Class 345. There is no best method.

After reading 1 and 2 chapters by Brown and the article by Prabhu, I have come to a conclusion that I already  subconsciously had in my mind – there is no best method in teaching a second/foreign language but rather teacher’s sense of plausibility is what makes teaching ‘real’.  I admit that I have tried to find that ‘best’ method. However, having taught for three years, I realized that mechanical teaching does not work, and applying one method for every classroom makes the activity of teaching unproductive. As a result, I started relying on my own sense of plausibility and incorporating different classroom activities   in order to achieve integrity and teacher-learner rapport. In other words, important variations in the teaching context lead a teacher to incorporation of different methods. As Richards states, “The important issues are not which method to adopt but how to develop procedures and instructional activities that will enable program objectives to be attained” (Prabhu 165). With this in mind, however, it is important not to get carried away as, paradoxically, the larger the set of criteria we set to be met, the fewer choices are left out there (Prabhu 165). Certainly, a kind of discovery procedure for methods through contextual variables is an espousal of plurality and refusal to adhere to a monolithic mould.

Here the notion of plausibility comes into play versus mechanical teaching which does not include a sense of involvement. Prabhu continues that “teachers need to operate with some personal conceptualization of how their teaching leads to desired learning—with a notion of causation that has a measure of credibility for them” (172). In this respect, a method is not considered to be good or bad, but rather “as a highly developed and highly articulated sense of plausibility, with a certain power to influence other specialists’ or teachers’ perceptions” (175). There is no best method as the best method indeed varies from teacher to teacher as long as it operates with his her sense of plausibility at any given time. Teaching is truly a journey which one can’t nail down to a certain method or methods without a sense of personal conceptualization involved. Only with the latter being the main condition for classroom rapport may teaching become ‘real’ and promoting the most learning.

Thus, the question remains how we, as TESOL educators, can promote interaction among teachers and specialists in the direction of sharing and influencing each other’s pedagogic perceptions. How can we stay away from that pervasive idea that teaching is a set of routinized procedures that guarantee successful learning outcomes, and that there is that 'best' method' out there?