Language Learning Materials Development for Teachers’ Professional Development

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Maryam  Mohseni ¹ (PhD Candidate of TEFL,Department of English,South Tehran Branch,Islamic Azad University,Tehran, Iran)
hossein  Rahmanpanah ² (Assistant Professor of TEFL,Department of English, South Tehran Branch,Islamic, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2020-06-17 Accepted : 2020-06-17 Published : 2020-01-01

Keywords: materials evaluation, Language learning materials, Materials adaptation,

Abstract :

Coursebooks are normally written to contain information, instruction, exposure, and activities that learn- ers at a particular level need to enhance their communicative competence in the target language. Howev- er, many global course books make attempts to include content, topics, and texts that do not disadvantage any learner around the world. That is why global course books normally do not reflect the reality of the classroom in terms of the students‟ English proficiency level, interests,wants, and needs. Therefore, it is perhaps up to language teachers to develop, evaluate, and adapt language teaching materials for their own classrooms. This review addresses the issue of the role of teachers as materials developers, and how they can meet materials development demands by exploiting their creativity and employing the principles of developing materials targeted in this study. Consequently, the main purpose of this review is to provide prospective language teachers with certain principles and guidelines on development, evaluation, adapta- tion, and humanization of language learning materials for their EFL learners. Collectively, the major im- plication for this review is to inspire EFL teachers to reflectively use systematic procedures in materials development to design, implement, and evaluate language learning materials rather than simply employ- ing globally harmonious and undisturbed published materials during their instruction.

References:

Allwright, R. L. (1981). What do we want teach- ing materials for? ELT Journal, 36 (1), 5- 18.

Allwright, R.L. (1990). What do learners really want from their EFL course? Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 12 (1), 115-121.

Cunningsworth, A. (1984). Evaluating and select- ing EFL teaching materials. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

Cunningsworth A. (1995). Choosing your course book. Oxford: Heinemann.

Edge, J., &Garton, S. (2009). From knowledge to experience in ELT. Oxford: Oxford Uni- versity Press.

Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. 1989. English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Press

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Press.

Maley, A. (2003). Creative approaches to writing materials. London: Continuum.

McDonough, J., Shaw, C., & Masuhara, H. (2013). Materials and methods in ELT: A teacher‟s guide (3rd ed). Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.

McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and de- sign for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

McGrath, I. (2013). Teaching materials and the roles of EFL/ESL teachers. London: Bloomsbury.