ABSTRACT
It is not uncommon in texts on language teaching to find a discussion of methods prefaced with the phrase “so-called” (e.g., H.D.Brown, 1980, p. 240), suggesting a certain skepticism toward this concept. This suspicion can be found amongst academics who have looked closely at the idea of teaching methods and found it wanting, and amongst teachers who feel frustration at being told how to teach, sensing that there is little concordance between what the concept purports to describe and what is actually happening in their classrooms. In particular, many teachers in an EFL context question the usefulness of supposed methods to their own teaching contexts and resent their imposition by “experts” from abroad. And yet, despite this
dissatisfaction, the concept of Method continues to be used by many of those involved in teacher education. In this paper, I shall try to show not only why there is very good reason to be skeptical about methods, but also to show that the concept reflects a particular view of the world and is articulated in the interests of unequal power relationships. Of particular concern will be the hierarchical nature of the relationship between academic theorizing and teaching practice, both within and beyond the confines of North American or European life. Second Language Education (SLE) is involved in a complex nexus of social, cultural, economic, and political relationships that involve students, teachers, and theorists in differential positions of power. I hope the following discussion will show that we must view critically all of the standard orthodoxies of TESOL and investigate the interests served by such orthodoxies.
