Dogme ELT: Promoting Authentic Interaction in ELT

WWW.ELTEXPERIENCES.COM

MARTIN SKETCHLEY

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CHAPTER 1

Back to Basics in the ClassroomThe emphasis on more recent approaches and methods of language teaching relies on improving students’ communication. However, much of the material that is de-veloped by many publishers focus on com-munication but not on authentic conversa-tion. The lesson ideas that prompt authen-tic conversation, proposed in this eBook re-quire very little material and preparation.

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SECTION 1

An Introduction to Dogme ELT

Dogme ELT was initially intro-

duced to the EFL profession

when “Scott Thornbury teased

out an analogy between the

Dogme 95 film-makers collec-

tive and the current state of

ELT” (Meddings & Thornbury 2003) with an over reliance

on materials, aids and technology in the classroom. Scott

Thornbury noted that EFL teaching has copious amounts of

primary and supplementary resources and that Dogme ELT

teaching should include the resources that teachers and stu-

dents bring to the classroom (2000).

There are three key principles with Dogme ELT which in-

clude an emphasis and interest in teaching via a

‘conversation-driven’ principle, focus on ‘emergent lan-

guage’ which could offer potential opportunities to scaffold

immediate learner language, and the final principle encour-

ages learners and teachers to focus on a ‘materials-light’

classroom rather than over relying on imported materials

and worksheets to prompt artificial and inauthentic conversa-

tion.

Conversation-DrivenThe most important tenet of Dogme ELT, proposed by Med-

dings & Thornbury (2009), is that the classroom should focus

on a ‘conversation-driven’ principle. Nonetheless, what is

meant by the term ‘conversation’? Cambridge Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary (2008) defines ‘conversation’ as the

“talk between two or more people in which thoughts, feelings

and ideas are expressed, questions are asked and answered, or

news and information are exchanged” (p.306). Conversation

is also described by Thornbury & Slade (2006) as “the kind of

speech that happens informally, symmetrically and for the pur-

poses of establishing and maintaining social ties” (p.25). It is

interesting to note that there is an association of informality

related to the term ‘conversation’, as the most important tenet

of Dogme ELT requires the incorporation and practice of a

‘conversation driven’ attitude. Naturally, one would question

the suitability of incorporating ‘conversation’ within the class-

room due to its ‘informal’ association. Nevertheless, Farring-

ton (1981) noted that a ‘conversation class’ would be more

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popular among intermediate to advanced levels of adult stu-

dents (p.241). Due to Farrington’s observation, this raises the

question whether the conversation driven element of Dogme

ELT is suitable for only students which have the language abil-

ity of intermediate or above. Farrington (1981) also observed

that any form of unplanned conversation would encourage

particular students to speak with other remaining learners

bored, shy or irritated (p.241). However, the principle of a

‘conversation driven’ approach within Dogme ELT empha-

sises that:

1. Conversation is language at work.

2. Conversation is discourse.

3. Conversation is interactive, dialogic and communica-tive.

4. Conversation scaffolds learning.

5. Conversation promotes socialisation.

(Meddings & Thornbury 2009 p.8)

The origins of teaching ‘interactive, dialogic and communica-

tive’ conversation, through “language functions and communi-

cation” (Hall 2011 p.93), was initially introduced with the use

of Communicative Language Teaching (henceforth CLT).

Materials-LightThe second tenet for Dogme ELT is the emphasis on

‘materials-light’ which suggests that textbooks are primarily

used to “promote the delivery and consumption of ‘grammar

McNuggets’” (Meddings & Thornbury 2009 p.12) with, to

some degree, “an over-reliance on [imported] materials”

(Thornbury & Meddings 2003 p.15) by language teachers.

However, the term ‘materials light’ is something that is

largely related to the banishment of coursebooks from the

ELT classroom (Meddings & Thornbury 2009 p.11-16). Never-

theless, within “Teaching Unplugged” (2009), there is no ex-

plicit explanation of the term ‘materials’ yet Thornbury

(2006) defines the term ‘materials’ as the inclusion of “course-

books, workbooks, visual aids, charts, board games, Cuise-

naire rods, audio and video materials, as well as the software

that is run by computers, data projectors and interactive white-

boards” (p.127). One major criticism regarding an over-

emphasis of materials with language learners is highlighted

below:

“Drumming material in through practice activities

runs the risk that all the compliant and talented

learners will do is learn to produce what the

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teacher wants, under classroom conditions, and

that such learning may not truly take root”.

