Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials

Guidelines for Designing Effective English  Language Teaching Materials

Jocelyn Howard

Christchurch College of Education

Jae Major

Christchurch College of Education

Introduction

Teaching materials form an important part of most English teaching programmes. From textbooks, videotapes and pictures to the Internet, teachers rely heavily on a diverse range of materials to support their teaching and their students’ learning. However, despite the current rich array of English language teaching materials commercially available, many teachers continue to produce their own materials for classroom use. Indeed, most teachers spend considerable time finding, selecting, evaluating, adapting and making materials to use in their teaching. In this paper we synthesise a range of ideas from the literature on materials design. We consider why teachers might want to design their own teaching materials and look at some of the advantages and disadvantages. We examine six factors that teachers need to take into account when considering designing their own materials; and finally we present ten guidelines for designing effective English teaching materials.

Why English Language Teachers  May Choose to Design their own Materials

Advantages

Discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of teacher-designed materials usually centre on a comparison with using text or coursebooks. Rather than focusing on coursebooks, have turned our focus to teacher-produced materials and consider that the disadvantages of coursebooks can become advantages for teacher-produced materials. The key reasons why teachers may wish to produce their own teaching materials can be linked to four themes distilled from recent literature on this topic (e.g., Altan, 1995; Block, 1991; Harmer, 2001; Podromou, 2002; Thornbury & Meddings, 2001, 2002).

An important advantage of teacher-produced materials is contextualisation (Block, 1991). A key criticism of commercial materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide EFL market is that they are necessarily generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular cultural or educational context. The possible lack of ‘fit’ between teaching context and coursebook has been expressed thus: “Our modern coursebooks are full of speech acts and functions based on situations which most foreign-language students will never encounter… ‘Globally’ designed coursebooks have continued to be stubbornly Anglo-centric. Appealing to the world market as they do, they cannot by definition draw on local varieties of English and have not gone very far in recognising English as an international language, either.” (Altan, 1995, p. 59). For many teachers, designing or adapting their own teaching materials, enables them to take into account their particular learning environment and to overcome the lack of ‘fit’ of the coursebook

Another aspect of context is the resources available. Some teaching contexts will be rich in resources such as coursebooks, supplementary texts, readers, computers, audio-visual equipment and consumables such as paper, pens and so on. Other contexts may be extremely impoverished, with little more than an old blackboard and a few pieces of chalk. A lack ofcommercial materials forces teachers to fall back on their own resources and designing their own teaching materials can enable them to make best use of the resources available in their teaching context. A further aspect that is not often mentioned in the literature is the cost of commercially produced resources. For many schools, teacher-produced materials can be the best option in terms of both school and student budget.

A second area in which teacher-designed materials are an advantage is that of individual needs. Modern teaching methodology increasingly emphasises the importance of identifying and teaching to the individual needs of learners. English language classrooms are diverse places not only in terms of where they are situated, but also in terms of the individual learners within each context. Teacher-designed materials can be responsive to the heterogeneity inherent in the classroom. This approach encompasses the learners’ first languages and cultures, their learning needs and their experiences. Few coursebooks deliberately incorporate opportunities for learners to build on the first language skills already acquired, despite research suggesting that bilingual approaches are most successful in developing second language competence (Thomas & Collier,1997). A teacher can develop materials that incorporate elements of the learners’ first language and culture, or at least provide opportunities for acknowledgement and use alongside English. In addition, teacher-prepared materials provide the opportunity to select texts and activities at exactly the right level for particular learners, to ensure appropriate challenge and levels of success.

In designing their own materials teachers can also make decisions about the most appropriate organising principle or focus for the materials and activities. And this can be changed over the course of the programme if necessary. Most coursebooks remain organised around grammar elements and the PPP (presentation, practice, production) model of teaching, often with an “unrelenting format” which can be “deeply unengaging” (Harmer, 2001, p. 6). By taking more control over materials production, teachers can choose from the range of possibilities, including topics, situations, notions, functions, skills etc, or a combination of these principles, as starting points to develop a variety of materials that focus on the developing needs of their particular group of learners.

Personalisation is another advantage of teacher-designed materials. In his 1991 article, Block argues in favour of ‘home-made’ materials saying that they add a personal touch to teaching that students appreciate. Tapping into the interests and taking account of the learning styles of students is likely to increase motivation and engagement in learning. Podromou (2002) further suggests that there is also greater choice, freedom and scope for spontaneity when teachers develop their own materials.

A further advantage of teacher-designed materials is timeliness (Block, 1991). Teachers designing their own materials can respond to local and international events with up-to-date, relevant and high interest topics and tasks. The teachable moment can be more readily seized.

In conclusion, the advantages of teacher-designed materials can be summed up in the idea that they avoid the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of most commercial materials.

Disadvantages

There are a number of potential pitfalls for teachers who would be materials designers. These can be considered under three headings, the first of which is organisation. Coursebooks are usually organised around an identifiable principle and follow a discernible pattern throughout. While this can be rather dull and boring (or ‘unrelenting’) it does provide both teachers and students with some security and a “coherent body of work to remember and revise from” (Harmer, 2001, p. 7). In contrast, teacher-designed materials may lack overall coherence and a clear progression. Without some overall organising principle, materials may be piecemeal and can result in poorly focused activities lacking clear direction. This is frustrating and confusing for learners who may not be able to see how their English is developing.

A further aspect of organisation relates to the physical organisation and storage of materials. Without a clearly thought through and well-organised system, teacher-produced materials may be difficult to locate for ongoing use, or may end up damaged or with parts missing.

Possibly the most common criticism levelled against teacher-made materials is to do with their quality. At the surface level, teacher-made materials may “seem ragged and unprofessional next to those produced by professionals.” (Block, 1991, p. 212, emphasis in original). They may contain errors, be poorly constructed, lack clarity in layout and print and lack durability. Harmer probably speaks for many when he says, “If the alternative is a collection of scruffyphotocopies, give me a well-produced coursebook any time.” (2001, p. 7).

