© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
ELT and ‘the spirit of the times’
Alan Waters is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, England. He has taught EFL in Sierra Leone, Kuwait, and the UK and trained teachers in Thailand, the UK, Hong Kong, and several other parts of the world. He has published a number of books and articles on a range of ELT topics. His main research interests are in teacher learning and curriculum innovation
Email: a.waters{at}lancaster.ac.uk
 |
Abstract |
|---|
In recent years, ELT professional discourse has been increasingly characterized by the active promotion of a number of ideas which lack popular appeal. It is argued that one reason for this trend is the influence of the prevailing intellectual ideology in the professionally-dominant Anglophone West - one of ‘political correctness’ (PC). The nature of the PC concept is outlined and the way in which it can be seen to have influenced ELT explained. It is further argued that, despite a healthy concern with opposing the abuse of power, the PC-based ELT stance is itself prone to the very same problem, and several representative examples of the unbalanced and distorted views that result are described. It is hoped the analysis provided will help to increase understanding of the ideological basis for trends in ELT, and thereby also improve critical evaluation of them.