Teaching English 11. Materials design Nancy Grimm Michael Meyer Laurenz Volkmann
0. Table of contents 1. Curricula and textbooks 1.1 Curriculum design 1.2 The textbook: friend or foe? 2. Designing effective materials 2.1 Materials and tasks 2.2 Basic tips for designing worksheets 3. Digitally designed materials 4. Recommended reading 5. Acknowledgments Chapter 11: Materials design 2
Discuss: Have a look at the cartoon. Reflect on the status as well as the advantages and disadvantages (for teachers, students, lessons) of using the textbook, comparing this to the use of self-designed materials. Chapter 11: Materials design 3
1.1 Curriculum design -Standards - Curriculum/a - In-school syllabus - Textbooks - Students needs 1. Curricula and textbooks 4
1.1 Curriculum design input, process, output Input Syllabus whatcontent (= input) Process Methodology howteaching is carried out (= process) Output Learning Outcome what learners are able to do (= output) and in which sequenceof learnable units and with which learning procedures, activities, etc. after a period of instruction, e.g., a school year (= syllabus) (= methodology) (= learning outcome) based on Richards 2013 1. Curricula and textbooks 5
1.1 Curriculum design Forward design: input first Input Output Process 1. Curricula and textbooks 6
1.1 Curriculum design Input Central design: process first Process Output 1. Curricula and textbooks 7
1.1 Curriculum design Input Backward design: output first Outcome Process 1. Curricula and textbooks 8
1.1 Curriculum design forward, central, backward design Richards 2013: 30, adapted 1. Curricula and textbooks 9
1.1 Curriculum design forward, central, backward design Richards 2013: 30, adapted 1. Curricula and textbooks 10
1.1 Curriculum design Study the EFL curriculum in the area you are studying or teaching in. Which design elements can you identify in the curriculum? With fellow students or colleagues, discuss how well the curriculum supports the planning of lessons. 1. Curricula and textbooks 11
1.2 The textbook: friend or foe? teacher types Textbook = resource of materials, content, teaching ideas, learning support, and reference cf. Sercu 2000: 627, Nold 2007: 128 1. Curricula and textbooks 12
1.2 The textbook: friend or foe? pros Systematization and structure of material Standardization Quality Multimodality Efficiency Support 1. Curricula and textbooks cf. Sercu 2000: 627, Richards 2007: 254-55 13
1.2 The textbook: friend or foe? cons Inauthentic language Distorted and/or stereotypical content Neglect of students needs and interests Deskilling of teachers Money 1. Curricula and textbooks cf. Sercu 2000: 627, Richards 2007: 254-55 14
1.2 The textbook: friend or foe? Study a current EFL textbook. Which of the aforementioned advantages and disadvantages do you find in the textbook? How would you counteract the disadvantages? 1. Curricula and textbooks 15
2. Designing effective materials pros Positive effect on learner motivation Authentic cultural information Exposure to real language Support a more creative approach to teaching based on Richards 2007: 252-53 2. Designing effective materials 16
2. Designing effective materials cons Inferior quality Copyright infringement Linguistic difficulty or mistakes Lack of structure Limited time Financial burden 2. Designing effective materials 17
2.1 Materials and tasks evaluation of materials 2. Designing effective materials based on Howard & Major 2005: 104-07 18
2.1 Materials and tasks evaluation of materials 2. Designing effective materials based on Howard & Major 2005: 104-07 19
2.1 Materials and tasks With fellow students or colleagues, discuss which of items on the checklist are more/less important. If possible, try to agree on a ranking. 2. Designing effective materials 20
2.1 Materials and tasks Tasks complexity grading sequencing 2. Designing effective materials Kultusministerkonferenz 2012: 1-2, adapted extracts 21
2.1 Materials and tasks Confidence Linguistic knowledge Motivation Grading tasks Cultural knowledge/ awareness Learner Learning experience Ability in language skills Learning pace 2. Designing effective materials based on Nunan 2000: 102-03 22
2.1 Materials and tasks Have a look at two or three pages from a current textbook. Evaluate the complexity of the tasks, if and how they are graded, and if the task sequence seems coherent. 2. Designing effective materials 23
2.2 Basic tips for designing worksheets Header Font Visuals Line spacing Sources Footer Annotations 2. Designing effective materials 24