In addition, a lack of experience and understanding on the part of the teacher may result in important elements being left out or inadequately covered. Teacher-made materials may be produced to take advantage of authentic text. However, if not guided by clear criteria and some experience, teachers may make inconsistent or poor choices of texts. A further problem may be alack of clear instructions about how to make effective use of the materials – particularly instructionsdesigned for students.

Yet another disadvantage of teacher-made materials, and perhaps the key factor inhibiting many teachers from producing their own teaching materials, is time. However passionately one may believe in the advantages of teacher-designed materials, the reality is that for many teachers, it is simply not viable – at least not all the time.

Factors to Consider When Designing Materials

We turn now to consider six key factors that teachers need to take into account when embarking on the design of teaching materials for their learners. These relate to, and refer back to some of the advantages and disadvantages. Some will also be expanded further in the guidelines which follow.

The first and most important factor to be considered is the learners. If the point of teacher-created materials is relevance, interest, motivation and meeting specific individual needs, then clearly teachers must ensure they know their learners well. Any consideration of syllabus or materials design must begin with a needs analysis. This should reveal learning needs with regard toEnglish language skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary knowledge and grammar; as well as individual student’s learning preferences. It is not just learning needs that are relevant to the teacher as materials designer, however. Equally important is knowledge about students’ experiences (life and educational), their first language and levels of literacy in it, their aspirations, their interests and their purposes for learning English.

The curriculum and the context are variables that will significantly impact on decisions about teaching materials. Many teachers are bound by a mandated curriculum defining the content, skills and values to be taught. Whether imposed at school or state level, a curriculum outlines the goals and objectives for the learners and the course of study. Whatever the curriculum, it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that the goals and objectives of the overarching curriculum are kept close at hand when designing materials (Nunan, 1988).

As noted earlier, the context in which the teaching and learning occurs will impact on the types of materials that may need to be designed. For example, a primary-level mainstream, English-speaking setting, with a set curriculum and access to native speakers may require materials that facilitate interaction about subject content, and develop cognitive academic language proficiency. However, refugee adults may need teaching materials that focus on meeting immediate survival needs and gaining employment.

The resources and facilities available to the teacher-designer are also mentioned above as an element of context. Clearly teachers must be realistic about what they can achieve in terms of materials design and production within the limitations of available resources and facilities. Access to resources such as computers (with or without Internet access), a video player and TV, radio, cassette recorder, CD player, photocopier, language lab., digital camera, whiteboard, OHP, scissors, cardboard, laminator etc will impact on decisions in materials design. Hadfield and Hadfield (2003) offer some useful suggestions for ‘resourceless’ teaching which address the impoverished reality of some teaching contexts.

Personal confidence and competence are factors that will determine an individual teacher’s willingness to embark on materials development. This will be influenced by the teacher’s level of teaching experience and his or her perceived creativity or artistic skills and overall understanding of the principles of materials design and production. In reality, most teachers  undertake materials design to modify, adapt or supplement a coursebook, rather than starting from scratch, and this is probably the most realistic option for most teachers. Decisions available to teachers include the following (adapted from Harmer, 2001 and Lamie, 1999):

1. Add activities to those already suggested.

2. Leave out activities that do not meet your learners’ needs.

3. Replace or adapt activities or materials with:

- supplementary materials from other commercial texts

- authentic materials (newspapers, radio reports, films etc)

- teacher-created supplementary materials.

4. Change the organisational structure of the activities, for example, pairs, small groups or whole        class.

                Modern technology provides teachers with access to tools that enable professional results in materials production. Computers with Clipart, Internet access and digital pictures offer unprecedented means for publishing high quality teaching materials.

                A less exciting, but nevertheless important factor to consider in designing materials is copyright compliance. Teachers need to be aware of the restrictions that copyright laws place on the copying of authentic materials, published materials and materials downloaded from the Internet for use in the classroom. This is particularly important when creating course materials that will be used by a large number of classes over time. Copyright law has implications when creating materials that include excerpts from published works. An example of this would be creating a worksheet that uses a picture or exercise from a commercial text, alongside teacher-created activities. While an idea cannot be copyright, the expression of the idea can be and teachers need to be mindful of this.

                Time was discussed earlier as a disadvantage for teachers who wish to design their ownmaterials. It is thus, important to consider ways to make this aspect manageable. Block (1991) suggests a number of ways in which teachers can lighten the load, including sharing materials with other teachers, working in a team to take turns to design and produce materials, and organising central storage so materials are available to everyone.

Guidelines for Designing Effective English Teaching Materials

                Teacher designed materials may range from one-off, single use items to extensive programmes of work where the tasks and activities build on each other to create a coherent progression of skills, concepts and language items. The guidelines that follow may act as a useful framework for teachers as they navigate the range of factors and variables to develop materials for their own teaching situations. The guidelines are offered as just that – guidelines – not rules to be rigidly applied or adhered to. While not all the guidelines will be relevant or applicable in all materials design scenarios, overall they provide for coherent design and materials which enhance the learning experience.

Guideline 1: English language teaching materials should be contextualised

Firstly, the materials should be contextualised to the curriculum they are intended to address (Nunan, 1988, pp. 1–2). It is essential during the design stages that the objectives of the curriculum, syllabus or scheme within the designer’s institution are kept to the fore. This is not to that materials design should be solely determined by a list of course specifications or by large inventories of vocabulary that need to be imparted, but these are certainly among the initial considerations.

Materials should also be contextualised to the experiences, realities and first languages of the learners. An important part of this involves an awareness on the part of the teacher-designer of the “socio-cultural appropriacy” (Jolly & Bolitho, 1998, p. 111) of things such as the designer’s own style of presenting material, of arranging groups, and so on. It is essential the materials designer is informed about the culture-specific learning processes of the intended learners, and for many groups this may mean adjusting the intended balance of what teachers may regard as more enjoyable activities and those of a more serious nature. Materials should link explicitly to what the learners already know, to their first languages and cultures, and very importantly, should alert to any areas of significant cultural difference.