(Skehan 2002 p.290)

Essentially, materials, particularly course books, could hinder

the possibility and potential to focus, with learners, on explora-

tory teaching. Thus, the paradigm with materials should be

re-focused towards the learners with less emphasis on top-

down grammar based lessons. However, Meddings & Thorn-

bury (2009) are suggesting that they are not ‘anti-materials’

but they reject materials which appear unconventional to-

wards the other principles of Dogme ELT. Materials which

could support a ‘conversation-driven’ principle, with a focus

on ‘emergent language’, could include prompts, role cards or

other suitable materials which promote “talk-mediated learn-

ing opportunities that are so crucial for learning” (Meddings &

Thornbury 2009 p.12). Nevertheless, course books essen-

tially, whether preferred or not, represents “the visible heart

of any ELT programme” (Sheldon 1988 p.238).

It is recognised that coursebooks provide teachers with mate-

rial which can be used if there are time constraints and the

coursebooks can foster ‘unit-by-unit’ progression as well as

provide materials for learners to review at a later date

(Harmer 2007 p.181). Conversely, there are a number of reser-

vations with the use of coursebooks which include prescribing

and imposing specific learning styles on the students in class

(Harmer 2007 p.181-182). Furthermore, coursebooks “give

little opportunity or encouragement to adapt … to the needs,

wants, personalities, or styles of the learners or teachers”

(Tomlinson et al 2001 p.83). Hall (2011) also noted that if de-

cisions are solely based on coursebooks, rather than decision

based solely on the learners, teachers could become ‘de-

skilled’ (p.214).

Emergent LanguageThe third and final tenet of Dogme ELT is regarded as a focus

on ‘emergent language’. However, what does ‘emergent lan-

guage’ mean? When considering the distinction between tra-

ditional grammar-based methods and approaches compared

to more recent communicative-based methods (such as the

CLT), grammar accuracy practice, such as drills and repeti-

tion, have been replaced by fluency based activities (Richards

2006 p.8). With a fluency-first approach to language acquisi-

tion, ‘emergent language’ is associated with usage-based de-

scriptions of second language acquisition and connectionism

(Thornbury 2006 p.47-48 & p.235). It is noted that “emergen-

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tism is an alternative to both nativism and behaviourism and

a subtle combination of the two” (Owens 2008 p.51), whereby

“language is an emergent phenomenon, driven by massive ex-

posure and use” (Meddings & Thornbury 2009 p.19). Obvi-

ously, critics raise concerns with ‘emergent language’ based

upon an apparent lack of structure or predictable language

learning (Meddings & Thornbury p.18). However, EFL teach-

ers should note that traditional language lessons, which follow

a grammar-based syllabus, are not sufficient enough for lan-

guage learners to gain appropriate proficiency in English (van

Lier 1996 p.42). Nonetheless, to promote ‘emergent language’

it is necessary to relate Vygotsky’s ZPD theory of scaffolding

with language learning (Thornbury 2001 p.53-55). With this

in mind, we can see how ‘emergent language’ and a ‘conversa-

tion driven’ approach to Dogme ELT are closely related, with

both basic principles complementing one another. Nonethe-

less, there is a suggestion by Meddings & Thornbury (2009)

that responsive teaching, during natural classroom interac-

tion, provides further opportunities for teachers to scaffold

‘emergent language’ as well as offers possibilities for learners

to ‘notice’ language. The role of ‘noticing’ in language learn-

ing offers learners the opportunity to distinguish between the

“current state of their developing linguistic system, as realized

in their output, and the target language system” (Thornbury

1997 p.326). For example, teachers could incorporate a vari-

ety of techniques to increase learner ‘noticing’ opportunities

such as drilling, dictation, restructuring or concordance exer-

cises (Thornbury 2006 p.144).

