During the 1970s a number of methodologies appeared which were labelled as “Humanistic”. This label applies to those methodologies which see the learner as a “whole” person and the classroom as an environment where more than transfer of knowledge occurs (Moskowitz, 1978).
1. The Silent Way.
Introduced by Galeb Gattegno (1963), this method can be classified as cognitivist in orientation.
The Silent Way's main goals were self-expression in the target language, learner independence and the development of the learner's own facility to assess correctness. Reading and writing were not explicitly taught, so students used the language meaningfully and creatively, within the limitations imposed by the vocabulary and structures of the lesson, as they were invited to construct their own messages early in the learning sequence.
This way, teachers, silent most of the time, should be constantly monitoring the learners, who were expected to be responsible for their own learning, to make their own generalizations from the language presented to them and to self-assess their own input; paying close attention and actively interacting with others in the class, where peer correction was encouraged.
2. Community Language Learning (CLL).
Developed by Charles Curran (1976), Community Language Learning (CLL) was founded on techniques borrowed from psychological counselling; and it stressed the role of the affective domain in promoting cognitive learning.
The first principle of CLL was that the teacher serves as the knower/counsellor whose role was essentially passive, and the learners were the “clients” whose role was active. In practice this means that the teacher provides a translation of what the learners wish to say from their first language to the target language, allowing the learners to interact using the target language.
The techniques used were designed to reduce anxiety in the group to a minimum and to promote the free expression of ideas and feelings. Moreover, the desired outcomes were to allow the students to communicate in the target language and to learn about his/her learning taking responsibility for it.
3. Suggestopedia.
Suggestopedia, the system designed by Georgy Lozanov (1978), is perhaps the best known humanistic method. It is famous for its use of music to create a non-threatening atmosphere conductive to learning.
It was based on holistic psychology and its main focus was on creating the appropriate mental state to facilitate learning, trying to direct learning to both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
This way, two teaching principles were proposed to break down the socio-psychological constraints of traditional learning environments: infantilization and pseudo-passivity.
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