Materials Design Frances Fabiani

What is Materials Design?  Any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in classroom teaching.  3 steps in developing materials: 1.Developing 2.Teaching (field testing) 3.Evaluating

The Framework 1. Approach – a way of defining what needs to be learned 2. Syllabuses – the choices necessary to organize the language content of a course 3. Techniques – ways of presenting language points to the students 4. Exercises – ways of having the students practice the language points which have been presented

Approach  Classical  Grammar-translation  Direct  Audiolingual  Communicative (table 1.3, page 5, Chapter 1)

Syllabus  Structural (grammatical structures)  Situational (various settings)  Topical (themes or topics)  Functional (identifying, reporting, correcting, describing)  Notional (conceptual categories)  Skills (listening)  Task or activity-based (drawing, following instructions) (table 1.4, page 7, Chapter 1)

Techniques  Bridging activities  Discussion  Idea frame  Object-centered lesson  Directed dialogue  Grammar demonstration dialogue  Lecture on rules of language  Verb-centered lesson (table 1.5, page 15, Chapter 1)

Approach example  Communicative approach  Goal: Students should be able to express their intentions and the meanings important in their lives.  Current level: Intermediate level ranging from 450 to 500 on the TOEFL test  Applied in two courses: 1.Speaking 2.Writing

Syllabus example  Functional syllabus 1.Speaking Functions  identifying, reporting, correcting, asking 2.Writing Functions  defining, comparing, paraphrasing, exemplifying Tasks  writing an academic note, letter

Techniques example  Speaking course: 1.Review on board of specific vocabulary needed in describing an object on shapes, sizes, and textures (teacher to learners) 2.Example video tape showing a native speaker describing common objects (video to learners) 3.Lecture on the exponents (grammatical forms and phrases) for describing objects (teacher to learners)  Writing course: 1.Demonstration of an example text (teacher to learners) 2.Analysis of good writing (learner to group) 3.Blackboard writing and discussion (teacher to learners)

Exercises example  Speaking course: 1.Dialogue work (learner to learner) 2.Teacher-student interaction 3.Peer feedback sessions (learner to group) 4.Pair work (learner to learner) 5.Free conversation  Writing course: 1.Brainstorming (learner to group) 2.Quick writing (learner to self) 3.Group writing (learner to group)

Materials Blueprint  Blueprint: a detailed plan  Materials blueprint: representing a language program based on needs analysis, objectives setting, and testing stages of program development  To be included in the materials blueprint: characteristics of teachers, learners and administrators, the resources found in particular situation, and the language needs of the students.  An example of a materials blueprint can be seen on page 147, table 5.1

Units of Analysis  When designing a syllabus, the curriculum designer needs to state: 1.The situation which L2 will be used 2.Language activities in which the learner will engage 3.Language functions the learner will fulfill 4.What the learner will be able to do 5.The degree of skill which the learner will able to perform

Scope and Sequence Charts  This kind of chart is proven to be: 1.More transparent 2.Easier to interpret 3.More efficient 4.Minimizes redundancy  An example of Scope and Sequence Charts can be seen in Table 5.3 (page 152) and Table 5.4 (page 154)

GANTT Diagram  It is a two-axis figure with time divisions labeled across the horizontal axis and task divisions down the vertical axis.  It is useful for providing an overview that can be understood at a glance and help the users on schedule.  An example of a GANTT diagram can be seen on page 156, figure 5.1

Sources of Materials  Adopting Materials  Developing Materials  Adapting Materials

Adopting Materials  Decide on types of materials books, journals, maps, video tapes, magazines, pictures, charts, graphs, diagrams, cassette tapes, videodiscs  Locate the materials internet, library, publishers’ catalogs, examination copies, teachers’ shelves  Evaluate the materials (page 161, table 5.6)  Review the materials the evaluation continues while being used and after the implementation period

Developing Materials  This approach is necessary when the needs, goal and objectives fail to adopt the materials for teaching; developing the materials from scratch is required.  Three important steps in developing the materials: 1.Creating  find teachers willing to participate 2.Teaching  field-test the materials 3.Evaluating  revisions are made during ongoing materials development

Adapting Materials  Finding and evaluating find out the students’ needs and course objectives  Analyzing analyze the degree to which set of materials matches the course objectives; also the degree of mismatch  Classifying group the useful elements found in the existing materials to get a closer match to the course objectives  Fill in the gaps teachers could add/create new materials to complete the needs of the course objectives  Reorganizing