Helen Lee – Needs and materials: unpacking the process

During this seminar we were given the opportunity to explore ELT materials with Helen Lee who is a Doctorate candidate and a very experienced EFL author and teacher. I found the session particularly refreshing as it was an opportunity to go back to some of the basics we had reviewed at the beginning of the course, such as student needs and what materials mean to us. This reflection was quite eye-opening because during the course it has felt that every answer I have found has opened up lots more questions. But in reality, in this moment, I realised that I now have some concrete ideas about my own principles, ideas of material purposes, strengths and limitations as well as how I perceive myself as a teacher.

There were many things during the session that I have taken away with me but there a are few that stick in my mind. For example, the principles that I considered the most important at the beginning of the module and how I view them now.

The first principle was “materials should encourage learners to apply their developing skills to the world beyond the classroom”. If anything, I believe this more so now and through this process I have realised that all the materials or worksheets I have made that is based on the literature I have been reading has been centralised around this principle. For example, the first task worksheet and the materials adaption. As a teacher I feel that only so much of the learning can take place in the classroom, particularly in when students are studying in the UK.

The second principle was “materials should provide personal rather than mechanical practice”. This principle has changed for me. Now I believe that there is a time and a place for mechanical practice. Even though I don’t enjoy setting it as I feel it isn’t usually focusing students on some key areas of language, such as communication. I believe that those types of practice can help the learner internalise the new information and focus on a very particular part of it, such as word order. Having said that, the textbooks should be providing more activities for authentic communication and task-based learning activities to assist teachers in planning a dynamic lesson that consists of a variety of activity styles. Until the industry changes, the mechanical activities will take precedence in textbooks and therefore could be a focus in lessons.

The third principle was “materials should address the need for student centeredness”. Now I am not entirely sure what this means. Maybe this is because I can only see materials that I have been using, writing or evaluating in a student centered manner. But yes, I agree that all materials should address this need.

The forth principle was “materials should be relevant to students’ needs and contexts”. Yes, yes, yes. I now believe that every material I have seen recently has attempted this but with varying levels of success. The key issue here is where published material for the global market will ever really be able to meet all the needs. This is where adapting and supplimenting comes in. Without the teacher being able to deduce what language and materials are needed for a particular student, English would not be nearly so easy to learn as it is now.

The final principle reviewed at the beginning of the module was “materials should maximise learning potential by encouraging intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement which stimulates both right- and left-brain activity”. I have realised that this principle hasn’t been affect so much by this module but from another ares of study in second language acquisition. Currently I am conducting a study on emotional memory and vocabulary retention in EFL learners. The results to this project will help me to make judgements about this principle in much greater detail but also probably generate more questions.