A Review of the Use of Dogme ELT Method in Speaking Skills

Abstract

English language skills have been taught through certain teaching methods as well as approaches. Dogme ELT method is one of the methods that can be regarded as an effective and result-oriented method for speaking skills. Speaking is an essential skill in all forms of communication. This is a review paper which presents the use of a recent ELT method, Dogme ELT for teaching language skills. The paper includes the analytical and critical discussion of using Dogme ELT, particularly for speaking skills. Additionally, it represents the learning attitudes of students toward Dogme ELT as well as the effectiveness of the method in classroom techniques. The paper adopted content analysis as the data analysis method. The contents of previous studies were analyzed; Dogme ELT and its effectiveness. Ten (10) articles were selected for analysis after screening the abstracts and the findings of the papers. The results depicted that Dogme ELT method is an effective method to improve EFL learners' speaking skills and to enhance classroom techniques which included students’ engagement in the lessons, discussions, interactions and rapport buildings in the ESL classroom.

Keywords: Dogme ELT, speaking, attitude, techniques

Introduction

English is a global language, and speaking is the most significant skill in order to convey the message and communicate appropriately in all fields of life. Since the beginning of teaching history, the mostly used methods, such as the Grammar translation method, focused on mastering vocabulary and grammar rules by translating them into the first language (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). The direct method was practiced to use the target language, and the learner practiced grammar concepts (Dinçay, 2010). Then in 1960, the Audio-Lingual Method was introduced, where the learners learn the language by habit formation, and grammar was not much focused. After that, there was the situational Language Teaching Approach which aimed to help learners learn the language by repetition of certain structures, but it was not result-oriented (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Next, the silent way was introduced in 1970, simple linguistic situation was created under the complete control of the teachers where the learners uttered the word about the object they saw and mostly relied on the teachers. Another method was Desuggestopedia which allows learners to learn language through arts, dialogue, and translation. In Desuggestopedia, the teacher assumes the role of authority, and learners are helped as, if they are children (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Later the communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) emphasized the practice of target language through interaction with teachers and respective learners. It focuses on fluency, while accuracy is under-valued, and it gives little value to grammar and context.

Even though English language learners have used most of the renowned methods for conversation but their speaking skill is still not up to a satisfactory level, and they still lack vocabulary and grammar (Yanti & Nurhidayah, 2022). The speaking skill has not been focused much as compared to reading and writing, which are the major foci; very slight or no systematic consideration has been paid to speaking or listening (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). The principal author’s observation of teaching at Majmaah University found that the students perform well in academic speaking tests, but they have an issue when they need to use English to communicate in daily life situation. Recently, a study carried out by Abdalgane et al. (2023) on Saudi EFL learners depicted that Saudi EFL learners lack effective communication skills. The conversation is fundamental form of language to conduct human affairs and learners feel the need of learning conversation in the class.

Thornbury and Meddings in 2000, English language teacher-trainers in Spain, generated the idea of the Dogme ELT from the philosophy of the Dogme 95 film. They fetched it as a symbol of the method of teaching English that trainers should adopt. Dogme 95 was basically a filmmaking movement that challenged the films' reliance on special effects through fantasy, technical ‘wizardry,’ and props and sets. Instead of focusing on imitation of film recordings, the actual story, scenes, and their relevance should be recorded and presented to the audience. Subsequently, the Dogme ELT practitioners challenged the dependency on materials and technology in second language teaching (Jeyaraj, 2017). Thornbury and Meddings in 2009, enhanced the Dogme ELT method and wrote 'Teaching Unplugged', a comprehensive guide for teaching English. The Dogme ELT is also known as teaching unplugged method, which has been adopted in various studies. Abdalgane et al. (2023) carried out a study on Dogme ELT method to improve the speaking skills of Saudi Arabian EFL learners, and the outcomes were very effective and encouraging. Dogme ELT is significantly important for improving speaking skills and classroom techniques such as rapport buildings and interactions. In order to improve the learners' productive skills (speaking and writing), Dogme ELT can be efficient and result oriented when it is applied in writing classes (Amjad et al., 2019). The EFL teachers appreciated the use of Dogme ELT method in oral classes as the method aims to be a conversation-driven and emergent language (Daguiani & Chelli, 2020).

