Browsing by Author "Herath, H.M.U.K."

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Post-method Pedagogy: Contextualized Methods for Productive Teaching and Learning
(International Conference on Business and Information (ICBI – 2019), [Education], Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2019) Herath, H.M.U.K.
With the emergence of Kumaravadivelu’s post-method pedagogy, favoring one method after the other is no longer acknowledged by the English language teaching practitioners. Instead, using contextualized methods has come abreast with the needs of the particular learning setups worldwide. This situation warranted for investigating the problem why contextualized methods selected based on Post-method concepts are significant in current ELT scenario and how they pave the path for productive teaching and learning. Using a multi-method approach with questionnaire with Likert scale, an in-depth interview, observation with reflection and a sample of 200 English language learners in a higher educational institute, this study aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of context sensitive methods for productive learning based on the three parameters; particularity, practicality and possibility introduced by Kumaravadivelu in his Post-method pedagogy, which is a call for more teacher and learner autonomy. This study found that contextualized learning methods; materials and strategies used based on above three parameters were more effective in enhancing the learner competency and paved the path for empowerment of the teacher. It was finally concluded that contextualized methods used based on post-method parameters promote productive teaching and learning. Further, this study recommends that teachers should consider their own particular contexts when selecting the teaching methods, while striving to develop themselves as theorists, considering the sociopolitical experiences the students bring to the language learning context.
A Postmethod Pedagogy; Reality or Fallacy in Enhancing Teacher Growth: Special Focus on Higher Education in Sri Lanka
(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Herath, H.M.U.K.
Postmethod pedagogy, emerged as an alternative to the concept of method and method based pedagogy which consists of so many limitations, basically focuses on the professional growth of the teachers in ESL teaching and learning context. Stern‟s three dimensional framework and Kumaravadivelu‟s Macro-strategic framework drawn from “theoretical, empirical and experiential knowledge” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, p. 185) are the main concepts included in the postmethod pedagogy. It prioritises teachers‟ potentials by accentuating their experiences as teachers, parents/caretakers and students (Prabhu, 1990), which are underestimated in the implementation of existing methods. The knowledge of the existing methods and, the experiences and the frameworks the teachers have acquired and built can be exploited to construct their own methods and thus, they can act as evaluators, observers, critical thinkers, theorisers and practitioners. Postmethod pedagogy is crucial for teacher growth since it involves teachers constructing “classroom-oriented” theories of practice (Kumaravadivelu, 1994, p. 29) This, in turn, makes them valuable sources for prospective teachers and their colleagues leading to professional growth (Kumaravadivelu, 2006). The present critical paper is therefore written in an attempt to see whether postmethod pedagogy is fully capable of building the professional growth of the teachers in the ESL contexts of higher education in Sri Lanka. The author concludes that postmethod pedagogy when applied effectively allows to enhance the teacher growth which is one of the ultimate objectives of the pedagogy.