In addition, materials should be contextualised to topics and themes that provide meaningful, purposeful uses for the target language. Wherever possible, these should be chosen on the basis of their relevance and appropriateness for the intended learners, to ensure personal engagement and to provide motivation for dipping further into the materials. For some ages and stages the topics may well be ‘old faithfuls’, such as money, family and holidays. Part of the mission for the materials designer is “to find new angles on those topics” (Bell & Gower, 1998, p. 123) and having done that, to develop activities which will ensure purposeful production of the target language or skills. When producing materials for one-off use with smaller groups, additional student engagement can be achieved by allowing students to ‘star’ in the passages and texts that have been designed specifically for them.

Guideline 2: Materials should stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of language

                Hall (1995) states that “most people who learn to communicate fluently in a language which is not their L1 do so by spending a lot of time in situations where they have to use the language for some real communicative purpose” (p. 9). Ideally, language-teaching materials should provide situations that demand the same; situations where learners need to interact with each other regularly in a manner that reflects the type of interactions they will engage in outside of the classroom. Hall outlines three conditions he believes are necessary to stimulate real communication: these are the need to “have something we want to communicate”, “someone to communicate with”, and, perhaps most importantly, “some interest in the outcome of the communication” (p. 9). Nunan (1988) refers to this as the “learning by doing philosophy” (p. 8), and suggests procedures such as information gap and information transfer activities, which can be used to ensure that interaction is necessary.

                Language learning will be maximally enhanced if materials designers are able toacknowledge the 

the different norms of interaction, such as preferred personal space, for example, directly within their teaching materials.

                Effective learning frequently involves learners in explorations of new linguistic terrain, and interaction can often be the medium for providing the ‘stretch’ that is necessary for ongoing language development. Materials designers should ensure their materials allow sufficient scope for their learners to be ‘stretched’ at least some of the time, to build on from what is provided to generate new language, and to progress beyond surface fluency to proficiency and confidence.

Guideline 3: English language teaching materials should encourage learners to develop

learning skills and strategiesIt is impossible for teachers to teach their learners all the language they need to know in the short time that they are in the classroom. In addition to teaching valuable new language skills, it is essential that language teaching materials also teach their target learners how to learn, and that they help them to take advantage of language learning opportunities outside the classroom. Hall (1995) stresses the importance of providing learners with the confidence to persist in their attempts to find solutions when they have initial difficulties in communicating. To this end, strategies such as rewording and using facial expressions and body language effectively can be fine-tuned with well designed materials.

                In addition, materials can provide valuable opportunities for self-evaluation by providing the necessary metalanguage and incorporating activities which encourage learners to assess their own learning and language development. This can utilise the learners’ first language as well as English. Some EFL course books, such as Ellis & Sinclair (1989), also build in exercises for students to explore their own learning styles and strategies.

Guideline 4: English language teaching materials should allow for a focus on form as well as Function

Frequently, the initial motivation for designing materials stems from practitioners’ desires to make activities more communicative—often as “an antidote to the profusion of skillsbased activities and artificial language use pervasive in the field of ESL instruction” (Demetrion, 1997, p. 5). Sometimes, though, in the desire to steer a wide berth around this more traditional approach, materials are developed which allow absolutely no scope for a focus on language form.

                The aim of Guideline 3 is to develop active, independent language learners. To help meet this goal, materials also need to encourage learners to take an analytical approach to the language in front of and around them, and to form and test their own hypotheses about how language works (Nunan, 1988). Well-designed materials can help considerably with this by alerting learners to underlying forms and by providing opportunities for regulated practice in addition to independent and creative expression.

Guideline 5: English language teaching materials should offer opportunities for integrated language use

Language teaching materials can tend to focus on one particular skill in a somewhat unnatural manner. Some courses have a major focus on productive skills, and in these reading and listening become second-rate skills. With other materials, reading or writing may dominate. Bell & Gower (1998) point out that, “at the very least we listen and speak together, and read and write together” (p. 125). Ideally, materials produced should give learners opportunities to integrate all the language skills in an authentic manner and to become competent at integrating extra-linguistic factors also.

Guideline 6: English language teaching materials should be authentic

Much space has been devoted in language teaching literature to debating the desirability (and otherwise) of using authentic materials in language teaching classrooms and, indeed, to defining exactly what constitutes genuine versus simulated texts (e.g., Harmer, 1998; Hedge, 2000; Nunan, 1988, 1991). It is the authors’ view that it is imperative for second language learners to be regularly exposed in the classroom to real, unscripted language—to passages that have not been produced specifically for language learning purposes. As Nunan points out, “texts written specifically for the classroom generally distort the language in some way” (1988, p. 6).

                When the aim for authenticity in terms of the texts presented to learners is discussed, a common tendency is to immediately think of written material such as newspapers and magazines. Materials designers should also aim for authentic spoken and visual texts. Learners need to hear, see and read the way native speakers communicate with each other naturally.

                Arguably more important than the provision of authentic texts, is authenticity in terms of the tasks which students are required to perform with them. Consideration of the types of realworld tasks specific groups of learners commonly need to perform will allow designers to generate materials where both the texts and the things learners are required to do with them reflect the language and behaviours required of them in the world outside the classroom.

Guideline 7: English language teaching materials should link to each other to develop a progression of skills, understandings and language items

                One potential pitfall for teacher-designed materials mentioned in the first part of this article relates to the organisation within and between individual tasks. There is a very real danger with self designed and adapted materials that the result can be a hotchpotch of unconnected activities. Clearly stated objectives at the outset of the design process will help ensure that the resultant materials have coherence, and that they clearly progress specific learning goals while also giving opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of earlier learning.

Guideline 8: English language teaching materials should be attractive

                Criteria for evaluating English language teaching materials and course books frequently include reference to the ‘look’ and the ‘feel’ of the product (see, for example, Harmer, 1998; Nunan, 1991). Some aspects of these criteria that are particularly pertinent to materials designers are discussed below. Physical appearance: Initial impressions can be as important in the language classroom as they are in many other aspects of life. Put simply, language-teaching materials should be good to look at! Factors to consider include the density of the text on the page, the type size, and the cohesiveness and consistency of the layout.

