Advances in Digital Multimedia (ADMM)

Vol. 1, No. 4, 2012, ISSN 2166-2916

Copyright World Science Publisher, United States
www.worldsciencepublisher.org

184

Humanistic Language Teaching: A Critical Look

Kamran Mehrgan
Department of TEFL, Masjed Soleiman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Masjed Soleiman, Iran
kamranmehrgan@yahoo.com
Abstract One of the conspicuous shifts in the world's educational system was the introduction of humanism and
humanistic views into education in general and language teaching in particular. Respecting students' ideas, allowing them to
have their say, and affording them some opportunities to take control of their learning process are among the tenets of
humanism. Humanism makes a reference to a thinking paradigm to solve others' problems or taking somebody's emotions
and feelings into consideration. It also means rendering human or humane, imparting human qualities to, making a process
or system less severe or easier for people to understand [10]. Thus, it can be stated that humanizing means helping others
with something out of affection and benevolence. Humanism takes heed of developing self-concept and self-esteem in
students. Humanistic language teaching holds that language learners will speed up their learning process if teachers make
their attempts to draw on the humanistic views in their instruction. This article makes endeavors to deal with humanistic
aspects of language teaching and the criticisms which have been leveled against them in second/foreign language
instruction.
Keywords Humanism; Humanistic Language Teaching; Humanistic Education; Language Learning.

1. Introduction
Philosophically speaking, the early 19th century German
educator, Niethammer, coined the word humanism,
meaning an education based on the Greek and Latin
classics ([4], p. 395). Humanism was applied to intellectual
and cultural developments in previous eras. A teacher of
classical languages and literatures in Renaissance Italy was
described as "humanista", and what is today called "the
humanities," in the fifteenth century was called studia
humanitatis, which stood for grammar, rhetoric, history,
literature, and moral philosophy ([2], p. 397). Humanism is
defined as a philosophy of joyous service for the greater
good of all humanity in this natural world and advocating
the methods of reason, science, and democracy. It is to be
stated that humanism in general is not considered a way of
thinking only for professional philosophers, but is also a
credo for average men and women seeking to lead happy
and useful lives. Humanism concerns various aspects of
human nature, and it insists that reason should utterly
recognize the emotional side of human beings although it
looks upon reason as the final arbiter of what is true and
good and beautiful. In reality, one of humanism's major
functions is to set free the emotions from cramping and
irrational restrictions ([12], p. 13).

Lamont [12] states that "humanism is a many-faceted

philosophy, congenial to this modern age, yet fully aware
of the lessons of history and the richness of the philosophic
tradition. Humanism's task is to organize the chief elements
of philosophic truth into a consistent and intelligible whole
and to make that synthesis a powerful force and reality in
the minds and actions of living persons" (p. 13). He
presents ten central propositions in the humanist
philosophy which are as follows:
1. Humanism believes in a naturalistic metaphysics or
attitude toward the universe considering all forms of the
supernatural as myth; and that regards Nature as the totality
of being and as a constantly changing system of matter and
energy which exists independently of any mind or
consciousness.
2. Employing the laws and facts of science, humanism
holds that human beings are an evolutionary product of the
Nature of which they are a part. Humanism contends that
the mind is indivisibly conjoined with the functioning of
the brain and that as an inseparable unity of body and
personality human beings can have no conscious survival
after death.
3. Having its ultimate faith in humankind, humanism
alleges that human beings possess the power or potentiality

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of solving their own problems through reliance primarily