The Dogme ELT is an effective method to enhance learners’ conversation skills as well as their self-confidence because of their personal interest-based topics. Additionally, the learners seemed to be more motivated, enthusiastic, and productive when the Dogme ELT method was adopted to teach English (Mohamed, 2019). Dogme has been significantly used in ELT classes to improve the student's oral skills; thus, the students remained high achievers because of the approach and its concepts. Dogme ELT method encourages classroom strategies and enhances learning procedures, such as discussion, students' interest-based topics, and liberty from the alien syllabus and materials. The material that students bring to the class will be used, but not the previously recorded material. The teacher sits and monitors when needed, and the question is from real-life situations. The topics is suggested by the students, grading is not allowed while students are doing tasks, the testing procedure is negotiated, and the tasks is based on students’ interaction in the classroom (Thornbury, 2000).

The Dogme ELT has been appreciated and adopted by the EFL community at a very limited level; nonetheless, it is result oriented and much effective for English-speaking skills. Dogme ELT is a movement for teaching English and an innovative learner-centered methodology that emphasizes the interaction between teachers and learners and among the learners themselves (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009). It is an alternative approach to traditional language teaching, which completely focuses on speaking skills. Thornbury introduced this approach in 2000, 'A Dogma for EFL' and he gave an idea against the English language teaching by any supportive published materials or electronic gadgets that hijacked learning. Dogme is a movement rather than a method, or it can be techniques and procedures for teaching language (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009). It argues that classrooms had been highly occupied by published or recorded materials such as "copious photocopies, workbooks, tapes, tape-scripts, flashcards, transparencies, and technological gimmicks". Dogme ELT encourages teaching which depends on conversational communication rather than the published textbooks in the teaching-learning environment that assists the learners to learn from their personal experiences and interests. It assists language to emerge from the learners' perspectives. The learning is based on the students' active participation with spontaneous responses. Furthermore, the method develops classroom teaching techniques such as students’ engagement in the tasks, more peer interaction, and fewer teacher-centered.

There are three core concepts of Dogme: “(1) conversation-driven, (2) materials light, and (3) focus on emergent language” (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009, p. 8). They make the method more effective than other methods; they focus on the oral proficiency of the learner. The conversation-driven concept may assist the student in communicating in the class on the topic of their choice. Meaningful conversation concept is one of the vital features among humans to exchange information for social interaction and discussion. Hence, the students have an opportunity to communicate while conducting conversation-driven practices. The material light idea encourages teaching without published material in the Dogme ELT lessons. Material plays a vital role in learning; thus, the material (published Books and syllabus) from other cultures might be seen as alien for learners “if not truly to burn coursebooks, but at least to eliminate them from the classrooms” (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009, p. 11). The emergent language belief is the development of the learners' speaking skills which the teacher pays special attention on the language during the class observation.

When the material is chosen by the learners, then the it motivates and encourages them to participate in class and accelerate the pace of their learning. Consequently, the learners' engagement in real and natural interactions and teacher scaffolding make them proficient speakers. Dogme ELT method can be effective because of its natural approach, student interest base topics, and student-centered classes. In addition, their involvement in direct interactions, light material concepts, and emerging language content enables them to achieve accuracy and proficiency goal. The author’s observation and previous studies revealed that Saudi EFL learners need to be proficient in speaking skills comparatively. Besides, Saudi EFL learners lack fluency when communicating in English (Khan et al., 2018). In order to contribute in this field, the principal author will conduct a study on the effectiveness of Dogme ELT method in the communication skills classes at Majmaah University in Saudi Arabia.

