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MATERIALSSHOULD5
PRINCIPLESTHATGOVERN
MYSELECTIONANDUSEOF
MATERIALSASATEACHER

Materials

February 23, 2015 by Beatrice Segura Harvey in Principles and

should5

frameworks

Theresa
Clementson
authorofEnglish
Unlimited

principlesthat
governmy

Thisweekwetookpartinanactivitythathelpedusestablish
whatprinciplesweholdregardingmaterialsinEFL.Wewere

selectionanduse

askedtocompletethesentenceMaterialsshouldwithour

ofmaterialsasa

ownideas.Interestinglysomeofouranswersinourgroupsand

teacher

asaclassasawholewereverysimilarandotherswerevery

KrisztianVargaon
Theresa

different.However,thereseemedverylittlecontradiction
betweenanyoftheideas.Thisprocessmademerealisethatas
teachersweverymuchbringourpersonalexperience,

Clementson

background,teachingcircumstancesandcultures(classroom,

authorofEnglish

institution,heritageetc)intothejudgementprocessofwhatwe

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"Materialsshould..."5principlesthatgovernmyselectionanduseofmaterialsasateacher|ELTMaterials

considertobethemainprinciplesinmaterialscreationand
therefore,itseemsalmostimpossibletohaveuniversal
principlesthatthewholeofEFLcouldconformtotogether.

META
Login
EntriesRSS

Initiallythisideasat
verycomfortablywith
me,wecannothavea

CommentsRSS

universalsetof

Universityof

principles,butaftera

Brighton

fewdaysIbeganto
realisethatallthe
textbooksIveever
used/seenasa
teacheraimforglobal
useandtheactivities
andcontentarenearly
alwaysinaverysimilar
formatandlayout.And
thisledmeonto
questioningwhyarethetextbooksverysimilarwhenthesetof
materialsprinciplescannotbefixedoruniversal?
Attemptingtoanswerthisquestioninoneblogpostseems
inappropriate.However,asthecoursedevelopsandmy
readinggoesdeeperintothesubjectIhopetogainsome
understandingastowhytextbooksaresimilarbutprinciples
arent.
Duringtheseminar,welookedatseveralprinciplesthathave
beenadoptedwithinEFLformanydecades.Asagroupwe
reducedtheprinciplesdowntoourtop15.InthispostIhave
reducedthose15downto5whichIhavepostedherewitha
smallexplanationwhyIvaluetheprinciples.

1. Materialsshouldencouragelearnerstoapplytheir
developingskillstotheworldbeyondtheclassroom
(Nunan,1988).

Interestinglyallthreemembersinthegroupagreedthatthis
wasanimportantprinciple.Butitwastheonlyprincipleweall
agreedon.AsateacherIfeelthatIcanonlyprovidestudents
withasmallamountoflearningandskillsdevelopmentduring
classtime.Ialsobelievethatthebestlearnersaretheoneswho
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areindependentandhaveadegreeofautonomywhen
learningthelanguage.Therefore,theclassroomisonlythetip
oftheicebergintheiroveralllearning.AstheirteacherIaimto
guidethemandhelpthemdevelopskillswhichareofuseinthe
realworldandwhentheyleavetheclassroomtheyattemptto
usetheseskills,practisethemandexperimentwiththem
outside.Inmyopinionalotofdeeperlearningcantakeplaceif
studentsaretakingtheseskillsfromtheclassroomtothe
outsideworld.

2. Materialsshouldprovidepersonalratherthan
mechanicalpractice(Bell&Gower,1998)

FrommyownpersonalexperienceoflearningalanguageI
knowthatmechanicalpracticeneverworkedwellforme.Some
studentsenjoyitastheymayfeelmorefamiliarand/orsaferwith
thisunhumanisticapproachbutthereasonstudentsare
learningEnglishistocommunicatewhichisfarfroma
mechanicalpracticeintheoutsideworld.Also,Ibelieveoneof
ourstrongestmemoriesisouremotionalmemoryandas
humanswemakeassociationsandconnectionswiththingson
apersonallevel.Therefore,tofacilitatethelearners
developmentweshouldbepromotingtheuseofexperiential
learningandtheabilitytopersonalisecontentsothatitengages
andfocusesourstudents.

