"What do you consider the most important theoretical or methodological developments in TESOL over the last decade?"
Being a field that is very open and receptive to new ideas and practices, the process of these beliefs and practices being subjected to ongoing critical examination and renewal has led to many changes over the years in the way that language is taught. As new ideologies become popular or are sanctioned by the profession we begin to see paradigm shifts as the status of the English language changes within the lives of people around the world. (Jack Richards 2009, page 1) Whether motivated internally in the sense that they are as a result of research and the valuable contributions of the leaders, pioneers and thinkers who have the …show more content…
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McMarrow opines “methods are drawn from one set of circumstances and thus, cannot fit perfectly in different …show more content…
These periodic methodological shifts in the pedagogical practices of the profession sometimes gave the impression of undermining, overlooking and underestimating the experience and knowledge that teachers already had. This, as a result, left little room for teacher growth, change and development with teachers being the direct object of the often non teaching researcher puppeteers. This new shift however, into a post method approach affords teachers a certain amount of creative control and autonomy and allows them to analyse, reflect and make decisions based on strategic research, tried and tested in the battlefield that is the ELT classroom. I do not mean by this that methods have become redundant or that 'Method is dead ' (Brown 2002). No. Rather, they play an important role in the initial education of new and inexperienced teachers and also help experienced teachers to understand and be aware of their beliefs. They therefore act as a contributory source rather than a main one. I think Kumaravadivelu sums it up best when he says “post-method pedagogy recognizes teachers’ prior knowledge as well as their potential to know not only how to teach but also how to act autonomously within the academic and administrative constraints imposed by institutions,
Being a field that is very open and receptive to new ideas and practices, the process of these beliefs and practices being subjected to ongoing critical examination and renewal has led to many changes over the years in the way that language is taught. As new ideologies become popular or are sanctioned by the profession we begin to see paradigm shifts as the status of the English language changes within the lives of people around the world. (Jack Richards 2009, page 1) Whether motivated internally in the sense that they are as a result of research and the valuable contributions of the leaders, pioneers and thinkers who have the …show more content…
28)
McMarrow opines “methods are drawn from one set of circumstances and thus, cannot fit perfectly in different …show more content…
These periodic methodological shifts in the pedagogical practices of the profession sometimes gave the impression of undermining, overlooking and underestimating the experience and knowledge that teachers already had. This, as a result, left little room for teacher growth, change and development with teachers being the direct object of the often non teaching researcher puppeteers. This new shift however, into a post method approach affords teachers a certain amount of creative control and autonomy and allows them to analyse, reflect and make decisions based on strategic research, tried and tested in the battlefield that is the ELT classroom. I do not mean by this that methods have become redundant or that 'Method is dead ' (Brown 2002). No. Rather, they play an important role in the initial education of new and inexperienced teachers and also help experienced teachers to understand and be aware of their beliefs. They therefore act as a contributory source rather than a main one. I think Kumaravadivelu sums it up best when he says “post-method pedagogy recognizes teachers’ prior knowledge as well as their potential to know not only how to teach but also how to act autonomously within the academic and administrative constraints imposed by institutions,