User-friendliness: Materials should also be attractive in terms of their ‘usability’. Some simple examples: if the activity is a gap-fill exercise, is there enough space for learners to handwrite their responses? If an oral response is required during a tape or video exercise, is the silence long enough to allow for both thinking and responding?

Durabilty: If materials need to be used more than once, or if they are to be used by many different students, consideration needs to be given to how they can be made robust enough to last the required distance.

Ability to be reproduced: Language teaching institutions are not renowned for giving their staff unlimited access to colour copying facilities, yet many do-it-yourself materials designers continue to produce eye-catching multi-coloured originals, and suffer frustration and disappointment when what emerges from the photocopier is a class-set of grey blurs.

Guideline 9: English language teaching materials should have appropriate instructions

                This guideline applies as much to the instructions that are provided for other teachers who may use the materials, as it does for the intended learners. It seems to be stating the obvious to say that instructions should be clear, but, often, excellent materials fail in their “pedagogical realisation” (Jolly & Bolitho, 1998, p. 93) because of a lack of clarity in their instructions. For instructions to be effective, they should be written in language that is appropriate for the target learners, and the use of the correct metalanguage can assist with making instructions more concise and efficient.

Guideline 10: English language teaching materials should be flexible

                This final guideline is directed primarily at longer series of materials rather than at oneoff tasks, but has pertinence to both. Prabhu (cited in Cook, c. 1998) maintains that much of a student’s language learning is “mediated by the materials and course books the teacher uses in terms of both language content and teaching technique” (p. 3). He proposes constructing materials that allow teachers and students to make choices—at least some of the time. He suggests the materials designer may offer flexibility in terms of content by providing “a range of possible inputs . . . [that] are not themselves organised into lesson units” (cited in Maley, 1998, p. 284), and that teachers or, indeed, students, could then choose which of these to use and which “procedure” (e.g. comprehension exercise, grammar awareness exercise, role play, etc) to apply to them.

                Maley (2003) takes this idea a stage further, acknowledging the benefits of diversity in the areas of content, roles and procedures for both teachers and students, and proposing that flexibility is also possible in approach, level, methodology, logistics, technology, teaching style, evaluation procedures and expected outcomes. He concludes with this challenge for materials designers: “Those involved . . . could greatly extend and diversify the range of what is offered to students with relatively little effort. Will they make that effort?” (p. 7).

Conclusion

In the end, teachers must weigh up the benefits and costs of designing their own teaching materials and make their own decision as to whether it is worth the time and effort. As Harmer (2001) puts it, “The good DIY teacher, with time on his or her hands, with unlimited resources, and the confidence to marshal those resources into a clear and coherent language program, is probably about as good as it gets for the average language learner” (p. 9)

Inevitably there will be numerous constraints on any materials designer and compromises will be necessary. Materials that satisfy the guidelines proposed, though, could make the difference between a class of diverse learners in an excited “state of ‘expectancy’ (What will happen this time?) rather than ‘expectation’ (Oh, not that again!)” (Maley, 2003, p. 2). A tantalisingproposition!

References

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English Teachers As Materials Developers

Marlene Ramírez Salas

A fundamental underpinning in the process of English teaching is Materials Development and/or Adaptation. For many years, English teachers have been using their textbooks and teaching materials faithfully; however, in many cases, these materials do not reflect the reality of the classroom in terms of the students’ English proficiency level, interests, wants and needs. As Block states (1991) “ despite the bounteous harvest of ELT materials which the past decade and a half has provided, published materials do not always provide the type of texts and activities that a teacher is seeking for a given class” (p. 211). English teachers might feel that something is missing in regards to materials, and they do not know what and how to provide them. Fortunately, Materials Development and/or Adaptation is a teaching topic that has recently caused great concern among English teachers as a way to bridge the gap between what the current English textbooks offer and what the learners really need in their learning environment. In fact, many undergraduate and graduate programs offer Materials Preparation as a core course to train English teachers in this area; nonetheless very few books have been published which investigate this issue and which could provide written information and feedback to English teachers. With this idea in mind, the writer intends to provide a practical guide to the different aspects of the process of materials writing for an EFL classroom. This article presents a definition of what Materials Preparation is, the characteristics required for developed and/or adapted materials, the process of developing materials, the importance of layout, and finally, some sample activities developed and/or adapted by the writer to illustrate the topic.

1.    Definition of Materials Development and Adaptation

As a starting point, it is important to define Materials as anything used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language. Materials could obviously include cassettes, videos, CD-Roms, DVD’s, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbooks, photocopied exercises, all kinds of realia, lectures and talks by guest speakers, Internet sources, and so on. (Tomlinson, 1998, p.2 ) This spectrum of teaching resources has indeed opened up to other types of materials contrasting with the old idea that language teaching materials were just the course books. Kitao (1998) also defines materials “as the center of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom” (p. 1). Undoubtedly, this definition represents a great responsibility on the part of the teachers who must seriously consider what materials to use in their classrooms.

Another basic and very essential concept that calls out for definition is Materials Development. Tomlinson (1998) refers to it as

anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language input and to exploit those sources in ways which maximize the likelihood of intake: in other words the supplying of information about and/or experience of the language in ways designed to promote language learning. (p. 2)

To the previous definition I would add that Materials Development encompasses any kind of activity and/or exercise (games, role plays, readings, problem-solving situations, group discussions, etc.) totally developed from raw texts, with or without pedagogical purposes, for the students’ level and created to address a section of the course content, that seems to be weak or lack further development or practice. Materials Development ranges from creating a short grammar exercise to writing a complete textbook.

Within the concept of Materials Development, there is a commonly used term that also needs to be defined: Materials Adaptation. It refers to the application of some strategies to make the textbook more effective and flexible. These strategies are omission, addition (adding extra material), reduction, extension (lengthening an activity to draw attention to other language features), rewriting / modification, replacement, re-ordering, and branching (offering alternative ways to do the same activity, e.g. drawing, writing, preparing a speech, looking for a song). (Maley, p. 281) Contrasting with Materials Development, when teachers adapt an activity or exercise from a textbook, they use that activity or exercise as the basis to make certain changes. The text is the same given in the textbook, but exploited and used differently. I would say that this is the process that many teachers usually follow in their classes, since they can use old textbooks to take texts and ideas and adapt them to their current teaching needs. Both processes are indeed time-consuming and time-demanding; however, Materials Adaptation is “easier” in the sense that teachers can use texts given in different textbooks, whereas in Materials Development everything must be created from scratch.

