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Chapter 6: Deciding Materials and Methods in ESP, Chapter 10: Materials…
Chapter 6: Deciding Materials and Methods in ESP
Choosing effective materials and methods to use
Roles of materials
Help learners to understand the what, why, and how of the target language setting
Help learners to build their language skills
Assist learners to use language skills actively
Encourage the incidental learning of target learning skills
Help learners develop a positive emotional response to the target language skills
Support non-specialist instructors
Evaluating materials in ESP
If existing materials cannot be used or adapted, you must consider the possibility of creating custom materials
Jordan (1997) suggested a two-stage process is recommended for evaluating materials
Charles and Pecoari (2016) adopted Jordan (1997) suggestion in their EAP materials evaluation, which is reminiscent of McDonough and Shaw (2013) model
First stage: Quickly check the introduction, table of contents, and publisher's description of the existing materials, with the aim of eliminating the least likely materials
Second stage: A more in-depth evaluation of at least two units of the materials before a final decision in made
Steps to take when creating custom materials
When you have time
Step 1: Review Previous Work
Step 2: Create a General Plan
Step 3: Select 'Carrier Content' (Form the basis for explaining, exemplifying, and practicing different learning points)
Step 4: Create Explanations and Exercises
Step 5: Evaluate and Revise the Materials
When you don't have time
Step 1: Collect Target Language Samples
Step 2: Analyze and Group Target Language Samples
Step 3: Present and Discuss Target Language Samples
How corpus tools and other technologies can assist in preparing materials and helping learners to achieve their learning objectives
Corpus tools: Help you choose suitable samples for the classroom by identifying candidate samples that exhibit the characteristics features of language that you need to focus on in class
Corpus tools example
AntConc (Generate keywords from a target corpus of target texts that can then be used to identify good candidate texts for use as carrier content)
ProtAnt (Automatically compares a set of candidate texts against a reference corpus of target language, ranking the texts in terms of their prototypicality)
Online lexical profile tool
AntQuickTools (Allows you to copy and paste an explanation or instruction directly into a browser window, and immediately highlight words that are outside of the most frequent bands of English)
Offline lexical profile tool
AntWordProfiler (Used to profile tens, hundreds, or even thousands of individual texts in one batch. Advantage of using it is can be used with sensitive data)
Web pages, email, messaging systems, blogs, podcasts, survey creation web tools, and content management systems (CMSs) help easily distribute materials and allow learners to engage with the materials and other learners in an interactive way
Social media network platforms allow learners to interact with each other and instructors
Elements of these technologies have come together in the form of massive open online courses (MOOCs), offered on for-profit platforms, as well as a growing number of open platforms
Using materials at varying degrees of authenticity
Authentic materials: Language samples that are created by members of a discourse community for use by other members of that community in order to achieve a recognizable communicative purpose
Many ESP administrators and instructors use authentic materials in their course, while others see authentic materials as just one option among many
In reality, no target language sample can be truly 'authentic' if it is taken out of context. Jordan (1997) suggested to consider different gradations or degree of authenticity
Materials created by a non-specialist ESP instructor will have a weak authenticity. But can be strengthen if aimed at learners hoping to enter the target discourse community and used to develop the language skills needed to achieve a particular communicative purpose. Can be further enhanced if materials created not by instructor but by full members of the target discourse community
Arguments for using materials with a high degree of authenticity in a ESP classroom
More likely to reflect the linguistic, pragmatic, and discoursal features that characterize the target language setting. Artificially created materials. on the other hand, might over- and under-represent features, misguiding both the instructor and learners
Without access to highly authentic materials, instructors are less likely to be able to help learners target their specific needs
Highly authentic materials can often be motivating to learners
Problems caused by using authentic materials
Often too difficult for learners at the level of language and concepts
The materials can be sometimes be quite dry and boring
Authentic materials may be taken from the target language context that is quite removed the context of the learners
By definition they are not created for the purpose of language learning
Requires skill of an ESP instructor to know when to use artificial materials and when to use materials at different degrees of authenticity
Chapter 10: Materials design
Large amount of the ESP teacher's time are taken up in writing materials. Why?
