In our previous entry, we said that analyzing websites is relevant when designing materials. In this opportunity, we would like to go deeper into this topic. Jocelyn Howard and Jae Major, in their article Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials, talk about why many teachers decide to produce their own materials, what to take into account when doing so, and finally they offer ten guidelines to apply when creating or adapting material.
Why?
The reasons why many teachers produce their own teaching materials may seem to be related to some advantages such as the possibility to work with a more appropriate contextualisation. It is said that modern coursebooks are full of speech acts and functions based on situations that most foreign language students will never encounter. In addition, teacher-produced materials can be the best option in terms of both school and student budget and also “home-made” materials add a personal touch that students appreciate and can respond to local and international events with up-to-date, relevant and high interest topics and tasks.
However, there are certain disadvantages to bear in mind, one of them could be that teacher-designed materials may lack overall coherence and a clear progression, which can be frustrating and confusing for learners, they may also contain errors, be poorly constructed, lack clarity in layout and print and lack durability. Finally, no matter how passionately one may believe in the advantages of teacher-designed materials, a big drawback for many teachers is the lack of time.
What to take into account?
Howard and Major consider six key factors that teachers need to consider when embarking on design:
1- First and most important are the learners, teachers must ensure they know their learners well.
2- The curriculum and the context are variables that will shape decisions about teaching materials.
3- Teachers must be realistic about what they can achieve in terms of available resources and facilities.
4- Personal confidence and competence are factors that will determine an individual teacher’s willingness to embark on materials development.
5- Teachers need to be aware of the restrictions that copyright laws place on the copying of authentic materials, published materials and materials downloaded from the Internet for use in the classroom.
6- It is important to consider ways to make time manageable.
After reading this article, we can say that we found it extremely interesting and helpful. When considering designing our own materials, we need mainly to bear in mind that ELT materials should be contextualised according to our group of students, should stimulate real communication, be generative in terms of language, should allow teachers and students to make choices, and finally should be attractive and authentic.
