Post-method pedagogyNilufer Can

The history of language teaching has been characterized by the search for most effective way of teaching second and foreign languages. The commonest solution was the adoption of teaching approach or method.

Emerged after the gradual dissatisfaction with conventional Methods.

Kumaravadivelu (2006) termed those ‘designer non-methods’

Prime success of methods lasted up till late 1980s.

Eclecticism was widespread

Post-method came to light during 1990s.

Aimed to break the ‘cycle’ of methods

Refigures relationship between theorizers and practitioners.

Signifies teacher autonomy.

Principled pragmatism

Background in brief

Main Purpose B. Kumaravadivelu

“To facilitate the growth and development of teachers’ own theory to practice” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006)

Seeks to transcend the limitations of Method.

Facilitate the advancement of context-sensitive language education based on a true understanding.

Treating Teachers and Learners as Explorers. Signifies Autonomy.

Reconsiders the relationship between theorizers and practitioners of methods.

Basic Considerations :

Three pedagogic parameters

Particularity

Practicality

Possibility

To be sensitive towards to the parameters of particularity, practicality and possibility.

Emphasizes on teacher experience along with strong theoretical knowledge.

Main Focus: Teacher Autonomy

“Based on idealized concepts geared towards Idealized context.”

“too inadequate and too limited to explain the complexity of language teaching.”

(Kumaravadivelu,2006)

“Overlooks the fund of experience and tacit knowledge.” (Freeman, 1961. P.35)

Dissatisfaction with Methods:

Classroom-oriented

Focus on “reflective teaching”

Helps to move beyond methods

Dimensions and strategies are ‘interwoven'." Each one shapes and is reshaped by the other” (Kumaravadivelu,2003)

Knowledge-oriented

“Label with substance”(Clarke,1983)

Works on surface level.

Teaching is seen as a set of predetermined procedures.

Suitable for novice teachers since they don’t have much experience in teaching

Method Vs. Post method

Maximize learning opportunities

Teachers both as creators and utilizers of learning opportunities.

Activities:

Increasing the amount of repetition

Using flashcards and Audios.

Facilitate Negotiated Interaction

Meaningful learner-learner, teacher-learner interaction.

Activities related to learners’ intrinsic motivation can be focused on.

Encouraging ‘peer-initiated’ and ‘self-initiated’ topics to discuss.

Macro-strategic Framework

Minimize perceptual mismatches

10 perceptual mismatches

Activities, i.e. Giving hints to re-think (cognitive mismatch, Information gap

Promote Learner Autonomy

Equipping students with authentic materials

Help learners ‘self-direct’ and ‘self-monitor’ their

own erudition.

Macro-strategic Framework

Foster language Awareness

Drawing attention to formal aspects of language

Treats grammar as a network of systems.

Activate Intuitive Heuristics

Allow learners to infer from rules

Activities allowing them to encounter linguistic structure.

Activity: Writing statements using present tense marker. Activities related to self-discovery.

Macro-strategic Framework

Contextualize linguistic input

Focus on syntactic, semantic, pragmatic features of language.

Bring learners attention to integrated nature of language.

Intergrate language skills

Language skills are essentially interrelated

Isolation of four skills is uncomfortable for students.

Language best developed when it is learnt holistically (Rigg, 1991 cited in Kumaravadivelu, 1994)

Macro-strategic Framework

Raise Cultural Awareness

Giving opportunity to differentiate between own culture and the culture of target language.

Ensure Social Relevance

The need for teachers to be sensitive about societal, political, economic, educational environment where L2 takes place.

Macro-strategic Framework

The Analytic-experiential framework

Three Dimensional Framework (Stern, 1992)

The Intra-lingual & Cross-lingual Dimension

Intra-cultural

L1 as reference system

Immersion in L2

No translation

Direct method

Coordinate bilingualism

Cross cultural

L2 as reference system

Comparison between L1 and L2

Translation

GTM

Compound Bilingualism

Focus on communication

Participation

Focus on topic/purpose

Emphasis on fluency

Interpersonal interaction

Language use

Focus on code

Observation

Focus on language

Emphasis on accuracy

Linguistic Interaction

Language practice

The Analytic-Experiential Dimension

Intuitive

Subconscious learning

Behaviorism

Mimicry and memory

Exposure to language in use

Incidental

Rational/formal

Conscious learning

Cognitivism

Inferencing

Systematic study

Deliberate

The Explicit-Implicit Dimension

Onus is on the teacher.

Teacher reshapes the outcome of the learning

Teachers employ their own experience, framework and knowledge in classrooms.

B. Kumadavadivelu stresses on teachers’ autonomy.

Teachers are encouraged to formulate their own methods of teaching and thus, overcome the limitations of methods.

Unlike Eclecticism, its not about selecting random techniques and applying those in classrooms. Its interlinked with knowledge and practical understanding.

Does Post-method pedagogy mean total freedom?

Larsen-Freeman (2000) and Mellow (2000) have used the term principled eclecticism to describe a desirable, coherent, pluralistic approach to language teaching.

However, Stern (1992) considered eclecticism to be ‘too broad and too vague’.

Eclecticism or post-method? Which one is more effective?

'Methods, however the term is defined, are not dead. Teachers seem to be aware of both the usefulness of methods and the need to go beyond them.' (Bell, 2007. p. 143).

The concept of method has not been replaced by the concept of post-method but rather by an era of textbook-defined practice. (Akbari, 2008. p. 647)

Not an alternative method, but alternative to methods.

Allows teachers to look at language teaching and learning from a different and innovative perspective.

Pedagogy doesn’t imply the end of methods, rather it is a mélange of theoretical knowledge of methods and practical understanding.

Need to become researchers and practitioners to move beyond the idealistic domain of the methods.

macro-strategic framework and three dimensional framework is an essential tool to reconstruct the methods in a adaptable way

The focus should be shifted from method-based pedagogy to a post-method pedagogy

‘To teach is to be full of hope’ ( Cuban, 1989)

To sum up