Postmethod Pedagogy Research Articles

The Investigation of the Perspectives of Iranian EFL Domain Experts on Postmethod Pedagogy: A Delphi Technique

After the introduction of postmethod pedagogy by Kumaravadivelu with its three principles of particularity, possibility and practicality, a wave of attention was directed towards this so-called 'postmethod era' and its appropriacy and adequacy in satiating the demands of the language learners in this 'brand new world'. This situation has created a healthy debate among the Iranian EFL community as well. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of the Iranian EFL domain experts about postmethod pedagogy. In so doing, the Delphi technique was adopted to reach ‘expert’ consensus. The participants of this study were 21 domain experts in the field of applied linguistics in Iran. The Delphi technique was a remarkably quick means of achieving a consensus on postmethod pedagogy for participants. Three waves of data collection were employed in the three rounds of Delphi with the same sample. The findings of this study raised much doubt and uncertainty about both method and post method pedagogy. It was revealed that the Iranian language education has never experienced method in its actual meaning, what it is known as the method has been an eclectic approach any teacher has adhered to simply based on his/her personal taste. Moreover, the findings of the Delphi technique indicated that postmethod pedagogy with its three principles is not applicable in the Iranian context. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Exploring Postmethod Pedagogy in Teaching English as Second Language in South African Higher Education

This article investigated the use postmethod pedagogy for professional growth of lecturers to improve ESL students’ English proficiency using qualitative approach with open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews to collect data. The research population of this study included twelve ESL lecturers (six females and six males) in the faculty of education at three institutions of higher education five to twenty years of teaching experience. The study found that postmethod pedagogy recognises the need for inclusivity of students and the empowerment of lecturers to ensure that what happens in the classroom is making a difference outside the classroom. The results suggest that lecturers recognize their own powers as great sources in creating methods for their professional growth and creation of a meaningful learning environment. This study recommends that lecturers should consider student choices and initiative as a fundamental factor for successful ESL learning and teaching, while striving for professional growth. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p517

Making sense of power relations in a Malaysian English-as-a-second-language academic writing classroom

The role of power in an English-as-a-second-language classroom has yet to be fully explored by an action research practitioner, especially in a Malaysian higher education setting. This study aims to contribute to this gap by working within an academic literacies perspective to teaching academic writing, which propagates the understanding of power-relational, socio-cultural and epistemological conditions for effective teaching and learning. As the teacher in this classroom, I focus on how power-relational conditions play out. To activate the power conditions, I used a teaching principle in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)-negotiated interaction to reduce power-based mismatches between participants in a teaching or learning relationship in my classroom, drawing upon Kumaravadivelu’s work on post-method pedagogy for TESOL; that is, not being bound by any specific method of teaching. In analysing the different types of power that were operational in my classroom, wider implications of power that operate beyond the classroom level and how they impacted teaching and learning decisions were found to be highly illuminating. The action research methodology used for this study enabled me to reflect critically on my detailed diary recordings and student letter and interview collections, which in turn impacted on my teaching decisions as each teaching cycle was completed. My reflections also help shape my evolving identity as a teacher-researcher throughout this ongoing Malaysian action research journey.

ELT in Iran: Reflection of the Principles-based and Post-method Pedagogy in Language Teaching

This study was conducted to explore the reflection of Principles-based and Post-method pedagogy in teachers’ performance in the classroom in Iranian ELT context. To this end, a checklist was designed to evaluate EFL teachers’ performance across mentioned Principles. The subjects were 21 Iranian EFL teachers selected from different high schools in Kermanshah, Ilam and Tehran. After the direct observation of each teacher's performance, the data were analyzed through statistical procedures. The results determine that Principles-based and Post-method pedagogy were not highly applied in teachers’ performance in the classroom. The effects of other factors like teaching experience, education level, and gender on teachers’ performance were, also, investigated.

Postmethod Era and Glocalized Language Curriculum Development: A Fresh Burden on Language Teachers

The disappearance of method from academic discussions and the rise of the postmethod debate emanating from both the postmodernist philosophy and a globalized world have stirred a fresh round of discussion in academic circles in the field of the second language (L2) teaching profession. As a result of postmethod pedagogy, the teacher comes to the center of language learning and teaching and his/her beliefs, experiences and knowledge are greatly valued. Although postmethodists favor teacher autonomy, they do not favor the one-way flow of information inherent in a top-down syllabus, and provide a theoretical basis for the re-emergence of a learner-centered process syllabus and the negotiated contributions to syllabus development by both teachers and learners. Finally, although postmethod pedagogy favors a glocalized learner-centered curriculum, it is highly teacher-dependent since this is the postmethod teacher who can fulfill postmethod promises.

