CCPNA-THOMAS JEFFERSON INSTITUTE

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

TEACHER: JOSE AMES

ESSAY

STUDENT: TANIA MERY QUISPE CARRIZALES

JULY 2018

AREQUIPA-PERU

1
 Many Aspects to take into account in The English Language
Teaching

Introduction:
English language teaching involves many aspects like correcting mistakes, use of
authentic material, use of a correct method and the acquisition of the language .the
first aspect is inevitable in the learning of a second language, everyone will face error
in this process, no one can avoid it, learning is a process of trial and mistake, everyone
can learn from their own mistakes since the beginning of their lives. In addition many
authors have different points of view about how, why and if correct mistakes is suitable
or not. Not correcting a mistake will not developed autonomy in learners, it can develop
fluency but generate error fossilization.

In the other hand correct mistake by mistake , can interfere with the flow in the talk ,
and it will hurt learners’ emotion like self-confidence, anxiety and motivation , even it
can cause learners feel disappointed about studies , no one can guess how students
will react to corrections .then how correct , there is a third point of view , promoting
autonomy in learners can be a good choice, it is known that humans do not learn from
intolerant environments , this third option gives students the opportunity of realizing
their own mistakes without interfering the conversation , while teachers’ role is the
guide who give clues and students discover their mistakes and correct them , it will
also generate more self-confidence and motivation in students , who will become in
the main character of their language learning.

Being a teachers does not mean correct mistakes it also involves more aspects , use
of authentic material is one of them , books has no all answer for all students , English
books are not personalized for each students , then the need of generate extra material
becomes in a main topic for many teachers , how to get more attention from students
, where to find that material ,it is more difficult , each one of students has different
interest , ages, emotions , teachers must be dedans and reflective during their teaching
,in this way , they will discover by mistake and error what material works or not in their
class.

Reflection also can be considered in the process of acquisition of the second language
, Natural Approach promote the generation of events and activities and create the need
of use the language which have been learned , in this aspect as the previous one ,
teachers need to become autonomous teachers , then they will be able to be reflexive
to analyze their own teaching , choosing material and activities is not an easy task ,
autonomy is necessary to go beyond boundaries , no method is perfect , and a good
method cannot work for every student,

There is the need of more options, a need of an alternative to a method , go beyond

limits of the method , it means a post method pedagogy which needs autonomous
teachers and autonomous learners , teachers who can empower themselves to be
better to get skills , to theorize from their practice and practice what they theorize.

2
1. Considerations for the correction of mistakes in learners
Zytowicz expressed that “ see how much they have learnt, praise them for that,
remember about correction but do not worry about every single mistake”1
In the expression of Zytowicz ,she suggests that teachers should be more
comprehensive with learners ,instead of being judges of correction every day , they
should encourage learners about what they are learning and improving. Sometimes
teachers want perfection and accuracy in learners , and they become extremely
intolerant about mistakes ,this insensitive behavior makes teachers forget that learners
are humans who are learning from mistake and trial. Whether teachers don not pay
attention some emotional factors like motivation, self-confidence and anxiety, the
process of learning will not improve , It will be a bird in a birdcage ,where this pet have
to do and adapt itself to his owner’s desires. Learners must be free birds , which can
fail and fail many times , but never give up to learn from mistake and trial and their
owner help them to be bigger . Learning a language can be compared with the
previous bird which grow up with its owner’s help and learn from its own mistakes.

Correcting a mistake in the acquisition on a second language is a controversial topic,

many authors has written about it , some recommend do not correct mistakes, in the
other hand some suggest correction of mistakes must be a priority in the acquisition of
a second language , also , we can distinguish another group of researchers who pay
attention learners’ autonomy, the role of the teacher is participate in the conversation
and give some clues ,then learners can correct themselves without stopping or
interfering the flow of talk.

Not correcting a mistake is considered a good choice for some authors , they highlight
that while communication is successful then perfection is not necessary. In the other
hand, Kumaravadivelu emphasizes “the need to go beyond the limitations of the
concept of method with a call to find an alternative way of designing effective teaching
strategies”2. Regarding to this quotation , no method has to be followed in a strict way
,because it can cause dissatisfaction for the limitations of each one of them ,that is why
,focusing in communicative fluency does not developed the rest of aspects of language
learning. Even if not correcting a mistake cannot affect emotionally learners’ aspect,
then it does not allow learners learn from their own mistakes.

