Professor Jack C. Richards

The official website of educator Jack C Richards

Common mistakes in language teaching methodologies

What common mistakes have you noticed in the application of language teaching methodologies in non‑English‑speaking countries?

Several recurring patterns appear across many non‑English‑speaking contexts (though not everywhere or in the same way). A central issue is the tendency to import teaching methods without adapting them to local realities. Some common mistakes include the following:

1. Treating methodology as fashion rather than principle
Schools may claim to adopt CLT, TBLT, or other modern approaches by name, while:

  • syllabuses remain largely grammar‑translation based
  • exams continue to test discrete grammar items and vocabulary

As a result, teachers add occasional pair work or games and label them “communicative,” while the underlying system remains unchanged.

2. Ignoring exam washback
High‑stakes exams often reward grammatical accuracy, translation, and multiple‑choice reading comprehension.
At the same time, schools claim to follow communicative or task‑based approaches.
This mismatch pushes teachers to “teach to the test,” turning CLT into a superficial add‑on and frustrating both teachers and students.

3. Over‑reliance on L1—or banning it entirely
In some contexts, most explanation and practice take place in learners’ L1, with the target language limited to example sentences.
In reaction, other institutions enforce a strict “English only” policy, even when L1 could efficiently support comprehension or contrastive analysis.
Both extremes ignore research supporting the judicious use of L1 to support—not replace—L2 learning.

4. Misunderstanding “communicative” as unstructured free chatting
CLT is sometimes reduced to open conversation or games with little input, weak task design, and no focus on form.
Lower‑proficiency learners may flounder, produce very little language, or repeatedly fossilize errors.
Effective CLT includes structured input, clear outcomes, scaffolding, and targeted feedback.

5. Neglecting systematic grammar and vocabulary development
In reaction against grammar‑translation methods, some programs under‑teach form, assuming learners will “pick it up naturally.”
With limited exposure (e.g., two or three hours per week), accuracy often stagnates without planned recycling, noticing, and explanation where appropriate.

6. Implementing methods without adequate teacher training or support
New methodologies are often introduced through a single workshop or a textbook preface.
Teachers lack:

  • sustained, classroom‑based training
  • observation and feedback
  • time to adapt materials

Faced with large classes and heavy curricula, many teachers revert to lecturing and translation because unfamiliar methods feel risky.

7. Copying so‑called “native speaker” models without contextual adaptation
Materials may assume Western, English‑speaking cultural norms and communicative styles (e.g., casual small talk, pub culture, or humor) without mediation.
Learners practice dialogues that do not reflect their realities and may feel the language is not meant for “people like them.”
Intercultural competence and local relevance are often insufficiently addressed.

8. Over‑scripted but under‑interactive lessons
Teachers follow textbooks page by page, and “communicative” activities become scripted role plays with memorized lines.
There is little room for genuine information gaps, negotiation of meaning, or learner choice.
The method appears modern on paper but remains teacher‑fronted in practice.

9. Assessment that contradicts the teaching method
Even when classroom practices are communicative, assessment often relies on:

  • discrete grammar items
  • translation exercises
  • isolated vocabulary lists

This signals to learners that real communication is secondary, while manipulating forms for marks is what truly matters.

10. Underestimating local constraints
Imported methodologies often assume:

  • small classes
  • flexible classroom layouts
  • ample technology and resources

In reality, classes may have 40–60 students, fixed desks, and limited access to technology.
Applying methods “by the book” without adaptation can lead to superficial activities, classroom management issues, and eventual disillusionment.

11. Ignoring learner beliefs and expectations
Many learners and parents equate “serious teaching” with:

  • explicit grammar explanations
  • note‑taking
  • teacher‑led instruction

Sudden shifts to pair work and tasks, without explanation, may be perceived as play or wasted time, leading to resistance or disengagement.

12. Technology use without methodological purpose
Digital tools, apps, or AI are sometimes introduced as novelties:

  • drill‑heavy apps replace richer practice
  • AI translators are used to complete homework

Without strategy training or integration into pedagogy, technology becomes an end in itself rather than a means to support learning.

In summary, effective methodology requires adaptation to local exams, class sizes, cultures, and resources; alignment between teaching and assessment; sustained teacher development; and transparent communication with learners about why classroom practices are changing.

Methods, Research, Speaking, Teaching, Tips

Factors in designing a meaningful curriculum

What factors, in your view, make language learning truly meaningful and lasting when designing a curriculum?

Three key factors make language learning meaningful and long‑lasting at the curriculum level:

1. Clear, lived purposes for using the language
Curriculum outcomes should be defined in terms of what learners can do communicatively, rather than only what they “know” (such as grammar lists or vocabulary sets).
Learning content should connect to learners’ real lives, goals, and identities—for example, study abroad, professional needs, hobbies, community participation, or academic fields.
Tasks should mirror real‑world language use, such as emailing a professor, solving problems collaboratively, participating in online forums, or understanding media that learners genuinely care about.