upon reason and scientific method applied with courage
and vision.
4. Opposing all theories of universal determinism,
fatalism, or predestination, humanism is of the contention
that human beings, while conditioned by the past, possess
genuine freedom of creative choice and action, and are,
within certain objective limits, the shapers of their own
destiny.
5. Humanism believes in an ethics or morality
grounding all human values in this earthly experiences and
relationships, holding as its highest goal this worldly
happiness, freedom, and economic, cultural, and ethical
progress of all humankind, regardless of nation, race, or
religion.
6. Humanism holds that the individual attains the good
life by harmoniously combining personal satisfactions and
continuous self-development with significant work and
other activities that contribute to the welfare of the
community.
7. Humanism believes in the widest possible
development of art and the awareness of beauty, including
the appreciation of Nature's loveliness and splendor, so that
the aesthetic experience may become a pervasive reality in
the lives of all people.
8. Humanism believes in a far-reaching social program
standing for the establishment throughout the world of
democracy, peace, and a high standard of living on the
foundations of a flourishing economic order, both national
and international.
9. Humanism believes in the complete social
implementation of reason, scientific method, and
democratic procedure.
10. Humanism, in accordance with scientific method,
believes in the unending questioning of basic assumptions
and convictions, including its own. Humanism is not a new
dogma, but is a developing philosophy ever open to
experimental testing, newly discovered facts, and more
rigorous reasoning (pp.13-15).

2. Humanistic Education
Moskowitz [14] is of the contention that humanistic
education is related to a concern for personal development,
self-acceptance, and acceptance by others, in other words,
making students more human. According to her view, the
humanistic education is most directly related to humanistic
psychology and the human potential movement. Moskowitz
[14] states that "there seem to be two major emphases of
which the first one is on feelings. Humanistic education
focuses on such fact that learning is affected by how

students feel about themselves" (p. 12). Elsewhere, she

adds that "it is pertinent to educating the whole person, i.e.
the intellectual and the emotional dimensions" (p. 11).
Furthermore, she states that "the second emphasis is on
bringing out the uniqueness of each individual. To be selfactualizing is to function to one's fullest capacity" (p. 12).
Along the same line, Rogers [18] states that "individuals
should interact with one's real self, the self that underlies
surface behavior. In this regard, the following questions
may be posed:
1. How can I become myself?
2. Am I living in a way which is deeply satisfying to
me?
3. Which truly expresses me?" (p. 13)

3. Five Emphases within Humanism

Stevick ([21], p. 23) mentions five emphases within
humanism which are described as follows:
1. Feelings: They include both personal emotions and
esthetic appreciation. This aspect of humanism tends to
reject whatever makes people feel bad, or whatever
destroys or forbids esthetic enjoyment.
2. Social relations: This side of humanism encourages
friendship and cooperation, and opposes whatever tends to
reduce them.
3. Responsibility: This aspect accepts the need for
public scrutiny, criticism, and correction, and disapproves
of whoever or whatever denies their importance.
4. Intellect: It includes knowledge, reason, and
understanding. This aspect fights against whatever
interferes with the free exercise of the mind, and is
suspicious of anything that cannot be tested intellectually.
5. Self-actualization: It deals with the quest for full
realization of one's own deepest true qualities. This aspect
believes that since conformity leads to enslavement, the
pursuit of uniqueness brings about liberation. Maslow [13]
puts self-actualization at the top of the hierarchy, which is
considered to be possible only once all other levels of need
are satisfied. Bhatia [3] states that self-actualization
describes self-discovery and personal growth.

4. Humanistic Language Teaching (HLT)

One of remarkable movements in the realm of language
teaching was the type of language education approach
which was called Humanistic Language Teaching (HLT).
Gattegno [9], Curran [5], Moskowitz [14], and Stevick [21]
were the prominent exponents of the approach. HLT is an
approach which views the learner as a whole person who
has physical, emotional and social features as well as
cognitive features [22].

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Within the scope of psychology, Rogers [18] and

Maslow [13] were the two who expedited the development
of humanistic psychology in the early seventies which was
called counseling learning. Rogers [18] stated that learners
were not to be considered as a class, but as a group. Similar
to such a contention, Curran [5] claimed that the learners
ought to be considered as clients and the teachers were
counselors, who addressed the needs of the learners.

approach to psychology, and focused on the whole person.

Clinically speaking, humanist psychology is closely linked
with counseling and the notions of self-help. It insists on
the uniquely human aspects of human existence and on the
importance of considering wholes rather than parts [10].
These views in humanist psychology led to the introduction
of humanistic principles into the educational system in
general and language teaching in particular.

