Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching 3rd edition. Marti Anderson
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classroom rather than by methodological considerations. Thus, saying that a particular method is practiced certainly does not give us the whole picture of what is happening in the classroom. Since a method is more abstract than a teaching activity, it is not surprising that teachers think in terms of activities rather than methodological choices when they plan their lessons.
What critics of language teaching methods have to offer us is important. Admittedly, at this point in the evolution of our field, there is little empirical support for a particular method, although there may be some empirical support in second language acquisition research for methodological principles (Long 2009). Further, what some of the methods critics have done is to raise our awareness about the importance of critical pedagogy. As Akbari puts it:
By viewing education as an intrinsically political, power-related activity, supporters of critical pedagogy seek to expose its discriminatory foundations and take steps toward reforming it so that groups who are left out because of their gender, race, or social class are included and represented … Critical pedagogy puts the classroom context into the wider social context with the belief that ‘what happens in the classroom should end up making a difference outside of the classroom’ (Baynham 2006).
Larsen-Freeman and Freeman concur:
It is clear that universal solutions that are transposed acritically, and often accompanied by calls for increased standardization, and which ignore indigenous conditions, the diversity of learners, and the agency of teachers are immanent in a modernism that no longer applies, if it ever did.
Widdowson (2004) recognizes the inconclusive cycle of pedagogical fashion in teaching methods, and observes that what is needed is not a universal solution, but rather a ‘shift to localization,’ in which pedagogic practices are designed in relation to local contexts, needs, and objectives (Larsen-Freeman 2000; Bax 2003; Canagarajah 2005). Such a shift responds to the objections of some critical theorists (such as Pennycook 2001) to attempts to ‘export’ language teaching methods from developed to developing countries with the assumption that one size fits all. Treating localization of practices as a fundamental ‘change in attitude,’ Widdowson adds that ‘local contexts of actual practice are to be seen not as constraints to be overcome but conditions to be satisfied’ (2004: 369). Indeed, Larsen-Freeman and Cameron (2008) suggest that one measure of a method should be its adaptability – the degree to which it can be adapted to satisfy different conditions.
In the end, then, which method is practiced is, or at least should be, a local decision. In this regard, teachers’ voices must be heeded. And what teachers have to say about the value of methods is unequivocal:
Few teachers define methods in the narrow pejorative sense used by post-methodologists. Most teachers think of methods in terms of techniques which realize a set of principles or goals and they are open to any method that offers practical solutions to problems in their particular teaching context.
Continuing, Bell writes:
A knowledge of methods is equated with a set of options, which empowers teachers to respond meaningfully to particular classroom contexts. In this way, knowledge of methods is seen as crucial to teacher growth.
As one teacher in a study conducted by Bell remarked:
‘I think that teachers should be exposed to all methods and they themselves would ‘build’ their own methods or decide what principles they would use in their teaching. We cannot ignore methods and all the facts that were considered by those who ‘created’ or use them in their teaching. We need a basis for building our own teaching.’
Thus, while the criticism of methods is helpful in some regards, we do not believe that a study of language teaching methods should be excluded from language teacher education. It is not methods, but how they are used that is at issue. A study of methods need not lead to the de-skilling of teachers but rather can serve a variety of useful functions when used appropriately in teacher education. Studying methods can help teachers articulate, and perhaps transform, their understanding of the teaching–learning process. It can strengthen their confidence in challenging authorities who mandate unacceptable educational policies. Methods can serve as models of the integration of theory and practice (see Introduction Chapter 1, page 1). They can contribute to a discourse that becomes the lingua franca of a professional community, from which teachers can receive both support and challenge, and in which continuing education in the lifelong process of learning to teach can be encouraged (Larsen-Freeman 1998). Teachers and teacher educators should not be blinded by the criticisms of methods and thus fail to see their invaluable contribution to teacher education and continuing development. Key to doing so, though, is moving beyond ideology to inquiry, a movement to which we hope this book will contribute.
New to this Third Edition
Some modest revision has been made throughout the book, including a new discussion in Chapter 13 of Howard Gardner’s habits of mind, which he claims students need to develop in order to participate effectively in current and emerging cultural and work environments. Other chapters have remained relatively untouched. This is because these chapters describe methods that are more historical than contemporary, although they are all still being practiced somewhere in the world today. In any case, we believe that educators should have a sense of the history of the field, not only of contemporary practices. As we have already indicated, our goal in this book is to expose readers to the ‘tapestry of diversity’ that exists in human teaching and learning, not to convince readers of the value of any one method over the others.
There are also several major changes that have been made for this edition. First, three methodological innovations – Content-based, Task-based, and Participatory Approaches – which were dealt with in a single chapter in the previous edition, are each addressed in separate chapters in this edition. These three chapters allow for the more in-depth treatment that these enduring practices warrant. Content-based Instruction, or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), has seen widespread adoption, both in the education of English language learners in the USA and in language education in other countries, particularly in Europe, where it is increasingly common for governments to encourage the teaching of language and other subjects in tandem in state schools. It was also important to expand the discussion of Task-based Language Teaching, which a new chapter has allowed us to do, as it is the method that has received the most support from second language acquisition research. The third new chapter, the Participatory Approach, has enabled us to elaborate on the political dimensions of language teaching, including how language study can influence a language learner’s sociopolitical identity.
In addition, we have added a new chapter on technology. Technological aids to language teaching have been around for some time, of course, but in our opinion, technology has reached a point where it should be considered not only as a supplement to teaching or a resource for teachers, but also as an opportunity for autonomous learning. A technological approach to language teaching rests on its own unique set of principles, including a new understanding of the nature of language.
Terminology
Two notes about terminology are also in order:
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