2. Rich input and frequent output, organized over time
Learners need repeated exposure to language in varied, meaningful contexts—stories, videos, conversations, and projects—rather than isolated or decontextualized drills.
The curriculum should be spiral in nature, with key grammar and vocabulary recycled across units at increasing levels of complexity instead of being taught once and forgotten.
Planned opportunities for speaking and writing are essential, as they require learners to retrieve and recombine language, which strengthens long‑term retention.

3. Support for autonomy, reflection, and learner identity
Learners should be given choices within the curriculum framework (topics, texts, or projects), fostering ownership and motivation.
Reflection should be built into the curriculum through learning journals, “can‑do” self‑assessments, goal‑setting, progress check‑ins, and noticing strategies (e.g., “How did you understand that?”).
The curriculum should affirm learners’ first language(s) and cultures, presenting the new language as an addition to their identity rather than a replacement.

Additional curriculum design elements that enhance impact include:

  • integrated‑skills instruction (reading, listening, speaking, and writing connected through shared themes)
  • explicit strategy training (guessing meaning from context, note‑taking, asking for clarification)
  • assessment aligned with real language use (projects, portfolios, performances, not only discrete‑item tests)
  • emotional safety combined with challenge, allowing experimentation and error while maintaining rising expectations

In summary, a meaningful and lasting language curriculum is grounded in real communication and personal relevance, recycles language systematically over time, and supports learners in becoming reflective, autonomous users of the language rather than merely successful test‑takers.

Methods, Speaking, Teaching, Teaching Materials, Tips

Assessment and Evaluation

Question:

Submitted by Ahmad Alruhban, Marmara University, Turkey

What is the difference between assessment and evaluation in language teaching?

Dr. Richards responds:

Assessment is a general term referring to procedures that can be used to measure students progress in a course. Tests are one form of assessment but many forms of assessment are not tests, such as observations, interviews, or questionnaires.

Evaluation refers to procedures used to determine the overall effectiveness of a language course, and may involve many different procedures such as interviews with teachers and students as well as classroom observation. Students’ performance on texts may also be used as one component of evaluation.

Assessment, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Translating New Words

Question:

Submitted by Amin

Is it appropriate for an English teacher to translate new words into the students’ mother tongue? If so, how much and how many words?

Dr. Richards responds:

Translating new words into the mother tongue is sometimes an obvious and useful strategy when students encounter unknown words in a text. However, before deciding to use translation the teacher should ask:
How important is this word in the text?
Is it a word that the students will need for active use or simply for recognition?
Is it a low frequency word that the students are unlikely to need and that they may not encounter often again?

If the teacher decides that the word is useful and important, he or she should also ask:
Can the meaning of the word be inferred from the context or because it is similar to a word in the students’ mother tongue?
Can the students make an intelligent guess about the meaning of the word?
Can they check the meaning of the word in their dictionary?

If after reviewing the options the teacher decides that translation is a quick and effective way of introducing a new and useful word, the students can write the translation of the word on the margin of the text or in their workbook.

If it is a low frequency and not very useful word, quickly provide the translation and move on.

In the classroom, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Grammar-Translation Method and The Direct Method

Question:

Submitted by 孙赫, Luoyang Normal University, China

  1. What are the teachers’ role and the students’ role in Grammar-Translation Method and The Direct Method?
  2. What are some common classroom activities in Grammar-Translation Method and The Direct Method?

Dr. Richards responds:

Grammar translation:
Teacher’s role: to provide translation of new grammatical items, to answer students’ questions about the meaning of items, to monitor students’ work for grammatical accuracy, to develop translation activities:
Students’ role: to learn and practice grammar rules, to try out new grammar items in spone and written texts
Common classroom activities: translation of sentences from one language to another: writing sentences using the new grammar

Direct method:
Teacher’s role: to present new items through the use of questions and demonstration, to monitor students’ production for accuracy, to avoid use of the mother tongue
Students’ role: to listen and repeat, to ask and answer questions
Common classroom activities: drills and repetition activities: question and answer activities

Activities, In the classroom, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Principles of the Eclectic Approach

Question:

Tina, Ridgeway Campus UNZA, Zambia

What are the principles of the eclectic approach?

