No Pain, No Gain? Really?
What are we doing in our classrooms? Is it working? Is it having a positive impact on L2 acquisition?
Are we stuck on grammar rules? Do we drill them and fixate on them? Are we forcing students to memorize list upon list of vocabulary words that our workbook told us to focus on? Are students reading stories about business mergers and practicing memo writing - but as soon as they step out of class must deal with how to explain tax law to a foreign client, answer client e-mails (asking for explanations around how their case is doing in court) and listen to a British (nothing at all against British folk) high-up speak about relationship marketing? The topic may be interesting, but what if my students only deal with American or Indian speakers of English? What will they do when they have to answer the phone and speak with their client from Texas? Their British accent exposure, though smart to expose students to a variety of English accents, will not prepare them for the experience of day-to-day reality.
Have we flatlined? Has the TESOL profession been left behind, trapped inside teaching theory that just doesn’t work - has it ever really worked?
Updated English teachers should be reading widely. They should be asking “Why do I do things the way I do in the classroom? What theory backs me up? Is that theory up-to-date and relevant today?
They should also be following Stephen Krashen. He’s a mover. A shaker. An out-of-the-box thinker. But more than different, I think he’s really right! Take a peek at this:
Why support a delayed-gratification approach to language education?
It’s not about grammar rules. It’s not about memorizing vocabulary. Skill development based classrooms are outdated. In fact, they waste both you and your student’s time.
The updated classroom is based around rich comprehensible input. Not just any input, but - and I quote Krashen here: “comprehension that counts.”
Have you talked with your class about what “counts” to them? (Remember, the updated classroom is passionate and addictive, and unleashes engaged learning experiences because it’s built around what turns the student on.)
The updated classroom is joy based. It’s fun to go to class. (Should be.) If you and your students don’t feel happy and don’t derive strong satisfaction by what you cover in class, you need to revamp your content.
The Comprehension Hypothesis, in fact, insists on pleasure from the beginning, on acquirers obtaining interesting, comprehensible input right from the start. The path of pleasure is the only path. The path of pain does not work for language acquisition.
Are we listening? Is our profession listening? Or are we content to do what has always been done in the ESL classroom: subject students to more grammar rules, endless - often meaningless to real life - lists of vocabulary to memorize, course books that aren’t related to what students do outside of the classroom, and audio that either doesn’t matter, or is stuck on one accent 100% of the time?
Are we stuck on a forced march along the path of pain? Or are we running down the pathway of pleasure - trying to keep up with our students?
