The error comes, though, when those approaching such problems do so with dogmatic certainty, taking the perspectives and values of their own time and place as the only ones which can ever apply. To combat such dogmatism, and to counter unthinking fads and fashions, a great deal is to be gained, in ELT as in other areas of activity, by placing problems in a wider historical and cultural perspective. By doing this, applied linguistics can make a crucially valuable contribution to debate.