5. Tenets of Humanistic Education

Through such a view to language teaching, the anxiety
or fear of making a fool of oneself will be lowered.
Another paramount purpose of this approach is to perceive
a teacher as an empathetic helping agent in the learning
process and not as a threat [5].
It is stated that HLT has a new view of the language
teachers that comprises recognizing the importance of their
personal development. But it does not actually mean that
language teachers do not need, say, a firm command of the
language being taught or proper training in language
teaching methodology. HLT means that these skills will be
much more efficacious when teachers are also concerned
with their own emotional IQ [1].
The philosophy of HLT underpins such an idea that
language learners' needs should be implemented by their
language teachers. To support this view, Stevick [20] states
that teachers are required to be attuned to the needs and
wants of their learners. Fulfilling the needs of learners is
quite paramount in societies which understand learnerteacher roles.
Humanistic views to language teaching describe
learning approaches which stress the central role of the
whole person in the learning process. Humanistic
approaches came to existence in the mid-twentieth century
partly as a reaction to the de-humanizing psychology of
behaviorism, and also as a counterbalance to exclusively
intellectual (or cognitive) accounts of learning, such as
mentalism [10]. In language learning, Richards and
Rodgers [17] state that "humanistic techniques engage the
whole person, including the emotions and feelings (the
affective realm) as well as linguistic knowledge and
behavioral skills" (p. 90).
This idea is also supported by Arnold [1] as she stated
that "to my knowledge, humanistic language teachers and
theorists never talk about substituting the cognitive for the
affective, but rather about adding the affective, both to
facilitate the cognitive in language learning and to
encourage the development of the whole person" (p. 237).
Pragmatically speaking, Arnold [1] also states that for
language to achieve its communicative function, the role
played by affect is essential.
Humanist psychology which is closely associated with
the work of Rogers and Maslow, offered a more holistic

The fundamental tenets of humanistic education are:

1. Personal growth, including realizing one's full
potential, is one of the primary goals of education.
2. The development of human values is another.
3. The learner should be engaged affectively (i.e.
emotionally) as well as intellectually.
4. Behaviors that cause anxiety or stress should be
avoided.
5. Learners should be actively involved in the learning
process.
6. Learners can, and should, take responsibility for their
own learning [10].
Moskowitz [14] states that "in both the humanisticpsychological approach and the communicative approach,
learners are seen not so much as full-time linguistic objects
at whom language teaching is aimed, but rather as human
individuals whose personal dignity and integrity, and the
complexity of whose ideas, thoughts, needs, and
sentiments, should be respected. Foreign language teachers
must contribute to the self-actualizing process" (p.109).

6. Critical Opinions respecting HLT

HLT has been criticized and supported by some
scholars. The following is a review of criticisms and
supports of this view to education. Gadd [8] leveled some
criticisms at HLT and Tanemura and Miura [22] discussed
the legitimacy of Gadd's criticism.

6.1. Deviation from the Primary Goal of Language

Acquisition
Gadd [8] argues that language acquisition, which should
be the primary goal of language education is treated
secondary in HLT. He claims that HLT considers the role
of English teachers as a monitor and nurturer of students'
inner selves and their primary task is to encourage and
facilitate the development of students' inner selves. There
are some cases of HLT in which the role of teachers

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became that of a kindly counselor or a therapist for students

to improve their inner selves. From these cases, Gadd
claims that in HLT the goal is not language mastery but
nurturing the students' inner selves. He criticizes that the
primary goal of language education should be learning
languages and HLT deviates from the appropriate goal of
language education.

6.2. Lack of Language Variety

Gadd [8] claims that in HLT classes, the variety of
language skills which language learners can learn will be
limited. In HLT, the greater part of work done in the
language classroom should be devoted to the students'
feelings, experiences, and ideas since it is the primary task
of the English teacher to encourage and advance the
development of the students' inner selves. This leads to the
students being taught an inadequate number of registers of
English, and thus hampers their progression towards
independence as language users. It is stated that in HLT,
language learners cannot learn language skills to be
independent English speakers who are active and powerful
in the public sphere, such as arguing a case, making a
speech, debating, critiquing others and so on.

