Chapter Three Literature Review
3.1. Studies on English Language Teaching (ELT) Methods
Some key theorists have challenged the Anglo-American dominance of ELT practices, and proposed alternatives like Post Method Pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu, 1994; 2006b), Teaching English as Glocalised Communication (TEGCOM) (Lin, Wang, Akamatsu, & Riazi, 2005), glocalised constructs in ELT (Yazan, 2018) and plurilingual methodology (Lin, 2013). All these studies can sit under the umbrella of plurilingual approaches to teaching English, that is teaching approaches which consider “learners’ metalinguistic awareness and experiences as plurilingual speakers” (Cenoz & Gorter, 2013, p.596).
53 Other scholars explore local contextual factors in ELT (Leong, 2014), negotiation strategies and traditional approaches in teaching writing and reading respectively (Barnawi & Le Ha, 2015), and current trends in TESOL research and pedagogy (Canagarajah, 2015) that situate ELT within a local context. Canagarajah (1999) asserts that the dominant linguistic circles in the Northern Centre employ their technological facilities, such as the publication industry and language laboratories, to support their research and then promote their knowledge ‘globally’
through a network of publications and academic institutions. One of the globally promoted knowledges is ELT Methods. Kumaravadivelu (2006a) critiqued the existing ELT Methods, one of which is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), particularly on the basis that CLT was produced in Europe and the US, the global North.
CLT refers to “both the process and goals of classroom learning” where the central concern is
“communicative competence” (Savignon, 2005, p.635). The competence discussed is in
“expression, interpretation, negotiation of meaning”, which relies on second language acquisition research for its development (p.635). Therefore, the curriculum design is based on students’ communicative needs (Savignon, 2005). CLT regards students as active participants in meaning negotiation, as a response to structuralist linguistics and behaviourist psychology (Savignon, 1991), and the previous audiolingual method (Dorney, 2009), which regarded students as passive participants.
CLT has gone through three phases: traditional approaches (up to late the 1960s), classic communicative language teaching (1970s to 1990s), and current communicative language teaching (late 1990s to present) (Richards, 2006, p.6). There are ten current core assumptions to the current approach to CLT: (1) second language learning takes place through interaction;
(2) students’ negotiation of meaning is facilitated through classroom learning tasks and exercises; (3) meaningful communication occurs when students regard the content as interesting and engaging; (4) “communication is a holistic process”; (5) language learning is done through activities which involve the discovery of grammar in daily use and reflection;
(6) “language learning is a gradual process”; (7) learners with different needs and motivation develop their own roads to language learning; (8) “successful language learning involves the use of effective learning and communication strategies”; (9) the teacher’s role is as a facilitator, and (10) the classroom is regarded as a community where learners “learn through collaboration and sharing” (pp: 22-23). Currently CLT is divided into two types: (1)
Process-54 based CLT approaches – Content-Based Instruction and Task Based Instruction, and (2) Product-Based CLT Approaches – Text-Based Instruction and Competency-Based Instruction.
In implementation in Asian countries, CLT has faced more constraints than positive responses.
In Vietnam, Li Va Can (2001), cited in Le Ha (2008), reports that some teachers tend not to accept “error tolerance” as practiced in CLT and instead do “corrective feedback” (p.92) due to exam-oriented demands (p.92). Hu (2002) illustrates the nature of different or even opposing philosophies about the nature of teaching and learning, such as the interactive model of CLT clashing with the Chinese epistemic model in the Chinese context. CLT promotes verbal activeness, while the Chinese system prefers mental activeness. CLT appreciates independence and individuality, while the Chinese model encourages conformity in learning.
In South Korea, Dailey (2010) explained that CLT was difficult to implement as there was a mismatch between government policy and teachers’ preferences for traditional methods.
Vongxay (2013) explained that in Laotian higher education, the examination system, students’
learning styles and behaviours, and students’ diverse proficiency levels meant that CLT implementation was not successful. The Laotian examination system is based on a traditional grammar based tests, so it does not match with the CLT emphasis on communication and interaction. Lao culture requires children to be good listeners, and students’ learning to be passive. Thus this culture also does not support the interactive nature of CLT. Moreover, the university entrance selection in Lao higher education is not designed to group students based on their English proficiency but on quota. Therefore, students have different proficiency levels, and there were many students with low proficiency levels. These low proficient students found difficulties in communicative activities.
In Indonesia, it has been argued that there are some challenges in implementing CLT in Indonesian senior high schools and under intermediate level (Sholihah, 2012). Problems have emerged when the teachers taught games and role-play as CLT activities, and students tended to use their first language as they lacked English vocabulary, and thus lacked spontaneity in English. Moreover, Lie (2007) highlighted that the failure of EFL teaching in Indonesia was often due to the mismatch between competence and the quest for test scores for the national examination. This mismatch of approaches also highlights the fact that the CLT objective is
55 for communicative ability in English, where the national exam only measures reading and listening skills.
However, some positive responses to CLT have been evidenced in in Taiwan (Chang, 2011) and in Bangladesh (Ansarey, 2012). Chang (2011) noted that Taiwanese college English teachers have favourable attitudes towards CLT principles displayed in teachers’
understanding of CLT and the teachers argue that CLT can create meaningful and effective teaching. This positive response is because teachers dislike traditional grammar teaching in which students need to memorise grammar rules. In Bangladesh, Ansarey (2012) found that the majority of teachers had positive responses to CLT, however they found it to be in conflict with the “mostly grammar based examination system” (p.76) enacted by the government.
The above empirical studies support Kachru’s (1986a) argument that notions of communicative competence are “dependent on the participants in specific functions” (p.22).
Dornyei (2009) notes two problems with CLT. He argues it does not properly consider the
“psychological dimension of learning” (p.37) and its aim of “seeking situational meaning” is vague (p.34). To address the issues, he proposed the Principled Communicative Approach (PCA), which comprises of seven principles. These principles, according to Dornyei (2009), are to establish “creative integration of meaningful communication” (p.42) and the automatisation of grammatical rules and vocabularies.
Kumaravadivelu (2006a) problematises CLT in terms of its “authenticity, acceptability and adaptability” (p.62). The authenticity of CLT is questioned as communication practised in the classroom cannot represent real world interaction (Kumaravadivelu, 1993). The acceptability of CLT as a “revolutionary step” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006a, p.62), in the historical record of language teaching is doubted because it merely follows the same basic concept of language teaching as “the linear and additive view of language learning” (p.63) which assumes language learning goes through progressive movements. CLT also follows a “presentation-practice production” structure (p.63), making it the same as the audiolingual method.
As another example, there is hot debate about whether or not students’ own language should be allowed in CLT. Richards (2006), as mentioned earlier, does not explicitly mention the role of students’ first language in CLT’s current core assumptions, and Baw (2011) notes that the communicative approach does not “recognise the positive effects” of students’ mother
56 tongue on their foreign language learning (p.64). Auerbach (1993) and Littlewood and Yu (2011) by contrast underline the importance of students’ first language in the foreign language learning process. Kumaravadivelu (2006b) and Cangarajah (2002a) argue for the need to challenge the imperialistic nature of English Language Teaching, such as CLT, in which the primacy of English is emphasised in a communication context so that students’ own language and culture is not explored or discussed.
The importance of students’ first languages and culture was also underlined by Byram, Holmes, and Savvides (2013). These scholars argue that “teachers and learners now need to be aware of other people’s ‘cultures’ as well as their own” (p.251), aligning better with
“intercultural communicative competence” instead of communicative competence alone.
Unlike communicative competence, which focuses only on “sociolinguistic appropriateness and politeness” (Byram, Holmes & Savvides, 2013, p.251), intercultural communicative competence is regarded as the consequence of new social contexts where “globalisation, new technologies, mass economic and refugee migration” have emerged (Byram, Holmes &
Savvides, 2013, p.251). This new social context necessitates global interaction between human beings, either virtually or physically, and as such, understanding each other’s culture is necessary.
Kumaravadivelu (2006b) proposed a context sensitive Post Method pedagogy. This pedagogy operates through three operating principles: particularity, practicality, and possibility.
Particularity refers to the salience of paying attention to the local context to ‘liven up’ English language teaching, so that the classroom is grounded in its own context. Practicality refers to the idea that teachers should be enabled to “practice what they theorise and theorise what they practice” (p.171), which accentuates the agentive idea that teachers should be empowered from within. The possibility principle refers to the discussion of social, political, economic, and educational aspects of ELT. This pedagogy is inspired by cultural studies thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Homi K. Bhaba, Edward Said, and critical thinkers such as Paulo Friere and Henry Giroux (Kumaravadivelu, 2006b) and employs ten macro-strategies as a guide to enacting the Post Method. Those macro-strategies cover classroom interaction, students’ autonomy, language skills, cultural consciousness, contextualised input and social relevance.
57 Kumaravadivelu (2012) extended his advocacy for Post Method Pedagogy by proposing five modular models for teacher education program. They are: Knowing, Analysing, Recognising, Doing, and Seeing (KARDS). These areas of the five modules are self-explanatory, except for seeing, which refers to teachers monitoring their own teaching. Kumaravadivelu proposed this model as an alternative to the traditional teacher education program which usually provides “a linear, discrete, additive, and compartmentalised character” (p.17). He argues that the KARDS model provides “a cyclical, integrated, interactive, multidirectional, and multidimensional focus” (p.17).
Lin’s (2013) study in Hong Kong resonates with Post Method Pedagogy because of its emphasis on contextualised teaching practices. Lin describes how teachers in her study employed “plurilingual pedagogies” (p.522), and built their own innovative approaches for bilingual academic literacy programmes. The teachers designed materials to take account of students’ academic needs and academic abilities. The students were informed about the objectives of the bilingual programme prior to the beginning of the programme. Their family languages were used at the outset and gradually English was used, meaning the introduction of English texts was fully contextualised through Chinese-English bilingual notes on a science topic. Further, students and teachers in language and content subjects cooperated to design the programme (p.531). This study indicates that literacy can be taught in other ways than simply imposing English. Rather, English language ability can be developed through the use of students’ family language and anchored in students’ needs. The activities developed by lecturers in Lin’s study may motivate students in the teaching and learning process, as their agency and involvement is acknowledged. This study is one of the examples of how context sensitive pedagogy could be applied.
Another resonance of Post Method Pedagogy can be found in Leong’s (2014) study. This study stopped using CLT and instead used more locally sensitive pedagogy. He used videos to help students provide background information for the topic being discussed, in addition to textbooks, and also adjusted classroom materials in relation to “students’ interest, proficiency level and their relevance to the class” (p.6). Leong asked students to do group work as the students were shy if asked to do it individually. Leong’s initiative to introduce WE in the classroom gained students’ surprise and a positive response. The unsuccessful implementation in Leong’s study was due to exam oriented study students had experienced
58 in the past, the prevalent existing discourse on monolingual English, and some cultural factors, e.g., the desire for working as a group.
Barnawi and Le Ha (2015) examined two EFL teachers’ teaching approach (Ali & Refat) in Saudi Arabia after the former gained an MA in TESOL/Applied Linguistics in UK and the latter a MA and PhD in TESOL from United States. On the basis of their research, they argued that
“classroom realities often do not correspond to any recognisable method” (p.269). Ali emphasised negotiation strategies in his teaching and writing course while Refat employed
“a textual (or cognitive approach), functional approach and comprehension assessment task”
(pp.271-272) which he said represented the adaptation of Islamic learning tradition for his reading classroom. This study appeared to mirror, to some extent, Post Method approach because students’ autonomy was accommodated through negotiation strategies. However, this study did not discuss how the teaching of writing was shaped by Western discourse as argued by Canagarajah (2002c).
Jahan (2014) from Bangladeshi contexts and Safari and Rashidi (2015) from Iran examined how far Post Method pedagogy can be applied in their own contexts. Jahan (2014) examined the “implicit evidence” of reported Post Method pedagogic practices of ELT teachers in Bangladesh (p.14). The data was taken from semi-structured interviews among fourteen English teachers. Jahan found that even though the ELT teachers in Bangladesh applied various aspects of Post Method pedagogy, this did not necessarily indicate the lecturers’ true understanding of the method, as for example teachers were not yet ready to “generate a personal theory of practice” (p.88) and their practices did not align with “transformative practitioners” who functioned as the “change agents” (p.89) as proposed by Kumaravadivelu (2003). In that case, Jahan suggested that the teachers review the “macro strategic framework” of Post Method to implement it in the classroom (p.4).
Safari and Rashidi (2015) also examined the applicability of post method pedagogy in the Iranian EFL context. Twenty-two experienced men and women participated in the study.
These scholars found a variety of responses from the respondents such as unfamiliarity with Post Method, familiarity with the dominant methods, e.g., Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), reluctance for the students to be critical thinkers as “they can challenge everything and find deficiencies of my teaching” (p.110), the reluctance to make theory, no
59 time to do research and “not [being] proficient and knowledgeable enough [in Post Method pedagogy] to be able to use it” (p.113).
