learning and the concept of proficiency 17 Learner factors 18 Conditions of learning and the learning process PART SIX Concepts of language teaching 19 The study of education and its relevance to language teaching 20 Language teaching theories as theories of teaching method 21 The break with the method concept 22 An educational interpretation of language teaching Conclusion Bibliography and citation index Index