Postmethod Pedagogy and Its Influence on EFL Teaching Strategies

Postmethod pedagogy is first put forward by Kumaravadivelu in 1994. It emerged to respond the demand for a most optimal way of teaching English free from the method-based restrictions. Kumaravadivelu views postmethod pedagogy as a three dimensional system with three pedagogic parameters: particularity, practicality, and possibility; and he proposes micro-strategies in EFL classrooms. To better illustrate his theory and its influence on EFL teachers’ teaching strategies, it is necessary to conduct case studies in schools to investigate both teachers’ and students’ beliefs about methods and postmethods, and to find out whether the current teaching activities are in accordance with the micro-strategies of postmethod pedagogy in terms of teaching interaction, teaching technique, teaching object and teaching content. Then this paper goes on to summarize the implications of this study for teaching and teacher education.

Design for the Intermediate-level Oral CSL Class in the Postmethod Era

The main purpose of the oral Chinese class is to improve students’ Chinese speaking ability, which includes not only the speaking accuracy, fluency and complexity of Chinese language, but also the communicative ability in the Chinese social and cultural context. Second language teaching pedagogy has entered into a Postmethod era from the previous grammar-translation, audio-lingual, and communicative method etc. Under this background, this paper explores how to design the intermediate-level oral Chinese as a second language (CSL) class in the Postmethod era. Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) Postmethod pedagogy, specifically the ten macrostrategies were adopted as the basis for the design of the intermediate-level oral CSL class. The exact tasks and activities such as quick share, speech-making, and cooperative activities are designed and scheduled in a detail for the students to improve their Chinese proficiency. The whole design should have some help and shed some lights on the oral CSL class teaching and learning in China.

Thai English Teachers’ Understanding of “Postmethod Pedagogy”: Case Studies of University Lecturers

This qualitative case study aimed to solicit Thai EFL university lecturers’ opinions concerning postmethod pedagogy. It was motivated by an interest in how local teachers construe pedagogical innovations such as postmethod pedagogy vis-a-vis their own teaching conditions. More often than not, local teachers encounter many challenges in implementing those innovations in their own teaching. Through semi-structured interviews and unique and snowball sampling, the participants (n=6) were asked a series of questions that delved into their English teaching experiences, especially their understanding of postmethod pedagogy. Results suggested that, although the participants did not spell out exact postmethod strategies, their response patterns pointed to a high level of understanding of the postmethod pedagogy philosophy. Moreover, limitations of the study were provided and the paper was concluded with Hayes’ (2008) ecological perspective on language teaching. It is recommended that qualitative research be conducted at a wider scale in order to ascertain whether and to what extent postmethod pedagogy can be successfully implemented in the EFL context.

A Macro Perspective on Key Issues in English as Second Language (ESL) Pedagogy in the Postmethod Era: Confronting Challenges Through Sociocognitive-Transformative Approach

Second language teaching has been constantly experiencing paradigm shifts. Teaching approaches and pedagogical beliefs come and go, others are modified and updated. With these developments, a number of new and perennial issues arise as well. This paper, then, identifies the transitions and developments in second language pedagogy from the traditional methods to postmethod. And with the increasing influence of postmethod pedagogy in language classrooms, this paper attempts to discuss and shed light on these key issues derived from recent literature and studies using the grounded theory. This paper further aims to offer alternatives on how these challenges can be confronted using an L2 teaching model and teaching-learning principles from a sociocognitive-transformative perspective.

Towards a complexity-informed pedagogy for language learning

Focusing on the language classroom, this article attempts to formulate potential principles which could guide, but not prescribe, a complexity-informed pedagogy. To do so, it draws on both existent literature and a consideration of the theoretical framework of complexity for pedagogy. Firstly, the article begins by consolidating key findings from appropriate methodology, postmethod pedagogy, exploratory practice, and ecological perspectives on learning relevant to a complexity perspective. It then continues by explicitly focusing on three sets of key characteristics of complex dynamic systems and suggests potential implications of these for pedagogy: multidimensionality and interrelations, non-linearity and decentralized causality, and dynamism and emergence.

