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Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy
Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy by H. Douglas Brown is a widely acclaimed methodology text used in teacher education programs around the world. This user-friendly textbook offers a comprehensive survey of practical language teaching options, all firmly anchored in accepted principles of language learning and teaching. End-of-chapter exercises give readers opportunities to process material interactively. Suggested readings direct readers to important books and articles in the field. This second edition of Teaching by Principles features information about such current topics as strategies-based instruction, form-focused instruction, and critical pedagogy and social responsibility; a completely revised section on language assessment; and expanded references.
569 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 10, 2013
Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, by Douglas Brown, is an excellent book for the study or consultation of topics related to the field. I used it in a class that I took at Ohio University and is among the few that I brough back home with me, despite the limitted luggage one can fly with. We studied it from cover to cover. It links concepts from the linguistic and educational sciences beautifully. It´s not precisely a Bible for applied linguistics but somewhat of a summarized encyclopedia, in the best sense of the term.
Want to read
June 9, 2014very interest with this book
January 24, 2016
Nice book but I used to HATE all TEFL books back in university, and more than that I hate myself for studying them (or rather being forced to study them).
October 19, 2023
Congratulations to me! I finished!
So, this edition is definitely different than the edition that I read in grad school. I'm fairly certain that my grad school edition didn't have the final chapter on critical pedagogy. I'm...not entirely sure why it's there in the first place, except to mark something off on some sort of list of 'things that must be in a textbook'. It's tacked on at the end, is not as fully developed as most of the other chapters, has a dearth of cited research as compared to the other chapters, and is not connected to any of the other chapters. All of the other chapters refer back and forth to each other because they are building a logical edifice of what language teaching should be, taking it apart and examining each piece individually and then connecting them back together while explaining how each affects the other. Critical pedagogy is just accepted a priori as a value, and explained without talking about how it connects to anything else in what makes a language teacher a good teacher.
I thought that was pretty interesting. Why is it just accepted? Why does everyone nod and agree that they should be agents of change? Why hasn't there been research showing that to teach in this manner is more effective than teaching in a non agent of change manner?
Also pretty interesting was the conflation of critical pedagogy and critical thinking. I'm not sure if Brown thinks they are the same thing or not, but they aren't. Critical thinking is the ability to look at a subject from all sides and form your own opinion on it, one that is influenced by what others have thought, but one that is created from the bottom up by your own thought process.
Critical pedagogy on the other hand is all about power relationships. Who has it, who doesn't, who should have it, and how we should give it to them.
I guess an easy way to put it is that critical thinking is internally aimed. The whole goal is to examine your own thinking process and find holes in it and then reformulate to account for those holes. It's inherently an individual process. Critical pedagogy is externally aimed, the goal is to examine narratives, find holes in them, and then reformulate those narratives in a way that empowers those groups that are powerless. It's inherently a group process.
That sounds okay. But, I don't think we as teachers should be focused on empowering groups that are powerless. Some groups are powerless for good reason. I think, for instance, that polygamists should remain powerless. I don't think that they are disenfranchised, simply because society frowns upon having multiple spouses. There are greater ethical concerns than some people not being able to live the life that they want to. Correcting disempowerment is not the highest moral and ethical imperative. It kind of gets treated that way in this book, and in most other books that embrace the critical worldview.
The thing that most interests me about the critical pedagogical view is that it focuses on changing others and changing systems. But it focuses on changing others and systems because they are presented as morally and ethically wrong, without ever really delving into why those systems exist in the first place. Do they serve a function? Would society be better or worse off if we dismantle that system? That isn't discussed, or even dealt with at all. I mean, personally, I think in a utopian world we should all be able to dispense our own medicine and not have to go through a pharmacy, but I'm not advocating that we just get rid of pharmacies all together. They exist for reasons, and we shouldn't dismantle them unless we understand those reasons and have ensured that whatever system we build afterward addresses those issues better than the original system.
I guess if you had to boil it down, critical pedagogy is too utopian. It's very good at diagnosing problems. And very good at riling up people to get rid of the problems, but then it considers it's work done. It never actually solved the problems.