In contrast some authors emphasize the correction of mistakes as a way to get

accuracy in the learning of a second language, correcting a mistake can interfere with
the flow of the talk, in addition , teachers forget that learners are humans and each
one has his own personality ,behavior and emotions , thus everyone reacts in a
different way when they are corrected by a teacher , some can be more enthusiastic
and learn from their mistakes , in contrast some learners feel disappointed when
teachers interfere their speaking with many correction after each one of their mistakes
, it can causes that learners avoid talking in front of the teachers , afraid from many
corrections , and it decreases learners’ communicative fluency .
Teachers forget tolerance when they correct mistakes interfering the flow of the talk, it
does not allow fluency in the conversation. Correcting mistakes can affect learners’
emotions like self-confidence, anxiety and motivation , it can provoke that desire of

Zytowicz .A, Error correction in speaking –looking for a “ Golden Rule”.p. 162
1
2
Kumaravadivelu .B.Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy P.537

3
learning decreases in students of a second language , when a learner do not feel
motivate, learning a language becomes difficult .

According to Corder “it is more efficient for learners to correct themselves than be
corrected by the teacher”1 with this previous idea, learner’s autonomy is highlighted.
Autonomy is a main priority, it does not mean that teachers has no role in correction,
it emphasizes the role of the learner as the main character of his own learning, and
teachers as a guide who give clues to make students discover their own mistakes, in
this correction learners are not stressed for many corrections, they realize their own
mistakes without interfering of the talk. Unconsciously learners follow clues and
correct mistakes during speaking ,and developing their self-confidence, and
motivation.

Teachers should also consider some other aspects like when or how correct mistakes
from learners, Zytowicz affirms that “choosing the right moment and the method
appears to be the most difficult of all”2. Thus teachers has to considered learners
personality and emotions before using and choosing a method for correction.

In the other hand , learners have to understand and accept why correction is
appropriate in their learning , the aim of correction is not part of representing a judge
from the teachers , the main aim is get perfection and accuracy, and they can avoid
fossilize mistakes correcting a mistake during their learning.

In contrast teachers have to learn that they are not judges of their students , they must
avoid offending and hurting learners’ feelings and emotions with an extremely way of
correcting mistakes .thus teachers and learners should understand that failures are not
undesirable, mistakes are part of learning and improve every day , feeding our own
knowledge every time.

During many years , many authors developed many methods and teaching approach
, each one of them has their own point of view about correction.it is really interesting
how correction get or not get attention in each method .

Audio-lingual method is one of them, which emphasizes accuracy, and it becomes in

its primary goal, thus correcting mistakes is a priority in this method, and students are
not allowed to make mistakes

In contrast Direct Method promotes student Self-correction, this method provides

opportunities to self- correction in learners, some techniques: follow up questions,
echoing, repetition, etc., this method can be one the more suitable in the field of
correcting mistakes, because this method use questions and interaction between
teachers and students and it follow Corder’s affirmation.

In addition Silent way also follow Corder`s affirmation in a different and interesting way
,it is a peer correction, students encouraged and help each other , in this method
teachers can use self- correction techniques and gestures to indicate that there is a

1
Corder ,S, The significance of learners’ errors .p 164
2 Zytowicz .A, Error correction in speaking –looking for a “ Golden Rule”.p. 166

4
mistake , in contrast role of the teacher is distant from his students while students
correct each other.

Another method to mention is communicative language teaching, it encourages

students to learn from trial and error, this looks more rational, this method emphasizes
fluency while learners learn from their own mistakes, students learn from their own
experiences, this method promotes autonomy from learners, it can be one of the more
suitable methods for correcting a mistake, it does not mean perfect.

Another method to considerer is Total physical response, this method helps students
to learn through commands, they are correcting directly with commands, they repeat
and learn without any complain, and the benefit of this method is the pleasant learning
atmosphere where learners feel comfortable and self- confident.