2. Reasons to develop / adapt materials

Some teachers may question the need to develop or adapt teaching materials if everything they need is already in a textbook elaborated by people who really know. Being this a very valid opinion, it is necessary to analyze the positive and negative aspects of using a textbook, and from there, discuss the need to develop and adapt materials. O’Neil (1990) states that

books provide a grammatical and functional framework from within we could work. It is a nonsense to argue that this framework is never the same from one group to another even though the ultimate, specific uses two groups may make of language may differ. The framework is as much a result of the language itself as it is of the learner’s needs. (…) Almost always a textbook can be found which will provide the core language which is necessary and useful for a group whose needs may at first seem unique. (p. 150)

The textbook, together with the syllabus, (not to mention some language courses in which the textbook itself constitutes the syllabus) is the  backbone that holds up a language course. In a textbook, teachers do find an appropriate sequence to follow and a support to base their daily teaching. Textbooks are good outlines that teachers can follow and adapt to their teaching, cultural, and institutional needs.

Course books also provide a source and a guide for students. If students have missed a class, have problems with a certain language aspect, want to review, practice, reinforce, or just know what comes ahead, they can find that information in the textbooks. As O’Neil (1990, p. 151) says “textbooks are a resource for staying in touch with the language”. Students need a source to lean on, to consult and to revise anytime they feel suit. Besides this, in textbooks, students find information nicely presented and elaborated. Nobody can deny that the layout of most textbooks is unquestionably neat and with great graphic art. Students have in their textbooks wonderful pictures, charts, drawings, organization of information, and so on, presented in the best ways possible. O’Neil also mentions that

home-made materials tend to get shabby very quickly and, even in these days of high-quality photocopiers and word-processors, cause enormous production and storage problems. (…) The fact that books are bound means they are easy to carry and to look at where and when learners want, on buses, at meal time, in parks, while waiting for appointments, etc. No other medium is as easy to use as a book. (p. 153)

Although very skillful teachers can work on a decent course packet, they will be many steps behind when compared to a textbook. Harmer (2003) points out another important element in textbook. He says that

textbooks provide a sensible progression of language items (…) Textbooks can be systematic about the amount of vocabulary presented to the student. (…) Good textbooks also relieve the teacher from the pressure of having to think of original material for every class. (p. 257)

Throughout my teaching experience, I have felt that a course without a textbook is very

similar to a ship without a clear destination. It may navigate days and nights and arrive at

many ports, but if the route is not clearly set, important ports can never be reached, precious time can be wasted, and eventually, the ship can get completely lost.

                However, textbooks can also have an adverse effect on teaching. As it was mentioned before, textbooks indeed constitute the backbone of a language course; however, much more needs to be done to complement what textbooks already bring. Edge and Wharton (1998) suggest that “experienced teachers do not tend to follow the script of a course book inflexibly. They add, delete and change tasks at the planning stage, and they reshape their plans during the lesson in response to the interaction that takes place” (p. 300). Many times a textbook presents the material in a way that does not fit the reality of the classroom or the current needs of the students. It is in this moment where the teacher has to define what to change, eliminate, add or extend. In fact, this is what keeps a class alive. If teachers over-use a textbook over a period of time, they will find themselves teaching the same type of activities in the same order repeatedly. In such a situation, even with good textbooks, students may find the study of English becoming a routine and thus less and lessmotivating. (Harmer, 2003, p. 257) Teachers should really  avoid getting involved in this rigid sequence by providing students with supplementary material developed or adapted to their needs. I am totally aware that most teachers are under considerable pressure because they are forced to comply with a syllabus and they teach many classes. They are also influenced by the attitude of the institution and those colleagues who see the textbook as a resource that has to be closely followed. But the reality also forces teachers to find ways to spice up theirclasses without falling into a dangerous and tedious routine, as Karpova (1999) suggests,

Many textbooks create a climate for socially isolated learning. They contain information centered on exercises such as repetition, pattern practice drills, gap filling, and grammatical transformation. Teachers need more materials that help students become thoughtful participants in a socially rich environment for learning and that feature everyday uses of English. (p. 1)

Undoubtedly, one way of getting students much more involved in their learning process and of transforming them into active participants is by incorporating Materials Development / Adaptation into our daily teaching.

Another reason teachers have to develop / adapt materials is the fact that even though a textbook provides a framework, as cited by O’Neil, this framework needs to be contextualized. Textbooks present materials, such as maps, flight and bus schedules, opening and closing times of public services, prices, names of cities, information about public or famous personalities that our students may not be familiar with. As Block (1991) says

instead of having students look at fictitious facts about a fictitious person, they could be given facts about a politician or entertainer, known to students. (…) The fact that the students are talking about something as real as their home town makes the practice activity much more relevant, and engaging. (…) Abstract knowledge constructs about common day-to-day experiences, the general framework of which, over time, can usefully be internalized by students. (p. 213-214)

Contextualization makes learning significant to students by helping them become interested and aware of what happens around them.

Undeniably, Materials  Development/Adaptation is very time-consuming. Sometimes teachers may even wonder what to prepare materials for if they are going to be used only once. This is totally true, especially if we choose certain taped programs from the radio or TV which may become outdated within 24 hours, or even less. But apart from this, teachers should realize that if it takes them long hours to create an activity, this activity should be recycled along the school year with different levels of difficulty and groups. Based on my personal experience, I do believe that even if teachers use their own developed activity only once, it is well worth the try when good results are obtained and motivation among the students is increased, not to mention the teacher’s great feeling of satisfaction to present something created by herself/himself. In this respect, Block (1991) comments that

the personal touch in teacher- generated materials is highly appreciated by students. When students realize that the teacher has gone outside the course book and prepared something personally, they make remarks such “Oh, you work hard.” (p. 214)

I have even received comments like, “You’re very creative” or “You really like what you do because you have beautiful materials.” If I have been told all these nice words, why can other teachers not experience the same?