3. Materialsshouldaddresstheneedforstudent
centredness(Tomlinson,2011).

Personally,thisprincipleseemsobvious.Attheverybeginning
ofmyteachingpracticeIlearntthatstudentcentredness
increasesstudentengagement,involvementandlearning.
However,dothematerialshonestlypromotestudent
centredness?Inmyopinion,Ithinkmanycoursebooksand
supplementaryresourcessuperficiallyadheretothisidea.For
example,nowcheckyouranswersinpairs.Followedbya
freerpracticeofinsmallgroupsaskandanswerthequestions
fromthepreviousexercisewithyourownwords.Isthisreally
studentcentred?Yes,thestudentsareusingeachothers
knowledgetocorrecttheirown,andyesthestudentsare
requiredtospeaktoeachotherusingthetargetlanguageso
maybeifwearetodefinestudentcentrednessasthelearningis
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focusedaroundthestudentsthroughtheinteractionofeach
otherthenthematerialsarestudentcentred.ButIalwaysarrive
atanissueafterthat.Personally,centrednessimpliesthat
everythingrevolvesaroundacentre(thestudents),including
taskdesign,contextandinstruction.IntheexamplesIgave
earlier,theinstructionsarerequiringthestudentstowork
together,butisthecontentandtaskengaging?Isitpromoting
studentparticipationorsimplytellingthemtheyneedto
completethesetasksinordertopractisethelanguage.Maybe
thisissuestemsfromthepersonalisedandengagingmaterials
thatareneededforrealandmeaningfulparticipation.

4. Materialsshouldberelevanttostudentsneedsand
contexts(Hutchinson&Waters,1987).

Again,Ilearntaboutthisprincipleatthebeginningofmy
teachingpractice.Itseemsobvioustomethatthisshouldexist
inanyclassroom.ButIwouldsaythatitisaverydifficult
challengetoproducesuchmaterialswhentheyaregenerally
developedforamoreglobaluse.However,generallythe
materialsattempttoaddressthisproblemandtheydooffer
supplementarymaterialsandextrapracticeforstudentsand
teachers.Agoodexampleofthisarethematerialsdeveloped
forIELTSstudents.MoreandmoreIhaveseennewtextbooks
thatfocusonexamskillsandotherstrategiestohelpthem
achievebetterresults.Eventhoughthesearetheneedsofthe
students,Ibelievetheyareonlytheirneedstopasstheexam,
andoftennotforuseoutsidetheIELTSenvironment.Butthatis
anissuewiththeIELTSexamprocedureandtestingandnot
withthematerials.

5. Materialsshouldmaximiselearningpotentialby
encouragingintellectual,aestheticandemotional
involvementwhichstimulatesbothrightandleftbrain
activity(Tomlinson,2011).

ThisfinalprinciplewasintroducedtomebyTomlinson(2010).
Languageisthemechanismweuseforcommunicationand
whatwewanttocommunicatehasawidespectrumoftopics.By
usingtherightandleftbrainwearesimplyrecreatingwhat
happenswhenweleavetheclassroom.Whenwearegoing
aboutoureverydaylivesweareconstantlyconfrontedwith
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issuesandtasksthatmustbecompletedinordertocontinue
withourlives.Forexample,wemeetafriendandhavecoffee
whilstreminiscingaboutschoolwegotoworkandsolve
problemswegetabusandcountthechangeinourpocketto
payforaticketwevisitaculturalheritagesiteanditignitesour
imaginationswewatchafilmandreadabookwewatchand
readthenewsandthinkaboutissuesinourcurrentlifetimewe
cookdinnerandmakeamentalshoppinglistwhenrunningout
thedoor.Iflifecannotbelearntthrougha12unitbookand
supplementarymaterial,thenwhydoweexpectstudentsto
learnalanguagethroughabookwhencommunicationiswhat
constantlytakesplaceinoureverydaylives.
Thisfinalprincipleisprobablythemostimportantoneforme.
Learningalanguageissomuchmorethanlearninglexis,
syntaxandinputandoutputskills:itisapartofastudentslife.
Materialsatthemomentseemtobeattemptingtofostermore
engagingexercisesandusingmoreinterestingcontentaswell
asprovidingmoreaccessforstudentsthroughtheuseof
technologyandaresettocontinue.Butisitenough?
References
Bell,J.&Gower,R.(1998)Writingcoursematerialsforthe
world:agreatcompromise.In:Tomlinson,B.(ed).Materials
DevelopmentinLanguageTeachingCambridge:Cambridge
UniversityPress.pp.116129.(Takenfrompgs:1078)
Hallin:Hidalgo,A.C.,Hall,D.,etal.(eds).GettingStarted:
MaterialsWritersonMaterialsWriting.
Singapore:SEAMEORegionalLanguageCentre.pp.17286.
Hutchinson,T.&Waters,A.(1987)EnglishforSpecific
Purposes:ALearningcentredApproach.Cambridge:
CambridgeUniversityPress.
Nunan,D.(1988)Principlesfordesigninglanguageteaching
materials.Guidelines10pp.124.
editors,Tomlinson,B.andMasuhara,H.(2010)Researchfor
MaterialsDevelopmentinLanguageLearning:Evidencefor
BestPractice.EditedbyB.TomlinsonandH.Masuhara.
London:ContinuumInternationalPub.Group.
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Tomlinson,B.(2011)Introduction:principlesandproceduresof
materialsdevelopment.In:Tomlinson,B.(ed).Materials
DevelopmentinLanguageTeaching(2nd ed)Cambridge:
CambridgeUniversityPress.pp.131.(Principlesdrawnfrom
Secondlanguageacquisitionresearch.)

