Abstract
This critical review looks at the present state of ESL/EFL activities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, with particular attention to the English speaking abilities of students enrolled in English Medium Instruction (EMI) courses in the region's 13 universities, and calls for the consideration of "Dogme" types of communicative language curricula. The critique, based in large part of a recent survey by the British Council, clearly shows that most college freshmen entering EMI classrooms are not adequately prepared to meet the challenges and rigor of studying in the English language. As a consequence, the paper offers a background about the theories and ideas of an alternative communicative language pedagogy known as Dogme. The critique reviews the ideas of Dogme founder Scott Thornbury and provides both a rationale and four-point plan about how a "Dogme Lite" type of curriculum may be introduced into the present English language curriculums used in public schools in the region.
Highlights
Dancing in the Dark: In the February-March 2000 edition of the bi-monthly newsletter of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(Thornbury, 2000)the internationally recognized academic and trailblazing EFL teacher Scott Thornbury penned his famous manifesto "A Dogme for EFL." Inspired in large part by the filmmaking movement Dogme 95 which sought to "cleanse" contemporary cinema of its obsession with technical trickery and superficiality Thornbury called for a similar movement in the EFL community
Like the stripped-down technology free filmmaking of Dogme 95 grounded in actual place and experiences relevant to the real world, another central Dogme EFL tenant was that real language learning takes place in the "here and " and has to address the relevant concerns and issues of the people in the world
According to the survey all 13 of Kurdistan's universities use English Medium Instruction (EMI) to some extent ranging from a low of 10% of the classes at Soran University to 75% of the courses at the Sulaimani Polytechnic University, with a high of 100% of the coursework at Hawler Medical University in Erbil
Summary
Dancing in the Dark: In the February-March 2000 edition of the bi-monthly newsletter of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(Thornbury, 2000)the internationally recognized academic and trailblazing EFL teacher Scott Thornbury penned his famous manifesto "A Dogme for EFL." Inspired in large part by the filmmaking movement Dogme 95 which sought to "cleanse" contemporary cinema of its obsession with technical trickery and superficiality Thornbury called for a similar movement in the EFL community. According to the university professors teaching these EMI classes surveyed by the British Council the vast majority of them believed that their students’ levels of English (typically beginner or elementary) were inadequate for the purposes of academic study in English This raises the fundamental question of; "Why is this the case?" And, for outside viewers like myself, with a little bit of knowledge and experience with the "tenants" of Dogme/Unplugged and the writings and videos of Scott Thornbury and others, as well as some practical experience teaching EFL in Kurdistan, to question the existing system's efficacy. This is as true in Kurdistan today, as it is in the United States or anywhere else
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