3. Characteristics of developed / adapted materials

When talking about Materials Development / Adaptation, there are some important features to take into account in the process of creating or adapting teaching materials. Among the many characteristics mentioned by Tomlinson (1998), there are four that I consider fundamental and thus worth discussing. The first one is the fact that materials should have an impact on the students and arouse learners’ curiosity, attention and interest. By impact Tomlinson refers to materials that make use of different types of sources (TV, newspaper, Internet sites, radio, magazines, letters), have an attractive presentation and appealing content (1998, p. 7). Obviously, to achieve this, teachers should clearly know his/her students and his/her objectives to develop / adapt an activity for a particular teaching aspect. These materials ought to be relevant, useful and focused on what students are learning at that point.

A second characteristic is exposure to real language which is attained by giving

students opportunities to use language in real-life communicative activities. By having guest speakers, radio interviews, lectures, class surveys, spontaneous conversations, projects, interviews to other teachers, group discussions, and panels in class students can be exposed to real language. The materials should also stimulate learner’s interaction with the input rather than just having passive reception of it. This does not necessarily mean that the learners should always produce language in response to the input, but it does mean that they should always do something mentally or physically in response to it. (Tomlinson, 1998, p. 13) Following directions, filling out an application form, chart or table with important information are examples of receptive activities in which students are processing authentic language. It is very important for teachers to ask themselves every time they create or adapt an activity how much real language students are using and/or producing in that particular activity. If the answer is not much, then, it is time to restructure or eliminate that activity.

As a third feature, materials should address different learning styles and intelligences. If teachers know their students, they will design activities in which students can really feel at ease using their learning preferences and abilities. Teachers should develop/adapt materials for visual, auditory or tactile students as well as activities for students with bodily-kinesthetic, musical, linguistic, logical mathematical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligences. Of course, it would be very difficult, though not impossible, to include in one activity all these styles and intelligences, but along the school year teachers can address one or two styles or intelligences in different activities. As Maley (1998) points out, “I would particularly like to see more use made in materials development of what we know about the value of engaging emotions in the learning process” (p. 280). Language learners do need to feel that language is not just a tight body of grammatical structures, rules and words, but a vehicle in which they can use their abilities and preferences to make their learning process much easier and enjoyable.

As Richards and Rodgers (2002) mention

Multiple Intelligence thus belongs to a group of instructional perspectives that focus on differences between learners and the need to recognize learner differences in teaching. Learners are viewed as possessing individual learning styles, preferences, or intelligences. Pedagogy is most successful when these learner differences are acknowledged, analyzed for particular groups of learners, and accommodated in teaching. (p. 115)

As an illustration of this point, part of the content of the first year English major course, LM-1001 Integrated English 1, deals with topics related to family and clothing. For the family

topic, one of the activities that I asked my students to do in class was to draw their family

tree. For the clothing topic, I also asked my students to create a collage of dressing fashions and trends with magazine cut-outs. I would have never imagined the wonderful creations my students came up with. They learned the language and used it in class to describe what they did to their classmates, and they used their imagination and creativity to design amazing projects. My students even told me that those activities were very useful for them because they learned many important linguistic aspects by having fun and using their abilities.

The last, but not the least, important feature of Materials Adaptation is the guidance

towards students’ autonomy and independence. The latest trends in EFL teaching support and encourage the idea that students need to learn to be responsible for their own learning and to know that they can do activities in and out of class by themselves. Edge and Wharton (1998) stated that “in order to achieve this in class teachers need to encourage the learners to reflect on what they are doing and why” (p. 296). Giving students CHOICES is a key element in making them autonomous and independent. Students need different alternatives to go over a specific task. Of course, the one alternative that learners choose is likely to be closely related to their intelligences, learning styles, and learning strategies. If teachers create and/ or adapt teaching materials, they should offer choices, or at least, more than one possible way to complete the task. Going back to the previous projects of the family tree and clothing collage, students were given specific directions, but they had endless avenues to accomplish the final outcome. Obviously, not all activities are so open as to give students many choices like information gap activities, but teachers should make an effort to provide students with chances to feel part of the decision-making process of what to do and how to do it.

4. Process of Materials Development and / or Adaptation

Like many teaching situations that follow a clear process, Materials Development and Adaptation is not the exception. Jolly and Bolitho (1998, p. 98-99) present a very self explanatory and easy-to-follow process to apply when creating or adapting teaching materials. The process is as follows:

1.   IDENTIFICATION: by the teacher or learners of a need to fulfill or a problem to solve by the creation of materials

2. EXPLORATION: of the area of need/problem in terms of what       language, what meaning, what functions, what skills?

3.   CONTEXTUAL REALIZATION: of the proposed new material by the       finding of suitable ideas, contexts or texts with which to work.

4. PEDAGOGICAL REALIZATION: of materials by the finding of appropriate       exercises and acti vities and the writing of appropriate instructions for                use.

5.   PHYSICAL PRODUCTION: of materials, involving consideration of layout, type size, visuals, reproduction, tape length, etc.

6. STUDENTS’ USE OF MATERIALS

7. REWRITING OF MATERIALS BASED ON STUDENTS’ EVALUATION

 

Even though Jolly and Bolitho present a simple process, it is still hard for me to understand or follow that process for more practical purposes. When this happens, I try to use questions to make the process easier and more direct. For this reason, I have added some questions that, throughout my teaching career, I have considered very helpful, not just for myself but for my Licenciatura and Master’s students who really get the idea of the process very clearly and fast. Each of the questions corresponds to each step above:

Step 1: Do I really need other materials in this section? If the answer is YES (which in most of               the cases happens) continue with the next question

Step 2: What can I do here?

Step 3: Where can I find information helpful to create / adapt something for this

                linguistic aspect?

Step 4: What kind of exercises can I do here to exploit the idea or the text better?

Step 5: What is the best way (layout) to present my activity?

Step 6: Was the activity useful? Did I achieve my goal? Did my students like it?