Well, that, and that it's other focused. I think trying to change others ultimately ends up having to be enforced through violence, and thus is not necessarily true change. The desired behavior is only continued while its enforced. The only true change is that which is internal and involves me changing myself. At least, that's what I think.
Other than the last chapter though, I actually quite liked the book. I definitely got more out of it this time around than I did when I read it in grad school. I remember HATING Brown in grad school. I thought he was incredibly dull, boring, off his rocker, and downright wrong half the time. Well, that reaction was for a different book in the series, the one on language acquisition, but the experience colored my whole experience of Brown. I'm happy to say that this book was quite good and was a good review for me of some concepts that I had let go by the wayside. I felt challenged to become a better teacher in some ways, which I think is a good thing.
So, this edition is definitely different than the edition that I read in grad school. I'm fairly certain that my grad school edition didn't have the final chapter on critical pedagogy. I'm...not entirely sure why it's there in the first place, except to mark something off on some sort of list of 'things that must be in a textbook'. It's tacked on at the end, is not as fully developed as most of the other chapters, has a dearth of cited research as compared to the other chapters, and is not connected to any of the other chapters. All of the other chapters refer back and forth to each other because they are building a logical edifice of what language teaching should be, taking it apart and examining each piece individually and then connecting them back together while explaining how each affects the other. Critical pedagogy is just accepted a priori as a value, and explained without talking about how it connects to anything else in what makes a language teacher a good teacher.
I thought that was pretty interesting. Why is it just accepted? Why does everyone nod and agree that they should be agents of change? Why hasn't there been research showing that to teach in this manner is more effective than teaching in a non agent of change manner?
Also pretty interesting was the conflation of critical pedagogy and critical thinking. I'm not sure if Brown thinks they are the same thing or not, but they aren't. Critical thinking is the ability to look at a subject from all sides and form your own opinion on it, one that is influenced by what others have thought, but one that is created from the bottom up by your own thought process.
Critical pedagogy on the other hand is all about power relationships. Who has it, who doesn't, who should have it, and how we should give it to them.
I guess an easy way to put it is that critical thinking is internally aimed. The whole goal is to examine your own thinking process and find holes in it and then reformulate to account for those holes. It's inherently an individual process. Critical pedagogy is externally aimed, the goal is to examine narratives, find holes in them, and then reformulate those narratives in a way that empowers those groups that are powerless. It's inherently a group process.
That sounds okay. But, I don't think we as teachers should be focused on empowering groups that are powerless. Some groups are powerless for good reason. I think, for instance, that polygamists should remain powerless. I don't think that they are disenfranchised, simply because society frowns upon having multiple spouses. There are greater ethical concerns than some people not being able to live the life that they want to. Correcting disempowerment is not the highest moral and ethical imperative. It kind of gets treated that way in this book, and in most other books that embrace the critical worldview.
The thing that most interests me about the critical pedagogical view is that it focuses on changing others and changing systems. But it focuses on changing others and systems because they are presented as morally and ethically wrong, without ever really delving into why those systems exist in the first place. Do they serve a function? Would society be better or worse off if we dismantle that system? That isn't discussed, or even dealt with at all. I mean, personally, I think in a utopian world we should all be able to dispense our own medicine and not have to go through a pharmacy, but I'm not advocating that we just get rid of pharmacies all together. They exist for reasons, and we shouldn't dismantle them unless we understand those reasons and have ensured that whatever system we build afterward addresses those issues better than the original system.
I guess if you had to boil it down, critical pedagogy is too utopian. It's very good at diagnosing problems. And very good at riling up people to get rid of the problems, but then it considers it's work done. It never actually solved the problems.
Well, that, and that it's other focused. I think trying to change others ultimately ends up having to be enforced through violence, and thus is not necessarily true change. The desired behavior is only continued while its enforced. The only true change is that which is internal and involves me changing myself. At least, that's what I think.
