nilufer can

1. Post-method pedagogy
Nilufer Can

2. The history of language teaching has been characterized by the
search for most effective way of teaching second and foreign
languages.The commonest solution was the adoption of teaching
approach or method.

3.  Emerged after the gradual dissatisfaction with conventional
Methods.
 Kumaravadivelu (2006) termed those ‘designer non-methods’
 Prime success of methods lasted up till late 1980s.
 Eclecticism was widespread
 Post-method came to light during 1990s.
 Aimed to break the ‘cycle’ of methods
 Refigures relationship between theorizers and practitioners.
 Signifies teacher autonomy.
 Principled pragmatism
Background in brief

4. Main Purpose
B. Kumaravadivelu
“To facilitate the growth
and development of
teachers’ own theory to
practice”
(Kumaravadivelu, 2006)

5. Seeks to transcend the limitations of Method.
Facilitate the advancement of context-sensitive
language education based on a true understanding.
TreatingTeachers and Learners as Explorers.
Signifies Autonomy.
Reconsiders the relationship between theorizers
and practitioners of methods.
Basic Considerations :

6. Three pedagogic parameters
Particularity
Practicality
Possibility

7. To be sensitive towards to the parameters of particularity, practicality and
possibility.
Emphasizes on teacher experience along with strong theoretical knowledge.
Main Focus:Teacher Autonomy

8.  “Based on idealized concepts geared towards
Idealized context.”
 “too inadequate and too limited to explain the
complexity of language teaching.”
(Kumaravadivelu,2006)
 “Overlooks the fund of experience and tacit
knowledge.” (Freeman, 1961. P.35)
Dissatisfaction with Methods:

9. Classroom-oriented
Focus on “reflective
teaching”
Helps to move beyond
methods
Dimensions and strategies
are ‘interwoven'." Each
one shapes and is
reshaped by the other”
(Kumaravadivelu,2003)
 Knowledge-oriented
 “Label with substance”
(Clarke,1983)
 Works on surface level.
 Teaching is seen as a set
of predetermined
procedures.
 Suitable for novice
teachers since they don’t
have much experience in
teaching
Method Vs. Post method

11. Maximize learning opportunities
 Teachers both as creators and utilizers of learning
opportunities.
 Activities:
 Increasing the amount of repetition
 Using flashcards and Audios.
Facilitate Negotiated Interaction
Meaningful learner-learner, teacher-learner interaction.
Activities related to learners’ intrinsic motivation can be
focused on.
Encouraging ‘peer-initiated’ and ‘self-initiated’ topics to
discuss.
Macro-strategic Framework

12.  Minimize perceptual mismatches
 10 perceptual mismatches
 Activities, i.e. Giving hints to re-think (cognitive
mismatch, Information gap
 Promote Learner Autonomy
 Equipping students with authentic materials
 Help learners ‘self-direct’ and ‘self-monitor’ their
own erudition.
Macro-strategic Framework

13. Foster language Awareness
Drawing attention to formal aspects of language
Treats grammar as a network of systems.
Activate Intuitive Heuristics
Allow learners to infer from rules
Activities allowing them to encounter linguistic
structure.
Activity: Writing statements using present tense
marker. Activities related to self-discovery.
Macro-strategic Framework

14. Contextualize linguistic input
Focus on syntactic, semantic, pragmatic features of
language.
Bring learners attention to integrated nature of
language.
Intergrate language skills
Language skills are essentially interrelated
Isolation of four skills is uncomfortable for students.
Language best developed when it is learnt holistically
(Rigg, 1991 cited in Kumaravadivelu, 1994)
Macro-strategic Framework

15.  Raise Cultural Awareness
 Giving opportunity to differentiate between own
culture and the culture of target language.
 Ensure Social Relevance
 The need for teachers to be sensitive about societal,
political, economic, educational environment where
L2 takes place.
Macro-strategic Framework

16. The Analytic-
experiential
framework
Three Dimensional Framework
(Stern, 1992)

17. The Intra-lingual & Cross-lingual Dimension
Intra-cultural
L1 as reference system
Immersion in L2
No translation
Direct method
Coordinate bilingualism
Cross cultural
L2 as reference system
Comparison between L1 and L2
Translation
GTM
Compound Bilingualism

18.  Focus on
communication
 Participation
 Focus on topic/purpose
 Emphasis on fluency
 Interpersonal
interaction
 Language use
 Focus on code
 Observation
 Focus on language
 Emphasis on
accuracy
 Linguistic Interaction
 Language practice
The Analytic-Experiential Dimension

19.  Intuitive
 Subconscious
learning
 Behaviorism
 Mimicry and memory
 Exposure to
language in use
 Incidental
 Rational/formal
 Conscious learning
 Cognitivism
 Inferencing
 Systematic study
 Deliberate
The Explicit-Implicit Dimension

20. Onus is on the teacher.
Teacher reshapes the outcome of the learning
Teachers employ their own experience, framework and
knowledge in classrooms.
B. Kumadavadivelu stresses on teachers’ autonomy.
Teachers are encouraged to formulate their own methods
of teaching and thus, overcome the limitations of
methods.
Unlike Eclecticism, its not about selecting random
techniques and applying those in classrooms. Its
interlinked with knowledge and practical understanding.
Does Post-method pedagogy mean
total freedom?

21. Larsen-Freeman (2000) and Mellow (2000) have used the term principled
eclecticism to describe a desirable, coherent, pluralistic approach to
language teaching.
However, Stern (1992) considered eclecticism to be ‘too broad and too
vague’.
Eclecticism or post-method?Which one
is more effective?

22. 'Methods, however the term is defined, are
not dead.Teachers seem to be aware of
both the usefulness of methods and the
need to go beyond them.' (Bell, 2007. p.
143).
The concept of method has not been
replaced by the concept of post-method but
rather by an era of textbook-defined
practice. (Akbari, 2008. p. 647)

23. Not an alternative method, but alternative to methods.
Allows teachers to look at language teaching and learning from a
different and innovative perspective.
Pedagogy doesn’t imply the end of methods, rather it is a mélange of
theoretical knowledge of methods and practical understanding.
Need to become researchers and practitioners to move beyond the
idealistic domain of the methods.
macro-strategic framework and three dimensional framework is an
essential tool to reconstruct the methods in a adaptable way
The focus should be shifted from method-based pedagogy to a post-
method pedagogy
‘To teach is to be full of hope’ ( Cuban, 1989)
To sum up