Trends in the Teaching of English

Jasper R. Catanduanes

“Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” - Benjamin Disraeli

Disraeli is right because every day, changes occur – personal, family, society and even in the field of teaching and education. Teachers and education leaders do initiatives to uplift quality instruction through discovering new trends as far as pedagogy is concerned.

Ilankumaran and Abilasha (2014) enumerated different trends in the teaching of English Language. These trends have been used essentially in the entire world as part of the constant evolvement of various theories, methods and approaches in ELT.

Most of the trends are influenced by the modern age of technology. The technological advancement has made ELT easier for the part of the teachers and accessible for the part of the learners. E-Learning, say for example makes the learners access instant knowledge through tablets and smart phones. Learners’ access to internet through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram will make them have a good grasp of how language is used.

As a public school teacher for five years, I observed that most of my students have already cellphones and tablets that contribute to their learning in general. When they find a lesson/topic difficult, internet is just one click away. No burden on their parts as long as internet connection is available. I even used Facebook as a platform to manifest language learning. I post something – a quote or a statement – for my learners to react on. In that way, they unconsciously practice the linguistic features of language and I check their development through react-response strategy on social media sites.

On the other hand, in public schools in the Philippines, DepEd Order No. 83, s. 2003 or also called “Reiteration to DECS Orders Nos. 70, s. 1999 and 26, s. 2000 (Prohibiting Students of Elementary and Secondary Schools from Using Cellular Phones and Pagers During Class Hours)” does not support the idea of E-Learning. For them, other learners abuse the availability and accessibility of these technological advancement. This tend to become an opportunity for the learners to cheat, to become lazy, to plagiarize works and the like.

On that note, I firmly believe that it’s necessary among teachers to capitalize the use of these gadgets for teaching-leaning process including the learning of English language. Many opportunities will significantly elevate especially on the aim of making learners communicatively competent, where they apply the language conventions, principles, strategies and skills where they interact with other peoples, where they understand and learn other content areas, and where they fend for themselves in whatever field of endeavor they may engage in. #

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The author is English Teacher at Camachiles National High School, Division

of Mabalacat City, Pampanga.