Week 7: Post-methods approach

Richards (2001) defines methodology as “the activities, tasks, and learning experiences used by the teacher within the teaching and learning process.” (p.167) For centuries, linguists and language specialists have been searching the efficient ways of language teaching, from the earlier year’s grammar-translation method to audio-lingual method, to a series of humanistic methods, to more recently two dominate methods communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based instruction method, method in second language teaching has become less prescriptive and more eclectic. However, as Prabhu (1990) claims, for teachers, there is no best method need to employ in a classroom, therefore, rather than seek for the best method, Richards’s (2001) notion of beyond methods suggests teachers focus on the circumstances and conditions of an effective teaching and learning. Richards (2001) points out that all methods share a set of specifications for guiding the accomplishment of teaching and learning based on a particular theory of language and language learning. The specific roles for language teachers, learners and instructional materials are prescript and somehow are imposed on teachers and learners. However, teaching is a dynamic, creative and interactional process rather than static or fixed in time, Richards suggests that teachers work independent of methods and involve in observing and reflecting of their own teaching processes in the language classrooms could be effective. The notions of beyond-methods and post-methods are likely giving more freedom to TESOL practitioners. Thus, rather than follow the existent methods only, based on classroom-centred research, under Kumaravadivelu’s “post-method condition” and “10 macro-strategies”, teachers could develop their own macro-strategies that more suitable for specific needs of students and classrooms.


Reference:

Knight, P. (2001). The development of EFL methodology. C. Candlin & N. Mercer (eds) In English language teaching and its social context. pp.147-166. Routledge: London
Richards, J. C., & Rogers, T. S. (2001). Approaches & methods in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CUP
Richards, J. C. (2001). Beyond methods. In English language teaching and its social context. pp.167-179. Routledge: London
Kumaravadivelu. B. (1994). The post-method condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28: 27-48. [Accessible AUT e-journals]