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Martin Sketchley’s first attempt at Dogme ELT during a TEFL-Q Course at the University of Sussex (2011). www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1RJVk-DgyI

Dogme ELT: Unplugged Teaching Practice (2011)

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CHAPTER 2

Incorporating Dogme ELT in the ClassroomThe lesson ideas suggested in this Chapter focus on the three key principles of Dogme ELT and require very little in the way of preparation. These lesson ideas were cre-ated with the main idea of promoting inter-action, developing rapport as well as pro-viding learners the opportunity to share their experiences.

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TIREDNESS IN THE CLASSROOM

We have all been there, one student is rather tired or unable to follow the lesson, but have you ever used situations to your advantage? For example, I once had a student that looked incredibly tired in class and had trouble keeping up with the class. I decided to enquire with the class why she was looking tired. She explained that she had trouble with her neighbour and was kept up till late. We looked at language associated with nuisance neighbours as well as grammar related to suggestions.

SECTION 1

Why Are They So Tired?Materials Required: Just some learners in the classroom, a whiteboard and a pen.

Length of Lesson: This lesson can run as little as 10 min-utes. However, should students be keen, it could last much longer.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for any level of learners.

Phrases: “I’m tired because ...”, “Last night, my neighbour was ...” (language associated with reasoning), “You should ...”, “You could ...” (phrases associated with suggestions).

Language: Words associated with tiredness: shattered, ex-hausted, weary, etc.

Please Note: Take care to give the tired learner space and see if they are happy to be used as an example in the class-room.

Staging: The best way to incorporate this lesson is react to any learners that are tired and get other learners to think why this student is feeling rather weary. Write down their ideas why the student could be tired on the whiteboard. Next write down other words to describe tiredness and try to elicit why the student is tired. Get students to offer suggestions and cor-rect or scaffold language when required.

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DESCRIBING PAST ACCIDENTS

Everyone has a story to tell and I have found that students are very keen to share their experiences particularly about previous accidents. Furthermore, it seems that most teachers and learners have experienced the hospital in one way or another. This activity is a great chance to develop rapport with learners.

SECTION 2

An Accident Waiting to Happen

Materials Required: Just some learners in the classroom, a whiteboard and a pen.

Length of Lesson: This lesson can run as long as 60 min-utes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for any level of learners.

Phrases: “A few years ago, ...” , “When I was young, ...”, “I remember when I was out ...” (phrases associated with telling stories).

Language: Words associated with accidents: dislocated shoulder, broken leg, twisted ankle, etc.

Staging: In the classroom, tell students that you are going to tell a story about an accident that happened to yourself when you were young. The teacher could then decide to get stu-dents to rewrite the story (a traditional dictogloss activity) or proceed and get learners to share their accidents with a part-ner. When students are sharing their experiences, monitor and note any language which is suitable and any which re-quire scaffolding. Once language has been scaffolded and cor-rected, learners could then retell their story (or their partners’ story) to the class to practice reformulation.

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David King © 2012 www.flickr.com/photos/davidking/1425526579/

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DESCRIBING THE WEEKEND

It is a nice little quirk of the British to describe their weekend or the weather. However, this lesson idea has been developed over a number of months and requires little board-work. It is also a nice idea to discuss about the weekend with learners to encourage interaction and rapport. You never know, a student may have a very interesting story to tell regarding their weekend and there’s lots of potential for introducing and scaffolding appropriate language. Try to use the chart below when describing your weekend.

SECTION 3

My WeekendMaterials Required: Just some learners in the classroom, a whiteboard, some drawing and a pen.

Length of Lesson: This lesson can run for as little as 30 min-utes to as much as 60 minutes. It is advised to run the lesson on a Monday morning.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for any level of learners.

Phrases: “On Saturday/Sunday I went/saw/...” , “I was watching a movie when ...”, “I remember when I was out ...”.

Language: Lexis related to descriptive adjectives: boring, ex-citing, happy, etc.

