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Period: 1400 to 1499
Fifteenth century: Spread of printing.
There was a growing awareness of national awareness facilitated by the invention and spreading of printing. -
1500
Educational shift away from Latin?
Even though the scenario was set up for students to turn to vernacular languages learning, what happened was a revival of interest into history and ancient languages -
1582
Richard Mulcaster speaks eloquently about English
Richard Mulcaster, a teacher in Elizabethan London, publishes First Part Of The Elementarie, where he claimed that English was the language of liberty and freedom. -
English spelling system's standardisation
Mulcaster's book contributes to the standardisation of the English spelling system in the early seventeenth century -
Period: to
First German mother tongue school
Wolfgang Ratke opens the first German mother tongue school, which fails due to the lack of sensible practical planning -
Great didactic
Comenius publishes a book called "Great didcactic" where he states the role of the mother tongue in the child's exploration of meaning. -
Some Thoughts Concerning Education
John Locke publishes "Some thoughts concerning education", where he states "As soon as the child is able to speak English, it is time for him to learn a new language", which makes Locke a supporter of the Critical Period Hypothesis. -
Joseph Priestley's conclusion
Priestley concludes that the property of introducing English grammar into English schools cannot be disputed -
"Short Introduction to English Grammar" "Emile/Education"
Short Introduction to English Grammar by Lowth is published and states the influential prescriptive grammar.
Emile, by Rousseau (a quasi-novel about teaching, learning and childhood), is also published and becomes "the Bible" of the liberal educationalists ever since. -
The first non-European ELT book
John Miller publishes the first non-European ELT book, called "The Tutor or A New English And Bengalee Work". -
Period: to
The end of schooling as a privilege
Until the late 19th century, basic elementary education was only for the priviledge, however, even though it became of public domain, it did not include language teaching (which was only for "selected" secondary schools). -
Large-scale shift of population
Large-scale shifts of population resulted in linguistic minorities -
Psychologist William Penfield and the critical period hypothesis
Penfield states that pre-adolescent children acquire foreign languages easier than people of other ages