What is Dogme Language Teaching

DOGME LANGUAGE TEACHING

 

Lecturer:

Syaifullah, M.Pd

Written by:

Titi Handayani Zamili

NIM : 1688203048

UNIVERSITAS LANCANG KUNING

FACULTY OF  EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING

ENGLISH EDUCATION

2016/2017

 FOREWORD

            First at all, give thanks for God’s love and grace for us.
Thanks to God for helping me and give me chance to finish this assignment timely. And I would like to say thank you to Mr. Syaifullah, M.Pd  as the lecturer that always teaches us and give much knowledge about Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

            This assignment is the one of English task that composed of Practical English Usage English As Foreign Language. I realized this assignment is not perfect. But I hope it can be useful for us. Critics and suggestion is needed here to make this assignment be better.
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWARD ……………................................................................................        2

TABLE OF CONTENTS …..............................................................................        3

CHAPTER I  : INTRODUCTION

A. Background ..................................................................................................        4

B. Purpose…………………………………………………………………..            4

CHAPTER II : DISCUSSION

A.Definition of Dogma Language Teaching……………………………….             5

B. Principles of  Dogme……………………………………………………..            6

C Key features of Dogme…………………………………………………   ..          9

D. Examples ………………………………………………………………...            11

E.Dogme pros and cons …………………………………………………….            11

CHAPTER III : CLOSING

A. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………....           12

B. Suggestion………………………………………………………………..           12

REFERENCE………………………………………………………………..           13

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.    Background

            English has become a global language. In the minds of many worldwide, it guarantees a better life through enhanced social and economic opportunities. As a result, English teachers are in high demand. Some claim that English is attractive because as it has spread throughout the world, it has severed it sties from any specific culture, making it easily malleable to fit the needs of those who adopt it.

            There are  many approaches, methods, and strategies in English teaching.

Approaches deal with general philosophies of teaching. Methods deal with more practical nuts and bolts. Strategies deal with specific actions.

            English Language Teaching has seen a variety of methods over the years, from quirky, to normal, and even downright odd. There's been translation, the Silent Method, PPP (Present, Practice, Produce) Communicative Language Teaching, and more; TEFL is constantly evolving. What was once new and in-fashion quickly becomes pass.

B. Purpose

a. To know what is Dogme

b. Can apply the Dogme Language Teaching in classroom

CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A.  Definition of Dogma Language Teaching

 Dogme is a branch of Communicate Language Teacher and has become a word that's being thrown around more and more these days. It was started by Scott Thornbury and has ten principals.

 Dogme is a teaching philosophy. It goes beyond the standard pedagogical methods that we are so often used to hearing about. Dodme language teaching  is Language-teaching methodology.

·      The thinking behind it is that students learn when they feel involved and interested in the subject.

·       If the material they use isn't relevant to them then the likelihood they'll retain any information is slim.

·       The solution within Dogme basically consists of removing all irrelevant material to enhance learning. It involves in fact removing all material.

·       A Dogme classroom is a textbook free zone. To a certain extent we could say that a Dogme space is a classroom free zone as we know it.

           

Dogme is a methodology which was first documented by Scott Thornbury when he suggested an analogy between the Dogme 95 film-making style and English language teaching Dogme is against 'resource heavy' teaching, arguing that if learners are not interested they will not learn and therefore all material should be generated by the learners and the lessons directed by them, rather than the teacher. Another way of regarding it would be "materials light" It may very easily be integrated into one-to-one teaching.

There are Dogme rules that can be followed but in true Dogme style they are there to be bent and moulded to your own teaching context. Here are some of the main ones:

·        Resources should be provided by the students or whatever you come across. If doing a lesson on books then go to the library.

·         All listening material should be student produced.

·         The teacher should always put himself at the level of the students.

·         All language used should be 'real' language and so have a communicative purpose.

·         Grammar work should arise naturally during the lesson and should not be the driving force behind it.

Dogme language teaching is considered to be both a methodology and a movement.

Dogme is a communicative approach to language teaching that encourages teaching without published textbooks and focuses instead on conversational communication among learners and teacher. It has its roots in an article by the language education author, Scott Thornbury. Dogme is a similar communicative approach that encourages teaching without published textbooks, instead focusing on conversational communication among the learners and the teacher.

