Language teaching for the future

Language teaching for the future

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart" (Nelson Mandela)

What will the future be like?

What should we be doing now to prepare our students for the future?

What do you think?

We are in a period of rapid change

Trying to predict the future is always a hazardous issue. The nature of the future exists in our present.

we can learn a lot about our future by looking back.

The future doesn’t just happen. The future is a continuation of our present, and, as such, is a development of factors that are at work now.

Some aspects will typify future society.

• A fragmented society
• Decline of nacional governments: Globalization as a dominant figure.
• Rapid (dis)appearance of jobs
• Spread of the market
• Influence of electronic media

What should we be doing now to prepare our students for the future?

On the one hand, we need to think about how we can help to prepare our students for the very different demands that the future requires (rapid decisions, adaptation to change) On the other hand, we need to look beyond the concerns of the language syllabus (content, the significance of materials, values, attitudes)

Some characteristics of the future curriculum

1.

Coherence The use of themes, topics, projects to bind lessons together and provide coherence and a deeper focus and understanding

Use of students' intelligence The use of exercises which require thinking rather than repetition.

4.

Cultural understandingPromote cultural understanding in order to look through the eyes of others

5.

2.

Significant content The selection of content that is worth learning and thinking about.

6.

Decision-making in the classroomA plan for actively involving students in making decisions in the classroom.

Critical language awarenessTo look beyond the surface meaning and ask questions such as: Why are they saying that? What is not being said?

3.

As educators, particularly in the teaching of young students - we are uniquely privileged in helping to shape the views that students have of themselves.

We may shape, for example, the extent to which they see themselves as active agents in their own education or passive recipients of transmission based education

The future is one we shape. There may well be developments that seem unstoppable, but it is our responsability to look for opportunities in these developments, to ensure that they enrich our lives by stretching our pedagogic imaginations to the full.

Bibliography

Littlejohn, Andrew. 2000. Shaping our Future: Proceedings of the 7th ELICOS Conference. Elicos, Sydney, Australia

Littlejohn, Andrew. 2014. Mextesol Journal Vol. 38 No. 3, 2014

Web link

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8763970/