However, Post Method Pedagogy is not without criticism in the field. Liu (1995) argues that the inapplicability of methods in their “purist” form does not mean that “they are useless”
(p.176). Rather, the problem for Liu lies “with those who use the methods in the wrong place at the wrong time “(p. 176). He explained, for example, that the Total Physical Response (TPR) approach was “a very effective method for beginning students, children” (p.176).
Furthermore, Liu argued that even Richard and Rodger (1986 cited in Liu, 1995) point out that the “teacher may modify and revise teaching and learning procedure based on learner’s performance and reactions to instructional practice” (p.176). Similarly, Bell (2003) explained ELT Methods “were never applied universally” (p.328) and he also sees that many of the components of macro-strategies of post-method such as “negotiated interaction, integrated language skills, learner autonomy and so on” are similar to CLT (p.332).
Akbari (2008) simply critiques post method because it brings “English language teaching beyond the realm of possibility and practice” as it is more about “philosophy and philosophical discussions” (p.645). Many teachers prefer the practical philosophy of course book work, which is more tangible in the classroom. This is coupled with “financial and occupational constraints”, e.g., poor payment, so it is unlikely that teachers would be willing to act as “iconoclasts and social transformers” (p.646).
Having discussed the pedagogies which promote sensitivity to local contexts, now I move to this discuss Canagarajah’s reflection on what has happened in the TESOL field over 50 years.
Then I will further discuss the critiques of Post Method and the studies referring to Teaching English as a Glocalized Communication (TEGCOM) (Lin, Wang, Akamatsu & Riazi, 2005). Lin et al. proposed that teaching based on TEGCOM principles should consider social, cultural, historical and institutional contexts and decentre Inner Circle Englishes as the only points of references to diverse global sociocultural contexts.
Another key piece of literature relevant to my study is on “TESOL as a professional community” within half century “research, pedagogy and theory” (Canagarajah, 2015, pp.30-31). Canagarajah summarises the following emerging trends and shifts in TESOL over the past half-century; from product to process and practice, from cognitive to social and ecological,
60 from pre-packaged methods to situated pedagogies and language socialisation, from studying controlled classrooms and experimental settings to everyday contexts and ecologies, from homogeneity to variation and inclusive plurality, from knowledge or skills to identities, beliefs and ideologies, from objective to personal and reflexive, from the generalised and global to specific and local. This approach is different from Post Method Pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu, 2006) because Canagarajah only reflected on the development of TESOL studies, pedagogies, and theories in the last half century as evidenced in the existing literature while Kumaravadivelu (2006b), through Post Method Pedagogy, critiqued existing ELT Methods and proposed a pedagogy sensitive to local contexts, one that encourages lecturers or teachers to generate personal theory from their own practice and suggests lecturers or teachers accommodate economic, social, and political contexts into their teaching.
For TEGCOM, I could not find studies claiming to implement TEGCOM principles explicitly, though this call for the re-orientation of TESOL has been referred to by some in ELT fields, for example Zacharias (2011) and Yazan (2018). Zacharias (2011) referred to TEGCOM and World Englishes to support her establishing a personal voice as an EFL teacher from Indonesia. As an EFL teacher, Zacharias changed her subject position from one who believed in native speakerism to one who could benefit from her being non-native speaker as a resource to
“establish” and “strengthen” her identity, so she became more “empathetic” to her “non-native speaker” students (p.71).
Yazan (2018) described four premises as the construct of glocalisation13 in ELT. They are:
(1) “The relationship between the global and the local is rather mutually constitutive14 rather than dichotomous”;
(2) “The local and the global simultaneously and actively shape the processes of globalisation in temporal and spatial contexts”;
(3) “The global and the local fluidly interfuse, interweave, interpenetrate, and transform each other”;
13 Glocalisation refers to the hybrid concept of global and local.
14 Emphasis original.
61 (4) “The negotiation and the construction of agency, identity, and
legitimacy are contextually situated and embedded at the nexus of bidirectional global and local flows of discourses”. (p.221)
The approaches offered by Zacharias (2011) and Yazan (2018) may offer middle paths for teachers whose courses are under the dominance of global North but to retain some space to represent their own localised or perhaps hybrid teaching practices.