Abstract
Globalisation and technological advancement have dramatically changed the world today as they brought about linguistic and cultural diversity, unprecedented access to information, global dialogues, and relationships. English plays a significant role in the process as it is the language that is predominantly used for global communication and mutual understanding. Therefore, English is undeniably an important social and economic language.
Given its significance, English has been increasingly accommodated in the national education curriculum of many countries in which it is not the national language. Lao PDR, without exeption, is also a country that has recognised the important role of English and followed the same pattern. As Kam and Wong (2004) noted, the English language in Laos today has been accorded a prominent status in Education.
In order to realise such an ambition, language pedagogy plays a critical role. The teaching approaches, teacher-centered and student-centred approaches, are the two main instructional approaches commonly recognised in Laos. These two approaches, in fact, reflect different principles of teaching and learning. The former views that learning occurs based on the external environment and knowledge transmission. Hence, teachers are given authority and play a very directive role in the course structure and the presentation of the content. The latter, however, views learning as dependent largely on the conditions facilitated by teachers and therefore, the emphasis is placed more on students and their engagement in the learning process. In relation to language teaching and learning, Grammar Translation Method (GTM) is closely linked to teacher-centred approaches whereas Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is more closely correlated to student-centred approaches.