Dr. Richards responds:

The term “eclectic approach” refers to a teaching approach that is not based on a single method (e.g. task-based teaching, or CLIL) but that draws on several different method principles that are made use of in practice. It is a problem-based approach to teaching that is based on the following principles:

  • What particular problem do my learners encounter in mastering this aspect of language or language use?
  • What procedures can I make use of from available methods and approaches that could be used to address this problem?
Developing courses, In the classroom, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teacher education, Teaching

The Importance of Studying Linguistics

Question:

Submitted by Ali Abdulhussain, University of Maissan

What is the importance of studying linguistics for a language teacher?

Dr. Richards responds:

Linguistics is a very broad discipline and includes many different approaches to the study of language. Not all of them are relevant to language teaching. If by “linguistics” you mean a course that introduces information on the nature of language, how grammar and other levels of organization in a language work, as well as information of the core linguistic features of English – particularly those that are important in teaching, then this would be useful. Teachers need to know as much as they can about the subject they teach, and linguistics can be one source of this knowledge base. But how useful it is will depend on what kind of linguistics one is talking about and how it is taught. The framework developed by Halliday in his work on functional linguistics is often used in courses for language teachers. Unfortunately many people who may have a Ph.D  in linguistics may have studied linguistic theories that have little relevance to language teaching.

Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Mother Tongue Teaching vs. Foreign Language Teaching

Question:

Submitted by Gafur Khamroev, Uzbekistan

What is the difference between mother tongue teaching and foreign language teaching?

Dr. Richards responds:

In many countries when students come to school their mother tongue has already been established and teaching in this case may involve learning to read and write a language which the children can already speak. The children have already benefited from thousands of hours of contact with their mother tongue. In the case of a foreign language however, the starting point may be zero, and a limited amount of time may be available in school for foreign language instruction. In this case a careful structured and gradual introduction to the foreign language is normally used, based on a corpus of the most frequent words, phrases and structures.

In the classroom, Language learning, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Best Way to Translate New Words

Question:

Submitted by Mehrnoosh Panahandeh, Tehran, Iran

When a student gives you a word in his/her native language and asks you for the translation, what is the best solution?

Dr. Richards responds:

There is no reason not to give the translation of a new word. The mother tongue can be a useful resource in teaching and it is a natural reference point for learners.  Translation activities which involve students translating words can be the basis of fun activities such as games and group work tasks.  Remember however that students come to class to practice English so use translation when needed as a springboard to learn and practice using English.

In the classroom, Language learning, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Discourse in Listening Comprehension

Question:

Submitted by Ali Abdulhussain, Iraq

What is the importance of discourse in listening comprehension? I usually notice many students that make sense of each sentence they listen to but cannot reconstruct meaning as a whole unit of discourse?

Dr. Richards responds:

The goal of teaching listening is to help students understand discourse, that is, to understand samples of authentic spoken texts. To achieve this, a listening course must gradually move from sentence-based listening, to helping understand texts.  This often involves taking learners beyond bottom up processing to make use of top down processing – listening that goes beyond the sentence level and that makes use of knowledge of the context, the topic, the setting, the participants and their purposes.

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Learning Strategy vs. Classroom Task

Question:

Submitted by Hezi Brosh, USA

What is the difference between Language learning strategy and classroom task/activity?

Dr. Richards responds:

A strategy is the action a learner takes to resolve a particular learning issue or problem. So when reading a difficult text, skimming it first for a general idea of the content before reading it more closely, is an example of a reading strategy.

A classroom task or activity is something the teacher assigns the learners to do in order to achieve a specific learning outcome. Dictation is a task or activity, as is jigsaw listening or completing a cloze passage.

Activities, In the classroom, Language learning, Methods, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Improving Interview Skills

Question:

Submitted by Dr. Sunil Sagar, India

India has a large number of Engineering Colleges. Students graduating from these colleges need to face an interview at the end of their degree program for securing placement. Majority of these students come from vernacular medium and struggle to acquire proficiency in English. Teachers of English working in these engineering colleges are constantly under pressure to ensure that students begin to articulate their ideas in English so that it ensures better placement for them. As placement affects the brand image and economics of the engineering college, teachers of English have to find a way out of this in some way. However, it is not clear as yet how teachers should approach this. Since grammar translation method is still heavily used, I wonder what you would recommend for improving the proficiency of these students with respect to English. Will direct teaching of grammar solve this? Or whether it is about Input Hypothesis, wherein we provide the comprehensible input, create the environment and they ‘acquire’ the language. It would be a great help for teachers of English across India if you could shed light on this issue.

Dr. Richards responds:

If your main interest is helping students perform better on an interview, then you should focus on helping them acquire interview skills. A focus on general English, whether taught through grammar translation or any other method is not needed, but rather an ESP approach. This focuses on the language and skills they need in a particular context.

Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching, Testing

Should Learners Produce Whole Sentences?

Question:

Submitted by Kemal, Turkey

Should we ask learners to produce whole sentences when answering questions? For example, when I ask “Who is late for school?” they only say “James”.