Staging: At the beginning of the week, describe to students what you did at the weekend (or you day off) and whilst doing so, add the small chart (illustrated of the left). The vertical axis is related to happiness whilst the horizontal axis is related to the day (for example, my weekend). Tell the students how happy you felt during the weekend whilst also describing what you did. Once you finish, get students to either rewrite and re-formulate the story (typical dictogloss) or move on. Next, get students to describe their weekend and how they felt by using a chart and pair students together: one student tells their part-ner their weekend. After students have told their stories, get their partner to describe about their other partner’s weekend (as a presentation style format). React to language that has emerged during the class and allow students time to note this.

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Saturday Sunday

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PREDICTING UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS

I got the idea of this lesson through a personal situation that occurred during my flight to Romania (collecting my son’s passport instead of my own). It is important to tell a personal story (or perhaps one that could be tailored for the classroom) to encourage students to discuss what they believe happened next.

SECTION 4

What Happened Next?Materials Required: Just some learners in the classroom, a whiteboard, write up a small uncompleted story and a board marker.

Length of Lesson: Dependent upon personal circumstances and the number of learners in the classroom, the lesson can run for as long as an hour.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for Pre-Intermediate learners or above.

Phrases: Use of narrative tenses: “I was travelling in the taxi when ...” , “I checked in to get my passport but ...”, “I had packed everything the night before ...”.

Language: Depending upon the story, language will emerge given the situation. For example, my personal story revolves around travelling by aircraft so some lexis could be related to this: check-in, departure, gate, security, etc.

Staging: Advise students that you are going to tell them a story that happened recently and that you are going to read the short-story once and that they have to listen. Once you have told the story get students to write down any phrases, col-locations, or vocabulary that they remember from your story. Pair students up to compare language. Retell the story again and this time students can make a note (typical dictogloss) and then students recreate the story in their own words. Again different groups of students compare their stories, after which you provide the original story. Students discuss what they think happened next. Finally tell them what happened.

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RECYCLING VOCABULARY FROM LAST LESSONS

One of the best activities for language learning is to recycle language and reflect on what one has acquired from previous language lessons, interaction, etc. This would improve language awareness as well as increase the likelihood of retaining vocabulary and lexical sets. Perhaps the best way to review and recycle vocabulary is to get learners to share new words that they have come across.

SECTION 5

A New Word A DayMaterials Required: Learners, pens, pieces of paper, some dictionaries, and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: Dependent upon the students’ interest to share language and experiences of language acquisition within the classroom. This activity is best suited for a Monday morn-ing or at the end of the week in the final 20 to 30 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: No lexical sets and depends on the language that emerges during the time in the classroom.

Language: The possibility of sharing language that learners have encountered using the Past Simple: “Last lesson, I learnt a new word ...”.

Staging: Tell students that they are going to share some lan-guage that they have recently learnt inside or outside of the classroom with one another. Next, hand out several small pieces of paper to each student and they should try to write out any words that they have recently acquired. Once learners have written some words out, collect their words and start to write some of the vocabulary on the whiteboard. Allow learn-ers to assist each other or refer to a dictionary to establish the definition. If possible, try to elicit from learners the context that they noticed the vocabulary and encourage conversation within the class.

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DISCUSSING HOBBIES & PASTIMES

It is natural for many people to discuss their hobbies and interests with others and offers a great opportunity for teachers to learn more about their learners outside of class. This activity involves a short conversation about sports and organising them from most interesting to least interesting.

SECTION 6

Hobbies & PastimesMaterials Required: Learners, pens and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: This lesson activity could last for as little as 3o minutes to as long as 60 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: Phrases involved with describing hobbies: “I often go ...”, “How often do you ...”, etc.

Language: Lexis related to sports, hobbies and interests.

Staging: Start the activity by telling students what sort of hobby or interest that you have and ask them what they know about it. Describe the last time you done it. Next get students to share with a partner a hobby, sport or interest that they last did. Monitor for emergent language and make a note of lan-guage for correction on the whiteboard. With a word-cloud on the board, elicit from learners various hobbies, sports or in-terest (ensure there is a wide selection so that it could stimu-late conversation). The next element of this activity is for learners to re-order the suggestions from most interesting to least interesting. Tell students that they first need to do this alone and then check with a partner their order of preference. Allow the conversation to flow and check for possible emer-gent language that could be scaffolded.

