A Critical Analysis of the conception of Methodological Models in International English Didactics: the Example of the "PPP Model"

The purpose of this article is to critically analyze the generally restrictive and prescriptive treatment of methodological models for organizing didactic units in International English Didactics (IED). The example taken is the "PPP model" (Presentation ® Practice ® Production), the most widely implemented in textbooks and therefore probably the most widely used by teachers of this language. Its aim is to promote the "praxeologization", which consists of teachers manipulating methodological models themselves at will, rather than reproducing them, so as to constantly adapt their practices to their action environments. In describing the PPP model, this article draws on the work of specialists in the IED field, and in critiquing it, on a conceptual framework whose elements are borrowed from various philosophers and epistemologists who have worked on modeling as a tool for dealing with complexity. The article concludes with a proposal for praxeologizing activities in initial and continuing training.