Method and Postmethod in Language Teaching

Method and Postmethod in Language Teaching provides a comprehensive, accessible, and engaging guide to the much-debated notions of ‘method’, ‘methods’, and ‘postmethod’ in language teaching. Divided into three sections - ‘Contexts’, ‘Concepts’, and ‘Debates’ – the book sets out ‘traditional’ understandings of method(s), examines alternative accounts and critiques that inform, and at times go beyond, postmethod thinking within language teaching, and finally relates these issues to key practical debates and dilemmas that teachers navigate in the classrooms. Highlighting the importance of teachers’ understandings of their own professional contexts, the volume uses the notion of method as a ‘lens’ through which teachers and other language teaching professionals can clarify their understandings of language teaching, both in terms of pedagogic practices and classroom possibilities, and with regard to the development of this diverse field more generally. Throughout, readers are encouraged to develop their own thinking and practice in contextually appropriate ways, supported by discussion questions and key readings that accompany each chapter, a glossary of key terms, and suggestions for additional reading. This book is an indispensable resource for language teachers and other language teaching professionals, as well as postgraduate and upper-level undergraduate students of Applied Linguistics, Language Teacher Education, and ELT/TESOL and other language teaching programmes. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Section 1: Survey Part I Contexts Framing the Issues: Contexts, Communities, and Method 1 ‘Method’, Methods, and Postmethod: Initial Questions, Perspectives, and Possibilities Introduction Language Teaching: Framing the Field Why ‘Method’, Methods ... and Postmethod? Illuminating Classroom Practice? Perspectives and Possibilities A Springboard to Issues ‘Beyond’ the Classroom In Summary ... and Moving On ‘Method’ and Methods: an Initial Understanding Understanding ‘Method’: a Range of Terms Further ‘Dimensions’ of Method(s) ... and Questions Arising Looking Ahead Summary: Orthodoxy, Options, and Opportunities... Discussion Questions Key Readings 2 Locating Language Teaching: Contexts, Cultures, and Cognition Introduction Thinking About Context Getting Started: ‘Context’ and ‘Contextual Factors’ The Environment Beyond the Classroom In-class Contexts and Cultures Cognition, Philosophy, and Beliefs Teacher Cognition and Philosophies of Teaching Learner Beliefs Context: to Summarize ‘Believing’ and ‘Doubting’ in Context Summary: Context and Arising Questions Discussion Questions Key Readings Part II Concepts Methods Past, Present, and Future: Histories, Critiques, and Alternatives 3 A Profusion of Methods: ‘Progress’, ‘Products of Their Times’, and the ‘Procession of Methods’ Narratives Introduction A ‘Bewildering’ Profusion of Methods? Methods, Paradigms, and Change Two Related Histories: Methods as ‘Progress’ and as ‘Products of Their Times’ The ‘Progressive’ Perspective Methods as ‘Products of Their Times’ Bringing the Narratives Together: History as a ‘Procession of Methods’ A Succession of Methods? Matters Arising Summary: Towards Alternative Understandings Discussion Questions Key Readings 4 Beyond Method ... to Postmethod?: Critiques, Alternative Accounts, and Local Realities Introduction More Critical Narratives Around Method: Power, Control, and ‘Trade’ The ‘Myth’ of Method? Challenging the Methods Narrative: Alternative Accounts and Local Practices Local Histories Teachers’ Accounts of Practice From ‘Best Method’ to ‘Principled Eclecticism’ Beyond Methods? Towards Postmethod Pedagogies A ‘Macrostrategic Framework’ for Postmethod Pedagogy Further Postmethod Pedagogies A ‘Three Dimensions’ Approach to Language Teaching Exploratory Practice Critical Pedagogy and Language Teaching Postmethod: Challenges and Criticisms Summary: a Range of Perspectives Discussion Questions Key Readings Part III Debates Methods and Methodologies, Theories and Practices: Questions, Possibilities, and Classroom Realities 5 ‘Language’, ‘Language Learning’, and the Language Classroom: Theoretical Insights and Practical Implications Introduction Framing the Discussion: the Goals of Language Teaching Revisited Thinking About Language: Differing Views, Differing Implications What Is ‘Language’? A Range of Characterizations Influential Perspectives in the Field Thinking About Language Learning: Perspectives and Pedagogical Implications Before We Continue: First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning Language Learning as ‘Habit Formation’? Questions Arising ... and Moving On A ‘Natural’ and ‘Unconscious’ Process? The Input Issue If Language Is ‘Innate’... If Language ‘Emerges’ From Use... Implications ... and Questions A Role for Explicit Learning? Engaging the Mind, Paying Attention, and Practising... If Language Learning Is a ‘Cognitive Process’... If Language Learning Is ‘Skill Learning’... Implications ... and Further Questions Language Learning Through ‘Interaction’, and Through ‘Output’? Implications ... and Intersections Learning as a Meaningful and Social Activity? If Learners ‘Construct’ Knowledge... Learning Through Social Interaction and the Co-Construction of Knowledge? Implications and Connections Thinking About the Language Classroom: in Principle ... and in Practice The Picture So Far A Return to Context and ‘Plausibility’ Summary: Ideas and Questions... But Not ‘Answers’? Discussion Questions Key Readings 6 Language Teaching in Practice: Pedagogical Debates, Possibilities, and Realities Introduction Language ‘Instruction’ And/or ‘Experiential’ Classrooms? Instructional Teaching and Possibilities for ‘Language Study’ Instructional Teaching and Possibilities for ‘Language Practice’ Instructional Teaching: Addressing Complexities, Making Connections ‘Experiential’ Classrooms: Input and Interaction Experiential Classrooms: Connections to Theories, and in Practice Developing the Discussion: Language Forms, And/or Meaning-Making? Focusing On Language Forms and Structures: Deductive and Inductive Approaches Meaning-oriented Teaching: Towards ‘Communication’ Before Moving On: a Place for the Learners’ Own Language(s)? Teaching Pre-Specified Language Goals And/or the Language That Emerges in the Classroom? Language as ‘Product’ And/or ‘Process’, Teaching Language Systems And/or Skills In the Classroom: Focus On Forms And/or Form? Product and Process, Systems and Skills: Making Connections ‘Shaping’ Learning Opportunities: Teachers and Learners, Decision-Making, and ‘Control’ Teacher and Learner Roles Shaping What, and How, Language Might Be Taught ... and Learned Summary: Finding Our Way Discussion Questions Key Readings Section 2: Further Reading Histories of Language Teaching Surveys and Overviews of Methods About Specific Methods Cognitive Method Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Competency-based Language Teaching Comprehension-based Approach Cooperative Language Learning Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)/Content-Based Instruction (CBI) Counseling Learning/Community Language Learning Direct Method Dogme (English) Language Teaching Grammar–translation Humanistic and Alternative Methods Immersion Lexical Approach Natural Approach Oral Approach Reading Method Silent Way Situational Language Teaching Additionally, Focusing Specifically On Presentation–Practice–Production (PPP) Suggestopedia Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) Text-based Instruction Total Physical Response Whole Language Learning From Method to Postmethod ... and Back About Postmethod Further Issues Section 3 Glossary References Index