“Thus, saying that a particular method is practiced certainly does ...

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    Despite the potential gains from a study of methods, it is important to acknowledge that a number of writers in our field have criticized the concept of language teaching methods. Some say that methods are prescriptions for classroom behavior, and that teachers are encouraged by textbook publishers and academics to implement them whether or not the methods are appropriate for a particular context (Pennycook 1989). Others have noted that the search for the best method is ill-advised (Prabhu 1990; Bartolome 1994); that teachers do not think about methods when planning their lessons (Long 1991); that methodological labels tell us little about what really goes on in classrooms (Katz 1996); and that teachers experience a certain fatigue concerning the constant coming and going of fashions in methods (Rajagopalan 2007). Hinkel (2006) also notes that the need for situationally relevant language pedagogy has brought about the decline of methods.

    These criticisms deserve consideration. It is possible that a particular method may be imposed on teachers by others. However, these others are likely to be disappointed if they hope that mandating a particular method will lead to standardization. For we know that teaching is more than following a recipe. Any method is going to be shaped by a teacher’s own understanding, beliefs, style, and level of experience. Teachers are not mere conveyor belts delivering language through inflexible prescribed and proscribed behaviors (Larsen-Freeman 1991); they are professionals who can, in the best of all worlds, make their own decisions-informed by their own experience, the findings from research, and the wisdom of practice accumulated by the profession (see, for example, Kumaravadivelu 1994).

    Furthermore, a method is decontextualized. How a method is implemented in the classroom is not only going to be affected by who the teacher is, but also by who the students are, what they and the teacher expect as appropriate social roles, the institutional constraints and demands, and factors connected to the wider sociocultural context in which the instruction takes place. Even the ‘right’ method will not compensate for inadequate conditions of learning, or overcome sociopolitical inequities. Further, decisions that teachers make are often affected by exigencies in the classroom rather than by methodological considerations. Thus, saying that a particular method is practiced certainly does not give us the whole picture of what is happening in the classroom. Since a method is more abstract than a teaching activity, it is not surprising that teachers think in terms of activities rather than methodological choices when they plan their lessons.

    What critics of language teaching methods have to offer us is important. Admittedly, at this point in the evolution of our field, there is little empirical support for a particular method, although there may be some empirical support in second language acquisition research for methodological principles (Long 2009). Further, what some of the methods critics have done is to raise our awareness about the importance of critical pedagogy.