Where do we go from here? Practitioners’ views on the state of ELT in Kerala, Southern India

In today’s communications-led and increasingly globalised world, there seems to be an ever-increasing importance placed on the need to communicate well in English, particularly in a business environment. This in turn is causing a re-evaluation of English language teaching (ELT) methods and, in certain developing countries such as India, a perceived need for more communicative approaches to be more widely adopted and applied. This talk will focus on the ELT practices in the state of Kerala in Southern India, where English is seen not just as a means of communication and of improving employment prospects, but as a means of, and possibly pre-requisite for, social mobility. Principally based on interview data, the talk will highlight local practitioners’ views concerning both the perceived need for a shift in methodological approach in the region and the degree to which such a shift might be desirable and/or feasible. It will also expose the tension between what is realistic in terms of methodology at a local level and the perceived global needs of those being taught. Finally, key considerations for implementing any methodological change in this particular context will be outlined.