Dr. Richards responds:

Short responses are more natural than complete sentences, since a complete sentence repeats information the speaker already knows. One of the maxims of conversational interaction is to provide sufficient information to be understood but not too much information. Providing too much information sounds pedantic. An adult who does this is known as a bore.

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Grammatical Knowledge vs. Grammatical Competence

Question:

Submitted by Deborah, Israel

Dear Professor Richards,
I am reading some of your excellent articles on grammar and have a question about terminology.
Grammatical knowledge, grammatical ability, grammatical competence and communicative competence.
You have explained the first two terms very clearly in Richards and Reppen 2014. Is grammatical knowledge synonymous with grammatical competence? Is grammatical ability synonymous with communicative competence (Richards, 2006 on CLT)?

Dr. Richards responds:

Yes, I think it is fair to say that grammatical knowledge and grammatical competence refer to the same thing.  Grammatical ability refers to knowing how grammar is used in communication. Communicative competence in the Canale and Swain model includes three dimensions:

  • Grammatical competence: the knowledge of grammar, lexis, morphology, syntax, semantics and morphology
  • Sociolinguistic competence: the knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and rules of discourse
  • Strategic competence: the knowledge of how to overcome problems when faced with difficulties in communication.
Grammar, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Collaborative & Cooperative Learning

Question:

Submitted by Meriem, Algeria

What is the difference between collaborative learning and cooperative learning? What is their relation with Competency Based Approach?

Dr. Richards responds:

Collaborative learning and cooperative learning mean the same thing and are part of an approach that emphasizes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of learners.Neither have anything to do with competency-based instruction, which is an approach to curriculum development that organizes teaching in relation to learning outcomes that are described in terms of competencies or observable skills.  For further information see Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: Richards and Rodgers 2014.

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching

Using Authentic Materials

Question:

Submitted by Weldehaweria Gebrekrstos, Ethiopia

We teachers are required to use authentic materials to enrich learners’ use of the language. What advice can you give?

Dr. Richards responds:

When textbooks and commercial materials were the primary sources of classroom teaching and learning, a debate that emerged was the use of authentic materials versus created materials. Authentic materials refers to the use in teaching of texts, photographs, video selections, realia, and other teaching resources that were not specially prepared for pedagogical purposes. Created materials refers to textbooks and other specially developed instructional resources that have been prepared to include examples of specific grammatical items discourse features. Dialogs in course books, for example, might be specially written to highlight certain grammatical choices or to illustrate specific conversational strategies. Hence, it was often argued that authentic materials are preferred to created materials because unlike the often rather contrived content of much created material, they contain authentic language and reflect real-world uses of language.

Typical claims for and against the use of “authentic” materials are:

For

  • They have a positive effect on learner motivation.
  • They provide authentic cultural information about the target culture.
  • They provide exposure to real language.
  • They relate more closely to learners’ needs.
  • They support a more creative approach to teaching.

Against

  • Created materials can also be motivating for learners.
  • Authentic materials often contain difficult language.
  • Created materials may be superior to authentic materials because they are generally built around a graded syllabus.
  • Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers.           

In many language programs, teachers use a mixture of created and authentic materials because both have their advantages as well as limitations. Furthermore, the distinction between authentic and created materials is increasingly blurred because many published materials incorporate authentic texts and other real-world sources. And today many books take on the aura, if not the actuality, of authenticity, containing considerable amounts of photographically reproduced “realia”, in the form of newspaper articles, maps, diagrams, memo pads, menus, application forms, advertisements, instructional leaflets and all the rest. Some books, indeed, almost entirely consist of authentic material, including illustrations, extracted from newspapers, or magazines.

In addition, this debate has become less relevant in today’s world since the Internet provides ready access to authentic materials of every kind. Classroom teaching and classroom materials hence serve to prepare learners to navigate, explore, and access authentic materials related to their needs and interest through the Web, as we discuss further below. There is no reason, therefore, why textbooks and other classroom materials should not contain a mix of authentic and created texts depending on the intentions of the materials.

When choosing authentic materials care must be taken to ensure they are at an appropriate level for learners, and that that they are used in a way that supports learning rather than causes frustration for learners.

 

In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching, Teaching Materials

Teaching Speaking

Question:

Submitted by Yassin Elidrissi, Morocco

Some methodologists choose the following model to teach speaking: setting up, speaking practice, and feedback. Is this model conducive to a better mastery of the speaking skill?

Dr. Richards responds:

Yes, it is. Speaking activities can either have an accuracy focus or a fluency focus, or sometimes both. The “setting up” involves careful modeling, guided practice, leading to freer practice.

Activities, In the classroom, Language learning, Questions & Answers, Teaching