Listed below are brief summaries of some of the more popular second language teaching methods of the last half century. For a more detailed analysis of the different methods, see Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Richards, J. and Rodgers, T (1986) CUP Cambridge. The Direct Method: In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not allowed to use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good pronunciation. Grammar-translation: Learning is largely by translation to and from the target language. Grammar rules are to be memorized and long lists of vocabulary learned by heart. There is little or no emphasis placed on developing oral ability. Audio-lingual: The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form. The structural approach: This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb “to be” is introduced and practiced before the present continuous tense which uses “to be” as an auxiliary.