To sum up ,error correction cannot be taken as a priority for improving language

performance , error correction is part of learning , that every learner must face in his
process of learning a second language that is why it cannot be eliminate in
communicative type activities , some methods as communicative language teaching
and Direct Method give teachers some techniques to correct mistakes without
interfering in the flow of the talk , it does not mean that students will be stressed , it
encourage students to developed self-correction during their learning .
When learners can learn and realize his own mistakes, they can develop their own
strategies of learning, and it becomes them in autonomy learners.
Correcting a mistake must be used for encourage students to get autonomy and be
the main character of their own process of learning.

2. Considerations on Krashen’s Natural Approach about how grammatical

structures will become internalize in learners

Krashen and Terrel argues that “the core of the Natural Approach classroom Is a series
of acquisition activities”1.this quotation is related to activities, the aim goal of doing
activities in classroom is generated events, situations and contexts, which can cause
that learners use grammatical structures .in other terms, whether learners are
`provided with events, contexts and situations in which learners need to use grammar
then grammar will be internalized.

Talking about activities ,the topic must be interesting and original for the learners ,
activities which can get attention from the learners, when a learner is interested in
these activities , the teacher has to be careful which topic ,what new vocabulary
students will learn with these activities, if this activities will be comprehensible for
students, how this activity will provide a comprehensible input ,how this activity will
cause production in students , and how this activity can cause acquisition in students.

The previous questions must need attention before to choose the suitable activity or
event for learners. Techers need to be autonomous to research,analyse and choose
an activity which can cause learners’ need to use the grammar they have learned , it
is a difficult task , no one can predict how learners will react to activities and events ,
that is why , it needs originality in their performance ,where students can feel identified

1
Krashen .Sterol .T. The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.p.97

5
and attracted to use grammar , also this activities should reproduce the real world ,the
use of activities and events to internalize the grammar needs to reproduce the real
world inside the class , as it will be mentioned in the point 3 about use of authentic
material in classroom.

Choosing an activity to involve students can not be easy for teachers, related to this
aspect Krashen argues that

“Each activity focuses on a particular topic and /or situation,i.e, what students in
the class did last night, how to order food in restaurant, how to apologize, how
to refuse a request, what they ate for breakfast, what they like to watch on
television, and so forth”1

No one can know how learners will appreciate or react to any activities , but when an
activity is able to replicate the real world inside a classroom , learners will feel involved
in that ,to choose an activity teachers do not need to research a lot in books ,everything
is not written in books, books contain different points of view, generalizing can be a big
mistake in language teaching, in other words, books are not made for each one of
students ,then whether teachers need to choose a correct and suitable event , they
need to focus on the real world , which is changing day by day and it is more interesting
for everyone , and this kind of content can catch the minds of students and they will be
able to use the target language , if the teachers create an artificial real world.

Once the suitable activities and event are chosen , then we have to analyze how this
activity gives opportunities to students to express themselves in the target language,
if this activities provide those opportunities , then students will be able to internalize
the grammatical structures and express themselves in the real world, Krashen express
that “As the students are able to generate more and more of the target language, this
production(interlanguage) serves as comprehensible input for the other students in the
class”2.

Skills and knowledge sometimes is learned by imitation, as a baby can speak and walk
imitating his parents, humans learn from imitation in their early ages. This concept can
be used for spread to generate communication in the target language in other terms,
when one of the students in the class generate effective communication in the target
language, then the rest of the class will follow him .it can be considered a good factor
to involve more and more students and promote to internalize the grammatical
structures.

As Krashen mentioned “ It is an open question whether this sort of “interlanguage talk”

is helpful or harmful (or what is more likely, both) for language acquisition” 3,however
interaction between groups of students can be successful and interlanguage talk can
have more advantages than disadvantages , then in other terms , interlanguage is
useful for learners , and interaction between small groups can generate production in
the target language ,Natural Approach promote it ,to get language acquisition.

