Lecture 5: Research issues on materials development
Material in this lecture is mainly drawn from “Materials development” (Chapter 9) by
Brian Tomlinson, in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages, edited by Ronal Carter and David Nunan, Cambridge University Press,
2001.
Major controversies in the field of materials development in language teaching:
1) Do learners need a coursebook?
Yes:
 convenient form of presenting materials
 achieve consistency and continuation
 give students a sense of system, cohesion and progress
 help learners revise
 help teachers prepare for lessons
No:
 superficial and reductionist in its coverage of language points and in its provision of
language experience
 cannot cater for the diverse needs
 impose uniformity of syllabus and approach
 removes initiative and power from teacher (deskill teachers, jack richards)
2) Should materials be learning focused or acquisition focused?
 The debate about conscious learning vs. subconscious learning is reflected in materials
development:
 Most language textbooks aim at explicit learning of language plus practice: explicit
learning of discrete features of the language
 Some materials aim at facilitating informal acquistion of communicative competence
through activities such as story telling, discussions, projects, games, simulations and
drama performance.
 Currently, most coursebooks still follow an approach of form-focused instruction, with
communicative activities added.
3) Should texts be contrived or authentic?
For contrived texts:
 Materials aiming at explicit learning usually contrive examples of the language which
focus on the features being taught. These examples usually are short, easy texts or
dialogues. It is believed these examples help the learners by focusing on the target
feature.
For authentic texts:
 Contrived texts over-protect the learners and do not prepare them for the reality of
language use, whereas authentic texts can provide meaning exposure to language as it is
usually used. It has strong motivating effect on the learners
Other voices:
 Widdowson: “pedagogic presentation of language necessarily involves methodological
contrivance”.
 Day and Bamford: “simplified reading texts [also] have the natural qualities of
authenticity.
 Rod Ellis: enriched input: input flooded with exemplars of the target structure
More at Richards, 2001:252ff
4) Should materials be censored?
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In order to avoid giving offence, publishers and writers try to avoid taboo topics in
materials writing, such as sex, drugs, alcohol, religion, violence, politics, history and
pork, which could distress or embarrass the learners.
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However some argue published materials are too bland. The world in the EFL
coursebooks are “safe, clean, harmonious, benevolent, undisturbed”. Provocative texts
which stimulate an affective response are more likely to facilitate learning than neutral
texts.
5) Other controversies include whether materials should:
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be driven by theory or by practice
be driven by syllabus needs, learners needs or market needs
cater for learner expectations or try to change them [some people claim the purpose of
education is to change the learner].
cater for teacher needs and wants as well as those of learners
aim for language development only or should also aim for personal and educational
development
aim to contribute to teacher development as well as language learning.
Some trends in recently published materials:
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There is a similarity between new coursebooks from different publishers.
There us a return to a greater emphasis on language form and the centrality of grammar.
More books are making use of corpus data reflecting actual language use.
There are activities that require investment by the learners in order for them to make
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discoveries.
There are more interactive learning packages which make use of different media to
provide a richer experience of language learning.
More Issues in materials development
Issue 1 (Tomlinson, B. “What do you think?” FOLIO, Autumn 1999)
Should the grammar teaching points derive from the texts and activities or should they be planned
in a pre-determined and progressive way?
Option 1:
1) Select/design a text/activity/task.
2) Work on text/activity.
3) Work on grammar points embedded in texts or used in activity.
Example: English for Vocational School
Assumption: Teaching the grammar that the students actually need by reference to data
they have already experienced is more likely to succeed.
Possible problems?
Option 2:
1) Decide on the basic grammar points that learners need to learn.
2) Design a complete and systematic framework of grammar points, in a sequence which
logically builds from the simple to the complex.
3) Select/design texts/activities that cover the intended grammar points.
Assumption: Teachers and learners expect complete and systematic coverage of the basic
grammar of English.
Example: 许国璋英语; New Concept English
Possible problems?
Issue 2 (Tomlinson, B. “What do you think?” FOLIO, Autumn 1999)
Should we focus on providing grammar knowledge and/or grammar practice, or should we focus
on helping the learners to develop grammar awareness?
Option 1
1) Explicit teaching of grammar, which is followed or accompanied by
2) repeated grammar practice
Assumption: Practice makes perfect.
Possible problems?
Option 2
1) Raise learners’ grammar awareness;
2) Students discover patterns of form and function for themselves.
Assumptions: Grammar itself is not the ultimate goal; students learn best when their minds
are active and they invest their own time, energy and attention in learning progress.
Possible problems?
Possible problems?
Issue 3
Should the framework of materials designed in sequence of grammar or in sequence of functions
and notions?
function 1
grammatical form 1
one grammar point
function 2
one function
grammatical form 2
function 3
grammatical form 3
Option 1
Form
Functions
Examples
General questions
1) enquiring information
2) Warning/criticizing
Are you from England?
Are you listening?
Functions
Forms
Examples
Asking for permission
1) general questions
2) statement
May I use your phone?
I need to make a call.
Option 2
Option 3 (functional-notional grammar)
Application targets
structures
Examples
Identifying belonging
relation
Possessive case
pronouns
Father’s handbag
my storybook
Issue 4
Should materials have tasks, activities or exercises?
Tasks are always activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative
purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome (Willis, J. 1996:23).
Tasks are goal-oriented. The emphasis is on understanding and conveying meanings or messages
in order to complete the task successfully. All tasks should have an outcome, e.g. a summary
report based on a survey.
When doing or performing tasks, the learners are free to choose whatever language forms they
wish to convey what they mean, in order to fulfil the task goals.
Activities are not necessarily tasks: e.g. write four sentences describing the picture; work in pairs
and find the differences in the two pictures.
Exercises are often aimed at language form accuracy, especially written practice of grammar.
ASSIGNMENT for this topic
In groups of 4, choose one of the controversial issues discussed in this lecture. Do some
preliminary research. Find evidence for or against the opinions concerning the issue you have
chosen. Prepare for a class seminar (Select a speaker from your group).
Readings for next topic: