Scribd
Upload
257 views3 pages

Writing ELT Materials

This document discusses key considerations for writing effective ELT (English Language Teaching) materials: 1. Materials should be written at the correct level for the intended audience in terms of language ability and cognitive level. Tools like vocabulary checks can help assess language level. 2. Materials need to be tailored to the appropriate context, including cultural factors, classroom environment, student demographics, and how topics may date over time. 3. Individual lessons and exercises should flow logically from one to the next to form a cohesive lesson, following principles of good lesson planning. Clear instructions and organization help teachers and students navigate the materials.

Uploaded by

Kochar A. Saeed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
257 views3 pages

Writing ELT Materials

This document discusses key considerations for writing effective ELT (English Language Teaching) materials: 1. Materials should be written at the correct level for the intended audience in terms of language ability and cognitive level. Tools like vocabulary checks can help assess language level. 2. Materials need to be tailored to the appropriate context, including cultural factors, classroom environment, student demographics, and how topics may date over time. 3. Individual lessons and exercises should flow logically from one to the next to form a cohesive lesson, following principles of good lesson planning. Clear instructions and organization help teachers and students navigate the materials.

Uploaded by

Kochar A. Saeed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

tingELTmaterials:Level,contextandflow

BYJOHNHUGHESonDECEMBER15,2015

(0)

ThispostoriginallyappearedontheOUPGlobalELTBloginNovember2014intwopartsandwascalledHowtowrite
yourownEFLmaterials.Ithasbeeneditedhereintoonepost.
IfyouwanttowriteyourownEFLmaterials,wheredoyoubegin?Letsstartwithaquestion:Whatdomost
establishedEFLmaterialswritershaveincommon?Firstofall,theyvealltaughtforanumberofyearsandtheyare
fairlyconfidentaboutwhatwillandwontworkintheclassroom.Secondly,throughouttheirteachingcareer,theyhave
alwayslovedcreatingtheirownmaterials.Thirdly,mostmaterialswritersthatIknowhavealsospenttimeworkingas
teachertrainers.Infact,Ipersonallybelievesomekindofteachertrainingexperienceshouldbearequirementforall
materialswritersitsonlybyworkingwithandobservingotherteachersthatyoucanreallyunderstandhowtowrite
materialsforusebyotherteachers.
Finally,Ithinkthatalleffectivematerialswritersunderstandeitherknowinglyorunknowinglyhowtowritematerials
thatareatthecorrectlevel,aimedattheappropriatecontext,andorganisedintoaseriesofstageswhichflowto
formacohesiveandcompletelesson.

Writingatthecorrectlevel
Whenwetalkaboutthelevelofthematerial,weareusuallyreferringtowhetheryoucanuseitwithanelementary,
intermediateoradvancedstudent.Soknowinghowtowritefordifferentlevelsrequiresthatyouhaveexperienceof
teachingatlotsofdifferentlevels.Inadditiontothat,therearesometoolsthatcanhelpyou.Forexample,ifyouare
writingoradaptingatextforreadingmaterialsthenyoucanassessthelevelofthetextwithatoolliketheOxfordText
Checker.Byputtingthetextintothetextcheckeritwillshowyouwhichwordsarenotwithinthetop2000or3000
keywordsofEnglish.Asaresult,youcandecidehowtoadaptthelevelofthetextandwhichvocabularycouldbe
taughtasnew.
Aswellasconsideringthelanguagelevel,materialswritersalsoneedtothinkaboutthecognitivelevelofthestudents
forexample,writingmaterialsforyounglearnersisquitedifferenttowritingforadults.Also,theresthedangerthat

whenwewritematerialsforstudentswithalowlanguagelevel,wewritematerialswhichtreatthestudentsasifthey
havelowintelligence.Evenmaterialsforelementarylevelsmuststillbeintrinsicallyinteresting,andmotivatingin
otherwords,ifyouarewritingforgrownupadults,thenthematerialshouldfeelgrownup.
Levelinmaterialswritingalsoreferstothelevelofanexerciseortask.Inotherwords,theexerciseortaskitselfmust
beachievable.Soifyouaskstudentstofillthegapsinaconversationwhilelisteningbuttherearetoomanygaps,it
becomesimpossibleregardlessoftheirlanguagelevel.Similarly,ifyouwriteaspeakingpracticetaskwhichrequires
morethanthreesentencesofinstructions,thenthetaskisprobablyoverlycomplexforusebytheteacherand
students.

