WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO IN ELT?

I have decided to create this new blog, because I am getting increasingly worried at the many questions that classrooms teachers are not asking themselves.

WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO IN ELT?

And here go a series of questions that I would very much like to have your views on:

Why is it, that ELT has at the moment a massive body of research behind it which shows that everything that is published in textbooks goes counter to what is known about the learning process and we keep publishing the same books as we were back in the 70´s? ( My apologies for those pioneers such as the Cobuild Team and others who tried to move the profession forward but met with the incapacity of the market to appreciate what they were doing)

Why is it, as Leni Dam says in her Plenary about Learner Independence at IATEFL YORK 2002 " Why is it that we know it alreadybut we don´t do anything about it?

The concept of LEARNER INDEPENDENCE has been around since the early 80´s and people like Barbara Sinclair Gail Ellis and Leni Dam have written about it non stop since then.

What are we afraid of? Losing control? Of what? Have you ever watched a class of "well-behaved" children where you could tell they were obviously not following the teacher? The fact that they were sitting quietly at their seats did not mean they were "relating" to what was going on in the classoom. Is that control or is it just satisfying our egos as teachers feeling that "they" ( the students) are not budging?

And another questions which was asked several months ago by a participant in a course:

WHY IS IT THAT WE KEEP GOING BACK TO GRAMMAR BASED TEACHING? This begs the question: What are we afraid of again?

I have many times been asked after reading a quote from a professional book by e.g. David Nunan or Jack Richards: Why is it that coursebooks do not reflect that?

My answer has always been: Publishers will publish what sells and until you are properly informed professionally, and therefore demand coursebooks that reflect the latest research in Language Teaching and Learning, publishers will continue to publish you what you buy i.e. grammar-based books which make you feel comfortable because the present continuous comes before the simple past. . ( I am published author myself)

And I have a lot more questions to ask. I shall continue to write in this blog and you will also find information in our website www.eltservicesla.com

I would be very interested in getting your comments. More questions will follow.