Jordan: Ur presents herself as a mediator between applied linguistics and teachers, but misrepresents or ignores evidence that challenges coursebook PPP, e.g. ‘There is no evidence that TBLT works.’ Thornbury replies that experience-based knowledge is legitimate and research is ‘ancillary’.
The debate
| Jordan | Thornbury and others (comments) |
|---|---|
| Mediators must engage with research that challenges them | Teachers’ craft knowledge is a legitimate basis; research is ancillary (Freeman 1989) |
| Teach a small research core: interlanguage sequences, implicit learning, FonF vs FonFS, the learning-styles myth | SLA is “narrower and more decontextualised” than education research |
| Doughty & Long: teachers influence the rate, not the route, of interlanguage | Ur is well-read in vocabulary research (Schmitt, Laufer, Nation) |
| Bryfonski & McKay: TBLT d ≈ 0.93 (Long, in comments) | TBLT evidence is mostly lab or programme-level; uptake is limited by context |
Limits
Polemical and personal. Jordan corrected a factual error in the comments; several claims about Ur are unsourced.
Apply in my context (Claude)
- This is the theory–practice gap in its starkest form, and a strong DELTA M3 or podcast topic. As the vault’s builder you’re doing the mediation Jordan demands: each note’s “Limits” section is where it happens.
Connections
Teacher trainers should teach the research on interlanguage · Nothing is as practical as a good theory · ELT Research Bites - reading queue (theory–practice gap post)