ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#42 | December 16, 2013 | ISSN 0975-3036

This article was written for the 25th anniversary of “English Teaching Forum” and published in 1987. In this article, the author describes methodological developments in the field of English language teaching over the past 25 years. The author has found it helpful to think of methodology being depicted as a triangle, with each angle of the triangle representing a basic area of the field. The first angle might be termed language learning/language learner. Questions addressed from this perspective include “what is the nature of the language acquisition/learning process,” “who is doing the learning,” and “what are the factors that influence the learner?” The second angle has to do with the subject matter language teachers teach. “What is the nature of language/culture” is the question dealt with in this angle. The third angle comprises both language teaching as a process and the role of the language teacher as an agent in the process. It is defined in part by answers to the questions posed in the other two angles. Each of these perspectives is indispensable to viewing methodology as a whole. The author considers each of these angles in turn in reviewing developments during the past 25 years. Teaching is a matter of making informed choices. (more…)