This document discusses the postmethod condition in second/foreign language teaching. It suggests moving away from rigid adherence to methods and toward empowering teachers with autonomy and knowledge. The postmethod condition enables teachers to develop practices informed by their own experiences rather than externally-imposed methods. It also promotes principles like maximizing learning opportunities, facilitating negotiated interaction between students, and integrating language skills. The overall aim is to help teachers strategically design pedagogy that is responsive to their unique classroom contexts.

1. PRESENTATION ON
The Postmethod Condition:
Emerging Strategies for
Second/ Foreign Language
Teaching

2. INTRODUCTION
 Recent studies in L2 pedagogy show a shift
away from the conventional concept of
method to “postmethod condition.”
 It refigures the relationship between
theorizers and teachers by empowering
teachers with knowledge, skill and
autonomy.
 It also reshapes the character and content
of L2 teaching and classroom research.

3. POSTMETHOD CONDITION
It enables teachers to
theorize from practice and
practice what they theorize.

4. CONT.
 In the past years, there were
evaluative thoughts on the nature and
scope of method (Allwrght: 1992,
Brown: 1991).
 We have also seen the emergence of
alternative ideas to redefined our
understanding of method
(Kumaravadivelu:1992).

5. CONT.
 These studies caution us against the
uncritical acceptance of untested
methods as well as against the search
for the best methods and even against
the very concept of method itself.
 Method analysis is one thing and
teaching analysis is quite another
(Mackey:1965).

6. CONT.
 If the concept of method authorizes
theorizers to centralize pedagogic
decision making, the post method
condition enables practitioners to
generate location-specific and
classroom oriented innovative
practices.

7. CONT.
 The post method condition searches for an
alternative to methods rather than an
alternative methods.
 From the practitioner’s point of view, none of
them can be realized in the purest form in the
actual classroom because they are not derived
from classroom experimentation but
artificially transplanted into the classroom
(Nunan:1991).

8. CONT.
 Syllabus designers and textbook
producers do not follow the philosophy
of a given method and even the
teacher do not fully conform to its
theoretical principles in classroom
(Kumaravadivelu:1993).
 It signifies teacher autonomy.

9. CONT.
 It promotes teachers how to
1. teach autonomously
2. analyze and evaluate their own
teaching practice
3. initiate changes in their classroom
and
4. monitor the effects of such changes

10. CONT.
 The next feature of post method
condition is Principled Pragmatism
which can be followed by developing
‘the sense of plausibility’
(Prabhu:1990) which is the subjective
understanding of what teachers do.

11. CONT.
Kumaravadivelu talks
about 10 strategic frame
works which are consist
of macrostrategies and
microstrategies. Macrostrategies are
not considered of any one specific
theory or not considered by a single
set of theoretical principle or
classroom procedures.

12. CONT.
10 macrostrategies are…

13. CONT.
 A. Maximize learning opportunities
 B. Facilitate negotiated interaction
 C. Minimize perceptual mismatches
 D. Activate intuitive heuristics
 E. Foster language awareness

14. CONT.
F. Contextualize linguistic input
G. Integrate language skill
H. Promote learner autonomy
I. Raise cultural consciousness
and
J. Ensure social relevance

15. 1. MAXIMIZE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:
Teacher is the creator of
learning opportunities and
utilizer of learning
opportunities created by
learners.

16. CONT.
Teachers maintain a balance between their
role as planers of teaching acts and their
role as mediators of learning acts.
Effective result encourages teacher to
modify their lesson plans according to their
feedback.

17. CONT.
As a utilizer of learning
opportunities created by learners
both teacher and learner are
cooperative in classroom.

18. 2. FACILITATE NEGOTIATED INTERACTION:
Meaningful learner- learner and
learner- teacher interaction in class.
Learner should actively involve in all
activities in classroom.
Learner should be given freedom and
encouragement to initiate talk.