Publishers are naturally reluctant to produce materials for very limited markets
Even when suitable materials are available, it may not be possible to buy them because of currency or import restrictions
ESP materials may also be written for non-educational reasons
Techniques for producing useful and creative ESP materials
Defining objectives
Materials provide a stimulus to learning. Therefore, good materials contain interesting texts, enjoyable activities which stimulate thinking capacities, and opportunities to use existing knowledge and skills, and content that can be easily cope
Good materials should provide a clear and coherent unit structure which will guide teacher and learner through various activities to maximize the chances of learning
Materials embody a view of the nature of language and learning. Therefore materials should truly reflect what you think and feel about the learning process
Materials reflect the nature of the learning task. Therefore materials should try to create a balanced outlook which both reflects the complexity of the task, yet makes it appear manageable
Materials can have a very useful function in broadening the basis of teacher training, by introducing teachers to new techniques
Materials provide models of correct and appropriate language use. Language teaching materials should not be the kind of beginner's guide to Applied Linguistics, which is so prevalent in ESP
A materials design model
The aim of this model is to provide a coherent framework for the integration of the various aspects of learning, while at the same time allowing enough room for creativity and variety to flourish
4 elements of the model
Input
Stimulus material for activities
New language items
Correct models of language use
A topic for communication
Depending on the needs you have defined in your analysis. Input provides a number of things:
Content focus
Non-linguistic content should be exploited to generate meaningful communication in the classroom
Language focus
Good materials should involve both opportunities for analysis and synthesis. In language focus learners have the chance to take the language to pieces, study how it works and practice putting it back together again
Task
Materials should be designed to lead towards a communicative task in which learners use the content and language knowledge they have built up through the unit
The language and content are drawn from the input and are selected according to what the learners will need in order to do the task
A materials design model: sample materials
Language is approached through an area of content
The starter plays a number of roles: Creates a context of knowledge, activates the learners' minds and gets them thinking, arouses the learners' interest, reveals what learners already know in terms of language, and provides a meaningful context
Practices extracting information from the input and begins the process of relating this content and language to a wider context
Step 1 and 2 also provide data for the later language work
Learners should always be encouraged to find answers for themselves wherever possible
The learners are required to go beyond the information in the input. They have to relate the subject matter to their own knowledge and reasoning powers, but still using the language they have been learning
Gives practice in some of the language elements needed for the task. The points focused on are drawn from the input, but they are selected according to their usefulness for the task
Further input related to the rest of the unit in terms of subject matter or language can be introduced at any point in order to provide a wider range of contexts for exercises and tasks
Learners need practice in organizing information, as well as learning the means for expressing those ideas
Earlier work is recycled through another activity. This time the focus is more on the language form than the meaning
Language work can also involve problem-solving with learners using their powers of observation and analysis
Breaks down the learning tasks and gives the learners greater confidence for approaching the task
The unusual type of input gives the opportunity for some more imaginative language work
By having the learners create their own solution to a communicative problem, they use both the language and the content knowledge developed through the unit
The task, also, provides a clear objective for the learners and so helps to break up the often bewildering mass of the syllabus, by establishing landmarks of achievement
Materials and the syllabus
When dealing with needs analysis, we must take account not just of the visible features of the target situation, but also of intangible factors that relate to the learning situation
Two types of model
Predictive (Provides the generative framework within which creativity can operate)
Evaluative (Acts as a feedback device to tell you whether you have done what you intended)
Using the models: a case study
Materials difficult to exploit due to:
Mostly descriptive
Contained a lot of very specific vocabulary
The students did not have a lot of the general technical language that would help them to understand the specific language
Interesting facts discovered:
Although the students were going to study specific subjects, 90% of the first year's work was on general technical topics
Lecturers assumed that on coming to the college students would know little or nothing about maritime matters, other than a few common words
Lecturers made use of an assumed level of competence in general areas in order to teach the new and specific knowledge
Gestation process of the unit
Step 1: Find your text (Should be a naturally occurring piece of communication or a piece that might well have occurred naturally, should be suited to the learners' needs and interests, should be capable of generating useful classroom activities)
Step 2: Go to the end of the model. Think of a task that the learners could do at the end of the unit (Assess the creative potential of the text for classroom activities)
Step 3: Go back to the syllabus. Is the task the kind of activity that will benefit your learners?
Step 4: Decide what language structures, vocabulary, functions, content the input contains. Which of these would be useful for the task i.e. what aspects of language and content can be usefully focused on in the exercises?
Step 5: Think of some exercises and activities to practice the items you have identified
Stage 6: Go back to the input. Can it be revised in any way to make it more useful? Try out any revisions on your learners, if possible. If nothing emerges, put it away and look for another text
Step 7: Go through stages 1-6 again with the revised input
Step 8: Check the new materials against the syllabus and amend accordingly
Step 9: Try the materials in the classroom
Step 10: Most importantly, revise the materials in the light of classroom use. There is no such thing as perfect materials. They can always be improved
Other options
You should first question whether the learners' needs are significantly different from those of other groups in your institution
While looking at published materials, you may not find one course which completely fits the bill, but a judicious selection of units from two or more courses may cover the needs of many students
You can try adapting existing materials if the first two alternatives failed to provide what you want
The final possibility is to try and reduce the area of the course that will require new materials
If you want to create new materials, here are some hints:
Use existing materials as a source for ideas
It's better to work in a team
Use what you learned from the first draft to revise and expand the materials
It can be a very time-consuming business
Pay careful attention to the appearance of your materials