A Learner-Centred Approach to the Teaching of English as an L2

Abstract

Though there are different ways of teaching English as a second language, they can be divided into two broad categories: the teacher-centred way and the learner-centred one. For centuries, the former has been the norm in L2 classrooms, but things seem to have gradually changed in the last two or three decades. This paper tries to trace the development of learner-centred teaching since its birth in the 1980s, and to examine how it has been used and how teachers and researchers have reacted to its implementation in second language formal or academic teaching. It also aims at pointing out the main roots and ideas of this approach to second language teaching as well as the consequences it may have both on teachers and learners in terms of behaviour and skills needed.