The main themes of this blog are the considerations of material design for English Language Teaching (ELT). Firstly, I will try to establish the context by what is meant by materials. Then, the focus will be on the issues surrounding the ‘godfather’ of ELT materials, the coursebook. Obviously, there are plenty of resources out there for ELT material that are not the coursebook. However, they are still the staple of input in most institutions and is where most teachers start their ELT journey. The world of ELT is evolving and publishers are starting to recognise the benefits of other forms of media, and there will be more discussion about these in future posts.
What are materials?
McGrath (2013) suggests that if you ask the question “what are materials?” to any number of teachers the answers would be extremely varied, and would represent the individual’s preferences and ideologies of teaching and learning. Considering the idea of materials in its broadest term, Tomlinson (2001) implies they are ‘anything used to facilitate the learning of language’. The idealist in me reads this definition and nods wholeheartedly. The potential affordances that a ‘bus ticket’ has as a material to be used with a group of learners, those in need of communicative competence in public transport discourse is extremely motivating and exciting. In the right hands, all surroundings and objects have linguistic merits and provide opportunities for lessons to be built-upon. The broadest term (for what are materials) would definitely fit into a Dogme movement or method (as championed by Scott Thornbury). The effectiveness of this would depend heavily on the experience and confidence of the teacher. As a graduate of the Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) course, I remember being terrified to enter a classroom room without at least three hours of preparation for one page of a coursebook, and at least two or three back-up activities if things were not going well.
McGrath (2007) suggests that there are four categories that materials could fall into to:
- Those specifically designed for language learning and teaching (e.g. textbooks, worksheets and computer software)
- Authentic materials (e.g. radio and newspapers)
- Teacher-written materials
- Learner-generated materials
For the majority of this post I will concentrate on the first of these descriptions. As the blog progresses and develops I hope the focus will move toward the other three.
Identifying materials starts with the “whom” and the “why” they are created (their intended audience): Are the materials produced globally or locally? Are they intended for General English/Teaching English for No Obvious Reason (TENOR), or English for Specific Purposes (ESP)? Are they specialised in terms of linguistic focus i.e. language systems, phonology, grammar, and skills?
Further distinctions can be made based on the roles the materials play in the classroom. Here Tomlinson (2001) offers a four-way division:
- Instructional – inform learners about language.
- Experiential – exposure to language in use.
- Elicitative – stimulate language use.
- Exploratory – facilitate discoveries about language use.
McGrath (2013) offers another definition for two types of materials:
Materials-as-content: is linked to the communicative approach. This is when students engage with language through their desire to understand and to make themselves understood (elicitative). The theory is that engaging content is more likely to stimulate communicative interaction. Therefore, learning takes place through exposure and use (exploratory), or as Tomlinson (2001) says “through experiencing the language or responding to elicitation.”
Materials-as-language: uses reference materials such as dictionaries, grammar books, and student workbooks, where language is the content. Tomlinson calls this the ‘instructional role’. These books are helpful for analytically inclined learners; it needs to be complemented by text-level examples of language use (experiential). Up-to-date natural examples serve as both language samples and where rules can be discovered. Tomlinson describes this as an exploratory role for materials as a model for learners’ own production.
All these descriptions support the idea that Tomlinson describes above. Materials can be presented in numerous ways and should afford at least one of the four functions. Most teachers, I encounter, take an eclectic stance on the types of materials they use and the function they wish them to employ. Commercial materials are accessible on many multimedia formats that suit the modern demand for accessibility and connectivity. However, I will focus on one of the most tried and tested formats of published materials, the printed coursebook.
There are probably debates happening as your read this post between educators regarding the merits and demerits of ELT coursebooks.
The coursebook, for me as a newly qualified teacher, was my saviour. It helped to make sense of everything: planning, aims, procedures, content, and activities/tasks. It gave me the structure and much needed support at the start of my career. Coursebooks were my training wheels for my ‘teaching bike’. Eventually, we started to outgrow each other and those wheels became embarrassing and I wanted them off. That is not to say that coursebooks don’t still play a part in my teaching, they do. I use them sparingly and adapt them whenever it is applicable. They still hold some dependence over me for the more examination based materials that I teach such as IELTS.
The advantages of coursebooks are that they (generally) tend to combine Tomlinson’s four-way-division. There are materials-as-content which have value in the stimulus for communicative interaction. There are also materials-as-language with the provision of information about the target language and carefully selected examples for learners to explore.
One of the key benefits is the timesaving element that coursebooks offer. There are still some who see the coursebook as the work being done for them. Their job is to guide the students through the different stages of each unit. In my experience, the coursebook provides a pre-packaged syllabus and scheme-of-work for the faculty, the teacher and the learner. The goals are clearly defined and presented with progression tracking tasks, and tests running sequentially after each, or several units. Most global textbooks are supported by workbooks, teachers’ books and multi-media supplementary materials to aid and support the teaching and learning of the language at the appropriate level (beginner, lower-intermediate etc.). Sheldon (1988) suggests that “coursebooks represent for both students and teachers the visible beating heart of any ELT programme”. But is this a good thing? Was Sheldon being supportive or damning in this statement?
Coursebooks!!!!!!!!??????
The sub-heading should identify what the next section is addressing. There is as much literature that questions the use of global coursebooks in ELT classrooms, as there are pages of coursebook material. This a tricky section for me and my support for and dissatisfaction with coursebooks sways.