Problem Statement

Speaking skill is not newly developed or emerged area but a vital skill for the sake of communication and interaction among the human beings. In the perspective of teaching English speaking in the second language, various methods have been adopted but the speaking skill of the students’ still need improvement. The goals of fluency and accuracy have not been achieved. Various studies from the globe have revealed this fact; the study conducted by Alrasheedi (2020) on Saudi EFL learners find out that the speaking skills for Saudi EFL learners is challenging because of less attention toward the oral skill. The authors’ observation in the ELT field since last 12 year were supported by the research papers as the Saudi EFL learners are lacking proper environment hence they are not fluent in English speaking (Ali et al., 2019). English is an official language in Pakistan but the learners are not capable of effective communication in English language (Ali et al., 2020). According to the Dogme ELT core claim the conversation is fundamental, universal and natural form of any language. While teaching with Dogme conversation is focused and learner natural conversation is included (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009). Dogme ELT method can be an effective method to achieve the target of fluency and accuracy of EFL learners. Furthermore, the studies conducted while teaching with Dogme ELT proved that this method is effective for oral skill improvement Abdalgane et al. (2023) and speaking competencies (Mohamed, 2019). This method encourages the conversation among learner where the learners use the material of their choices. The teachers’ role is a scaffolder and a facilitator.

The students’ positive attitude plays a vital role in learning while the less motivated classes are hard to manage and achieve the targets. One of the factors that affects the Saudi EFL learners speaking skills is lack of interest and motivation (Ali et al., 2019). Internal factors such as nervousness and negative attitude of learners cause low English language proficiency. Additionally, the students less chance of speaking and lack of discussion and practice are the main causes for ESL learners low efficacy in classroom (Zrekat & Al-Sohbani, 2022). While teaching with Dogme ELT method the learning is always jointly constructed out of the learners and teachers talk (Thornbury & Meddings, 2009). Thus, Dogme ELT keeps learners motivated engage them well and provides a natural environment. In the Dogme integrated lessons the learners feel free to communicate and conversate with other peers and have an enough exposure to target language in the classroom. The language is a dynamic system and the learners in the Dogme ELT class are not restricted to follow a similar pattern or the frame but to use the material of their interest in the class activities. The follower of the Dogme ELT method have the belief that conversation should not be an outcome of learning, but essential for learning to occur. The conversation driven idea allows learners bringing the coherent ideas instead of irrelevant fragments or sentences.

After reviewing the last decade articles on Dogme ELT, it has been proposed that Dogme ELT can be an effective and a result-oriented method for teaching speaking skills which focuses on conversation, motivates the learners, enhances engagement in classroom techniques. Therefore, the author will conduct an experimental study to assess the efficacy of the Dogme ELT method in enhancing Saudi college students speaking proficiency. Consequently, the research work may benefit other ESL learners and instructors around the globe.

Research Questions

On the bases of the study the following question has been formulated: how is Dogme ELT able to improve students’ speaking skills in the ESL classroom? What is the students’ attitude towards Dogme ELT while learning oral skills? and how does Dogme ELT enhance classroom techniques?

Purpose of the Study

The main purposes of this study are: To examine the improvement in the speaking skills of EFL Learners by using Dogme ELT, to investigate EFL learners’ attitudes towards the use of Dogme ELT in the ESL classroom and to explore the efficacy of Dogme ELT in the classrooms’ techniques

Research Methods

Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct databases have been searched to collect the content of the past five (5) years' papers regarding the use of Dogme ELT in EFL classrooms. The search terms were; Dogme ELT, Dogme in EFL classroom, EFL learners speaking skill, Dogme ELT and classroom techniques and communication. The articles were the recent research studies; publication date ranges from 2018 to 2023. The purpose of this study is to review the use of Dogme ELT method and its impact on the learners in the ESL speaking skills. Hence, the author chose the most impactful sources which focused on Dogme ELT method used for EFL learners speaking skills particularly and other skills generally. The author reviewed ten (10) papers thoroughly which carried out the studies on Dogme ELT in EFL classrooms. The selection of the articles is based on the following criteria: articles published in reputable journals and (2) application of Dogme ELT method for EFL learners’ oral skills especially, other skills generally, and the attitude of learners towards Dogme ELT method.