1
Krashen .S,Terrel .T. The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.p.98
2
Krashen .S,Terrel .T. The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.p.97
3
Krashen .S,Terrel .T. The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.p.97

6
Another aspect to analyze, what language teachers should use in the events, Wilson
R, argues that” In the Natural Approach the teacher speaks only the target language
and class time is committed to providing input for acquisition. Students may use either
the language being taught or their first language.”1

To develop the use of the target language in the events to provoke internalize the
grammatical structures , teachers are followed to use target language and students
can use the target language and the native language of each one of them ,this aspect
can be compared with the early ages , when babies are trying and learning their mother
tongue , in this situation ,babies are exposed to the language they will learn from their
parents, parents always use the mother tongue, while babies just expresses
themselves with gestures and tears , psychologically humans learn from mistake and
trial , if a baby can say no word while his first months of life , how a baby can
communicate with his parents, to reply this question , it is necessary to think as a baby
, a baby just can cry , then whether a baby cry , suddenly parents will appear , then the
baby learnt his first lesson , when he cries , parents pay attention to him , but crying
cannot be a successful way of communication , a baby grow up , then he will start to
listen more and more words from his parents , even if he cannot reply with the same
words , his instinct will guide him to understand those expressions and day by day
baby will change crying for words , then in this process , parents always use the native
language , babies do not the language when they were born , but while they keep
listening and involve in the language what they need to learn , intelligence and memory
will give them the tools to get ready and express themselves in that language .

In addition ,teacher who develop an event or activity , have the role of the father while
learner can get the role of the babies .while this process learners as babies will have
many mistakes in pronunciation , speaking and grammar .then some errors can be
fossilized and will not allowed learners to get accuracy in the target language.

Wilson R. expresses that

“In Natural Approach errors in speech are not corrected, however homework
may include grammar exercises that will be corrected. Goals for the class
emphasize the students being able use the language "to talk about ideas,
perform tasks, and solve problems." This approach aims to fulfill the
requirements for learning and acquisition, and does a great job in doing it. Its
main weakness is that all classroom teaching is to some degree limited in its
ability to be interesting and relevant to all students.2

No method is perfect , Natural Approach promotes the use of the target language in
class ,and students will generate and produce using the target language , this is the
main aim of this method , but it also have a weak point teachers must be autonomous
and use their potential to make their material authentic and attractive to all students ,
and in this way , this weak point can be overcame .in addition , being able to get the
attention of all students is one of the most difficult tasks for teachers , that is why ,
teachers must go through boundaries of any method and create and develop their own

1
Wilson R. A Summary of Stephen Krashen's "Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition"p.8
2
Wilson R. A Summary of Stephen Krashen's "Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition"p.9

7
way of teaching with authentic material. Related to the previous words about teachers,
Kumaravadivelu asserts that

“Contrary to a common misconception, doing teacher research does not

necessarily involve highly sophisticated, statistically laden, variable controlled
experimental studies, for which practicing teachers have neither the time nor the
energy. Rather, it involves keeping one’s eyes, ears, and mind open in the
classroom to see what works and what does not, with what group(s) of learners,
and for what reason, and assessing what changes are necessary to make
instruction achieve its desired goals.”1

Additionally ,the previous quotation gives an important characteristic for autonomous

teachers , an autonomous teacher needs to do research to choose an activity or event
,it does not mean read and read complicated books to find a suitable event , whether
a teacher analyze learners’ reactions and interests in class , the performance of any
event is possible with trial and error , research also includes reflective teaching where
teachers realized what events or activities motivate and attract more attention from
their students , no event can be flawless and work for all students , it is the weak point
of Natural Approach , to surpass this weakness , teachers need to be reflective and
autonomous . Therefore perfection does not exist in any method, teachers who search
an alternative to a method are close day after day of getting perfection, it can be not
an easy task, but flawless needs effort and dedication from teachers who must search
to be better day by day.