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HOW DO YOU FEEL, RIGHT NOW?

One of the key problems for many Asian language learners is that they respond to the question “How are you?” with either a one word answer such as “Fine!” or “Good!”. In order to get students to think more creatively when describing feelings, this activity will allow learners to express and share their opinions. This activity was inspired by Luke Meddings’ lesson demonstration at the British Council in London. His lesson demonstration is available to view here:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/seminars/live-lesson-dogme

SECTION 7

How Do You Feel?Materials Required: Learners, pens, some pieces of paper and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: This lesson activity could last for as long as 40 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: Phrases involved with describing feelings: “I am currently ...”, “I feel rather ...”, etc.

Language: Adjectives related to feelings such as nervous, content, etc.

Staging: Start the lesson by asking learners how they are now and make a note of their utterances on the whiteboard. When making a note of their responses, try to separate them be-tween positive and negative forms. If there are some very ba-sic responses, try to elicit more advanced phrases. Next, tell learners that you are going to describe the other evening/morning and the students have to choose an appropriate adjec-tive to describe how you felt. This time, get students to de-scribe a recent occurrence and their partner has to choose an appropriate adjective that best suits their occurrence. Moni-tor for language and possible scaffolding. At the beginning of the next lesson, hand out a Wordle of the vocabulary that emerged during this lesson.

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DISCUSSING SUPERSTITIONS IN CLASS

Each country has their own superstitions that has developed through the ages. For example, in South Korea you can’t whistle at night otherwise Koreans believe a snake will come to your house. However, in the UK many other superstitions are prevalent such as not walking under a ladder, passing a black cat or a rabbit’s foot. In the language classroom, it is wonderful to share with learners superstitions that have originated in the students’ home country. This could offer learners the possibility of prompting genuine conversation whilst learning about other countries.

SECTION 8

Our SuperstitionsMaterials Required: Learners, pens, some pieces of paper and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: This lesson activity could last for as long as 40 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: Phrases involved with describing feelings: “I am currently ...”, “I feel rather ...”, etc.

Language: Adjectives related to feelings such as nervous, content, etc.

Staging: Start the lesson by asking learners how they are now and make a note of their utterances on the whiteboard. When making a note of their responses, try to separate them be-tween positive and negative forms. If there are some very ba-sic responses, try to elicit more advanced phrases. Next, tell learners that you are going to describe the other evening/morning and the students have to choose an appropriate adjec-tive to describe how you felt. This time, get students to de-scribe a recent occurrence and their partner has to choose an appropriate adjective that best suits their occurrence. Moni-tor for language and possible scaffolding. At the beginning of the next lesson, hand out a Wordle of the vocabulary that emerged during this lesson.

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DISCUSSING THE MOST MEMORABLE HOLIDAY

When I think about holidays, I like to reflect on holidays that I took as a child with my parents and am willing to share these experiences. If most learners are willing to share their holiday experiences, it would offer some opportunity for prompting genuine conversation.

SECTION 9

Most Memorable HolidayMaterials Required: Learners, pens and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: This lesson activity could last for as long as 60 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: Phrases include describing holidays with the narra-tive tense: “When I was young, I went to ...”, “I remember when my parents took me to ...”, etc.

Language: Language related to holiday activities: skiing, camping, etc.

Staging: Start the lesson by telling learners of a holiday that you went when you were younger. For example, when I was young I went to Switzerland for a two week skiing holiday and camped in a caravan and then travelled to the mountains in the morning. It was a wonderful holiday and the food was great. If you wish, you could get learners to do a ‘Dictogloss’ activity and get them to reformulate your story and rewrite the holiday. After your story, you could get the learners to share about their most memorable holiday. Monitor groups of learners and make a note of possible emergent language. At the end of the activity, you could learners to retell their part-ners’ most memorable holiday to the other learners. Note in-teresting language on the whiteboard.

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DESCRIBING FILMS THAT STUDENTS HAD SEEN

It is natural for some people to discuss and recommends films to other people. When I meet with friends, they are always talking about films, documentaries or dramas which they have seen. If this is the case, then learners will have something to say in the classroom with their other classmates. This will offer some opportunity for genuine conversation in the classroom and for those students that are avid movie-goers, will love the opportunity to talk about their last film they saw.