                Do I have to add, eliminate, correct, clarify, simplify, or rearrange something in this    activity?

                I do consider that the process mentioned before lacks one important phase which is the revision and feedback from colleagues. I would place this step just after the physical production of the materials, that is, between steps 5 and 6. As language teachers, we need to share our ideas and receive feedback that can enlighten and guide us to a better performance. When we create something, we consider it so perfect that we are unable to see some flaws that may cause an unsuccessful outcome. This is the moment in which our colleagues play an important role by giving us comments or new ideas which may radically change our perspective, and consequently, our entire activity. I do believe that as developers of teaching materials, we cannot use something in class if we have not had enough feedback from our colleagues beforehand. Undoubtedly, the process seems to be very simple at first glance; however, its application is difficult and time-consuming, but very rewarding.

In the process outlined previously, step 5 deals with the physical production of materials. However, this aspect is not explained in detail in the few books and articles written about Materials Development and Adaptation. Indeed, this is a fundamental phase which developers have to pay careful attention to. Students must receive the final product neatly presented, but the word “neatly” does not refer just to the presentation as such, but to instructions, spelling, use of language (grammar, word choice, word order), use of pictures, font size, and use of space. It is not that the aesthetic element of an activity is not important; obviously, students like colorful papers and creative ways to play with space in a handout. Nonetheless, this aspect seems irrelevant when the activity is full of mistakes, has disorganized information and presents incorrect content.

                Instructions are fundamental to the successful outcome of an activity. As Harmer (2003) points out, “instructions must be short, simple, concise, and precise. They should never mislead learners or make them feel frustrated along the process of completing an activity” (p. 154).

                Another essential feature of an activity is spelling and language use. Everything teachers give their students is a model that students will imitate or copy. If that model is wrong, misspelled and with mistakes, what can teachers expect from their students? Teachers should be very meticulous about this aspect and make sure that whatever is given to their students must be perfect. This is the moment in which colleagues are very helpful in pinpointing mistakes that are imperceptible to the developer’s eyes.

                Pictures are also an important element in materials’ layout. They are commonly used in many activities; however, teachers have to look for pictures that are appealing, clear and big enough. Sometimes copies of pictures are very dark and students have a hard time making sense out of them. Color pictures are very useful to elicit information from students. Also, pictures must be closely related to the topic of the activity. Indeed, pictures are not space fillers; they do need to have a direct connection with the activity.

                If teachers are doing lots of cut-and-paste from different sources, they should wipe out all black lines, unrelated information, or page numbers that may confuse the students. Space and font size are also important in the development of an activity. Students need space to write down and visual space between one step and the next one. In most of the cases, because of budget limitations, teachers try to save money by putting lots of information in small spaces, creating a very unattractive and overfilled page. However, for layout reasons and for the sake of the learners’ eyes (and the teachers’ too) an activity should be done with a comfortable reading font size (14 or 16) and with plenty of space for students to see the different sections and /or pictures, graphics, charts, and tables of the activity. It has been my perception that students easily get lost when they are presented with too much information at once. They do need time to digest the information, and visual space provides this. It is a fact that due to technological limitations teachers sometimes cannot type their activities, and they present them in a handwritten way. I do not see any problem with this, as long as the handwriting is clear and neat to avoid confusion and time spent on endless clarifications. Finally, I would like to emphasize the obligation of giving credit to the source(s) teachers are getting ideas or information from. Anything teachers use to create or adapt must be mentioned at the bottom of the activity with a small font size (9-10) to avoid distracting students’ attention. This will also enable teachers to locate the source of an activity easily for other teaching purposes.

6. Samples of Materials Development and Adaptation

                In this section the writer will present two samples of activities. One totally original and another one adapted from a teaching source. The first activity is to be used originally with low intermediate students to practice the past tense. This activity was designed by the author

and a colleague of hers. Applying the process created by Jolly and Bolitho, the developers wanted to find an activity to encourage students to practice the past tense in a more authentic and personal way. The results of the search were not very convincing, and the same activities were found in many sources such as the typical questions: What did you do last weekend? Where did you go last vacation and what did you do? and the chronological ordering of a story in past tense, among others. Therefore, the developers decided to come up with an activity themselves. Although simple, they have had great results from it and students like it a lot. Students receive the following written information:

1. Get in groups of three.

2. On a big sheet of paper, draw a big pizza pie.

3. Draw 13 slices inside the pizza pie.

4. Individually, think about three important dates / events in your life.

5. Choose three slices.

6. Write only one date / event on each slice.

7. Leave four slices blank.

Once step 7 is ready, the teacher goes around and writes on the four slices left the following information: START, Last Christmas, Last Birthday Party, Last Vacation. Another possibility, which saves a lot of time, is to use stickers already prepared with these four phrases. The pizza pie will look like this:

Then students continue with the next step.

8.      Choose something small (a token) to represent you in this game and put it on the slice    that says START.

9.      Toss the dice.

10.   Start counting the number you have in the dice.

11.   If you fall on your own date or event, wait until your classmates ask you questions

         about that day.

12.   If you fall on your classmate’s date or event, ask him/her questions like:

                What happened that day? Why is it so special for you?

                Where were you? Who was with you? What did you do that day?

13.   If you fall on any of the slices that say Last Christmas, Last Birthday Party, Last

         Vacation tell your classmates how you celebrated those moments and what you

         did that day. Give as much information as possible.

         One characteristic of this activity is that students prepare the pie themselves, so I can observe their strategies and the way they organize their groups to draw the chart and follow the directions. I also notice how they explain the instructions to each other. Besides this, students get to talk about their own lives and personal experiences. They can see the applicability of what has been explained and practiced in class and how they can use the past tense in their daily context. Underneath this simple activity, there was a subtle but important application of the Multiple Intelligence Theory with the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (drawing the pie), the spatial intelligence (how to divide the pie in 13 slices, and the visual help of the pie), the intrapersonal intelligence (thinking about their dates / events), and the interpersonal and linguistic intelligence (talking and explaining about their own lives). There was also the reviewing of a very difficult grammatical pattern in a very free and independent way, and the use of contextualized and authentic tasks. Another feature of this activity is that it is reusable. This idea can be applied to many linguistic aspects like conditionals, present perfect, present perfect progressive, future; reviewing topics in class, discussing current events, news, and cultural issues among others.