It is clear to most that coursebooks cannot, and do not cater for the whole person, nor do they take adequate account of the differences in learning. McGrath (2013) highlights that underlying the Humanistic approach to language acquisition is the belief that learners must engage on an affective level as well as a cognitive one. This same belief underpins one line of criticism of coursebooks. Tomlinson (2003) seconds this concern by suggesting that coursebooks only concentrate on linguistic and analytical aspects of learning and not through physically doing, feeling emotions and experiencing things in the mind. He suggests that the writers or the publishers of global materials believe that studial learning (where linguistic form and correctness is essential to the input) is preferred.
When addressing the content and contexts of global coursebooks, I have to admit to being slightly naïve and thoughtless about this area of material design. McGrath (2013) highlights the Anglo-centric view of the world and cultural realities some global coursebooks project. In the main, they have little relevance for the majority of learners studying English. Native speaker norms still dominate despite English use being driven by non-native speakers of English. With the vast majority of L2 English speakers use it as a Lingua Franca or an International language seriously questions these anglo-norms. Most of my students will be communicating as an international language and cultural norms (English ones) will not apply to them once they finish their education. McGrath (2013) describes it as “a form of cultural imperialism”. The acronym BANA (Britain, Australasia, and North America) I found rather apt and something that awoke my awareness of my British cultural norm blindness to coursebook content. This is an important issue for me to consider in my understanding and considerations of material design. Cultural icons and historical artifacts can easliy be researched and added into materials in order to engage and motivate the learners in their particular context.
Further criticism is can be aimed at coursebooks for their BANA-centricities and not just for the cultural imperialism they embody. The western values of both content and pedagogical approach can come under fire for their advocacy of particular classroom practice, roles and relationships. This may mean that materials that are culturally adverse will in some circumstances mean that students ‘switch-off’ and retreat into their inner world to protect their integrity (McGrath, 2013).
Teachers should question the coursebooks’ (both global and local ones) rubrics, activities, implicit messages about language learning, and the relationship and roles between learner and teacher. These pedagogical stances presented in the coursebooks rarely reflect the research and perspectives of current second language acquisition (SLA) and language use. McGrath (2013) highlights that numerous reviewers pick up on individual grammar or lexical points found within global coursebooks. They usually critique the authentic use of that language feature. The syllabuses and their pedagogy as a task design have been critically evaluated and call into question the atomistic and Present-Practice-Produce (P-P-P) approach of most textbooks. Meddings and Thornbury (2011) the grammatical ‘McNugget’ culture that books rely on, as it does not support learning at the same speed as delivery. Ewer & Boys (1981) describe coursebooks as having “shaky linguistic foundations”. Twenty years on from this critique, and Harwood (2005) concluded after researching fifty-six coursebooks that “few if any are premised on any type of research-based linguistic analysis”.
Acerbation of the negative view of coursebook comes from the idea that the content and approaches are ‘playing it safe’. The avoidance of reference to P.A.R.S.N.I.P (Politics, Alcohol, Religion, Sex, Narcotics, Isms, and Pork). Global coursebooks need a global appeal and the middle ground does reflect the complexties and rich variety that international communication demands. Inclusivity is understandable, to a certain degree, but this is surely avoiding language that might be needed for everyday use and purpose (for older learners) (McGrath, 2013).
The feeling among some is that nothing really changes in the delivery of coursebooks even in the face of developments in research, methodology, experimentation or class feedback. There is a feeling that less and less appears to be left to the teacher to decide or leave out of their classroom practice. The coursebook materials structure classrooms and the time spent on activities is imposed from a distance and its presence is felt more and more over time (McGrath, 20130.
The coursebook bashing has come to a close and it is worthwhile to remind ourselves and as McGrath (2013) rightly points out “not all teachers view coursebooks in the same way as monolithic manuals but more as proposals of actions not instructions of use”.
There are more localised and focused resources available to teachers who are in a position to choose their materials. Here is a post from the ELT Jam blog that builds awareness of some of the other coursebook options out there.
(As a note, blogs appear to be a great resource for ideas and materials, and I hope, I will be able to research and build more of a relationship with them as the blog progresses.)
Bringing this post to close it is worth reflecting on the future of materials in ELT. The current landscape is still dominanted by printed coursebooks. Yet, these materials are starting to be supported by more multi-modal resources. Publishers are not ‘burying their heads in the sand’ it is more a question of how to best manage the wealth of possibilities that are available. The Internet and technology has come a long way in a short space of time. Print has not run its course and wil not be replaced by touch senstive screens on mobile devices. Access to materials has never been more flexible, global and connected. Teachers and students have the opportunity to work together to find materials and methods that work best in their context (a good example being distance learning). Personally, I feel this post has given me a boost of confidence to think of anything to be a language learning material. At the same time it has given me a timely reminder that there are many considerations to make for design and creation, which mainly centre around the students needs and context.
References
Ewer, J. & Boys, O. (1981) The EST textbook situation – an enquiry, The ESp Journal 1.2: 87-105.
Mcgrath, I. (2002) Materials evaluation and design for language teaching, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.
Mcgrath, I. (2013) Teaching materials and the roles of EFL/ESL teachers: theory versus practice, London, Continuum.
Meddings, L. & Thornbury,S. 2011. Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching. London: DELTA Publishing
Tomlinson, B. (2011) Materials development in language teaching, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.