Other than the last chapter though, I actually quite liked the book. I definitely got more out of it this time around than I did when I read it in grad school. I remember HATING Brown in grad school. I thought he was incredibly dull, boring, off his rocker, and downright wrong half the time. Well, that reaction was for a different book in the series, the one on language acquisition, but the experience colored my whole experience of Brown. I'm happy to say that this book was quite good and was a good review for me of some concepts that I had let go by the wayside. I felt challenged to become a better teacher in some ways, which I think is a good thing.
March 19, 2015
A required text for one of my last linguistics classes (thank God!) While interesting, language acquisition studies sometimes are so contradictory and approaches are sometimes at odds with each other. SO FAR, this book forges a middle path, identifying important and useful key elements of language learning while striking new ground,applying new linguistic studies results to old theories to produce new paradigms of thought in L2.
February 15, 2012
Berkenalan dengan buku ini dari mata kuliah Metodologi dan Kur. Pend. Bahasa Inggris bersama Prof Suwarsih Madya di PPs UNY. Sebuah buku yang sangat penting bagi guru Bahasa yang ingin merubah pendekatnnya dalam medidik dan mengajar Bahasa.
Satu hal yng menarik Brown tidak menggunakan istilah teaching dalam bukunya, ia menggunakan kata pedagogy. 12 Prinsip pedagogi yang diajukannya tidak hanya berdimensi kognitif tapi juga memuat aspek afektif dan aspek linguistik.
Satu hal yng menarik Brown tidak menggunakan istilah teaching dalam bukunya, ia menggunakan kata pedagogy. 12 Prinsip pedagogi yang diajukannya tidak hanya berdimensi kognitif tapi juga memuat aspek afektif dan aspek linguistik.
Read
January 14, 2013This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 19, 2009I loved it
February 9, 2016
Our professor described Brown as the "teacher for teachers." I think that sums him up well. A good overview of second language teaching, grounded in experience.
February 9, 2016
It is a great book for teachers
December 8, 2019
Really great textbook! Explains the different theories behind language teaching and gives activities to incorporate into the classroom.
Read
March 25, 2012learning
October 5, 2023
Although I am not going into the ESL teaching profession, I did have to take a class to satisfy a linguistics requirement for my graduate program and I chose the ESL methodology class, and this was our textbook. It is hands down a fantastic textbook! It really gives the reader an excellent insight into the world of ESL. This book covers all of the main tenants of ESL teaching and what is required to be successful in implementing ESL curriculum (it is harder than one would think). I really felt that after reading it I gained considerable knowledge of this area and know what it takes to teach ESL. What is wonderful about this book is that it also delves into classroom dynamics and real-life issues teachers face in ESL classrooms (ex: political discussions, having people who have differing opinions, adjusting to new cultures and the challenges that come with it, etc.). Overall, I would definitely recommend this textbook.
January 13, 2014
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-1/11/2014
7word summary technique material objective mechanical meaningful communicative text
Discussion Question
What do you think is the most important skill of 4 skills?
I think that reading is the most important because learners, at first, learn English by reading books.Input is a necessary component to acquire languages
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-12/29/2013=120 minutes
7word summary- curriculum design goals guideline revise teach analyze
Discussion Quetion
How should curriculum be made?
I think that needs of learners are important. They have each goal, and are motivate if the curriculum is matched to thier learning.
Teachers provide education to learners, so they should consider what is needed or not by observing them carefully.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-11/17=90minutes
7 word summary task learner centered cooperative interactive whole content
Discussion Question
Do you have your best teaching style?
I learned a lot of approaches about teaching English, but I do not have it. In order to find it, I think that experiences of teaching in actual situation and knowledge about teaching are very important. By mixing them, I will find my best teaching style and perform it with confidence.
Dairy learning leads to improve our abilities. This book told me about it.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-11/10/2013=90minutes
7word summary-communicative theory practice teaching appropriate discover stockpile
Discussion Question
What do you think about the best English teaching in Japan?
