A Move Towards Postmethod Pedagogy in the Iranian EFL Context: Panacea or More Pain?.

Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) introduction and development of ‘postmethod’ led to the demise of methods and a dramatic change in the language teaching profession. In fact, it can be claimed that the arrival of postmethod pedagogy in language teaching might be the reason for the abandonment and replacement of method by context sensitive, pedagogic indicators, and the guiding principles of particularity, practicality and possibility. The literature concerning postmethod pedagogy has highlighted that much of the research centers on the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings, without any consideration of its realization and practical aspects in EFL contexts. So, we tried to unearth English teachers’ practical constraints and barriers in applying postmethod as a new EFL pedagogy in Iran. Twenty two male and female experienced English teachers from Yazd and Shiraz, Iran, participated in this qualitative research. The researchers used a semistructured interview as the primary source of data 96 | PASAA Vol. 50 July December 2015 collection (Ary, Jacobs, & Sorenson, 2010), and adopted Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) constant comparative method, including three steps of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding to reveal practitioners’ problems and constraints in putting the pedagogy into practice, in the EFL context of Iran, where all syllabi and materials are prescribed by the Ministry of Education. The researchers identified several barriers to adopting postmethod pedagogy in EFL teaching in Iran, as well as teachers’ constraints when dealing with those obstacles.