Page 59 - Beyond Methods

Maximizing learning opportunities 47
nize that “syllabus as a source of teacher reference can only effect learning through methodological mediation” (Widdowson, 1990, p. 130). In other words, without effective methodological media- tion, a syllabus remains a lifeless list of linguistic labels.
The preplanned syllabus, just like the prescribed textbook, can be treated only as a pre-syllabus that has to be negotiated through classroom interactive process. Pit Corder (1967) has talked about the notion of a “built-in syllabus” that the learners themselves con- struct by selecting what can be learned from the choices available in the predetermined syllabus presented to them. What the partici- pants actually do during the interactive process will inevitably con- vert the teaching syllabus that the teachers bring to class into a learning syllabus with which both teachers and learners feel com- fortable. In fact, in the very process of that conversion, both teach- ers and learners will find themselves creating and utilizing a wide range of learning opportunities.
I am not suggesting that predetermined lesson plans, textbooks, and syllabuses are unnecessary or that they have no role to play in generating learning opportunities in class, only that they are insuf- ficient to achieve their stated purposes. The reason is simple: cre- ation and utilization of learning opportunities in the classroom are ultimately in the hands of teachers and learners who are engaged in a joint exploration of learning and teaching. Such an interactive process effectively minimizes the role of teachers’ prepared agenda, the textbook, and the syllabus and, conversely, maximizes the role of the teacher and the learner in the classroom.
Reflective task 3.1
Focus on any language teacher education program (pre-service or in-service) that you are recently associated with, either as a student or as a teacher. What has been the main thrust of that program: (a) learning how to use teaching techniques, write lesson plans, use textbooks, and follow syl- labuses, or (b) learning how to manage classroom interaction in order to generate learning opportunities in class? What specific changes do we have to make in a teacher education program to shift its main thrust from (a) to (b)?