Teaching Unplugged: Applications of Dogme ELT in India

The socio-political changes across the world indicate that it is, increasingly, becoming a questioning world. It is simple common sense that this change must also be reflected in the education system. A critical pedagogy that foregrounds dialogue and encourages questioning is therefore more relevant in the present times. The top-down approach of teaching only hampers the development of learners by silencing their voice and agency. In this respect, this paper focuses on the Dogme, or unplugged teaching, approach in English language teaching (ELT) in Indian context. The paper explores theoretical reasons, based upon the views of Lev Vygotsky, Paulo Freire, and Charles Taylor, in support of adopting Dogme in ELT for radically changing the face of prevalent second language teaching scenario in India. An analysis of existing literature and empirical evidences strongly suggest that implementing this approach would be appropriate for multiple reasons. Being a dialogue based approach, it gives the learner, as well as the teacher, a chance to grow and learn together. It creates a zone of proximal development which helps learners to recognize their own voice and leads to self-discovery. Dogme in ELT can be motivating and empowering. As it is a pedagogy, of bare essentials, it is pro-poor and can be used even in under-equipped classrooms. Moreover, as it is grounded in the personal experience of the learner, it can fit well into a multicultural context. Therefore, it is implied and assumed that this approach would work very well in Indian context which is multicultural and economically diverse.