English Time
According to the teaching philosophy called Dogme, yes it is! Scott Thornbury invented Dogme to put the learner back into learning. He found that too many lesson plans, textbooks and workbooks invaded the lesson where the learner no longer remained the focus of the lesson. Conversation is seen as central to language learning within the Dogme framework. The thinking behind it is that students learn when they feel involved and interested in the subject. It is the interaction between the learner and the teacher. Dogme is seen to reflect Tharp’s view that “to most truly teach, one must converse; to truly converse is to teach”.
A Dogme classroom is a textbook free zone. To a certain extent we could say that a Dogme space is a classroom free zone as we know it. All language used should be ‘real’ language and so have a communicative purpose. Grammar work should arise naturally during the lesson and should not be the driving force behind it.
In summary, Dogme asks teachers to do more with less. Certainly an interesting philosphy for the higher level learners but impractical for the lower level who depend highly on the teacher for input.