The Dogme approach is also referred to as "Dogme ELT", which reflects its origins in the ELT (English language teaching) sector. Although Dogme language teaching gained its name from an analogy with the Dogme 95 film movement (initiated by Lars von Trier), the connection is not considered close.

B.  Principles of  Dogme

1.         Interactivity: the most direct route to learning is to be found in the interactivity between teachers and students and amongst the students themselves.

2.         Engagement: students are most engaged by content they have created themselves

3.         Dialogic processes: learning is social and dialogic, where knowledge is co-constructed

4.         Scaffolded conversations: learning takes place through conversations, where the learner and teacher co-construct the knowledge and skills

5.         Emergence: language and grammar emerge from the learning process. This is seen as distinct from the 'acquisition' of language.

6.         Affordances: the teacher's role is to optimize language learning affordances through directing attention to emergent language.

7.         Voice: the learner's voice is given recognition along with the learner's beliefs and knowledge.

8.         Empowerment: students and teachers are empowered by freeing the classroom of published materials and textbooks.

9.         Relevance: materials (e.g. texts, audios and videos) should have relevance for the learners

10.     Critical use: teachers and students should use published materials and textbooks in a critical way that recognizes their cultural and ideological biases.

Ø  Main precepts

There are three precepts that emerge from the ten key principles.

1.         Conversation-driven teaching

Conversation is seen as central to language learning within the Dogme framework, because it is the "fundamental and universal form of language" and so is considered to be "language at work". Since real life conversation is more interactional than it is transactional, Dogme places more value on communication that promotes social interaction. Dogme also places more emphasis on a discourse-level (rather than sentence-level) approach to language, as it is considered to better prepare learners for real-life communication, where the entire conversation is more relevant than the analysis of specific utterances. Dogme considers that the learning of a skill is co-constructed within the interaction between the learner and the teacher. In this sense, teaching is a conversation between the two parties. As such, Dogme is seen to reflect Tharp's view that "to most truly teach, one must converse; to truly converse is to teach".

2.      Materials light approach

The Dogme approach considers that student-produced material is preferable to published materials and textbooks, to the extent of inviting teachers to take a 'vow of chastity' and not use textbooks.  Dogme teaching has therefore been criticized as not offering teachers the opportunity to use a complete range of materials and resources.  However there is a debate to the extent that Dogme is actually anti-textbook or anti-technology. Meddings and Thornbury focus the critique of textbooks on their tendency to focus on grammar more than on communicative competency and also on the cultural biases often found in textbooks, especially those aimed at global markets. Indeed, Dogme can be seen as a pedagogy that is able to address the lack of availability or affordability of materials in many parts of the world.Proponents of a Dogme approach argue that they are not so much anti-materials, as pro-learner, and thus align themselves with other forms of learner-centered instruction and critical pedagogy.

3.      Emergent language

Dogme considers language learning to be a process where language emerges rather than one where it is acquired. Dogme shares this belief with other approaches to language education, such as task-based learning. Language is considered to emerge in two ways. Firstly classroom activities lead to collaborative communication amongst the students. Secondly, learners produce language that they were not necessarily taught. The teacher's role, in part, is to facilitate the emergence of language. However, Dogme does not see the teacher's role as merely to create the right conditions for language to emerge. The teacher must also encourage learners to engage with this new language to ensure learning takes place. The teacher can do this in a variety of ways, including rewarding, repeating and reviewing it. As language emerges rather than is acquired, there is no need to follow a syllabus that is externally set. Indeed, the content of the syllabus is covered (or 'uncovered') throughout the learning process.

C.  Key features of dogme

       As an approach dogme has well grounded principles in language learning and learning theories as explained by Scott Thornbury . He explains that dogme considers

·         learning as experiential and holistic,

·         and language learning as an emergent jointly-constructed and socially-constituted process motivated both by communal and communicative imperatives.

Key features of dogme include the following:

·         Dogme has its roots in communicative language teaching

·         Conversation is seen as central to language learning.

·         Dogme also places more emphasis on a discourse-level (rather than sentence-level) approach to language.

·         Dogme considers that the learning of a skill is co-constructed within the interaction between the learner and the teacher.