Towards a complexity-informed pedagogy for language learning

Focusing on the language classroom, this article attempts to formulate potential principles which could guide, but not prescribe, a complexity-informed pedagogy. To do so, it draws on both existent literature and a consideration of the theoretical framework of complexity for pedagogy. Firstly, the article begins by consolidating key findings from appropriate methodology, postmethod pedagogy, exploratory practice, and ecological perspectives on learning relevant to a complexity perspective. It then continues by explicitly focusing on three sets of key characteristics of complex dynamic systems and suggests potential implications of these for pedagogy: multidimensionality and interrelations, non-linearity and decentralized causality, and dynamism and emergence.

Accounting for Difference and Diversity in Language Teaching and Learning in Colombia

This article calls for locally grounded approaches to the teaching of foreign languages in Colombia, in an attempt to recognize difference, diversity and heterogeneity. To that end, I first present a critical review of how traditional language teaching methods fail to offer a comprehensive accountability for the sort of multifarious cultural, ethnic, economic, and ideological factors that influence language learning and teaching. The review also considers the current historical moment in Colombia in which a nation-wide linguistic policy is being implemented. Second, there is a clear reference to the Post method Pedagogy in which principles such as particularity, practicality and possibility offer an alternative view to the language teaching enterprise. Third, I highlight the value of having glocal educational perspectives for foreign language teaching (FLT) in the context of post method pedagogies. Finally, this reflection underlines the importance of research in general and action research in particular, to propose locally sensitive teaching actions as discussed throughout the paper.

An Investigation into Novice English Teachers’ Beliefs about Method and Post-method Pedagogy in Turkish EFL Context

This study which has a qualitative research design, reports on the views and beliefs of eleven novice English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers about the English language teaching (ELT) methods for the purpose of examining their knowledge about and attitudes towards popular methods and post-method as well as towards current discussions in ELT and the effects of them on their reported classroom practices. In this respect, the novice teachers were interviewed by means of the video conferencing feature of the Windows Live Messenger (currently SKYPE) about their views and beliefs related to method vs. post-method discussions as well as their current teaching practices. The results revealed a discrepancy between the participants’ views and their classroom practices. In fact, the majority of the participants reported a negative change in their attitudes towards teaching after they started teaching. The majority of the eleven participants were totally unaware of the postmethod discussions. In the final section of the paper, the reasons for these findings are discussed in detail, and further suggestions are made in an attempt to find solutions to some of the problems reported by the participant novice teachers

Evaluation of English Language Teaching Departments of Turkish and Iranian Universities in Terms of Politeness Strategies with Reference to Request

The ultimate objective in post-method pedagogy is developing language learner’s communicative competence to enable them to participate in communication acts. Effective oral communication entails observation of a number of conversational principles and appropriate use of various strategies to avoid violation of mutually recognized rules, e.g. politeness strategies. Some researchers believe that politeness strategies have a number of universal Features (Goff man, 1967, 1971: Goody, 1978 a). In line with previous research studies, the present study set out to investigate whether nationality would influence the use of request politeness strategies by Iranian and Turkish EFL learners at the same proficiency level. Participants in this study included 448 students at four different levels of proficiency who were majoring in English language teaching at Gazi University in turkey and Islamic Azad University – Tabriz Branch. 224 Turkish students at four different grade levels and the same number of Iranian students participated directly in this phase of the research. Each grade level group consisted of 56 students. The researcher administered a questionnaire enquiring their preferences in selecting the proper forms of requests ( Blum - Kulka & Olshtain , 1985) .The statistical analysis revealed a strong correlation in intra-groups while the inter – group results displayed relatively significant differences . The Turkish participants used request politeness strategies more appropriately than Iranians which support the role of culture in the use of such strategies. The findings highlight the necessity of observing cultural background in teaching communication strategies such as request politeness strategies particularly in EFL contexts.

Drama grammar: towards a performative postmethod pedagogy

This article presents the original concept of drama grammar, the synthesis of grammar instruction and drama pedagogy, which integrates both structural and communicative paradigms through a dialectic combination of acting and linguistic analysis. Based on the principles of drama pedagogy, drama grammar makes use of techniques from the performing arts, encompassing cognitive, emotional, social, practical and kinesthetic learning dimensions. Both the failed quest for the ultimate foreign language teaching method and inconclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of different approaches to grammar instruction highlight the necessity for postmethod approaches to grammar teaching and learning. An introduction of common drama pedagogy techniques provides an insight into drama-based forms of learning for the foreign language classroom, and a prototypical drama grammar lesson shows how the teaching and learning of grammar can be operationalized within the performative paradigm. Drama grammar can thus be understood as an important step towards a postmethod grammar pedagogy.

