ELT MATERIALS

DEVELOPMENT
AND
EVALUATION
Course Code: 5121
 Watch these video clips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=075aWDdZUlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=S4hCSqvP7Tk&noredirect=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Hzgzim5m7oU
 Discussion Time
What messages did you get from
the clips?
Team work time!
 ???
Are textbooks necessary?
Advantages & disadvantages of
textbooks?
Advantages of textbooks
Provides a syllabus for the course
Provides security for the Ss (Ss have a kind of
road map of the course)
Provides a set of visuals, activities, readings,
etc. saves T time in developing materials
Provides T with a basis for assessing Ss
learning
May include supporting materials
Provides consistency within a program (if all
Ts use the same textbook)
Disadvantages of
textbooks
Content or examples may not be relevant or
appropriate to Ss
Content may not be at the right level
There may be too much focus on one or more
aspects of language, NOT enough focus on others,
or may NOT include everything T wants to include
May not have the right mix of activities (too much
of A, too little of B)
Disadvantages of
textbooks
Sequence is lockstep (cont)
exclusive use of textbook can
become a straitjacket
Activities, readings, visuals, etc. may be boring
Material may go out of date
Timetable for completing the textbook or parts of it
may be unrealistic
Can stop Ts from being creative in search for texts &
activities
(Graves, 2000; Gower, Phillips & Walters, 2005)
When you open a
textbook, do you
Whether or not the language is at the
wonder:
right level?
Whether or not you should use the
lesson on that page?
Whether or not there are the right
activities?
Whether or not the sequencing of the
lesson logical?
Textbooks as course tools

(Graves, 2000)
To minimalize the possibility of using
inappropriate textbooks

Refer to systems for evaluation of textbook

(Baude 2000; Daoud & Celce-murcia 1979;
Gomoes de Matos 2000; Skierso 1991) which
should address:
1.The fit between the materials.
2.The fit between curriculum & texts.
3.The fit between Ss & texts.
4.The fit between Ts & texts
The fit between
curriculum & texts
E.g.: U.S: Large educational system: publishers
create materials based on published curriculum
statements/guidelines. fierce competition
between publishers.
Smaller programs/individual Ts & the teaching
context in Vietnam: this kind of 'fit' is harder to
achieve (Reasons?)
textbooks become curriculum & need to be
adapted, supplemented with additional materials.
 The fit between Ss &
texts
Textbooks have 4 major elements:
Content/explanations: Of interest or use

to the Ss? Offensive, inappropriate?
Explanations work?
Examples
Exercises & tasks: enough variety?
Graphical elements (print size & style,
white space, illustrations, etc.): appropriate?
Educational? Balance between print and
white space? Usable index & appendix?
 The fit between Ts &
texts
Can Ts handle this material? Will Ts
that the material meets their needs &
find

preferences for teaching materials?

Content/explanation: teacher-friendly?;
relationship between the content & the T's
knowledge-base?
Examples: usable?
Exercises/tasks: provide Ts with enough
things to give Ss? A variety of learning
styles? Instructors manual? Answer keys?
Graphical elements
 Evaluation = judgment
call evaluation = Evaluation-for-
Textbook
selection systems + T's personal
judgments.
Evaluation-for-selection systems: Does this
book have the features that we want it to have
so that we can adopt it?
T's personal judgments: How do I as a teacher
working with particular Ss in a particular class in
a particular program make this book work to
ensure effective & interesting lessons?
Getting an overview of
the resources in the
Ts need to read the whole textbook
textbook
(including any appendices): You can only
implement materials if you know they are
there (Byrd, 1998, as cited in Celce-
Murcia, 2001, p. 418)
What would happen if T didn't do so?
 Initial reading of a
textbook
Presentation/format
Organization of units, illustrations, appendices,
index, glossary, ancillary materials, etc.
Content/information
Linguistic
Thematic
Practice:
Order of exercises, tasks; connections between
activities in different units, etc.
Evaluation
Support for the teacher
Framework for
investigating how a
How have the authors conceptualized

textbook iscontext
putaretogether
content, i.e., what aspects of language,
learning, & social being
addressed?
How is the material organized?
On what basis are the units sequenced?
What is the content of a unit?
What are the objectives of the unit?
How does the unit content help to achieve the
objectives?
(Graves, 2000, p. 177)
How to use a textbook?
Getting inside a textbook: to understand how it is constructed & why?
Understand everything other than the textbook: context, Ss, T.
If POSSIBLE, dont use a textbook immediately for the whole lesson.
Spend time in the 1st few lessons getting to know about Ss & their
needs.
When planning lessons, think about which parts could be
omitted/used/added with supplementary materials.
May do activities in a different order.
Think about how long it takes a task to be completed.
Personalize the textbook.
Approach the textbook critically.
(Graves, 2000; Gower, Phillips & Walters, 2005)
What if part of a
textbook is not
'Pick and choose' approach.
appropriate?
BUT: what if a T omits too many pages?
Replace the textbook lesson with T's own
lesson. any advantages?
BUT: what if a T replaces too many lessons?
Add to what is in the book.
Adapt what is in the book. How?
Rewrite parts of the lesson, reorder some
activities, etc.
Practice: Look at an
excerpt (a unit) from a
coursebook
What is/are the aim(s)& answer
of the lesson?

these Qs:
What should/might Ss be able to do at the
end of the lesson that they were not able to
do at the beginning?
If you were going to replace any part of the
lesson, which would it be?
What adaptations, if any, could you make to
the material?
What additions, if any, would you make to
the lesson?
 Your Textbook
External evaluation
Internal evaluation
How to adapt?
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=gYgIYwNKn0A
Samples of Project
 Topics for
Presentations
Group 1: Factors affecting
language learning
Group 2: Syllabus vs. curriculum
Group 3: ELT materials (authentic
vs non-authentic)
Group 4: ELT materials evaluation
Group 5: ELT materials
development