6.3. Absence of Learning Opportunities from the

World outside Inner Selves
Gadd [8] criticizes that in HLT, language learners
cannot have opportunities to learn from the outside and this
will inhibit learners' cognitive and intellectual
development. He keeps on saying that a focus on the inner
self like the learners' feelings, experiences, and ideas as a
source of learning does not encourage or permit the
students' intellectual and cognitive development. He claims
that language classroom should contribute to language
learners' general cognitive and intellectual development as
well as improve language capacity.

6.4. Imposition of Moral Values

Gadd [8] argues that some teachers in HLT impose their
moral and ethical values on their students. He states that
there are still some outdated language teachers in HLT
playing the English teachers' role in the 19th century as a
moral and ethical surveillance over students. He claims that
language teachers of HLT tend to adopt this kind of moral
education in language education.

6.5. Abdication of the Leadership by Teachers

Teachers in HLT abandon their duties designing classes
properly and leading students to effective learning. Because
expressions derived from the learners' inner self are
considered to be more genuine and important than others,
these are used as a source and materials of learning and the
classes are student- centered. It is claimed that this is the
abdication of the leadership by teachers. Moreover, he

states that some teachers in HLT desire to be democratic

and non-authoritarian and abdicate responsibility for
content or technique although learners come to language
classes rightly expecting well-structured classes and
expertise from the teacher [8].
The above-mentioned criticisms and critical opinions of
Gadd [8] were discussed and rejected by Tanemura and
Miura [22]. Concerning the deviation from the primary
goal of language acquisition, Tanemura and Miura [22]
state that "this criticism does not seem valid because HLT
clearly states that its primary goal is language acquisition
itself. Although HLT views a learner as a whole person
who has physical, emotional and social features as well as
cognitive features and deals with students' feelings and
emotions in class, every HLT scholar states that its primary
goal is not nurturing students' inner selves but language
acquisition" (p. 96).
To support their idea, it should be pointed out that the
Silent Way is a method of language teaching whose
educational goal is to give the beginning level students oral
and aural facility in basic elements of the target language
([17], p. 83). However, Tanemura and Miura [22] state that
it could have been possible that there were some language
teachers who emphasized the element of nurturing students'
inner selves excessively in their classes and made language
acquisition secondary.
As for the lack of language variety and absence of
learning opportunities from the world outside the inner
selves, they state that there have been no documents that
define HLT as exclusively using only learners' inner selves
as the source of language learning and limiting classroom
language activities within the topics of learners' inner
selves. Considering a learner as a whole person and dealing
with learners' feelings and emotions in language education
do not automatically necessitate focusing only on students'
inner selves as a learning source. Such criticisms seem to
be caused by the misinterpretation of HLT's emphasis on
learners' emotional features in language education.
Tanemura and Miura [21] state that imposition of moral
values, the criticism by Gadd, does not seem to apply.
Although Gadd claims that HLT language teachers impose
their moral and ethical values on their students, one cannot
find any such trait in the definitions of HLT at all.
Regarding the last criticism, abdication of the leadership
by teachers, Tanemura and Miura [22] claim that "this
criticism seems to be caused by a misinterpretation of HLT.
HLT clearly defines the teacher's role as that of a leader
and facilitator for learners' development as a whole person.
HLT teachers also exert their leadership in providing
learners with a meaningful classroom learning process
through which they can grow up to be a fully functioning
person" (p. 97).

7. Conclusion

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As mentioned above, HLT appeared as an approach

which considers a language learner as a whole person
having physical, emotional and social features as well as
cognitive features. This approach has some characteristics
which distinguish it from the other approaches to language
teaching, for instance, learners should be involved in the
learning process affectively and intellectually. HLT
attracted lots of attention in 1970s and 1980s when it was
proposed by some exponents such as Gattegno [9], Curran
[5], Moskowitz [14], and Stevick [21]. However, Matos
[15] claimed that "humanization was nearly invisible in
many social settings, especially in language education, and
he was determined to probe it" (p. 22). Along the same line,
Tanemura and Miura [22] state that "the term humanistic
language teaching is seldom heard in academic conferences
and educational workshops in the 21st century. Although
HLT's essence seems to have merged into the current
repertoire of ELT studies and it has lost some of its public
attention, the core of HLT of respecting the whole person
seems to have a significant meaning for the contemporary
and future language education" (p. 104).
Matos [15] coined the term "Humanizer" referring to a
person full of the principles, ideals, values of human rights,
justice, peace, dignity, and solidarity and who employ them
in their personal and professional life. He characterized the
mission of humanizers as that of providing language
learners with dignifying and improving learning
experiences. Grounded upon the above-mentioned
statements, language teaching could be humanized. For
example, Matos [16] made attempts to humanize
vocabulary and language learning. He encourages students
to use and self-monitor words which contribute to building,
enhancing, promoting, sustaining, and maximizing peace
both between and among persons, groups, communities,
and nations.
Following the entrance of humanism into the field of
second/foreign language teaching and learning and leaving
behind those dogmatistic beliefs about language teaching
and learning, curriculum developers, material designers,
and teachers arrived at the other ways of language teaching
and learning. To give some examples, one can refer to the
studies carried out in the realm of critical thinking and its
aspects in language teaching and learning (e.g. [11], [7]),
and sociocognitivism (e.g. [6]).

[6] Fahim, M., & Mehrgan, K. Second language acquisition: A

sociocognitive perspective. Advances in Digital Multimedia, 1, (3), 2012,
159-165.
[7] Fahim, M., Teimourtash, M. A critical look at the notion of critical
thinking from a new personality trait perspective: Midtrovert. Advances in
Digital Multimedia, 1, (3), 2012, 149-152.
[8] Gadd, N. Towards less humanistic English teaching. ELT Journal, 52,
(3), 1998, 223-33. doi: 10.1093/elt/52.3.223.
[9] Gattegno, C. Teaching foreign languages in schools: The silent way.
New York: Educational Solutions Inc. (1972).
[10] Kerr, P. Humanizing: What's in a word? Humanizing Language
Teaching. Retrieved in 2012 May from hltmag.co.uk/may07/mart04.htm
(2007).
[11] Khatib, M., & Mehrgan, K. Achieving critical thinking skills through
reading short stories. Advances in Digital Multimedia, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2012,
166-172.
[12] Lamont, C. The philosophy of humanism. New York: Humanist Press.
(1997).
[13] Maslow, A. H. Toward a psychology of being. Princeton, NJ: Van
Nostrand. (1962).
[14] Moskowitz, G. Caring and sharing in the foreign language class: A
sourcebook on humanistic techniques. Massachusetts: Newbury House.
(1978).
[15] Matos, G. D. Are you a humanizer? FIPLV WORLD News.
Retrieved
in
2012
May
from
http://www.humiliationstudies.org/news/archives/000155.html (1996).
[16] Matos, G. D. Teaching vocabulary for peace education. ESL
Magazine, 5, (4), 2002, 22-23.
[17] Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. Approaches and methods in
language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2002).
[18] Rogers, C. R. Client-centered therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
(1951).
[19] Rogers, C. R. On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
(1961).
[20] Stevick, E. W. Teaching languages: A way and ways. Rowley, MA:
Newbury House. (1980).
[21] Stevick, E. W. Humanism in language teaching: A critical
perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1990).
[22] Tanemura, A., & Miura, T. The Main current of humanistic
language teaching and its contemporary significance. Japanese
Institutional Repositories Online, 42, (3), 2011, 83-118.

References
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[2] Audi, R. The Cambridge dictionary of
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[4] Craig, E. The shorter Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. New

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philosophy

(2

Vitae

nd

[3] Bhatia, M. S. Dictionary of psychology and allied sciences. New

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Kamran Mehrgan is currently a Ph.D. candidate of TEFL at Science and

Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. He is a faculty
member of Masjed Soleiman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Masjed
Soleiman, Iran. His areas of interest are studies in first language
acquisition, second language acquisition, and applied linguistics. He has
taught English courses for over a decade at different universities in
Khouzestan, Iran. Furthermore, he has some articles and books published.

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