English Language Teaching in its Social Context

Chapter 9Jack C. RichardsBEYOND METHODSETHODOLOGY IN TEACHING IS THE ACTIVITIES, tasks, andM learning experiences used by the teacher within the teaching and learning process.Methodology is seen to have a theoretical basis in the teacher’s assumptions about (a)language and second language learning, (b) teacher and learner roles, and (c) learningactivities and instructional materials. These assumptions and beliefs provide the basis forthe conscious or unconscious decision making that underlies the moment-to-momentprocesses of teaching. Methodology is not therefore something fixed, a set of rigid principlesand procedures that the teacher must conform to. Rather it is a dynamic, creative, andexploratory process that begins anew each time the teacher encounters a group of learners.Teaching as an exploratory process is different from the approach to teaching seen in manyteacher preparation programs or language teaching programs, where particular instructionalmethods, such as the Silent Way, Total Physical Response, or the Natural Approach, arepresented as models to be imitated and internalized. In this chapter, these two approachesto teaching will be explored in more depth.The use of methods as the basis for instructionalprocesses in a second language program will be compared with one that moves beyondmethods and focuses on exploring the nature of effective classroom teaching and learning.Approaching teaching in terms of methodsFor many centuries the goal of language teachers has been to find the right method (Kelly1969).The history of language teaching in the last hundred years has done much to supportthe impression that improvements in language teaching will result from improvements inthe quality of methods, and that ultimately an effective language teaching method will bedeveloped. Some breakthrough in linguistic theory or in second language acquisitionresearch, it is assumed, will eventually unlock the secrets of second and foreign languagelearning. These will then be incorporated into a new supermethod that will solve thelanguage teaching problem once and for all. Some believe that the supermethod has alreadybeen found, and that adoption of a method such as the Silent Way, Suggestopedia, or theNatural Approach will bring about dramatic improvements in language learning.Common to all methods is a set of specifications for how teaching should beaccomplished, derived from a particular theory of the nature of language and secondlanguage learning. Differences in the instructional specifications reflect differences in thetheories underlying the methods. Some methods advocate an early emphasis on speaking as