
The programs for second languages teaching have quite changed in the past centuries. From the earliest traditional methods in which the main focus was on grammar, translation to the mother tongue and memorization of vocabulary, to the XIX century shift. The greater movement among European countries and new ideas meant that new educational theories and methods appeared, some of which were the use of physical exercise during lessons and the idea that the teacher had to be silent to prompt the participation of students.
Still, there was an important focus on grammar and memorization and the role of the teacher as the protagonist during lessons. Students were not considered as participants in an active mutual interchange, but as passive members who had to comply with the work proposed by the teacher.
In the last decades of the XX century, things began to change. There is still a long way to go, but a new method appeared: the communicative language teaching or communicative approach.