EP Background Essay

7/24/2019 EP Background Essay

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Experimental Practice-The DogmeMelike Kucuk

A- Theory& Practice

The Dogme, which is also known as Teaching Unplugged, was born roughl

ten ears ago, in response to the !o"er-reliance on materials and

technological aids#$ %Meddings and Thornbur, &''() *+ The Dogmeapproach takes its name rom the cinematic mo"ement attributed to

Danish lm maker .ars "on Trier et al / !Dogme (0#$ !The goal o this

mo"ement is to instill a sense o simplicit in lm making$ The emphasis

on purit in the ormation o the lm places a ocus on the actual stor

and the perormance o the actors$$$There is an increase in engagement

as the "iewer realies the lack o o"er-production and becomes more

concerned with the narrati"e and mood$ 2hooting should be done on

location$ Props and sets must not be brought in$# %3robieke, &''(+ 4n

parallel to this, in Dogme E.T the theme is at the core o the lesson,

namel it5s the stor and the actors are the students$ Production and

engagement are the main elements o the lesson$ 6hat5s more, the most

important element o a dogme lesson is that !teaching should be done

using the resources that teachers and students bring to the classroom /

ie$ themsel"es- and whate"er happens to be in the classroom$# %Meddings

and Thornbur, &''() *+

There are ten ke principles or this approach$ The are as in the

ollowing)

1$ 4nteracti"it between learners and teachers$

&$ The content should engage learners and attract their attention to the

learning process$

*$ 3s Medding and Thornbur suggest) !.earning is a dialogic and social

process#$ 4t means that in learning process knowledge is not transerred or

imported rom a course book$ 4nstead, knowledge is !co-constructed#$

%Meddings and Thornbur, &''()7+

8$ .earning is achie"ed throughout a talk which is sca9olded b a teacher$

0$ .anguage is not ac:uired it !emerges# organicall$ 4t5s an organic

process$

;$ Teacher5s main role is to maximie the language learning process, or

instance< drawing learners5 attention to the eatures o the emerging

language$


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=$ .earners5 opinions, belies, experiences, concerns, knowledge pla an

important role while building up the context$

7$ >ot being dependent on course books or an other materials gi"es wa

to create new things and in that wa the process o learning becomesrealistic$

($ 4 texts are to be used the should be rele"ant or the students5 learning

and using contexts$

1'$ Teachers and learners should bring along their !ideological baggage#

to the classroom and unpack it because this will lead them to think

criticall$

Dogme in Practice

?irst o all, it should be emphasied that the Dogme approach is neither

anti-materials nor anti-technolog but it re@ects the materials which do not

promote interaction and engagement$ ?urthemore, it promotes !the @oint

construction o knowledge, mainl through mediated talk$# %Meddings and

Thornbur, &''() 1&+ 4t aims at dealing with the emerging language

through a natural talk with the students so it5s important to keep in mind

that decisions are made spontaneousl in response to the learners5 needs$

4n order or the language to emerge the right conditions should becreated$ To create the right conditions, learners should be relaxed and

read to talk$ Thereore< to pro"ide them with this kind o atmosphere the

ollowing ke terms should be taken into account)

