Different approaches and methods through history play significant roles in foreign language teaching.This paper makes a comparison of four influential approaches and methods in terms of definition,advantages and disadvantages.It is necessary to combine those approaches and methods to facilitate the development of foreign language teaching. Different approaches and methods through history play significant roles in foreign language teaching.This paper makes a comparison of four influential approaches and methods in terms of definition, advantages and disadvantages. It is necessary to combine those approaches and methods to facilitate the development of foreign language teaching.