3. Digitally designed materials Efficiency Cooperation Appeal Sharing Digital technology Creativity Mediation Adaptation 3. Digitally designed materials 25
3. Digitally designed materials Popplet organizing and presenting ideas 3. Digitally designed materials 26
3. Digitally designed materials Tagxedo word clouds with style 3. Digitally designed materials 27
3. Digitally designed materials: Glogster interactive working space 3. Digitally designed materials 28
3. Digitally designed materials: LearningApps interactive teaching modules 3. Digitally designed materials 29
3. Digitally designed materials Try out the tools introduced above and create a poppletor an interactive poster about materials design as introduced in this chapter. 3. Digitally designed materials 30
Recommended reading GarcíaMayo, Maríadel Pilar, ed. (2007). Investigating Tasks in Formal Language Learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Mishan, Freda (2005). Designing Authenticity into Language Learning Materials. Bristol: Intellect. Motteram, Gary (2011). Developing Language-Learning Materials with Technology. In: Brian Tomlinson, ed. Materials Development in Language Teaching. 2nd ed. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 303-27. Richards, Jack C. (2007). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, Brian, ed. (2011). Materials Development in Language Teaching. 2nd ed. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, Brian, ed. (2013). Developing Materials for Language Teaching. 2nd ed. London et al.: Bloomsbury. Chapter 11: Materials design 31
Acknowledgments Howard, Jocelyn & Joe Major (2005). Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials. http://www.paaljapan.org/resources/proceedings/paal9/pdf/howard.pdf. Kultusministerkonferenz (2012). Operatoren für das Fach Englisch. http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/pdf/bildung/auslandsschulwesen/kerncurriculum/operatoren_fuer _das_fach_englisch_stand_oktober_2012_ueberarbeitet.pdf. Nold, Günter (2007). Die Arbeit mit dem Lehrwerk. In: Johannes-P. Timm, ed. Englisch lernen und lehren: Didaktik des Englischunterrichts. Berlin: Cornelsen, 127-36. Nunan, David (2000). Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Richards, Jack C. (2007). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press. Richards, Jack C. (2013). Curriculum Approaches in Language Teaching: Forward, Central, and Backward Design. In: RELC Journal 44.1, 5-33. Sercu, Lies (2000). Textbooks. In: Michael Byram, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Teaching and Learning. London et al.: Routledge, 626-28. Chapter 11: Materials design 32
Acknowledgments The cartoons at the beginning of each pptwere designed by FrolleinMotte, 2014. If not otherwise indicated, the copyright of the figures lies with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can be found in the references to the units unless given below. All of the websites were checked on 10 September 2014. Slide 4: http://wright2.wikispaces.com/state+standards, http://tisteahe2012.blogspot.de/2012/09/why-is-itimportant-to-have-education.html, http://hoganhayes.blogspot.de/2014/10/thoughts-on-writing-in-englishfrom.html Slides 9 & 10: Characteristics of forward, central, and backward design, based on Richards 2013: 30 Slide 18 & 19: Materials design checklist, based on Howard & Major 2005: 104 07 Slide 21: Language performance requirements, based on Kultusministerkonferenz 2012: 1-2 Slide 26: Sample popplet; pictures Wikipedia/Wikimedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dallas_mavericks#mediaviewer/file:dallas_mavericks_logo.svg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dallas_mavericks#mediaviewer/file:victory_plaza_1.jpg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dallas_mavericks#mediaviewer/file:rick_carlisle.jpg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dallas_mavericks#mediaviewer/file:jason_terry.jpg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dallas_mavericks#mediaviewer/file:jason_kidd_drives_feb_24_2008.jpg Slide 27: word cloud created with Tagxedo(www.tagxedo.com) Slide 28: sample glogs http://earypr.edu.glogster.com/english-grammar-and-vocabulary-townhouse/?=glogpediasource, http://davidohf.edu.glogster.com/the-shawshank-redemption/?=glogpedia-source, http://garciasammy.edu.glogster.com/the-road-revolution/?=glogpedia-source Slide 29: screenshot of LearningApps-homepage (learningapps.org); screenshots of sample modules http://learningapps.org/1440523, http://learningapps.org/271811, http://learningapps.org/192427 Chapter 11: Materials design 33