Beyond Linguistic Uniformity: A Critical Humanistic Framework for Navigating Proficiency Disparity in the TESOL Classroom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61952/jlabw.v2i3.591Keywords:
TESOL, Proficiency Disparity, Task-Based Learning (TBL), Communicative Approach (CA), Humanistic Framework, Interlanguage, Affective Filter, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), Performance-Based AssessmentAbstract
The persistent pursuit of the "homogeneous classroom" remains one of the most enduring fallacies in contemporary English Language Teaching (ELT). This paper argues that proficiency disparity is not an administrative deficit to be corrected, but a natural human condition to be accommodated and leveraged through pedagogical sophistication. By transcending standardized, mechanical instructional models, this study advocates for a critical humanistic framework. Integrating Task-Based Learning (TBL) and the Communicative Approach (CA), the paper explores how educators can maintain uncompromising academic rigor while safeguarding the individual dignity and validating the unique "interlanguage" of every learner. The study concludes that the intersection of rigorous assessment and student-centered pedagogy is the only viable path toward genuine educational equity.
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