Creatingcontext
ContextisthesecondareaofEFLmaterialswritingthataffectshowandwhatyouwrite.BycontextImreferringtoa
numberofdifferentelements:Firstofall,thewriterneedstounderstandtheclassroomcontextinwhichthematerial
willbeused.Inotherwords,ifyouarewritingmaterialforGeneralEnglishadultstudentsbooksthatcouldbeused
anywhereintheworld,thenyourmaterialmustappealtoabroadspectrumofpeople.Similarly,youhavetoremember
thatanexercisemustbeabletoworkwithaclassoffiftyaswellaswithaclassoffive.
SomethingelsetoconsideristheculturalcontextachoiceofphotographortextthatwillappealtostudentsinSouth
AmericancountriesmaynotworkforstudentsinMiddleEastcountries.Andculturedoesntjustrefertonational
culturesthecultureandinterestsofyoungerstudentswillbedifferenttothoseforolderstudents.Genderisalsoan
issuemalewritershavetoconsiderwhethertheirchoiceofcontextsandmaterialswillalsoappealtofemalestudents
andviceversa(whichispossiblywhysomanysuccessfulcoursebooksarecoauthoredbyamanandawoman.)
Onemorecontextwhichaffectspublishedmaterialsinparticularistime.Ifyouareusingacoursebookwhichisover
fiveyearsold,forexample,youmaynoticethatphotographsoftechnologylookoldfashioned,readingtextsareoutof
date,orperhapssomesocalledfamouspeoplearenolongerfamous.Soifyouwantyourmaterialstohavelongevity,
thentopicssuchastechnologyandpopularcultureareoftenworthavoidingortreatinginawaythatwillmeanthey
dontdatetooquickly.

Makeyourmaterialflow
Havingselectedappropriateimages,textsandexercisesthatareatthecorrectlevelandareappropriateforthevarious
contextsinwhichthematerialwillbeused,youneedtomakesuretheyfittogetherinalogicalorder.Inpractical
terms,thismeansthatifyouhavesixexercisesorstagesonaworksheet,thenanyteachershouldbeabletopickup
thatworksheet,takeitintoclass,startatexercise1andfinishatexercise6.Yesitsimportantthatthematerialisalso
flexibleenoughforthosetypesofteacherswholiketomisssomepartsout,changetheorderorevenaddtheirown
supplementarymaterials,butitsprimaryfunctionistoofferacompletelesson.
Youhavetowritethematerialsothatoneactivityflowsintothenextandthatitfollowsbasicprinciplesofgoodlesson
planning.Inotherwords,thereisprobablysomekindofleadintaskthatengagesthestudents,perhapssome
comprehensionworkwithatextfollowedbylanguageanalysisandfinallyafreepracticestageofsomekindinwhich
studentsusethelanguagepresentedinthelesson.
Partofwritingmaterialswithflowisalsotoprovideclearnavigationaltoolsthathelptheteachertoorientatethe
studentsthroughthelesson.Thesetoolsincludeuseofheadings,numbering,referencingandtherubricsor
instructionswhichaccompanyanexerciseorexplainaprocedure.Youknowwhenthesefeaturesarebadlywritten
becauseyoucantfindyourwayaroundthematerialoryouareunsurewhattheaimoftheexerciseis.Ontheother
hand,whentheyarewellwritten,youbarelynoticetheyexistalongsidetherestofthematerialandeverythingflows

logically.
Finally,onceyouvewrittenyourmaterials,youmayfinditusefultocheckthemagainsttheseninekeyquestions.
Betterstill,handyourmaterialstoanotherteacherand,withoutanyexplanationfromyou,seeiftheycanwalkinto
classandusethemsuccessfullywiththeirstudents!

You might also like