Process, Not Product: Less Than Meets the Eye

Abstract

The phrase process, not product has now risen to the heights, or perhaps sunk to the depths, of the great buzzwords of TESOL's past: It is the communicative competence of the mid-1980s. Though initially offering fresh insight into an important area of teaching, it has now been miscast as a complete theory of writing; its adherents spread its gospel with religious zeal, and those who fail to pay homage to it in any paper or discussion on writing are ostracized; indeed, it has reached the point where, to quote Tallulah Bankhead, there is less here than meets the eye .. . The uncritical acceptance of this approach is attested to by the fact that discussions of its shortcomings are almost nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, before anyone fully embraces this approach, the following points should be considered: