Humanism-Oriented Research on Misapplication Pitfalls and Optimizing Strategies of Four Core Foreign Language Teaching Approaches

Abstract

In line with the healthy school development requirements of the 15th Five-Year Plan and the core competency goals of English education, this paper addresses the typical problems in China’s basic foreign language teaching, including behaviorist dominance, neglected student affective needs, and prevalent second language acquisition anxiety. Based on Maslow’s self-actualization theory and Rogers’ humanistic educational theory, this study focuses on four classic humanistic teaching approaches: Community Language Learning, the Natural Approach, Total Physical Response, and Suggestopedia. It explores how the four methods relieve learning anxiety and promote autonomous learning via community interaction, authentic contexts, multi-sensory experience and psychological suggestion. This paper further summarizes four common classroom application misconceptions, namely superficial educational concepts, misplaced classroom subjects, unitary evaluation systems and homogenized teaching design, which are mainly caused by long-term exam-oriented teaching and behaviorist paradigms. Adhering to the humanistic concepts of affective priority, individual difference respect and holistic development, the paper proposes systematic optimization strategies from four aspects: renewing teaching concepts, improving classroom practice, constructing diversified evaluation systems, and implementing graded teaching design.