Worldwide experience in teaching foreign languages. Key words

1.3 We have little knowledge of what actually goes on in L2 classrooms

We have little and piecemeal knowledge of what actually goes on in L2 classrooms:

We actually know remarkably little about typical practice in language learning, and there is a great need for additional comparative studies. (Brumfit & Mitchell,1989, p. 12)

Our ignorance of what actually happens in classrooms is spectacular. (Stubbs, 1983a, p. 91)

Part of the problem here is that we are lacking a large database of L2 lessons (see section 9.3), but it is also a problem that we do not have a comprehensive methodology for the description, analysis and evaluation of L2 lessons, which brings us to the the fourth point.