It is the fusion of grammar translation method and communicative approach. There are various merits and demerits, and teachers, at first, should understand them in their classes.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-10/12/2013=40minutes,10/13/2013=40minutes
7words summary learning interactive cooperative education instruction task methodology
Discussion Question
Do you think that learning with your friends is effective?
I think that it is better than learning alone. By doing so, we will be motivated due to my friends. They are my rivals, and rivals are very important to continue to learn for a long time.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-10/2/2013=60minutes
7words summary audiolingual communicative method approach grammar translation no
Discussion Question
If you are a teacher, what do you do in your English classes.
This question is very simple, but imnportant. It is because something is decided by what teachers actually do in thier class. In my case, I would like students to enjoy learning English, so I want to use many themes which they are interested in.
Considering some facters which influence your classes is necessary to make classes better. I noticed it from this book.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-7/21/2013=80minutes
7words summary teaching children adult older learners ages learning
Discussion Question
What do you think about introducing teaching English to elementary school?
This is one topic we discussed when we were freshman, but very complecated topic. I think that it is better rather than not introduce teaching English, but I also think that much time is needed to acquire skills of communication by using foreign languages.
This book will give you a lot of suggestion to your idea of how to teach English. You should read it.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-7/12/2013=60minutes
7words summary motivation intrinsic extrinsic school curriculum classroom language
Discussion Question
Is it necessary for people to have good motivation to learn L2?
I do not think that it is necessary for people to have it, but it leads to more smooth learning of languages. Having it is better.
Motivation is related to study many things, including language learning. Teachers should make interesting classes for students because teachers can motivate students in "schools".
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-7/4/2013
7word summary audiolingual communicative method approach mistakes task cooperative
Discussion Question
Are some mistakes good for students?
I think that making mistakes is a good thing for students because they learn many things from them.
Teachers should make such environment in schools.
Language teaching is related to education in a lot of points. You can get them by reading this book.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-6/29/2013=90minutes
7word summary methodical translation direct audiolingual community suggestpedia TPR
Discussion question
Do you think that teachers need to have their original teacher style?
Yes. In my case, I would like my students to interact each other by using English if I become a English teacher,student-student. If so, they will be relax and natural.
Teaching styles are a very important factor of second language acquisition,so teachers should know how they influence students' learning.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-6/22/2013=60minutes
7 words summary-teaching principles teachers improvement lesson theory practice
Discussion Question
How can we use theory and practice about teaching English?
I think that both of them are important, so teachers try many methods and apporoaches while they learn about theories.
This is one book for teachers. To improve your teaching skills now, you should read it. Great book!!
Teaching by Principles
Time-1/11/2014
7word summary technique material objective mechanical meaningful communicative text
Discussion Question
What do you think is the most important skill of 4 skills?
I think that reading is the most important because learners, at first, learn English by reading books.Input is a necessary component to acquire languages
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-12/29/2013=120 minutes
7word summary- curriculum design goals guideline revise teach analyze
Discussion Quetion
How should curriculum be made?
I think that needs of learners are important. They have each goal, and are motivate if the curriculum is matched to thier learning.
Teachers provide education to learners, so they should consider what is needed or not by observing them carefully.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-11/17=90minutes
7 word summary task learner centered cooperative interactive whole content
Discussion Question
Do you have your best teaching style?
I learned a lot of approaches about teaching English, but I do not have it. In order to find it, I think that experiences of teaching in actual situation and knowledge about teaching are very important. By mixing them, I will find my best teaching style and perform it with confidence.
Dairy learning leads to improve our abilities. This book told me about it.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-11/10/2013=90minutes
7word summary-communicative theory practice teaching appropriate discover stockpile
Discussion Question
What do you think about the best English teaching in Japan?
It is the fusion of grammar translation method and communicative approach. There are various merits and demerits, and teachers, at first, should understand them in their classes.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-10/12/2013=40minutes,10/13/2013=40minutes
7words summary learning interactive cooperative education instruction task methodology
Discussion Question
Do you think that learning with your friends is effective?