SECTION 10

The Last Film I SawMaterials Required: Learners, pens and a whiteboard.

Length of Lesson: This lesson activity could last for as long as 45 minutes.

Level of Learners: This lesson is suitable for all levels of lan-guage learners.

Phrases: Phrases include describing movies with the narra-tive tense: “The last film/movie that I went to see was ...”, “The film/movie was about ...”, etc.

Language: Language related to movies descriptions such as adjectives: gripping, action-packed, etc. Further language re-lated to genres of films: sci-fi, horror, etc.

Staging: Start the activity by telling learners the last movie or favourite film that you have seen. Get learners to guess the genre of film and offer an adjective that best describes the movie. Once you have written some ideas on the whiteboard, get learners to repeat the activity above with a partner. Whilst they are chatting, ensure that you monitor and make a note of any interesting language. Write any other information on the whiteboard and allow some time for learners to scaffold lan-guage. Write down all the films on the whiteboard and as a fi-nal activity, get learners to re-order them in order of prefer-ence from most interesting to least interesting film. This will offer further opportunity for conversation between groups of learners and the possibility of debate.

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CHAPTER 3

Classroom Best Practice of Dogme ELTThe disadvantages of Dogme ELT is that it relies totally on semi-improvised discus-sion with limited resources. It does has a place in the language classroom, but what is the best place to incorporate Dogme ELT? When would be the best situation to use some of the lesson ideas in the previ-ous chapter? This chapter looks at best practice of Dogme ELT and is further sup-ported with primary research.

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SECTION 1

Review of Dogme ELT

Dogme ELT appears to incorporate selective methods, ap-

proaches and techniques such as CLT, TBL or Learner-

Based Teaching with the emphasis on interaction and com-

munication. Meddings & Thornbury (2009) suggest that

Dogme ELT “have antecedents in other educational tradi-

tions” (p.21) which supports the assertion that Dogme ELT

incorporates the ‘best bits’ of other traditional methods, ap-

proaches and techniques and is regarded as ‘Eclectic Teach-

ing’. In this sense, Dogme ELT is related to the ‘postmethod

condition’ whereby it “frees teachers to see their classrooms

and students for what they are” (Canagarajah 2006 p.20)

with Meddings & Thornbury (2009) proposing “an alterna-

tive to transmission-type, teacher-led teaching” (p.21). Natu-

rally, the three tenets of Dogme ELT are complementary

whereby a ‘conversation driven’ lesson could develop and

assist ‘emergent language’ and the emphasis of a ‘materials

light’ classroom may provide teachers and learners the op-

portunity to focus more on responsive and emergent conver-

sation. Essentially, Dogme ELT is “both a way of teaching

and an overt attitude to teaching” (Hall 2011 p.40). However,

Dogme ELT is not considered innovative or regarded as a new

‘attitude to teaching’. During the Literature Research, “Teach-

ing Unplugged” is closely related to a book published “Interac-

tion in the Language Curriculum: Awareness, Autonomy &

Authenticity” by Leo van Lier (1996) whereby the AAA (Aware-

ness, Autonomy & Authenticity) curriculum “allow language

education to unfold in a regulated yet creative manner” (p.5).

Van Lier (1996) encourages teachers to adopt less emphasis

on pre-manufactured material and coursebooks and respond

to and scaffold learning based upon the learners within the

classroom (p.181-183). Essentially, Meddings & Thornbury

(2009) have developed van Lier’s (1996) assertion of an AAA

curriculum with the development of “Teaching Unplugged”

and various ideas for lessons. When comparing both books by

Meddings & Thornbury (2009) with van Lier (1996), they ap-

pear very similar and initially it appears that “Teaching Un-

plugged” has been written in an ‘easy to digest’ format for Eng-

lish language teachers to complement the book published by

van Lier (1996).