Wilson R. argues that

Even if the theory presented here is totally correct, and my suggestions for
application are in fact the appropriate ones, there are some serious problems
that need to be mentioned before concluding. These have to do with the
acceptance, by teachers and students, of language acquisition as primary, and
comprehensible input as the means of encouraging language acquisition. These
problems are caused by the fact that acquisition differs from learning in two
major ways: acquisition is slow and subtle, while learning is fast and, for some
people, obvious.2

Analyzing the previous quotation, it highlights the acquisition in language learning,

firstly teachers and students must understand and accept acquisition as a main priority.
In addition teacher have to give suitable input and events to make students generate
in the second language, learning the rules and grammar in a second language is easier
than acquiring the same language and using it in real situations, the speedy is the
difference, while learning the rules and grammar is easy, the use and acquisition
become an slow process. That is why, teachers should focus on the acquisition and
promote events and activities which can generate the need to use the language.

Wilson argues that

1
Kumaravadivelu .B.Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy P.550
2
Wilson R. A Summary of Stephen Krashen's "Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition"p.10

8
 "What theory implies, quite simply, is that language acquisition, first or second,
occurs when comprehension of real messages occurs, and when the acquirer
is not 'on the defensive'. Language acquisition does not require extensive use
of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill. It does not
occur overnight, however. Real language acquisition develops slowly, and
speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when
conditions are perfect. The best methods are therefore those that supply
'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that
students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the
second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready',
recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and
comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production." 1

This previous quotation emphazises that language acquisition is a slow process, that
teachers have to create a free-stress environment, thus learners need to be provided
with comprehensible input, which can cause interest in students, a learner who feel
identified with the input can learn and understand the lesson .teachers’ role is providing
and create learning situations that students can feel attract and show interest for that
input. then students will produce when they feel ready ,it can be compared with
humans’ first steps parents help babies and give the situations to stand up ,sometimes
parents give them games which requires being stood up , then babies fall, fall ,and fall
down many times, and when they feel ready , suddenly they stand up for themselves
and walk their first steps .The previous comparison of the acquisition and use of the
grammar in learners of a second language , teachers cannot be impulsive and think
that learners will learn overnight ,if whether humans have learned everything slowly
since the beginning of their lives.

In contrast when teachers provide a lot of information , tedious grammar, extensive

exercises , which are difficult to understand , all these can cause anxiety and stress in
students ,who will not acquire and produce for themselves. Humans cannot learn from
stress, anxiety can cause disappointment and desire in learners. Teachers must
understand that no knowledge can be applied and use overnight.

3. Use of authentic material

Teachers has many techniques to transmit knowledge, one of them is the use of extra
material, it means create and bring material which are not included in the text.
Using of extra material encourages teacher’s autonomy, it helps teachers to go beyond
traditional methods, in the point 1, Kumaravadivelu’s citation emphasizes the necessity
of going beyond the limits of the methods, which promotes autonomy and imagination
in language teaching.

Highlighting that each learner has his own personality , emotions and feelings ,
teachers need to developed extra material, English books are standard for everyone,
thus for each learner’s need, teachers should have one book for each one ,that sounds
creepy and impossible . That is why teachers’ role becomes so important in the
language learning, whether a teacher cannot have a personalized book for each one

1
Wilson R. A Summary of Stephen Krashen's "Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition"p.1

9
of his students, he should prioritize the use of extra material, which complement the
knowledge of English books and motivates students.

Teachers’ role is a main priority , going beyond boundaries of methods and transmits
knowledge to many personalities. Being a visionary must be the main goal of teachers,
where they become autonomy of their language teaching, creating and developing
techniques, material, which can feed their teaching.

Teachers need to be critics and explore their own self- confidence to go through
methods and research during practice . no method is perfect for everyone ,
personalities and class situations are different every moment , believing that a method
will be successful for everyone is shoddy , whether a teacher thinks and believes that
a method is perfect for everyone , it will cause dissatisfaction in learners who will not
be taught in an appropriate way .

In addition, every teacher needs to develop their own autonomy, it is a long process
that teachers need to follow, it means teachers should be conscious that English Books
are not suitable for every learner; they need to bring extra material to complement it.

Torregrosa G. expresses that “These authentic materials should be taken from the real
world and not primarily created for pedagogical reasons”1
This citation argues that authentic material must be taken from the real world, and
provide real situations and contexts related to the topic. the main aim of relating
material with real world is create an artificial real world inside the classroom.

