The controversies over language teaching methodology raise a fundamental question. Should languages be taught around a core of grammatical progression, or thematically? The thematic approach allows mixed ability teaching, as a topic can be presented at different levels within the same group. The progression approach ensures mastery of a growing range of structures, and so allows progress towards the range of competences needed to understand and communicate in reading and writing for the purposes of further study and the world of work.
Until comprehensivisation under Crosland, languages were almost exclusively taught in grammar schools, with only a little in secondary moderns. This was elitist, denying most of the population the opportunity to learn a language. It was also pretty ineffective, even in grammar schools.
I was initially taught French by a succession of not very good teachers, followed by excellence as I moved up the school, and took advantage of Anglo-French Easter and summer schools run by one of these excellent teachers, the late Francis (Fred) Holmes, who ran them, virtually pro bono, for 28 years and had the Palmes Académiques. Our textbook was Sheila M Smith's series, followed by Whitmarsh in the sixth form, and we learned the range of French sentence structures, orthography and prouniciation assiduously. Or some of us did. In fact, very, very few. I kept in touch with Fred until the end of his life, and he said, frankly, that I was one of a tiny handful of his pupils, in a career lasting from the early 40s till the early 70s, who had actually learned to speak French. Even "the bright ones, those who could handle the subjunctive," couldn't do it. So, Smith and Whitmarsh were not working, even for the grammar school population, and most people did not enjoy learning French.
This continues to haunt us.
The alternative, initiated by the late Eric Hawkins, was to focus on communication and tolerate the kind of errors that native speakers of Figs languages spend much of their school lives trying to eradicate (adjectival agreements, slient letters, case endings, verb conjugations, word order, etc). Daily dictations were the norm in France when I took part in exchanges 10 yrs ago, including this sentence from a class of 6 year olds - Arthur n'a pas peur des fantômes. In seven words, I count five silent letters, a contraction with apostrophe, a circumflex and a vowel combination. The teacher was dynamic and humorous, the working atmosphere and relationships great, but accuracy was the only goal. Who Arthur and the ghosts may ave been was not an issue. Significant numbers of children in France, especially those with French as a second language, are failing with this approach.
Without basic grammatical accuracy, on the other hand, it is impossible for a person to form a simple sentence and so communicate. An example from a UK school that taught French without grammar was the sentence, which I saw copied by a class - Eric Cantona suis un footballer. While most of the pupils who ask me for help with languages do so because they are failing completely, I also coach A level students aiming for high grades, and even they have problems with basc sentence construction - eg accurate use of verb inflections in present tense and gender agreements- as well as more advanced features.
My late friend Michel Thomas cut through the problem by using the Latin link to build vocabulary through what I call "shared words", building sentences using pronouns, and using a small number of verbs, but in a full range of tenses. Nothing like traditional grammar. Adding writing, using sentence building without copying, and making the key adjustments to thinking, required to move to a new language, clear in the first three or four lessons, led both to the success of high-attaining pupiils in my French to Falkirk, and to a whole class of Hackney 8 year olds writing accurate positive and negative sentences in French, presented a the BETT conference in 2008. Other approaches to sentence building are also reported to have a positive impact on understanding and achievement, and we need more investigation of the issue.
Michel Thomas was awarded the Légion d'Honneur and made a fortune from his courses for adults, but failed to get his approach adopted by any school system. His first UK lesson was filmed by BBC2 and is on youtube. To locate it, type Michel Thomas into youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0w_uYPAQic Before the end of his life, I showed him how sentence building with clicker could add a bridge for pupils, and he was immediately impressed. Our approach is consistent with brain research and, for those who prefer that route, with cognitive load theory. It is not traditional, but nevertheless ensures accuracy as well as communication at all stages. I am happy to discuss further, pro bono, and to demo.