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Scott Thornbury's Reply on Twitter (Thornbury 2011)

When approaching Scot t Thornbury v ia Twit ter

(www.twitter.com), he suggested that “van Lier’s book was an

important influence” (Thornbury 2011) in the development of

Dogme ELT. Nonetheless, it is beyond the scope of this study

to expand on “Teaching Unplugged” (2009) reinventing van

Lier’s (1996) suggestion for an AAA curriculum, as this study

has focused solely on the three underlying principles of

Dogme ELT. However, it appears from the Literature Review

and the similarity with the book published by van Lier (1996)

that Dogme ELT has reinvented the ‘pedagogical wheel’. Es-

sentially, it is regarded that Dogme ELT “is a moveable feast:

difficult to pin down, endlessly adaptive” (Thornbury & Med-

dings 2003 p.18).

Dogme ELT: Materials light The results from the teachers’ survey, illustrate that the major-

ity of teachers rely on coursebooks during the week, while al-

most half of the participants had taught a lesson without mate-

rials, hand-outs or worksheets at one time or another. Inter-

estingly, only two students suggested that they only had been

in a class where the teacher had not used materials, hand-outs

or worksheets. Yet, there were mixed opinions among teach-

ers, as well as students, with a ‘materials light’ focus within

the classroom. Nonetheless, during the two teacher inter-

views, Teacher A suggested that he “doesn’t do coursebooks”

whilst Teacher B proposed that he would respond to learners

and not use material if it was considered suitable. Addition-

ally, Teacher B indicated that students “prefer not to stick to a

coursebook day in and day out”, which suggests that this par-

ticular teacher prefers to focus on the learners within the class-

room rather than structure a lesson based upon a coursebook.

Again, this highlights that the principle of a ‘materials light’

classroom has mixed opinions and from those teachers who

were unaware of Dogme ELT, only three teachers had experi-

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ence of incorporating a ‘materials light’ principle within the

classroom. This highlights that a small minority of teachers

who are unaware of Dogme ELT, have experience of incorpo-

rating a ‘materials light’ approach within their classroom.

Materials light: Student & Teacher AttitudesDuring the teacher interviews, participants noted that there

should be some compromise for as little amount of materials

“as and when necessary” (Teacher B). Teacher A noted that

he would ‘approve’ of no coursebooks but also highlighted

that he would like to provide material, in the form of home-

work, at the end of the lesson. Thus, a balance has to be

struck between the reliance on materials (coursebooks, photo-

copies, etc.) and with the focus on the learners. Additionally,

students indicated particular lessons which would be consid-

ered ‘enjoyable’ if material, hand-outs or worksheets were un-

available. These included lessons which incorporated a focus

on listening, speaking or pronunciation: skills which comple-

ment a ‘conversation driven’ principle of Dogme ELT. Finally,

there were mixed opinions from participating students in rela-

tion to teachers that did not incorporate materials within les-

sons.

Dogme ELT: Conversation DrivenIn respect to the surveys and interviews, almost all teachers

suggested they would focus on speaking almost all of the time

through the use of the ‘communicative approach’ of language

teaching, as indicated by Teacher B during the interview. Ad-

ditionally, the Students’ Survey also indicated that learners

were taught speaking skills mostly on a daily basis. However,

it must be mentioned that the Teacher Interviews noted a key

distinction between ‘communication’ and ‘conversation’ and

to improve learner fluency, a greater emphasis should be on

‘conversation’ rather than ‘communication’. Teacher A, dur-

ing the interview, suggested that he employs various tech-

niques to promote speaking within the classroom, such as

role-plays, speaking topics, or presentations. Interestingly,

speaking topics could develop into ‘conversation’ for students.

However, Teacher B noted that he attempts to distinguish the

difference between ‘fluency’ and ‘accuracy’ so that students be-

come more aware of conversational tactics. Finally, all stu-

dents considered that a teacher should participate in class-

room talk. Finally, as expected some teachers which were un-

aware of Dogme ELT, are unknowingly incorporating a ‘con-

versation driven’ approach to teaching.

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Conversation Driven: Student & Teacher AttitudesTeacher B (from the Teacher Interview) indicated that he is in

“favour of conversation driven language teaching” and that

he would not stop ‘a conversation in mid-flow’. Teacher A

suggested that he does focus on conversation during the end

of the lesson yet focuses formally on grammar and vocabulary

in the first half of the lesson. Four student participants from

the survey noted that a ‘materials light’ approach to language

learning would offer possible opportunities to participate in

speaking. In essence, these four language learners indicated

that they prefer a ‘conversation driven’ lesson as it assists

“speaking freely in class” (Japanese Student – Intermediate).