I think that it is better than learning alone. By doing so, we will be motivated due to my friends. They are my rivals, and rivals are very important to continue to learn for a long time.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-10/2/2013=60minutes
7words summary audiolingual communicative method approach grammar translation no
Discussion Question
If you are a teacher, what do you do in your English classes.
This question is very simple, but imnportant. It is because something is decided by what teachers actually do in thier class. In my case, I would like students to enjoy learning English, so I want to use many themes which they are interested in.
Considering some facters which influence your classes is necessary to make classes better. I noticed it from this book.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-7/21/2013=80minutes
7words summary teaching children adult older learners ages learning
Discussion Question
What do you think about introducing teaching English to elementary school?
This is one topic we discussed when we were freshman, but very complecated topic. I think that it is better rather than not introduce teaching English, but I also think that much time is needed to acquire skills of communication by using foreign languages.
This book will give you a lot of suggestion to your idea of how to teach English. You should read it.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
time-7/12/2013=60minutes
7words summary motivation intrinsic extrinsic school curriculum classroom language
Discussion Question
Is it necessary for people to have good motivation to learn L2?
I do not think that it is necessary for people to have it, but it leads to more smooth learning of languages. Having it is better.
Motivation is related to study many things, including language learning. Teachers should make interesting classes for students because teachers can motivate students in "schools".
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-7/4/2013
7word summary audiolingual communicative method approach mistakes task cooperative
Discussion Question
Are some mistakes good for students?
I think that making mistakes is a good thing for students because they learn many things from them.
Teachers should make such environment in schools.
Language teaching is related to education in a lot of points. You can get them by reading this book.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-6/29/2013=90minutes
7word summary methodical translation direct audiolingual community suggestpedia TPR
Discussion question
Do you think that teachers need to have their original teacher style?
Yes. In my case, I would like my students to interact each other by using English if I become a English teacher,student-student. If so, they will be relax and natural.
Teaching styles are a very important factor of second language acquisition,so teachers should know how they influence students' learning.
PEARSON Longman
Teaching by Principles
Time-6/22/2013=60minutes
7 words summary-teaching principles teachers improvement lesson theory practice
Discussion Question
How can we use theory and practice about teaching English?
I think that both of them are important, so teachers try many methods and apporoaches while they learn about theories.
This is one book for teachers. To improve your teaching skills now, you should read it. Great book!!
May 2, 2018
It didn't all suck. Some parts were helpful reminders. Most wasn't. This is an inflated 3 as all graduate school related reading is assumed to be completely useless. This had its moments of mediocrity.
June 23, 2019
its very important
Read
March 20, 2020how can Iç
get it without a credit card¿
get it without a credit card¿
January 2, 2021
Outdated and intentionally limiting.
April 10, 2021
This book like a handbook for all aspiring EFL teachers. Very useful book which consists of many instructions on how to teach each language skills and what methods to use.
April 29, 2023
Read this for school.
Read
November 23, 2024it was a textbook, but pretty well structured I guess
Read
September 3, 2025Read this as part of my MA in TESOL programme.
February 23, 2017
So much to learn and apply from this book. It provides insights of the classroom possible scenarios and language acquisition items in a very practical and academical way a the same time.
Read
July 21, 2015Used by Coalition for Teacher Training for ESL Course 1 and for ESL Course 2, in conjunction with handouts from and referrals to other sources. A classmate in ESL Course 2 showed me his Second Edition book, which he said (and I verified) is significantly lengthier and includes more details than the Third Edition.
August 3, 2011
nothing earth shattering, but a good book of ideas and how to's for those getting started in TESOL. There may be some ideas you haven't thought of in here or a method to teach some aspect of ESL, but most things I learned from somewhere else. It was a good refresher though.
January 5, 2018
Meh. It was well writtem, but poorly taught ironically. A well written text book that did not rerflect the teaching skills of its heralds. Apparently, Critical reading and comprehension was not the instiututions's' strong suit.
February 9, 2013
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March 4, 2016
It has many insights in the field of teaching English as a Foreign/ second Language. It includes many topics for research.
June 18, 2016
Amazing book for my friend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews