As our blog’s name states, we are interested in the design of materials for EFL classrooms. So if you also think that designing is a good idea, here are some advantages, guidelines and factors to consider when designing materials that you can find in Howard and Major’s text: "Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials"
What they say is that it is important to design authentic materials that aim a specific group of learners in a particular context because, usually, materials designed by publishing houses are directed towards the world market instead of specific audiences/contexts; this is what they call “contextualisation”. Another benefit they mention is called “individual needs”, which is connected to the previous one in the sense that it deals with learners’ needs. Thus, it explains that materials should be adapted to every student in the classroom, taking into account their culture, their previous knowledge, their learning capacities, among many other aspects.
Two other advantages mentioned in the article are “personalisation” and “timeliness”. The first one refers to the fact that making our own materials will give them a “personal touch” and makes them more attractive for students, who will appreciate our hard work when preparing lessons. The last one makes reference to the fact that there is no doubt that if you create your own material it will be adequate for both international and local events. What is more, they will never be out of date!
Whenever a “coursebook vs authentic material” discussion appears, you (as a teacher) will have these advantages and this article at hand for you to support your teaching decisions and your teaching methodology. So don’t feel threatened by this new tendency, try it, you will enjoy the experience of creating your own material and students will thank you for doing it.
References:
- Howard, J & Major, J (2004) Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials. Christchurch College of Education.
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