The last few decades have seen phenomenal growth in the demand for English and marked improvement in language teaching procedures. Yet, a retrospective view of the development of our profession shows that the need to shape teaching programs to the social, economic, and cultural context of those who seek to learn English continues to be crucial. This article examines issues related to our understanding of what English is, of what language is and how it develops, and of what teaching is and can be, and argues for a pluralistic approach to collaborative growth in education, one which takes full account of the notions of differential growth and appropriate methodology. The article concludes with a set of goals to guide professional self-examination.
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Roger Bowers (1986) studied this question.