Developing principled frameworks for material development
- 2. What does ‘Materials development’ mean? ○‘Materials development’ refers to all the processes made use of by practitioners who produce and/or use materials for language learning, including materials evaluation, their adaptation, design, production, exploitation and research. Ideally, all of these processes should be given consideration and should interact in the making of language- learning materials. ○Materials development is both a field of study and a practical undertaking. As a field it studies the principles and procedures of the design, implementation and evaluation of language teaching materials 2
- 3. Frameworks for materials development Richards (1995:102-103) describes frameworks as the process of designing a “design or frame for a unit in a textbook” which can “serve as a formulae which the author can use in writing the book 3
- 4. Flores (1995:60-62) also describes frameworks that outline a lesson format with the following basic stage:
- 5. “ Key components in lesson format 5 Starter Input General Information Language Focus Tasks
- 6. Basic stages in outlining a lesson format ○ Listening with Understanding ○ Using Grammar in Oral Interaction ○ Reading for Understanding ○ Writing ○ Literature 6
- 7. ○ Jolly and Bolitho (1998:97-98) have an interestingly different approach to frameworks and focus not on a unit frameworks but on a framework for developing materials, which involves the following procedures: 7
- 8. Identification of need for materials Exploration of need Contextual realization of materials Pedagogical realization of materials Productions of materials Student use of materials Evaluation of materials against agreed objectives 8
- 9. Most writers on the process of the materials development focus on needs analysis as starting point. And some writers report starting by articulating their principles. Principles in Materials Development 9
- 10. Bell and Gower (1998:122-125) started by articulating principles which they wanted to guide their writing: ○ Flexibility ○ From text to language ○ Engaging content ○ Natural language ○ Analytic approaches ○ Emphasis on review ○ Personalized practice ○ Integrated skills ○ Balance of approaches ○ Learner development ○ Professional respect 10
- 11. 11 Tomlinson (1999b) describes a principled and flexible framework designed to help teachers to develop materials efficiently and effectively.
- 12. Penaflorida (1995:172-179) reports her use of the six principles of materials design identified by Nunan (1988): 1. Materials should be clearly linked to the curriculum they serve. 2. Materials should be authentic in terms of text and task 3. Materials should be authentic in terms of text and task 12 4. Materials should allow learners to focus on formal aspects of the language 5. Materials should encourage learners to develop learning skills, and skills in learning 6. Materials should encourage learners to apply their developing skills to the world beyond the classroom.
- 13. A Text-driven Approach to Materials Development Tomlinson’s own preference is the text-driven approach, in which an engaging written or spoken text drives a unit of materials in which readiness activities activate the learners’ minds in relation to the text, initial response activities stimulate engagement whilst experiencing the text, intake response activities encourage articulation of personal responses, input response activities invite exploration of features of the text and development activities encourage learner production (Tomlinson 2003c). 13
- 14. Table of a summary of the text-driven framework 14 Stage Procedure Principles Objectives Text Collection Find or create potentially engaging texts (written or spoken) Affective engagement is a prerequisite for durable learning To build a library of text with the potential for engaging learners Text Selection Select a text suitable in level and theme for your target learners Texts need to be matched with learners To find a text with the potential for useful engagement for the target learners Text Experience Read or listen to the text experientially Apprehension should come before comprehension To start from an experience which you can try to help the learners to approximate.
- 15. 15 Readiness Activities Devise activities which could help the learners achieve mental readiness for experiencing the text Inner speech and the establishment of affective and cognitive connections Multidimensional way they would automatically use when experiencing an L1 text. Experiential Activities Devise whilst-reading or listening activities which will help the learners to process the text in an experiential way L2 learners tend to process a text in a studies way in an insecure attempt to achieve total comprehension To help the learners to move away from their tendency to study texts so that they can engage with the text instead experientially Intake Response Activities Devise activities which help learners to articulate and develop their mental representation of the text Learning is facilitated by starting positively from what the learners do know and understand To encourage learners to process their representation of a text rather than the text itself and to encourage them to be relaxed and confident in their response to texts.
- 16. 16 Development Activities Devise activities which help the learners to use their representation of the text as a basis for language production activities Mental connections facilitate learning To help learners express themselves in the target language intelligently and creatively Input Response Activities Devise activities which help the learners to go back to the text and to discover patterns and regularities of language use in the text A good time to analyze a text is just after an enjoyable multidimensional experience of it, Helping learners to make discoveries for themselves can be an effective way of promoting long-term learning To get the learners to develop their analytical skills and their ability to make discoveries about the use of the target language for themselves. Trialling Try out the materials with a typical target class Matching materials to learners needs and wants is an ongoing, dynamic process To find out how usable and motivating the materials are
- 17. 17 Evaluation Use questionnaires, interviews and analysis of the learners’ work to find out what effect the materials had on the learners Giving learners a chance to evaluate their learning process can not only provide useful information but can also motivate and stimulate learners To show learners they are respected and to find out what effect the materials had on them Revision Produce an improved version of the materials Materials developers and teachers need constantly to improve their materials to achieve a closer match with learners need and wants To match the needs and wants of the learners
- 18. Although the framework above is primarily text-driven it can be adapted to become an activity-driven framework with the text to base the activities on being chosen by the learners from a library of texts either provided for them or built up over a period of time by themselves. Materials can be based on units of the text genres (e.g, advertisement, reports, jokes, announcements, stories, etc) and the learners can be asked to find an appropriate and engaging text from the internet. 18
- 19. 1. Tomlinson’s argument is that the activities in a course should match with learner needs and wants and with principles of language learning, and that they should be developed in ways which provide flexibility of use as well as coherence of connection. 2. Consideration: target context of use for the materials and principles; experience of the writers; developing a flexible framework. 3. The writing process will start with the learner as the focus and with principles in mind. Conclusion 19