In the second seminar, we explored the issues of designing and creating ELT materials.  In the field of materials making, there is this belief that the process of making the materials is described as ad hoc, spontaneous and intuitive. This is of course seen from the perspective of experienced teachers who spent years teaching and creating suitable materials for their learners.

However, in the case of novice teachers the case is totally different. Due to the lack of enough experience and actual practice of teaching, novice teachers need some sort of a map or a guide in they want to create educational materials. At this point in the discussion, the issues of principles and frameworks were introduced. The two most important questions in the seminar were 1) what principles are going to underpin the process of design of the materials? and 2) what design framework will be used?

To answer these questions, we were asked by our tutor Paul to individually write down our beliefs and principle that we deem important in the process of creating ELT materials. That is what should or shouldn’t, must or mustn’t materials be. To be honest, although I have a teaching experience and I can say that I know what works and doesn’t work for my learners, I was stuck for few moment and didn’t know what to write. I could explain this uncertainty in writing down my thoughts to the lack of opportunity to actually contemplate and entertain the principles of a suitable ELT material.

We were then put in groups (I was in group c) and were asked to reduce our collective principles to 21 statements. Here you find yourself prioritizing the principles and negotiating them with your group members. Having done that, Paul provided us with principles from different researchers like Tomlinson (2011), Nunan (1988) and Hutchinson & Waters (1987). The next step was to merge our principles with these from the researchers and come up with a final list.

Our list consists of the following principles:

One of my contributions to the list is the principle of having the culture of the target language in the materials, which I believe can contribute to a better understanding of the Other and make the learner interculturally competent.

References:

Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987) English for Specific Purposes: A Learning-centred Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nunan, D. (1988) Principles for designing language teaching materials. Guidelines 10 pp.1-24.

Tomlinson, B. (2011) Introduction: principles and procedures of materials development. In:

Tomlinson, B. (ed). Materials Development in Language Teaching. (2nd ed) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.1-31.

ELT Material and Ideology

The Marxist theorist Stuart Hall once said that no one exists outside ideology, that we all in a sense live in a certain ideological realm where we follow certain rules, norms and beliefs (cited in Gray, 2015). Drawing from this realization, I wonder how does ideology play a role in the field of ELT and especially in creating and designing educational materials?

From a Marxist perspective for example, the society consists of two parts. The first part is called the base which adapts a certain ideology, be it Marxist or Capitalist or any other. This base dominates the other part which is the superstructure. The latter has many facets like the family, the police, religion and schools.  These entities reflect the ideology of the base and in return reinforce that ideology.  For example, the schools (in most cases in the third world) have to follow a certain ideology and cultural identity where the learners need to interpellate.  The main narrative and discourse of the adopted ideology reverberate in the school textbooks as a means to deliver and assert the cultural identity and thought of that certain group, and this raises many questions.

I expect from this module ( TE714 – English Language Teaching Materials) to shed that light on the process of material making in the light of ideology, and which framework should the designers follow. Also, how do the issues of identity and culture play a role in deciding which aspect to include and which to exclude in terms of other cultures? Of course, there are some frameworks that focus on the pedagogical aspect of learning the language when it comes to designing material, but I believe that ideology and culture are extremely sensitive factors in the process of creating ELT material.

Since no one is outside ideology, what goes in the mind of the material makers as they create the course books? Can the course book be value-free and just focus on the pedagogical aspect? These are some question that I expect I will find the answers for as I progress more in the module.

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