This has many advantages, like using communicative talks inside the class and out of
it. Creating an artificial real world inside the classroom promotes the use of real and
useful topics, thus when learners go to the environment they will use what they have
learned inside the class. Another advantage is that extra material complement and
explain the content in the book, and it can transmit more than books, while students
has many different of thinking, they can feel identify for the content in an English book,
in contrast some students can feel bored of the content and situations to study in the
English Book, that is why extra material is necessary to attract these students’
attention.

Extra material can developed self-confidence and motivation in students, while they
relate this material with real context they learn useful grammar which will be used in
the street .in the other hand, not using extra material will not help students to relate
what they learned with the real contexts.

Preparing extra authentic material can be difficult if teachers are not autonomy, that is
why, autonomy is the first stage to prepare an extra authentic material, being autonomy
demands time and creativity from teachers. Some teachers do not want to develop
extra authentic material because they argue that they have no time and prefer following
the English Book. thus making extra material is one of the steps to be an autonomy
teacher .

1
Torregrosa G. Use of authentic materials in the ESP classroom .P.89

10
In addition , extra material not only demands time , it also demands choose which
material can be suitable , some teachers ask themselves what they should include ,
which aspects they should pay attention to make extra material, aspects like country,
topics, ages of learners , interests, social environment, it is not an easy task to do.

Vaiciuniene and Uzpaliene mentioned:

three broad categories of ESP authentic materials: daily objects such as

business cards, bank leaflets, photographs, receipts, catalogues, currency,
reports, financial statements, instructions, bank accounts, application forms,
pictures, registration forms, letters/emails, diagrams, agreements, etc.;
broadcast texts such as newspapers, journals, TV and radio programs, films,
documentaries, general or special literature, etc.; and websites. The internet is
a wonderful and very much up to date source of authentic materials for LSP
learners, “providing ESP practitioners with a diversity of ‘takeawayformats’
(video, audio, pictures and texts)1

According with this quotation, authentic material can be daily objects, broadcast texts
and internet; these three main categories provide teachers the tools to developed and
take note what authentic material they should pay attention. Some of them are more
common and easy to use in real contexts for example catalogues reports, pictures,
etc., teacher must choose the suitable and meaningful material for each class.
For instance if a teacher want to develop the function of requesting information. He
can choose a rail road timetable like the next image.

From British Council

1
Vaiciuniene, V. and Uzpaliene. «Authentic resources in technology-based ESP learning». Studies about
languages p.95

11
Teacher has to give a copy to each student, then teacher have to ask them to make
groups of two while students stand up , after the dynamic will start:
Teacher will ask students to ask each other the next questions:

STUDENT A: When will the train depart to London Paddington Platform 11,2,3,4?
STUDENT B: (REPLY THE QUESTION)
STUDENT A: When will the train arrive to London Paddington Platform 11,2,3,4?
STUDENT B: (REPLY THE QUESTION)
STUDENT A: Where will the train depart to London Paddington Platform 11,2,3,4
from?
STUDENT B: (REPLY THE QUESTION)
STUDENT A: how much time takes from Oxford Platform 1 to London Paddington
Platform 11,2,3,4?
STUDENT B: (REPLY THE QUESTION)
After the peer will exchange roles, then teacher will ask students to sit down, after
teacher will ask the same questions to all the class, he will ask volunteers for extra
points , then the dynamic will finish.

In this dynamic, the interaction between peer is emphasized and they develop their
English speaking skills and exchanging roles, they can correct themselves and anise
their mistakes .making the same question but with different subject can help them to
analyze their mistakes to each other.
This material is useful in a real context , because everyone travel in a train , and
whenever and wherever students will use those questions in real situations.

to sum up , authentic materials are important for teachers and learners, it is one step
to be autonomy teachers and learners can feel the real world inside the class , getting
these material is not difficult , while teachers observe real world , many authentic
material can be bring to the classroom, then there is no excuse to develop an authentic
material .

