English from Christmas Crackers

Authors

Mike N. Long

Publication Date

1987-01-01

Abstract

TEFL is subject not so much to fashions as to exaggerated enthusiasms, and an analysis of the latest of such enthusiasms amounts to a 'state-of-the-art' survey. In the area of articles, workshops, seminars, etc. our profession is totalitarian : orthodoxy must be propounded, and disbelievers made to see and admit their previous errors. Fortunately, most teacher training institutes are somewhat conservative, and experienced teacher trainers know that not everything that has gone before is necessarily wrong, and they are probably quite capable of incorporating new ideas in small increments, as is right and proper. Unfortunately, however, the orthodoxy from 'communicative language teaching' through 'the learner', 'the language learning classroom', 'learner centred activities' to 'methodology', with a whole new mystique attached to it, has almost ignored the essential of the language itself. It is high time that a correction was made. The following article is thus a somewhat critical state-of-the-art survey, with the message : Let us get back to Hamlet's 'Words, Words' if we really want learners, in Thailand in particular, to get to a reasonable level in English studies.

DOI

10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.17.1.2

First Page

21

Last Page

28

Recommended Citation

Long, Mike N. (1987) "English from Christmas Crackers," PASAA: Vol. 17: Iss. 1, Article 3.
DOI: 10.58837/CHULA.PASAA.17.1.2
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/pasaa/vol17/iss1/3