Journal of English Language Teaching

Theme Centred Interaction - Towards a Democratic Pedagogy in the English Language Classroom

Joby Cyriac

Joby Cyriac Asst. Professor of English, Marian College Kuttikanam, Idukki

Lal CA

Assoc. Professor of English, School of Distance Education, Universityof Kerala

Keywords: Interaction, Democratic pedagogy, English language teaching

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Abstract

This article posits Theme Centred Interaction (TCI), a group process originated by Ruth C Cohn, as a democratic pedagogy appropriate for ELT in the Indian context.  Initially, the concept of democracy in education, its relevance and purposes are discussed briefly. The values associated with a democratic approach and the roles of the different constituents of the democratic classroom are described. Next, an analysis of the humanistic value base of TCI is done with a view to assess how it can practically support democratic attitude and behaviour in the language classroom. Finally, the structural and methodical elements of a TCI based language session are elucidated showing how the centrality of the student and the dynamic process of learning are held in the fore, not allowing the dominance of the teacher figure , the prescriptions of the syllabus or the demands of the context to subsume them

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