4Responses
MarkThomas February25,2015at3:47pmReply
Thisismyfirstevercommentsopleaseforgivemeit
isrubbishbutIamtryingtogetintothehabitofthis.
ThepostyouhavewrittenisgreatandIagreewith
thoseprinciples,alot.Thesecondprincipleisreally
difficultinlargerclassroom.Isitthematerialsorthe
taskthatneedstobeperosnalised?ISthere
differencebetweenataskandamaterial?Isitnota
goodideatohavemoregenericscaffoldingmaterials
andthenIpersonalisedproductiontask?
Justthoughts
Mark

BeatriceSeguraHarvey February26,2015at
7:32amReply

Thatisareallygoodpoint.Isitthetaskor
materials?IguesswhatIlookforismaterial
thatcanoffertasksforlearnerstopersonalise.
OftenIfindthematerialsinatextbookrequire
astudenttoreadatextforexampleandthen
theyneedtoanswerquestionsabouttheir
ownexperienceoropinionandIfeelthetext
issoremovedfromtheirculture(sometimes)
thatthetaskbecomesuseless.Andyes,in
largerclassesthisisverydifficult.Iguess
removingthingslikepopcultureisimportant
forlargergroups.
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Thankyouforyourpost.Lookingforwardto
reviewingyourposts.

HasanMohammadMohammad April27,2015at
11:13pmReply

Ithinkthatpersonalisingakahumanisingmaterials
isrelatedtotaskssomehow.Tasksareessentialsin
designinganyELTmaterial,buttheyareactuallypart
ofthematerialandnotthematerialitself.Humanising
ataskwouldultimatelyresultinhumanisingthe
materialitself,however,italldependsonwhois
usingtheteachingmaterialandhowitisbeing
used..Forexample,youuseavideofromtheBBC
website(thisisthematerial),nowthetrickistouse
thisvideotoachieveyoureducationalpurposes,soit
alldependsonhowyouuseit(thisisthetask).You
needtothinkofataskwhichmakesthisvideomore
relevanttoyourlearners,andthiswouldnaturally
humaniseyourteachingmaterial(thevideo).

PaulSlater May18,2015at11:27amReply
Great!Thisisprettymuchwhatisneededontheblog
i.e.properengagementwiththethemesofthe
moduleonaweekbyweekbasis.Ithinkitwouldbe
worthreflectingontheprinciplesyouvaluemostas
youheadtowardstheendofthemodule.Haveyou
developedorrefinedthem?Canyouseehowthese
principlesguideyourselection,adaptation,and
creationofmaterials?Howeveryouhavebeen
reading,Iknowthat,butisthisevidentinyourpost?
Simplysayingwhichtextsyourprinciplesweredrawn
fromwouldshowthatyouknowyouareparticipating
inadebate(Ididcirculatethisinformation.)
Itwasinterestingtoseequestionsemergingforyou
daysafterthesession,andtoseewhatthose
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questionswere.Inoteyourcommentonthediversity
ofprinciplesandwonderedwhereandwhythose
differencesoccurredwithinthegroup.Weretheythe
resultofteacherbeliefs,context,culture,age,gender,
orwhat?Howcouldyouaddressthemifyou
designedmaterialsforpublication?
(Someminorglitchesinthisposttypos,etc.to
weedout.)

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