UNIT DESCRIPTION

Unit: Materials Development & Adaptation

Lecturer(s)/Instructor(s): Bao Kham, Phan Thi Bich Ngoc, Phan Thi Quynh Nhu & Nguyen Ho Hoang Thuy

Class contacts: 2 periods per week

Periods: 1st & 2nd, Wednesday afternoon

Semester: 2 Academic year: 2008 - 2009

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the unit students will be able to:

- develop a knowledge and understanding of principles and techniques of developing and adapting materials as well as evaluating them.

- demonstrate the abilities to add, change, remove and replace materials in use to make them more relevant to students' needs and levels.

- demonstrate an appreciation of the need to constantly review and adapt materials to suit students.

CONTENT

The unit will concentrate on three main areas: fundamental issues in materials development and adaptation, the techniques of developing and adapting materials, andmaterials evaluation.

MATERIALS

Essential readings:

Ur, Penny, Module 13: Materials, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996

Tanner, Rosie & Catherine G., You can't always get what you want- materials evaluation and adaptation, Longman, 1998.

McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Evaluating ELT materials, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993.

McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Adapting materials, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993.


Recommended readings:

Ur, Penny, Module 12: The Syllabus, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996

Ur, Penny, Module 7: Topics, situations, notions, functions A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996

Nguyen, Thi Cam Le, From passive participant to active thinker- A learner-centered approach to materials development, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 43, No. 3, 2005

Crawford, Jane, The role of materials in the language classroom: Finding the balance, in Jack Richards & Willy A. Renandya, Methodology in language Teaching- An anthology of current practice, CUP, 2002

Shortall, Terry, Artificial and Authentic, English Teaching Professional, Issue 19, April 2001.

Freebairn, Ingrid, The coursebook - future continuous or past?, English Teaching Professional, Issue 15, April 2000.

McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Current approaches to materials design, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993.

Sheldon, Leslie E., Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials, ELT Journal, Vol. 42/4, Octorber 1988

Hwang, Caroline C., Effective EFL education through popular authentic materials, Asian EFL Journal, vol. 7/1, March 2005

Csabay, Noemi, Using comic strips in language classes, English Teaching Forum, No.1, 2006

Bejdou, Atamante, Using radio programs in the EFL classroom, English Teaching Forum, No.1, 2006

Wisniewska, Ingrid, Designing materials for teacher autonomy, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 36/2, April-June, 1998

Stollar, Fedricka L., Making the most of a newsmagazine passage for reading skills development, English Teaching Forum, Vol.32/1, January-March 1994

Moussa, Djibo, Listening: Homework and Simulation- Using Student Provided Materials in Class, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 34/3, July-September, 1996

ASSESSMENT

Participation: 10 %

Assignments: 30 %

Semester Exam: 60 %

SCHEDULE

Week / Focus / Readings
1-3 / Fundamental issues in materials development and adaptation / 1. McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Current Approaches to Materials Design, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993
2. Ur, Penny, Unit 3: Using a Coursebook, Module 13: Materials, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996
3. Ur, Penny, Module 12: The Syllabus, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996
4. Crawford, Jane, The role of materials in the language classroom: Finding the balance, in Jack Richards & Willy A. Renandya, Methodology in Language Teaching- An anthology of current practice, CUP, 2002
5. Shortall, Terry, Artificial and Authentic, English Teaching Professional, Issue 19, April 2001.
6. Freebairn, Ingrid, The coursebook - future continuous or past?, English Teaching Professional, Issue 15, April 2000.
4-8 / Evaluating materials / 1. McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Evaluating ELT materials, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993.
2. Sheldon, Leslie E., Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials, ELT Journal, Vol. 42/4, Octorber 1988.
3. Tanner, Rosie & Catherine G., You can't always get what you want- materials evaluation and adaptation, Longman, 1998.
9-15 / Principles and techniques of developing and adapting materials / 1. Tanner, Rosie & Catherine G., You can't always get what you want- materials evaluation and adaptation, Longman, 1998
2. McDonough, Jo, & Christopher S., Adapting materials, Materials and methods in ELT- A Teacher's Guide, Blackwell, 1993.
3. Nguyen, Thi Cam Le, From passive participant to active thinker- A learner-centered approach to materials development, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 43, No. 3, 2005
4. Hwang, Caroline C., Effective EFL education through popular authentic materials, Asian EFL Journal, vol. 7/1, March 2005
5. Csabay, Noemi, Using comic strips in language classes, English Teaching Forum, No.1, 2006
6. Bejdou, Atamante, Using radio programs in the EFL classroom, English Teaching Forum, No.1, 2006
7. Wisniewska, Ingrid, Designing materials for teacher autonomy, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 36/2, April-June, 1998
8. Stollar, Fredricka L., Making the most of a newsmagazine passage for reading skills development, English Teaching Forum, Vol.32/1, January-March 1994
9. Moussa, Djibo, Listening: Homework and Simulation- Using Student Provided Materials in Class, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 34/3, July-September, 1996
10. Ur, Penny, Unit 4: Supplementary Materials Module 13: Materials, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996
11.Ur, Penny, Unit 5: Teacher-made worksheets, Module 13: Materials, A Course in language Teaching- Practice and Theory, CUP, 1996

ASSIGNMENTS

Students are required to do two assignments:

Assignment 1: Students in groups of three or four are asked to examine two or three consecutive units of a material in use at upper-secondary schools. The purpose is to evaluate the selected materials, using the framework proposed by McDonough & Shaw (1993). They will be required to present their evaluation in a class seminar that is scheduled to be in week 8 or 9, using power-point presentation. This assignment accounts for 15 per cent of the total mark.

Assignment 2: Students in groups of three or four are asked to select a unit in the current material used in upper-secondary schools, and to examine the unit carefully and then suggest ways to adapt its material in order to make it either more communicative or more relevant/meaningful to the students, using the four ways suggested by Tanner & Green (1998). Then their adaptations will be presented to the class in week 14 or 15, using power-point presentation. This assignment takes up 15 % of the total mark.

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