4. Post method condition

Kumaravadivelu affirms that

If the conventional concept of method entitles theorizers to construct

knowledge-oriented theories of pedagogy, the postmethod condition empowers
practitioners to construct classroom-oriented theories of practice. If the concept
of method authorizes theorizers to centralize pedagogic decision making, the
postmethod condition enables practitioners to generate location-specific,
classroom-oriented innovative practices.1

In this previous quotation, there is a comparison between the conventional concept of

method and the post method condition, while the conventional concept emphasizes
that theorizes should construct theories, the post method emphasizes practitioners to
construct theories from their classroom .in the other hand the conventional concept

1
Kumaravadivelu B. The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging Strategies for Second/Foreign Language
Teaching p.29

12
authorizes theorizes to centralize decisions, the post method emphasizes to the
practitioners to develop specific and oriented practices.

The conventional method remarks the relationship between theorizers and teachers
as the center and the periphery where the center of language pedagogy is for
theorizers and the periphery for the teachers.
This relationship have been controversial, because while theorizers receive all the
attention for the new knowledge and methods, practitioners don’t get awards, they
usually feel out of the center. It can sound creepy but the conventional concept does
not recognize role of practitioners, while theorizers receive all the attention, it causes
distinction between them.

In contrast the post method redefines this relationship, firstly looking beyond the
concept of method, for theorizers, each method consists in a array of theoretical
principles, and teachers’ role is based in introduce grammatical structures and
vocabulary to help learners practice until learners internalize the target language, then
teachers’ responsibility consist in generate situations and conditions where learners
can solving activities
This postmethod condition emphasizes the kind relationship between these two
groups, and emphasizes that practitioners can make theory from practice and can
generate specific and oriented practices

In the other hand, practitioners’ point emphasizes that no method can be applied in a
pure form, because they are not based on real classrooms and experience, they
complain that those methods are not related to the reality and they are artificial.

Secondly , postmethod condition empowers teachers’ autonomy , it emphasizes the

potential of teachers and encourage them to act autonomously within many aspects
like academic and administrative and develop a reflective approach , being autonomy
means that they are empowered to theorize what they practice and practice what they
theorize .
Post method condition gives an autonomy place to teachers where they realize their
potential to theorize their practice and improve their way of practicing with the
experience.

It encourage teachers to domain application , and it can be gotten through boundaries,

developing skills in language teaching means developed their own alternative to a
method , and go beyond the boundaries , orienting the practice to generate specific
practices . No method is perfect and suitable for everyone that is why an alternative to
a method is necessary, while teachers feel dissatisfaction of the traditional methods,
they will feel like a caged bird, and then following a method in a strict way could mean
to cut the winds of this bird.

Thus a postmethod pedagogy is necessary to develop teachers’ skills and invention.

Knowing that no method cannot be used and applied for everyone because humans
are unique in several aspects like personality, goals , behavior and emotions then it
encourages teachers to become autonomous , in other words, the term visionary can
be used for autonomous teachers who develop and innovate their pedagogy with a
postmethod pedagogy.

13
Kumaravadivelu visualized “ a three dimensional system consisting of the parameters
of particularity , practicality and possibility”1, those three parameter mentioned before
are necessary for developing a post method pedagogy and those help teacher’s
autonomy , implementing a postmethod pedagogy requires an autonomous teacher,
who can gives particularity creating authentic material for his teaching , it also needs
originality in the material to be used , an autonomous teacher is able to bring and relate
material with real context. Practicality encourages teacher’s autonomy enabling them
to theorize from their practice and practice what they theorize, and possibility develop
the skill of teachers to evaluate, manage and interact with students.

Autonomy, attitude , skill and knowledge are necessary to devise a systematic,

coherent and relevant alternative to method that is informed by principled pragmatism
which is focus on how classroom learning can be manage by teachers., following
principle pragmatism means developing sense of plausibility , in this way they will be
able to understand their own teaching and how it works in learners , then if a method
is good or not has less importance , the main aim is knowing if a method is alive, active
and operational to attract and involve teachers and students.in other words principle
pragmatism enable teachers to be autonomous , activating and developing teachers

An autonomous teacher will be able to use an active, and operational method, being
able to devise a coherent, systematic and relevant method involves teachers will be
able to theorize from practice and practice what they theorize, it also applies the
redefinition of the post method condition, which empowers teachers to be reflective, in
other terms means to be able to understand what they teach and how, it can be gotten
from application in classroom every day.

