The Secret History of Methods – Session 2.4 14.55-15.40

Speaker: Scott Thornbury

Thornbury gave an impressive overview of the evolution of English language teaching course books and teaching methods book over time in terms of form and content. The overview shed light on how the roles of teachers evolved as well. As Thornbury put it, @it looks like a protozoa of methods”. He assigned members of the audience to reach out some quotes from these books highlighted teaching philosophies and asked the rest to either cheer or boo them. Finally, he touched upon debatable issues in methodology. Is dogme a methodology at all? Is thechnology a methodology? Are methods being reinvented phasing in and out of fashion? Should teachers follow the latest methods or should they be leaders and follow their own methods?