I very much want new people to be able to make sense of this site – there is a level of complexity in the discussion here that is of major concern to me. It is not an easy discussion to just walk into.
There are two points to make about that:
1. The earlier articles published here (2008) are like the first chapters in a novel. They are fairly simple. Then, as the plot thickened over time and as we tried and implemented new things into our teaching, each year the articles got more complex. So now we are moving on deeper into the book we are creating together but newer people are being asked to start reading in the middle of the novel. Who would not be confused? I therefore highly suggest that new people go back to into the archives and occasionally read chronologically. Things may make more sense. The archives are not currently listed here but I think Trevor knows where they are and they should appear here later today.
2. I didn’t add the categories until 2010 or so, so articles previous to that year have not been categorized. Therefore, a person searching for articles about PQA, for example, wouldn’t be able to find them all. Those earlier articles carry value in their simplicity, before we kept adding new ingredients to the soup, and they shouldn’t be forgotten. They provide information and details about the “novel” that this site has become.
So those are two reasons why I suggest that new people here maybe go back into the archives and read chronologically here. The content is not out of date. That is because the core tenants that support this work have not changed. The froth changes, but the soup remains ever hearty and vital for us. The core ideas (Krashen’s research) that led to the real things invented by Blaine Ray and articulated and defended by Susan Gross, never change. The unprecedented level of attack on Krashen for over thirty years now is proof that he is into something real.
We know that we are into something real when we are attacked. We’ll each need a good bowl of soup through the winter, for the fights both in and out of our classrooms, and the soup here from years ago is still fresh. We can read some of those articles and keep on teaching and then spring will come and we will have grown in this work and we will be stronger.