Teaching of English language can be challenging for those who have English as their second language. Education in English is currently under threat and English comes to be seen of increasing importance for the economic wellbeing of the country (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). In Srilanka, English is presently taught as an oral program in grades 1 and 2 and as a subject beginning from standard 3. This calls for a greater emphasis on the English teaching. There are not enough trained teachers of English in the primary schools. Another reason implementing English teaching in schools is to promote social cohesion between the different ethnic groups in Srilanka. English has always been considered as a tool for an upward social mobility and hence it is necessary to follow robust guidelines for English teaching.
Method teaching marginalizes the duty of the teacher by providing them with a little scope to make their personal judgments and the teaching methods. Although methods can be considered as the core ethics of learning English language, starting from designing of the curriculum to material presentation, the method is not sufficient to explain the complexity of the language teaching. The scope for innovation is restricted (Boumová, 2018). More exaggeration has been given on the theoretical perspective than the practical requirement. Hence the method is considered as unrealistic by the modern educationist or the theorists. On the contrary, the attempt to design a post method for language teaching is motivated by the desire to challenge the debilitating effect of the method as the way of marginality. According to a classroom study by (Liu, 2004), involving 39 elementary teachers, the way of teaching in each of the classrooms were so different and the variations were so authentic that the sample resulted in the discovery of 39 totally distinct methods, which proves that one way of teaching that fits a particular scenario might not perfectly fit to other situations. According to the reports, in most of the cases the elementary teachers do not have any knowledge the principles that guide a student centered learning. In that there is a requirement of a systematic method of learning.
Due to the widespread dissatisfaction with the conventional concept of method, post method concept was developed. The post method concept of teaching is different than the conventional method teaching as the post method teachers adapt their approach in accordance with the contextual factors (Chan, 2015). The post method concept of teaching is guided by a number of strategies. Adoption of the post method is mainly a bottom up process in which the local language teachers take the initiative for constructing the pedagogy that is sensitive to the local needs, situations and their requirement. In order to do that an operational frame work was needed.
In order to understand the differences between the Method and the Post method concept of teaching it is necessary to have a clear concept of the methods and the post methods. Method consists of particular sets of instructions or theoretical principles derived from the feeder disciplines and single set of classroom instructions directed by the classroom teachers or the experts who make the curriculum (McDonough & Shaw, 2012). On the other hand the post method of teaching involves the designing of the classroom principles by the teachers based on the experience or knowledge and as per the demand of the situation. The method involves the construction of knowledge oriented theories of the pedagogy. The post method of teaching on the other hand involves the development of practice that is more “classroom oriented”. In this way the post methods are different from the methods.
One of the advantages of “method” is that it is systematic and guided by set of rules that enables the teachers to remain in the topic and finish the curriculum on time (Hall,2017). On the other hand, post method proceeds by following a macro strategic framework.
It refers to a general plan that would allow the educators to develop their own situation specific and need based micro strategies.
Maximizing the learning opportunities
It is the act of creating a learning environment. For example while teaching about deserts, the student can confuse it with the term ‘dessert”. The duty of the teacher is to explain the difference of the two. It also involves encouraging the student to associate with the school community and refer to other learning aids such as television or internet (Hall, 2017).
The advantages of the macro strategy is to recognize the potential mismatches between the intention of the teacher and the interpretation of the learner (Chan, 2015).
Micro strategies ensure that there is a meaningful learner-learner interaction, learner-teacher interaction (McDonough & Shaw, 2012).
The macro strategies focuses on promoting autonomy to the learners, learning to liberate and equipping them with aids necessary to self-direct and self-monitor their learning (Cook, 2016).
The post method of teaching, fosters language and helps to draw learner’s attention to the functional and the formal properties of the language (Hall, 2017).
Macro strategies in post method concept of teaching activates the intuitive heuristics. Hence learners can infer and internalize the grammatical concepts for a successful sentence construction in English (an, 2009).. The macro strategy is, how the usage of the language are designed by social, dialectal and cultural context.
This principle would help to create empathy towards different culture by providing opportunities to the student to assimilate between different cultures and to understand the cultural differences.
Although the students in Srilanka are required to read and write English since childhood but their level of proficiency is quite low. Even in the later years, it has been found that although they excel in other discipline, their English knowledge has been found to be compromised (Hayes, 2010). As per the reports, there is an acute shortage of competent teaching staffs and lack of modernized and student centered method of learning (Hettiarachchi, 2015). Furthermore teachers are always not trained enough to have sufficient knowledge regarding the different methods of teaching. Faulty methods of teaching results in poor vocabulary among the students, poor techniques for writing and poor discourse analysis (Hayes, 2010). In order to secure a grasp on reading, writing and speaking of English language, it is necessary to develop an interactive learning environment where English would be the medium of discussion. For example when a student would ask the meaning of a particular word, the teacher would not answer it immediately but would ask the students to volunteer, thus providing the room for interaction. The learners should be given the chance to initiate conversation as well as reacting and responding.
Some of the criticism of the “methods” are that as per this concept, the teaching methods are not flexible and the roles of the teachers, the teaching methods and the classroom techniques are predetermined as per the teaching guidelines. Very few researches on the method are based on the second language acquisition (Benson, 2013). The methods are not universal culturally. Hence it can be said that methods are not based upon the classroom realities, but are transplanted artificially in the classrooms. The method based pedagogy always overlooks the experience and the knowledge of the teachers that they already have. This leaves a little room for critical thought.
On the other hand, the post method of teaching have failed to compete with the innovative educational environment of the outside world. Like the method, the post method concept has failed to promote authentic communicating in the classroom. The teachers could not mane to create real life communications in the classes for the development of the communication skills. There had been a lots of criticism regarding the validity of the post methods of English teaching. When it is said that it is the teachers that should be deciding their own way of teaching, it does not necessarily mean that they are free in their decisions, because they have to bank on some principles. The post methods of teaching is only applicable if the teachers are experienced and competent enough to develop new strategies. Benson, (2013), have suggested that many educators can exploit the autonomy given to them. Some of the ways taken up by the teachers might not be suitable for all types of classrooms. For example the teaching strategies for the gifted students should not be similar to the ones with learning disabilities.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that keeping in mind the limitations of the methods, the post method is not a method that has been brought to fill these gaps. Instead, this pedagogy aids the teachers to look at the English teaching from a completely new perspective. The frameworks that has been described in this paper are adaptable and applicable in every context of Ceylonese English teaching. However the focus should not be on how the methods work for the teachers, but how the teachers construct their own methods.
References
Benson, P. (2013). Teaching and researching: Autonomy in language learning. Routledge.
Boumová, B. (2018). Retrieved from https://is.muni.cz/th/f62v8/MgrDiplomkaBoumova.pdf
Chan, L. T. H. (2015). Post-communicative pedagogies: revisiting the translation method of teaching English in East Asia. Translation & Interpreting, The, 7(2), 75.
Cook, V. (2016). Second language learning and language teaching. Routledge.
Hall, G. (2017). Exploring English language teaching: Language in action. Routledge.
Hayes, D. (2010). ” Education Is All About Opportunities, Isn’t It?”: A Biographical Perspective on Learning and Teaching English in Sri Lanka. Harvard Educational Review, 80(4), 517-541.
Hettiarachchi, S. (2015). English language teacher motivation in Sri Lankan public schools. Journal of language teaching and research, 4(1),1-11
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2013). A postmethod perspective on English language teaching. World Englishes, 22(4), 539-550.
McDonough, J., & Shaw, C. (2012). Materials and Methods in ELT. John Wiley & Sons.
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge university press.
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