·         The Dogme approach considers that student-produced material is preferable to published materials and textbooks, to the extent of inviting teachers to take a ‘vow of chastity’ and not use textbooks

·         Like task-based approach, dogme considers language learning to be a process where language emerges rather than one where it is acquired.

·         Scaffolded learning where learning is assisted by the teacher through conversations makes it possible for effective learning to take place.

·         The teacher’s role is to optimize language learning affordances, the environment where learners can potentially learn and direct their attention to emergent language.

·         The learners voice, beliefs and knowledge are accepted.

D.  Examples

Learners could come to class and discuss the news. The teacher would encourage and facilitate discussion and provide answers to questions about grammar and vocabulary as they arise.

Students could also bring to class items from "English literature" - poetry, plays, novels, films, or even current television or radio programmer. Again, the teacher will engage them in the process of understanding not only the grammar, but also the idioms and cultural references used.

In a business environment the most natural thing is for the student(s) to talk about the issues facing the company. If there is company material which has been produced in English then so much the better. (Beware of taking this this too far however. Not everybody loves their company and may prefer to view English classes as an opportunity to talk about something else, in such circumstances it is better to avoid the class falling into a company hate-fest.)

In the classroom

In a Dogme lesson, the classroom as such does not exist, as there are no resources, course books or lesson structures apart from those that learners bring. The teacher involves the learners in deciding on their priorities each lesson, and takes the role of facilitator of their objectives.

E.  Dogme pros and cons

 These are some of the often-stated advantages and disadvantages of the methodology.

Ø  Pros

a)      From the teacher's point of view there is the big advantage of little or no lesson preparation. Unless you count the five to ten years of preparation and experience necessary to be able to use the technique well.

b)     Students should feel in control of their learning process and consequently be more motivated.

c)      Done properly it can be highly motivating and interesting for the teacher. (Though it must be said that it might not be suited for the novice teacher.)

Ø  Cons

a)      Students who are unused to the method may feel uneasy about it or simply not understand it.

b)     As mentioned above, new teachers may be extremely uncomfortable with abandoning the security of a textbook.

c)      Teachers simply may not have the freedom to use this methodology.

d)     It removes the teacher from a position of power which may make some teachers uneasy.

e)      Colleagues may think the dogme teacher is simply "winging it" to avoid preparation.

CHAPTER III

CLOSING

A.  Conclusion

       Dogme focuses on having the students speak and use the language. It wants students to be able to function in the language. Secondly, dogme teachers tend to shun books and materials created by teachers and try to use materials created by the students. This can be great, but it can also easily backfire. Lastly, they believe that the language should come about naturally through the activites and with the teacher's help. Dogme also tries to use some technology in the classroom, in particular web 2.0.
       Of course, not every method is perfect. Many people critics dogme due to the fact that teachers don't use books that much or at all. While I understand that teachers know their students better than the textbook writers, I still believe textbooks have their place in the classroom. They are a good foundation that teachers can build upon and adapt to their students' needs.

B.  Suggestion

       While dogme is good for teaching students conversational skills it is not appropriate for students studying for a specific exam. (Although dogme practitioners would maintain that this is not its objective anyway.)

        In addition, textbooks are useful markers when showing other teachers where their students are and what they've learned. Especially if another teacher needs to take over your class. lastly, the majority of us are teachers, not textbook writers.

REFERENCES

·           A Maley, (2003). "Creative Approaches to Writing Materials". In Tomlinson, B. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-5917-6.

·           Meddings, Luke; Thornbury, Scott (2009). Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching. Peaslake UK: Delta. ISBN 978-1-905085-19-4.

·           Scott Thornbury (February–March 2000). "A Dogma for EFL" (153). IATEFL Issues: 2. Retrieved 2009-06-23.

·           Anthony Gaughan, (2011). Dogme vs Principled Eclecticism Round One. Available at: http://iasku.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/anthony-gaughan-dogme-vs-principled-ecclecticism-round-one/ (Accessed 22 September 2012).

·           Anthony Gaughan, (2012). E for Emergent Language.  Available at: http://teachertrainingunplugged.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/what-makes-a-lesson-great-part-3/ (Accessed 22 September 2012)

·           Jeremy HarmeR (2012).  Teaching Unplugged beats Acquisition? Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJWT0oaX9V0&feature=relmfu (Accessed 22 September 2012)