Reflective teachers can analyze and understand what they need to be autonomous
and be able to theorize from practice , when etcahers understand that a method is not
needed to be good or bad , the performance of a method and alternative to a method
can be measured if it is active, attractive for tecahers and students , everyday tecahers
ned to be reflective and analyse the application of practice and theory , application is
the relationship between practice and theory and can be improved by teaching .

To be able to theorize from practice and practice what they theorize, teachers need to
be reflective about daily teaching and analyze their own mistakes, when a teacher is
able to understand his own teaching then it can be improve,” practice made the master
“, it can sounds creepy, but teachers need application of teaching everyday to get
theorize from practice and practice what they theorize.

Teachers can design these varies and situation-specific micro strategies, if they do
research because it will help them to ground, and develop practice –oriented
miscrostrategies.

This framework can transform teachers into strategies teachers; because this can
develop investigate capabilities required for action research focusing in classroom and
reflection to analyze themselves, and it needs self-observation and self-assessment

11
Kumaravadivelu B. toward a post method pedagogy P.537

14
Conclusions

Teaching is one of the most difficult task for any professional , being a teacher means
to be an autonomous person who is able to develop his own material ,to go beyond
boundaries ,have the potential to learn from mistakes , do research and pay attention
to any reactions from students , there is the clue to be autonomous , be critics with
themselves , and improve everyday .

Many aspects are mandatory to be considered , in this essay , fours aspects were
talked , error correction is one of the more controversial , each method has a different
of view about it , what to do , what not to do , when and why correct, many questions
are needed to take into account . a teacher cannot follow any method in a strict way to
find the suitable way of correction, no method is perfect, perfection is getting by
teachers every day , correcting or not correcting a mistake is a big question , there are
many possible answers , but the correct answer should be what students need to be
better , then if teachers do not correct mistakes , students will not get autonomous to
learn from mistakes .

In contrast if teachers are intolerant and correct mistake by mistake , learners will feel
disappointed of their learning , in addition how students will be better , what they need
to be autonomous , they do not need freedom nor be stressed , they need a guide ,
who can give them some clues to discover their own mistakes .when learners are able
to discover and correct their own mistakes , they gain self-confidence, motivation and
autonomy .

An autonomous learner needs an autonomous teachers ,whether teachers want to

motivate ,get better students , they have to develop and appreciate their potential as
educators , no teacher is perfect in the classroom , being a teacher means to be a
visionary , who can go beyond the methods, create his own authentic material , a good
teacher will always think on learners’ interest and emotions .

Choosing a correct material, and event is not an easy task, but being a teacher means
to be able to observe learners’ behavior, environment to choose what learners can be
interested in, what event can cause interaction between students, a chosen event
cannot work with every student, but teachers cannot give up, analyzing and being
reflexive about their way of teaching will give them the clues to be better each day.

Bibliography

1. Zytowicz .A, Error correction in speaking –looking for a “Golden Rule”.

2. Kumaravadivelu .B.Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy TESOLP. QUARTELY Vol
35,USA,San Jose University,2001
3. Corder ,S, The significance of learners’ errors .International Review of Applied
Linguistics 5,1967
4. Krashen, Stephen D. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.
English Language Teaching series. London: Prentice-Hall International (UK)
Ltd. 1981. 202 pages.

15
5. Wilson R. A Summary of Stephen Krashen's "Principles and Practice in Second
Language Acquisition”. London
6. Torregrosa G. Use of authentic materials in the ESP classroom.Salmanca
University, Spain,2011
7. Vaiciuniene, V. and Uzpaliene. «Authentic resources in technology-based ESP
learning». Studies about languages
8. Kumaravadivelu B. The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging Strategies for
Second/Foreign Language Teaching TESOLQUARTERLY,Vol 28,USA.San
Jose University,19994
9. Krashen, Stephen, and Tracy D. Terrell. The Natural Approach: Language
Acquisition in the Classrooms. Hayward, CA: The AlemanyPress, 1983.
10. TERRELL, T. A natural approach to second language acquisition and learning.
Modern Language Journal 6.1977

16