Research Paper: ‘From Unity to Diversity: Twenty-Five Years of Language-Teaching Methodology’

ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#42 | December 16, 2013 | ISSN 0975-3036

This article was written for the 25th anniversary of “English Teaching Forum” and published in 1987. In this article, the author describes methodological developments in the field of English language teaching over the past 25 years. The author has found it helpful to think of methodology being depicted as a triangle, with each angle of the triangle representing a basic area of the field. The first angle might be termed language learning/language learner. Questions addressed from this perspective include “what is the nature of the language acquisition/learning process,” “who is doing the learning,” and “what are the factors that influence the learner?” The second angle has to do with the subject matter language teachers teach. “What is the nature of language/culture” is the question dealt with in this angle. The third angle comprises both language teaching as a process and the role of the language teacher as an agent in the process. It is defined in part by answers to the questions posed in the other two angles. Each of these perspectives is indispensable to viewing methodology as a whole. The author considers each of these angles in turn in reviewing developments during the past 25 years. Teaching is a matter of making informed choices.

Teachers’ choices are like those of artists who have full palettes of paint from which they can choose a little of this color and some of another. Artists’ choices are not random; they are driven by what artists are trying to achieve and they are assessed by the artists every step of the way to assure that the choices being made are congruent with their purpose. Art teachers can help art students become aware of the options they have by, for example, having them study art history to review the choices others have made. They can also help by working with their students to perfect their technique. But it is incumbent upon the artists themselves to create their unique blend that is their own special contribution to others. And so it is with teaching. Only those who are intimately acquainted with the situation, with the students, and with themselves can make the choices they are uniquely suited to make. It is, after all, only the teachers who will be there assess the outcome of the choices they make. It is only the teachers who are there to make sure that they know why they are doing what they are doing.

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