19. CONT.
L2 learners need to be provided with
opportunities for negotiated
interaction in order to accelerate their
comprehension and production.
Opportunities to modify enables
learners to move beyond their current
receptive and expressive capacities.
(Long:1081)

20. CONT.
Some microstrategies…
A. Design group activity
B. Small group arrangement and
C. Asking referential questions
(Brock:1986)

21. 3. MINIMIZE PERCEPTUAL MISMATCHES:
It determines the relative success
or failure between teacher’s
intention and learner’s
interpretation.
There are ten potential sources of
perceptual mismatch.
(Kumaravadivelu:1991)

22. CONT.
A. Cognitive
B. Communicative
C. Linguistic
D. Pedagogic
E. Strategic

23. CONT.
F. Cultural
G. Evaluative
H. Procedural
I. Instructional and
J. Attitudinal

24. 4. ACTIVE INTUITIVE HEURISTICS:
Heuristics means to discover things
within oneself.
Grammar contraction can be neatly
analyzed and explain explicitly.
Enough textual data will be provided
by the teacher.

25. CONT.
Grammatical information can be
conveyed through indirect examples.
They should encounter linguistic
structure in inductive way.
It enlarges learner’s comprehension
and retention skill.

26. 5. FOSTER LANGUAGE AWARENESS:
It is the combination of consciousness
raising and input enhancement
(Rutherford:1987).
It defines learners’ sensitivity and
awareness of the nature of language
and role in human life.

27. CONT.
It helps learners to sensitize
themselves to aspects of L2.

28. 6. CONTEXTUALIZE LINGUISTIC INPUT:
Connected text is the main foundation
of language study (Sweet:1899/1964).
Words should be practiced in sentence
and sentence should be practiced in
meaningful context but nether
isolated nor disconnected.

29. CONT.
The phonological form which L2
learners practice depends on the
content of discourse and the
syntactic, semantic and pragmatic
features can not be understood in
isolated linguistic components.

30. CONT.
linguistic input should be
contextualized for learner’s benefit.
Isolated items will result in
pragmatic dissonance, depriving the
learner of necessary pragmatic cues
and make the meaning harder.

31. CONT.
The responsibilities for
contextualizing linguistic input
lie more with teacher than
with syllabus or textbook
designer.

32. 7. INTEGRATE LANGUAGE SKILL:
The nature of L2 learning
involves an integration of
listening, speaking, reading
and writing.

33. CONT.
Reading exposure is “the primary
means of developing reading
comprehension, writing style and
more sophisticated vocabulary
and grammar” (Krashen: 1989).

34. CONT.
Listening activities help to make the
broader connection between function
and expression of language
(Rost: 1990).
Language knowledge and language
ability are best developed when
language is learned and used
holistically (Rigg: 1991).

35. CONT.
Learners do not focus on one skill at a
time.
When the teacher follows textbooks,
learners are supposed to move from
one language skill to another.
Learners use language skills in
different combination.

36. 8. PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY:
Learner autonomy involves…
A. helping learner to learn
B. equipping them with means for
their learning
C. making strategies explicit and
systematic

37. CONT.
Steps to promote learner autonomy…
A. psychological preparation
B. strategic training

38. CONT.
Teacher wishing to promote learner
autonomy can…
A. help learner to take
responsibility for their learning
B. bring about necessary changes
C. help learner understand what
the strategies are

39. 9. RAISE CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS:
Cultural consciousness…
A. creates an awareness and empathy
toward the culture of L2 community
B. helps to conduct in culturally
appropriate
C. helps to find the differences of life

40. CONT.
The teacher’s task is to create a
network of mental association
similar to the way a native
speaker does.
The learner can be cultural
informant like the teacher.

41. 10. ENSURE SOCIAL RELEVANCE:
L2 learning is deeply embedded in the
social context.
We can not separate classroom life
from the dynamics of social
institutions.

42. CONT.
The social context includes some
issues…
A. motivation for L2 learning
B. the goal of L2 learning
C. the problems of L2 learning

43. CONT.
Social contexts contribute to the
emergence of various communicative
competences.
The learner is not becoming an
imitator native speaker but a person
who can stand between the two
languages.

44. CONCLUSION
The strategic framework is not a closed set
of formula rather it is an interim term
which can be modified, expanded and
enriched. The frame can be used to
transform classroom practitioners into
strategic teachers and researchers.
Postmethod condition can potentially
reshape L2 teaching, teacher education
and classroom organization.