from applying theory to theorising practice
DESCRIPTION
Talk delivered at the 'Empowering Language Teaching and Learning' professional development day, organised by the Panhellenic Association of State School Teachers of English. Athens: October 2011.TRANSCRIPT
From Applying Theory to Theorising Practice
Achilleas Kostoulas Epirus Institute of
Technology
Presentation Outline
Using the conceptual framework What? How? Why?
Theorising practice Inverting Applied Science A conceptual framework
Applying Theory What it is Problems
Applied Science
Practice
Literature
Pedagogy Linguistics
What is wrong with Applied Science?
• Professional development and practice are physically and temporally disconnected.
• Scholarship is perceived as irrelevant to practice.
• Teachers are relegated to lower status compared to ‘expert’ policy-makers.
Theorising Practice
theory
Theory General Abstract
Top-down
theory Personal Situated Bottom-up
Applying Theory
Theorising practice
In brief…
Communicative
Critical Transmissive W
HY?
cf. Kostoulas, A. 2011. From local pedagogy and global influences to eclectic practice. Paper presented at the British Association of Applied Linguistics Language Learning and Teaching SIG conference, hosted by Aston University. Birmingham: July 2011
What should be taught in an ELT class? Content
“Another preposterous disadvantage of the book is the heroes’ pronunciation in most texts”
“…even more unacceptable pronunciation of the texts” [sic]
“The listening tasks are another bane of the book. The heroes’ accent is extremely bad…”
Content Building a theory Is a native-like accent a
requisite for communicative competence?
Do these books help students to develop a native-like accent?
Is it useful to expose learners to emerging varieties (e.g. ‘World Englishes’, ELF?)
How can I use the tools at my disposal? Media
“Learners cannot survey the grammar that they are taught because there’s no substitution table aside the texts.”
“the passages are hard to understand and technical, and there is no song, no game, nothing at all to ‘break’ the insufferable boredom they generate”
“Most passages are meaningless, uninspired, stale and therefore create no joy to our students.”
Media Building a theory How can these media be used
to develop communicative competence?
Do these media conform to my expectations, as a language teaching expert?
Who makes the choice of media to be used? How is this choice made?
Why are students made to learn English? Ends
“Whoever dreamt up the state certificate using these books,
is seriously deluded!”
Ends Building a theory Is communicative
competence a useful goal? Does my teaching promote this?
Is examination competence a useful goal? How does my teaching promote this?
Is intercultural competence a useful goal? In what ways can my teaching promote this?
We build theory by questioning practice…
Do these books help students to develop a native-like accent?
Is a native-like accent important?
Is it useful to teach ‘World Englishes’ and ELF?
How can these media be used to develop communicative competence?
Who decides what should be taught? How is this choice made?
Does my coursebook conform to my expectations, as an language teaching expert?
Is communicative competence a useful goal? Does my teaching promote this?
Is intercultural competence a useful goal? In what ways can my teaching promote this?
Is examination competence a useful goal? How does my teaching promote this?
Questioning all aspects of practice
Who benefits from teaching English the way we do?
Are there aspects of our practice that serve our interests more than those of our learners?
What are the implications of using the same coursebook across the country?
Why was this coursebook designed in the way it was?
Questions? [email protected]