The Implementability of Western Approaches to Eastern Societies
Soenjono
Dardjowidjojo
The field of foreign language teaching has been dominated mostly by
Western views. While some of these views can indeed be implemented, many
others, especially with regards to the role of the teacher and that of the
students, stumble on cultural barriers; the approaches are also constrained by
the unavailability of educational facilities in most Eastern societies. This
paper is to look into these two constraints: (a) in the case of learner
autonomy and the new role of the teacher, the Western concepts cannot be
conveniently implemented without changing the cultural values of the society,
and (b) in the case of educational facilities, Western approaches such as Community
Language Learning, Natural Approach, Suggestopedy,
and Content-based Instruction, which are claimed to be student-centered,
cannot be easily Implemented in normal classrooms where educational aids are
not generally available on the national scope.
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Dardjowidjojo, S. (2004). The implementability of
Western approaches to Eastern societies. Proceedings of the CLaSIC 2004 Conference (pp. 207-222). Singapore:
Centre for Language Studies,
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