This study aims to analyze the approaches and methods used for teaching and learning the English language; second official language of the Republic of Panama. For this, the approaches were grouped into traditional, natural, structuralist, communicative and humanistic. The methodology used was the review of documentary and electronic literature prepared by psychologists, linguists and educators of the teaching of a second language. The study allows to conclude that the evolutionary dynamics described by the teaching-learning models of a L2 at the time, evolved into new paradigms, product of the need of society to learn a second language effectively and efficiently. In addition, that for the teaching of the English language it is necessary to use principles, techniques and tools that allow creating situations in the classroom where the acquired knowledge is thought and applied avoiding translation to think, understand and speak in the target language.