(Post)-Methodism: Possibility of the Impossible?

Abstract

This paper is a critical review of the concept of post-method language teaching. The author first presents a quick review of the history and concept of method and introduces the concept of postmodernism as a source of influence for post-method-ism. The author, then, adopts a critical approach to reviewing the concept of post-method and the idea of searching for "an alternative" to method (Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The postmethod condition: (e) merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 27-48.). The paper argues that these two concepts can have the same mode of existence in reality and the difference between them is only a virtual one that would exist in the mind of the practitioner/expert. Finally, it is further argued that skepticism toward the concept of method and the search for "an alternative" to method (as Kumaravadivelu has put it) would not guarantee the future of practice in the field of language teaching, as this search has not proved to bridge the gap between theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]