PD with Michael Lewis Part 2
This morning’s session was more enjoyable than yesterday’s. This is in part due to the fact that refreshments were provided and thanks to ML’s indulgence of our questions. In fact, he was so indulgent that we pretty much side-tracked him from his lecture and ended up having a group discussion/Q and A which was very pleasant.
Originally he intended to talk about a) how radical the lexical approach can be and b) how it can and can not be used to inform teaching practice in the classroom. The conversation that actually took place did hit upon those ideas but not (I guess) in the detail that his lecture might have had he been able to give it. Not a problem really since.
In the conversation he did concede a point that I’ve made several times to folks who would listen: nearly every approach/method that’s been used has been effective to some degree. “Traditional” approaches, techniques, methods have all produced speakers of the target language. The truth of the matter is that we don’t (and can’t) empirically know that students learned because of or in spite of the method. Assuming that this is correct, it ought to make one question whether or not teaching a language in an institutional setting is a worthwhile endeavor.
Maybe I’ll ask ML his thoughts about that at lunch today…but probably not.
I’ve just finished lunch with ML. I tried very hard not to talk about ELT and language and I failed. Consequently, I did get to ask he views of the validity of ELT as a profession. If I understood him correctly, his take on the question is that language teaching is valid if one doesn’t place too much weight upon the concept of teaching. When it comes to language learning, we (teachers) do not impart knowledge so much as we guide students through their learning process. Obviously, he is very much in line with the dominant theories (not necessarily practices) of our day; namely that teachers as authority figures are out-dated and teachers as facilitators/managers/guides/gurus are the future.
I’m content to let that go unchallenged in the context of language learning and teaching, however from a philosophical perspective, I simply disagree. I say that there is such a thing as Absolute Truth and/or Objective Reality which is/are necessary for the existence of Authority. I would also maintain that I am the authority in my classroom but I am not The Absolute Authority….but I think I digress.
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