         The second activity shows an adaptation I made from a very good book named Great Ideas (1991) by Leo Jones and Victoria Kimbrough for high intermediate or advancedstudents. The  original activity is as follows:

             You live in a neighborhood where the Big Burger Company wants to open a  new            hamburger restaurant. You and your neighbors do not want the restaurant. Talk to the     representatives of Big Burger, and tell them why you don’t think the restaurant is a            good idea. Some reasons might be:

1. The building is ugly.

2. The area around the restaurant will be very noisy.

3. Everything at BB is fried and very unhealthy. Fast food isn’t good for you.

4.   There will be a lot of garbage – this may attract rats and make the neighborhood                                      smell bad.

5.   There are enough places to buy lunch already.

         I wanted to use this idea for a topic about complaining, giving excuses and solutions. Jones and Kimbrough’s idea is good, but I wanted something more contextualized and tied to the students’ real life. I decided to take the same idea and I designed an activity about a mall, and instead of an activity for two groups, I added some extra information to divide my class into three groups so that each particular group had different roles. In this way my students can work in smaller groups and their chance to talk increases. The adapted idea looks like this:

Group 1:    You live in Barrio El Carmen known as a very quiet, clean, and safe neighborhood.                The Big Mall Company wants to open a new mall in El Carmen. You and your            neighbors are members of the neighborhood committee.  After long meetings, you    have come to the conclusion thata mall is not a very good idea. Talk to the                       representatives of The Big  Mall and the City representatives, ask them some           questions, and tell them what you think.

Some of your arguments might be:

1. There are many malls already.

2. The property can be used for a park instead.

3. The area will be very noisy, polluted and dangerous.

4. The construction area is too big for that community.

5. Traffic jams will get worse in rush hours with this mall.

6. Others

Group 2:    You are the representatives of the Big Mall Company (BM). You want to open a new             mall in Barrio El Carmen. You are talking to the members of El Carmen             neighborhood and the City representatives. Try to convince them that the mall        would be a good idea. Some of your arguments might be:

1. The mall will create new job opportunities.

2. It will increase the security in the community.

3. The value of the properties will increase.

4. People will have a closer place to go shopping.

5. The company will create traffic facilities like bridges for pedestrians

and other car routes.

6. Others

Group 3:    You are the City representatives of Barrio El Carmen belongs to. Youhave been       called to a meeting  where the Big Mall Company and El Carmen neighborhood      committee will discuss the positive and negative aspects of opening a new mall in             town. After listening to both positions and asking questions, give or deny the               permit to open the mall. Some of your questions might be about:

1. Opening and closing hours.

2. Collecting and treatment of garbage, especially the one from fast

      food restaurants.

3. Recycling program and sanitation measures

4. Security system of the building

5. Use of space (parking lots, green areas)

6. Economic benefits for the community

7. Others

                      Each group has to prepare their ideas, complaints, questions, arguments and solutions very carefully, and then, the discussion starts. At the end, the Municipality members have the final decision and based on the other groups’ arguments, they decide whether or not to open the new mall and under what conditions. The teacher takes notes while the discussion is going on, and later she/he gives feedback about language use. With this activity, students have to come up with strategies and ideas to organize their information and to decide what each member says and when. They practice turn taking and language expressions to agree and disagree, to ask for clarification and questions, and to restate and summarize previous explanations. All of this is practiced in the activity, and it is very necessary in real life situations. Autonomy, contextualization and authenticity are indeed present in this activity.

                      The writer wanted to share these two activities as samples of Materials Development and Adaptation in Grammar and Speaking skills. Obviously, this process can be applied to any of the macro skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and micro skills (vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation) in teaching a second or foreign language. An important element that teachers cannot forget is that for any kind of activity that they adapt or create for any of the macro or micro skills, students do need preparation and follow up (pre and post activities).

Conclusion

             No one can deny that developing and adapting materials is difficult and demanding, but it is necessary in order to offer our language students other avenues and alternatives to practice the target language in more authentic and independent ways. Materials development and adaptation does not belong only to book writers and publishers. Mainstream English teachers can create and adapt materials with a little of extra time, motivation, creativity, and love. It is indeed a process that with practice and trial and error methods becomes more and more rewarding and necessary in our teaching contexts. It is also a way of keeping ourselves updated in new teaching trends and ideas. As Tomlinson states (1998) We need to make efforts to discover reliable and valid information about the sort of materials teachers and learners want to use. We need to innovate and experiment if we really want to find out how we could make language learning materials more effective and motivating. (p. 158)

             Our language classes cannot stick to only one book. We have the responsibility and Obligation to look for other ideas, to try them out, and see what we can get and improve from them. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s start creating and adapting materials to lighten up our class and cast routine and boredom away.

References

Block, D. (1991). Some Thoughts on DIY Materials Design. ELT Journal, 2 (45): 211-216.

Edge, J; and Wharton, S. (1998) . Autonomy and development: living in the materials world. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials Development in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. 295-310.

Harmer, J. (2003). The practice of English language teaching. New York: Longman.

Jolly, D. and Bolitho R. (1998). A framework for materials writing. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials Development in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. 90-115.

Jones, L., & Kimbrough, V. (1991). Great ideas. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Karkova, L. (April / May 1999) Considering the following when selecting and using          authentic materials. Tesol Matters, 9 (2): 55-59.

Kitao, K. (1998). Selecting and developing teaching / learning materials. Retrieved in October 2001, de Kkitao@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Maley, A. (1998) . Squaring the circle – reconciling materials as constraint with materials as empowerment. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.). Materials Development in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. 279-294.

O’Neil, R. (1990). Why use textbooks? In R. Rossner & R. Bolitho (Eds.). Currents of Change in English Language Teaching. New York: Oxford University Press. 148-156

Richards, C and Rodgers, T. (2002). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials Development in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.