The Quest for Resolving Second Language Teaching Dilemma: A Review of the Proposed Solutions during the Last Two Decades

This paper intends to address the issue of Second Language Teaching (SLT) Dilemma termed by Danesi (2003). It traces the major scholastic trends to this challenging dilemma in the area of SLT during the past two decades. The study gives a classified overview of two main theoretical trends to resolve this Dilemma. One theoretical trend expresses an ethno-culturally-oriented methodological reaction which focuses on the evolving perspectives on language teaching methods and approaches after the emergence of era. With regard to this trend, the researcher particularly focuses on its two main responses to the SLT Dilemma chronologically listed as: Kumaravadivelu's (1994) post-method pedagogy and Larsen-Freeman's (1999) seven I's. The other theoretical trend expresses a neurolinguisticlly-oriented methodological reaction to the SLT Dilemma which is related to bimodality theory developed by Danesi (2003). The researcher endeavourers to delve into the tenets and principles of these three specific responses to come up with a clear understanding of them which may coherently highlight the two investigated theoretical trends toward the SLT Dilemma accordingly. To this end, the researcher examines the different dimensions of these responses with reference to the following two theoretical questions: (a) why have the pervious methods and approaches failed to tackle the SLT Dilemma? , (b) how can the SLT Dilemma be resolved? In light of such a rationale, the study might be able to compare and elucidate the two investigated theoretical trends and consequently, it might shed more light on the issue of SLT Dilemma from a scholarly outlook.

Pedagogical Innovations in Language Teaching Methodologies

Language teachers have always been concerned about the inadequacy of conventional methods of language teaching in education systems. As a result, the language teaching pendulum is swinging from methods to post-method pedagogy, although it still remains in motion. The dual focus on both socio-cultural theories to second language acquisition (SLA) and improvements in technologies wins the attention of practitioners, curriculum designers, and students as the major stakeholders in applied linguistics. This has resulted in greater emphasis on the important role of techniques and technologies in language teaching. Many have tried to find a more innovative direction in this respect (Rodgers, 2000). This article, along with reviewing different predictions made in this direction, takes a more edu-sociocultural-technological perspective to address the potentially important issues in language teaching in future.

Creating Communicative Classrooms With Experiential Design

For years reformers have been recommending that language teaching and learning be viewed as a system of communication, with the ultimate goal being the development of functional ability in learners (Musumeci, 1997). Many U.S. world language teachers continue to focus on grammatical tendencies, using English as the medium of instruction. As a solution to providing secondary world language teachers with more than a method to teach in a communicative manner, this article suggests that they become informed about and familiar with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound design. By understanding and using the Expeditionary Learning philosophy and design, students and teachers may be able to focus on communication by engaging in experiential learning experiences, investigations, and expeditions, and use the world language during classroom lessons.

Understanding language teaching: from method to postmethod

Contents: Preface: The Pattern Which Connects. Part I: Language, Learning, and Teaching. Language: Concepts and Precepts. Learning: Factors and Processes. Teaching: Input and Interaction. Part II: Language Teaching Methods. Constituents and Categories of Methods. Language-Centered Methods. Learner-Centered Methods. Learning-Centered Methods. Part III: Postmethod Perspectives. Postmethod Condition. Postmethod Pedagogy. Postmethod Predicament. Postscript: The Pattern Which Comforts.

TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends

This article traces the major trends in TESOL methods in the past 15 years. It focuses on the TESOL profession's evolving perspectives on language teaching methods in terms of three perceptible shifts: (a) from communicative language teaching to task-based language teaching, (b) from method-based pedagogy to postmethod pedagogy, and (c) from systemic discovery to critical discourse. It is evident that during this transitional period, the profession has witnessed a heightened awareness about communicative and task-based language teaching, about the limitations of the concept of method, about possible postmethod pedagogies that seek to address some of the limitations of method, about the complexity of teacher beliefs that inform the practice of everyday teaching, and about the vitality of the macrostructures—social, cultural, political, and historical—that shape the microstructures of the language classroom. This article deals briefly with the changes and challenges the trend-setting transition seems to be bringing about in the profession's collective thought and action.