- Encourage:praising them and being positi"e

- Explain:telling our learners wh ou are doing and wh ou want

them to do it$

- Help:assisting our learners and helping them i needed$

- Highlight:underlining the things ou would like them to notice

- Adjust:making small changes as ou repeat or write up their

language$

- Extend:helping them build on their existing knowledge o the

language$

%Meddings and Thornbur, &''() &0+


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B- Rationale

!Teaching unplugged is designed to uncoverlanguage, rather than to cover

specic language items$# %Meddings and Thornbur, &''()*0+ but this does not

mean that we need to rene the language that emerges$ 2o this means that as

there is no wa to be be sure o the target language that will be unco"ered in the

lesson$ The logic behind the dogme approach is that as the language emerges

we need to unco"er the language b considering our learners5 needs$

3s 4 mentioned in m AeBection and 3ction / 2tage *, one o m weaknesses as a

teacher is dealing with emerging language$ To work on this weakness o mine, 4

especiall made up m mind on Dogme teaching or m Experimental Teaching

Practice$ 4n the light o the research 4 ha"e done, Dogme teaching naturall

ocuses on emergent language i the right conditions occur in the classroom$ 3s

Meddings and Thornbur state) ! Dogme is the belie that- gi"en the right

conditions- language emerges$$$.anguage emerges out o interpersonal

classroom acti"it$ Ci"en a good dnamic and sucient incenti"e, learners

engage collaborati"el in the production o the language output$# %Meddings and

Thornbur, &''() 17+

Aelated to the abo"e, 4 want to tr di9erent was or dealing with the emerging

language and one o them is that noting down the students5 errors$ 3s Meddings

and Thornbur suggest) !3s soon as people start to speak, the are in the habit

o generating the raw material or a ocus on orm$ Cet into the habit o noting

down an words or phrases that ou think could be useul as soon as lesson

starts$# %Meddings and Thornbur, &''();1+

The other reason to choose Dogme as an experimental practice is that ater

reading .uke Meddings and 2cott Thornbur5s book called !Teaching Unplugged)

Dogme in English .anguage Teaching# 4 elt the need to tr it out$ 4t has aroused

great interest in me, especiall in terms o its organic eatures$

- !esson "#jecti$es

3s in the light o m rationale, the ollowing ob@ecti"es will be take into account

in m experimental teaching practice)

- to engage students in the lesson b the help o the context$


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- to choose realistic real lie issues to create the context o the lesson$ To choose

a rele"ant context related to students5 needs$

- to make the learners able to "oice their own opinions, concerns, desires,

experiences, etc and to pro"ide them with the right conditions$

- to maximie language learning a9ordances b directing the students5 attention

to eatures o the target language

- to create an atmosphere where the language can emerge organicall$

-to deal with the emerging language better and to help learners better able to

understand the target language board will be used and board work will be clear

and understandable$

- to pro"ide students with interacti"e acti"ities$

- to raise / awareness and let the learners to come up with their own was or

dealing with the language$

D- !esson: E$aluation o% "#jecti$es

EP lesson and its eedback will pro"ide me with an opportunit to impro"e m

was or dealing with emerging language$ Thereore< to achie"e these ob@ecti"es,

4 will ask m colleagues or eedback rom m Experimental Teaching Practice$ To

do this, 4 will gi"e them a :uestionnaire$ %see 3ppendix -1+

Bi#liography

Meddings$ ., Thornbur$ &''($ 2cott, Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in

English Language Teaching$ Delta Publishing

Fukk 3robieke5s blog named) !This is Dogme (0#http)bukkm10m1;mc$wordpress$comthis-is-dogme-(0

Thornbur, 2cott$ &''0$ Dogme: Dancing in the Dark?http)www$thornburscott$comassetsdancingG&'inG&'dark$pd
http://bukkym15m16mc.wordpress.com/this-is-dogme-95/http://www.thornburyscott.com/assets/dancing%20in%20dark.pdfhttp://bukkym15m16mc.wordpress.com/this-is-dogme-95/http://www.thornburyscott.com/assets/dancing%20in%20dark.pdf


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Appendix -

'uestionnaire

For Example; Comments

What are the learners reactions to Dogme

lesson?

Were the learners seemed engaged in the

lesson? Did the content aid the student

engagement?

Were the text(s)/context relevant to the

students learning needs?

Were the learners able to voice their on

opinions! concerns! desires! experiences!

etc"? Did the teacher provide them ith

the right conditions?

Was the teachers primar# $unction to

maximi%e language learning a$$ordances

b# directing the students attention to

$eatures o$ the target language?

Were there times hen the language

emerged organicall#?

&o did the teacher deal ith it? Was the

board or' clear?

Were the activities interactive?

Did the teacher give the de$initions o$ the

un'non vocabular# immediatel# hen

the students as' or did she give an

example $irst?

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EP Background Essay