Abstract
An Overview of the Key Figures in ELT
This study aims to give a brief overview of some prominent figures in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) and their main contributions to the field. Since the field is closely interlinked with linguistics and psychology, most of the major contributors covered in the study are psychologists or linguists from various time frames as of the late 1800s. Actually, the current stage attained in the field is the accumulation of knowledge and experiences throughout centuries; and some outstanding figures have made really remarkable contributions in this long process. While some of them produced ground-breaking theories concerning a specific aspect of the field, some others produced guiding academic resources that has been employed by thousands of ELT researchers and practitioners. Although there are many studies which focus on different aspects of ELT and cover dispersed information about the outstanding figures covered here and their contributions, there is not one which provides a compact pile of information on these significant contributors. It has been intended to fill this gap in the existing literature and constitute a to-the-point address about the fathers and mothers of ELT for the researchers, practitioners, and the interested layman.
Keywords
English language teaching, linguistics, psychology, contribution
