English Language Teaching in its Social Context

136 MICHAEL P. BREENAn initial questioning of our own well-established perceptions of the classroomsituation ~ its purposes, its subject matter, capacities, and social and psychologicalprocesses. (If we have learned or taught a language, or if we know the language beingtaught for example, we are unlikely to be objectively innocent.)A recurrent reasonable doubt about the integrity of the observable, and an insistentcuriosity for learner and teacher points of view.An uncovering of the intentions and interpretations invested in classroom activitiesand content by its participants. A search for what is significant in the immediate andexistential (historical) experienccs of the classroom for those within it.A socio-cognitive frame of reference which will give access to mutual relationshipsbetween social activity and psychological changes. An investigatory template whichcan reveal social bchaviour as mentally motivated and thinking and learning as sociallyshaped.An anthropological exploration of what, how, and why things are done within theclassroom from the perspectives of all the members of the group (and including theresearcher’s perspective). A discovcry, over time, of the subjective rcalities which thatclassroom contains and the distinctive intersubjective world of the group which isevolved by them but which is also other than the sum of individual definitions of thesituation.An evaluation of change and progress which accounts for individual antl collectivecontributions, achievements, and failures. Evaluation which seeks the interactionsbetween individual and collective and which can be based upon criteria deriveddirectly from individual expectations and the group’s emerging norms and values.A study of the interpersonal and inter-group relationships, the roles and identitiesgenerated and maintained, and the rights and duties which are entailed (and includingthe researcher’s location in these relationships).A description and explanation of thc specific culture of thc classroom group whichaccounts for all the features of classroom life which generate thc language learningcontext for that group. A profile of features and their dynamic permutations whichavoids the partiality of the isolation antl comparison of a few selectcd variables.A rcscarch approach which honestly grapples with ‘observer effects’ so that we canmove from intrusion towards a reciprocity of trust and helpfulness; becoming withinthe classroom culture over time and being seen as contributing as much to the groupas we rcceive from it.If the above objectives are seen to be difficult or impossible to attain, then our futureinvestigations into classroom language learning will need to acknowledge more explicitlythose things which we have not accounted for.Teaching within the classroom as cultureAs direct participants in the culture of their language classes, teachers are very likely to behighly sensitive to the nuances ofthe features of classroom life which I have tried to describe.However, the metaphor of the classroom as culture suggests two major implications forthe language teacher. The first relates to the special task of teaching a language, and thesecond relates to the teacher’s direct concern with the process of learning in classrooms.1 . How can the culture of thc classroom be exploited as a resource for the developmentof linguistic and communicative knowlcdgc and abilities? Although a classroom is an