What remains of the idea of progress in language teaching?

Summary

"Progress is no longer just a hope, but a danger, no longer just a solution, but a problem to be posed and analyzed as such. Four propositions are made corresponding to this observation: 1. the perception of progress depends closely on the dominant values of the moment. 2. Progress in knowledge can be progress in uncertainty. 3. Progress in one area may cause regressions in another. 4. Progress in one area can be a regression in another. Each of these propositions is illustrated by several short examples drawn from the evolution of foreign language didactics in schools in France since its constitution a century ago. Two postfaces are published following this text published in 1997, one dated 2008 ("Ten years later"), the other dated 2018 ("Twenty years later"), which take up these proposals to point out their permanence or modifications by means of new current examples.

Also available at: www.researchgate.net/publication/365354383 (November 2022)

English translation of "Que reste-t-il de l'idée de progrès en didactique des langues ?", 1997d or https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366356334.

Version arabe disponible: https://www.asjp.cerist.dz/en/article/39792 (2017)