However, there are mixed opinions of a conversation ap-

proach with participating students and teachers.

Dogme ELT: Emergent Language Question 17, from the teacher’s survey, was seeking how teach-

ers would respond to learner focused language that had

emerged and the teachers’ opinions on error correction.

Teachers indicated that they would correct language which

had emerged from learners by the use of delayed error correc-

tion. Furthermore, the results from one question of the stu-

dent’s survey highlighted that the majority of learners would

request assistance from teachers with grammar and vocabu-

lary. This supports the assertion that teachers are responding

to learner enquiry, as well as language which has emerged

within the classroom, with emphasis with grammar and vo-

cabulary. During the teacher interviews, both participants sug-

gested that they both respond to unpredicted or unexpected

language that has emerged from the learners within the class-

room. Again, this confirms the claim that teachers are un-

knowingly responding to and supporting ‘emergent language’

as and when it arises in the classroom.

Emergent Language: Student & Teacher AttitudesDuring the teacher interviews, both teachers indicated a pref-

erence towards ‘emergent language’: “I like to be able to

break away from what I’m actually doing” (Teacher A), “I

would say without exception I will deal with it there and then

as it comes up” (Teacher B). Some teachers noted that they

would respond to ‘emergent language’ and learner errors

through the use of immediate or delayed error correction tech-

niques. Furthermore, teachers highlighted in the survey that

they would only provide immediate correction with ‘emergent

language’ unless the fluency based exercise would be dis-

rupted. Another teacher suggested that it would depend “on

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the stage of the lesson and if it is an impeding error”. Stu-

dent opinions with ‘emergent language’ expected teachers cor-

rect possible errors that had emerged, while one student

sought correction from the teacher or fellow classmates

(Ukraine Intermediate Student). Nevertheless, the overall

opinion of ‘emergent language’ among teachers as well as stu-

dents was considered to be vital to improve language knowl-

edge and awareness. Overall, “benefits of emergent pedagogy

may be less tangible or occur in dimensions typically not meas-

ured by evaluation” (Dalke et al 2007 p.121).

Applications & Implications for English Language TeachingDogme ELT, as highlighted within the Literature Review, is

considered to be the incorporation of various methods, ap-

proaches and techniques such as TBL, CLT or the Learner-

based curriculum. As Dogme ELT employs various EFL meth-

ods, approaches and techniques, teachers who might be un-

aware of teaching unplugged are, as confirmed by primary re-

search, unknowingly incorporate aspects of Dogme ELT. Nev-

ertheless, teacher participants suggested that a balance be-

tween Dogme ELT (also a form of Eclectic Teaching) with

more traditional, yet structured, forms of teaching. For exam-

ple, there is a constant struggle between satisfying student de-

mand with material (as highlighted within the Student Sur-

veys) and respecting student-to-student conversation. Thus,

Dogme ELT could be considered suitable depending upon the

situation in the classroom and that teachers should offer learn-

ers the opportunity for a Balanced Approach (please see Fig-

ure 23 below). A Balanced Approach to teaching would offer

EFL teachers the best of both worlds: the prospect of struc-

tured lessons or the opportunity to incorporate more explora-

tory or experimental teaching techniques, dependent upon

classroom expectations. For example, some students and

teachers that participated in the survey indicated mixed opin-

ions: that they preferred structured lessons or less structured

lessons.

However, if an unexpected or unpredicted event arose in the

classroom, the teacher could take advantage of possible learn-

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ing opportunities such as ‘emergent language’ or a conversa-

tion that has arisen from the learners. Conversely, if explora-

tory teaching and learning is unsuccessful, the teacher could

‘guide’ the class towards more structured and pre-planned ac-

tivities. Essentially, a Balanced Approach to teaching would

respond to the learners within the classroom and offer Eclec-

tic Teaching, more Structured Teaching or a combination of

both techniques.

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