Findings

In this study, the author extensively evaluated ten (10) research papers that are found to be focused on the subject being investigated in the last five (5) year by several researchers. The results and discussion are presented according to the formulated research questions. The authors’ purpose is to find out the effectiveness of Dogme ELT method in the Speaking classes from the previous studies. According to Thornbury and Meddings (2009) Dogme ELT involves the learners in phatic communication in the classroom. The learners get involved in real communication while conversating with peers and interact naturally when they bring the material of their interests to the classroom. They feel involved with real communication based on their personal objectives with the relevant resources. The language emerges from real talk instead of teaching the learners by drilling, memorizing or translation the text.

Conclusion

After reviewing the ten (10) papers on Dogme ELT method, it is concluded that the EFL lessons presented with Dogme ELT method have assisted learners in improving their oral proficiency and kept the students motivated to participate enthusiastically in the EFL classes. Furthermore, Dogme ELT keeps students active, energetic and motivated while learning in a natural like environment. The attitude of the students towards learning English language skills through Dogme ELT is fairly positive and encouraging. The students enjoy the lessons with the Dogme ELT methods because of its three-concepts; conversation-driven, material light and focus on emergent language. It helps learners in peers and autonomous learnings. It is a result-oriented method that improves the students' scores in speaking skills. The method has proven to boost learners’ engagement in the classes, increases interactivity among the learners and teachers, and develop learners’ critical thinking. During the Dogme ELT lessons, teachers need to be spontaneous and alert to answer the students’ questions and scaffold at any situation.

Three core concepts of Dogme ELT (conversation-driven, material light and focus on emergent language) allows the learners to participate in the class conversations well, using the material of their interests in the class and make them more creative and productive in speaking. The learners feel more confident to participate in the classroom activities and discussions while learning with Dogme ELT method. The production stage in Dogme ELT lessons provides the authentic communication. The author recommends using Dogme ELT for teaching speaking skills because of its effectiveness and easily applicable to the EFL classes. In addition, the author proposes adopting Dogme ELT in school for supportive tasks in conversation classes to liberate young learners from printed and electronic material. Although, it is not advisable to integrate technology when using Dogme ELT, nevertheless, it can make students become exposed to learning about the 21st century (Ali, 2022).

The findings derived from the previous researches can be assistive for teacher trainers, syllabi designers, and educationists in discussing the Dogme ELT from several perspectives, such as psychological, educational, linguistic, and social. Furthermore, it is recommended to apply Dogme ELT principles on larger samples, determine the advantages and disadvantages of using Dogme ELT, engagement of learners during Dogme ELT lesson, test the effectiveness of Dogme ELT for other skills, and examine Dogme in diverse cultures. Finally, the studies also suggest investigating material light and material-free teaching, experimental research, and integration of Dogme ELT with other methods. Dogme ELT can be an effective method for teaching conversation classes, motivating students’ learning environment and enhanced classroom techniques. However, it has some limitations which needs to be addressed such as, Dogme ELT effectiveness for young learner, Dogme based lesson and classroom management, fresh teachers’ attitude towards Dogme and lessons without lesson plan. Young learners are not capable enough to choose material of their interest and freedom in the class which may lead to mismanagement. Furthermore, the novice or inexperienced teachers may not feel confident to teach the class without coursebooks, materials and audio-visual aids. The Dogme ELT encourages to teach without a proper lesson plan and teacher helps the learners by scaffolding them from the beginning to the end of lesson. On the other hand, without proper lesson plan the time management may be difficult for the teachers in the class. More freedom for learners in the large classes may be a challenge for the teachers.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank University of Malaysia Pahang for supporting this research and publication. We would also like to thank the I-RoLE conference management, reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. The contribution of authors; Conceptualization, I.A. and Z.A.; methodology, I.A., Z.A. and E.N.; validation, Z.A. and E.N.; formal analysis, I.A., Z.A. and E.N.; investigation, I.A., Z.A. and E.N.; resources, I.A; data curation, Z.A. and E.N.; writing—original draft preparation, I.A. and Z.A.; writing—review and editing, I.A., Z.A. and E.N.; supervision, Z.A.; project administration, Z.A.; funding acquisition, Z.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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