Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, the participants will be able to (i) understand a variety of techniques for evaluating materials, (ii) make informed choices about appropriate teaching materials, (iii) implement appropriate tasks in a given situation, and (iv)adapt teaching materials for a particular teaching situation.
Course Content (Syllabus)
- Setting the context
Materials vs teaching materials, learning objectives, learners (young learners, teenagers and
adults) how they learn, what topics interest them and what teaching materials they need,
micro-context vs macro-context, learner factors, learner needs, teacher factors
- Principles of materials evaluation and types of evaluation
Role of coursebook (advantages and disadvantages of using a coursebook), traditional vs
communicative coursebooks, purpose of evaluation, principles that are relevant to materials
evaluation - Types of evaluation: impressionistic overview, checklist, in-depth / pre-use, inuse
and post-use evaluation / Internal, external and overall evaluation
- The organisation of coursebooks and supplementary materials
The publishers’ blurb / Teachers’ guides / Layout /
- Adapting and extending teaching materials
Adaptation of coursebooks (why, how, what?)
Differentiating texts/tasks (sources of difficulty)
- Humanising the textbook
- Materials for the development of skills (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
- Materials for developing grammar and vocabulary
- The ELT curriculum in the Greek educational context and evaluation of teaching
materials
- Designing materials for autonomy, learner training, language and cultural awareness
- Using Internet sources
Additional bibliography for study
Braun, Linda W. 2001. Introducing the Internet to Young Learners: Ready-to-Go Activities
and Lesson Plans. Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Carter, R. and Nunan, D. 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cunningworth, A. 1995. Choosing your Coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.
Dean, J. 1992. Organising Learning in the Primary School Classroom. London: Routledge.
Dudeney, G. 2000. The Internet and the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUP.
Edge, J. 1993. Essentials of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman.
Grant, N. 1987. Making the Most of your Textbook. Harlow: Longman.
Harmer, J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman.
Lewis, G. 2004. The Internet and Young Learners. Oxford: OUP.
Littlewood, W. 1994. Communicative Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
McDonough, J. and Shaw, C. 2003. Materials and Methods in ELT. Blackwell.
McGrath, I. 2002. Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press.
Prodromou, L. 1992. Mixed Ability Classes. Macmillan.
Scrivener, J. 2005. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan.
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) 1998. Materials Development for Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) 2003. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London:
Continuum.
Warschauer, M., Shetzer, H., Meloni, C. F. 2000. Internet for English Teaching. TESOL.
Willis, J. 1996. A Framework for Task-Based Learning. Harlow: Longman.