Neither methods nor theory marry perfectly with practice : but theoretical assumptions inform our practice and guide us in navigating language with learners.

Originally published on my Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/felicioenglishteacher/

Link here

Learning languages can be a rollercoaster ride at times, and if I'm being honest, it is, by a long chalk, a bumpy ride if we don't master the rudiments of the language we teach.

However, theory doesn't align with reality, per se. As the confluence with reality shows, an assertive reduction of theory's mediation to an amicable /predictable language system incorporates our niche of “language teachers” into an oversimplified and manipulative realm of knowledge.

Theory, as a bare essential meditation on our practice, does not marry practice, nor can it be a product we can pick on the shelf of ELT courses. Yet, it is precisely a theoretical presupposition that allows us to reflect on these matters, uncovering additional layers and complexities of language embedded in our society. It prevents language from being confined to a predetermined reality with its rules and assertions about how language and its phenomena should be understood within a specific time frame.

In this sense, a theoretical proposition does not correspond to our individual realities, whether social or personal. It is a much more general and abstract construction of language that, to my knowledge, is ingrained in the construction of individual languages and realities. This same process occurs in every relationship we have with language, regardless of the reality we experience as individuals.

I may dally with the idea that, despite our approaches to language and the invigorating state of methods - in an era in which Lexical Approach and Dogme are buzzword - , a meditation on the flow of language in a globalized world is inextricably tied to theoretical assumptions yet without manipulating theory to the extent that it marries practice. To the contrary, the answerability and mutability of language underscore a dire need for a practice firmly grounded in theory, research, thinking, mistakes, and experimentation.

At the end of the day, language is not ready-made, nor can it be bought like an affordable commodity in a language course—thus, theory is needed to lessen the effects produced by this conflictual yet exciting experience of language teaching.