Reflections on Course Readings

Please note that the articles are not listed in alphabetical order, but rather in the order in

which they were read over the course of the semester. Click here to see the course syllabus.

Byrd, P. (1995). Writing and publishing textbooks. In P. Byrd (Ed.), Material writer's guide, (pp. 3-9). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

1. Multiple audiences with mutiple contexts exist for any textbook.

2. Materials writers need to have a solid base of classroom experience and a keen awareness of the realities of classroom interaction.

"Teacher training in ESL/EFL seems to be more concerned with teacher creation of material and/or selection of materials from reference books rather than with training in effective textbook use."

This statement highlights the need for more practical courses for teachers in training that do not assume that these teahers intuitively know what to use and how to use what is in a textbook.

1. Materials writing is a craft that involves mediating between theorists and teachers/learners.

2. Developing craft knowledge in materials design should create developers who are flexible and knowledgeable across multi-media while simultaneously being hyper-sensitive to the voice and contexts of the learner.

"There is a role for materials writers to play as pioneers of practice, not simply as followers."

If we are to progress in our development as materials writers, we should hone our craft into something that will lead us in new directions rather than continually trying to put old wine in new bottles.

1. Creativity can take many forms and lead you in unexpected directions.

2. A thirst for knowledge is never truly quenched.

"I have had no serious illnesses of any kind and am physically quite fit."

When I first read this statement, I wondered if it were appropriate to include this kind of information on a CV. However, having taught overseas, I realize that a clean bill of health is often a condition of employment, so to overtly proclaim your health is perhaps not that inappropriate afterall!

1. Designing interactive web based materials is achievable even for relatively computer 'unsavvy' instructors.

2. Web based materials involve careful preparation of the data and the format.

"Computers are not good at ignoring minor errors, divining your intentions, or understanding language."

It is nice to see that someone with such advanced computer skills admits the limitations of the medium.

1. Materials writing is a process which should ultimately produce a product which is relevant to its learners and attractively simple.

2. Test runs and evaluation from students (not just teachers) are vital to successful materials development.

"It is not until a teacher has attempted to produce her own materials that she finally begins to develop a set of criteria to evaluate materials produced by others."

Materials development has become as important as classroom research for teachers. If we are not developers, it is difficult to evaluate the efficacy of materials that others have developed.

1. Current pedagogical approaches have not developed out of a complete break with the past, but our built on those foundations.

2. Materials design is currently influenced by the development of a multi-syllabus (where different language components are merged) and second language research in the field of learners' individual differences.

"Learners will naturally need to engage in the process of both comprehending and producing language."

As ESL/EFL professionals, we need to be mindful of our audience--the learners. The materials that we develop need to engage the learner and facilitate language comprehension and production.

1. Texts need to be coherently flexible resources.

2. Accuracy encompasses content, culture, and linguistic appropriateness.

"Grammar materials should not be chosen randomly based on accidents of the selection of particualr themes, readings, writing topics, and so on."

For far too long, our sense of grammar as native English speakers/instructors has been based on intuition, judging grammaticality on how structures sound and feel. We need to develop criteria for text selection and implementation.

1. Corpus linguistics allows us to make informed choices about structures and their idiosyncracies.

2. This research is accessible to anyone who has a computer and makes precise linguistic analysis feasible.

"The strongest force for change could be a new generation of ESL teachers...exposed to corpus linguistics..."

One advantage of teacher training programs is the level of enthusiasm that newly trained instructors have for applying what they have learned. If these trainees have knowledge of corpus linguistics and how to use the knowledge gleaned, they will more likely than not be anxious to put this knowledge to use.

Jones, S., Byrd, P., Allomong, S. and Tanaka, Y.(n.d.). Heinle & Heinle grammar activity inventory. Retrieved from http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/inventgr1

1. Activity categories often overlap mirroring the overlap that exists in language form, meaning, and use.

2. Despite the call for inclusion of learner strategies in pedagogy, there are few activities/resources which include strategy instruction.

"Movement from identification to analysis represents a step up in cognitive processing."

As materials developers, we need to be conscious of the cognitive load that certain activities may have. This load varies from proficiency level to level as well as across registers and lexicon. Therefore, lesson planning and materials development must include descriptions of potential difficulties cognitive and otherwise.

1. Communicative language instruction does not and should not exclude grammar instruction.

2. The principles which guide communicative language (form, meaning, and use) teaching are also applicable to grammar pedagogy.

"Knowledge remains inert when it is not available for transfer from the classroom context to the outside world."

Realistically speaking, the majority of language learning occurs outside of the classroom and within the learner. It is the teacher's duty to facilitate language output as much as possible. One means of achieving this objective is through meaningful explanations, activities, and practice.

1. The Academic Word List (AWL) utilizes advances in corpus technology to accumulate data/research more suitable for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) learners/teachers and may eclipse the General Service List (GSL) in terms of utility.

2. Frequency and occurence of words across a range of material (both long and short) determine whether or not a word is crucial to EAP vocabulary.

"The AWL shows learners which words are most worth studying."

It is mind boggling that programs like the one used to construct the AWL exist and can examine more than 3.5 million words! EAP instructors can now accurately gauge the importance of particular words and thus facilitate L2 acquisition and academic readiness.

1. Advances in corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics have generated new interest in L2 vocabulary acquisition.

2. There needs to be a balance between explicit and implicit vocabulary instruction. With this balance comes the knowledge that a basic vocabulary of 2000 words is essential (3000 for EAP learners).

"Knowing a word includes not only knowing the meaning of a word...but it also means knowing if its occurrence is restricted by certain collocations."

No man is an island and no words stand alone. Meaning and coherence are obtained through an understanding of a word and its relationship to other words or whole texts. ESL/EFL instructors must help students understand that certain collocations exist in vocabulary and that these collocations may differ from register to register.

1. Computer Assisted Vocabulary Acquisition (CAVOCA) is a program designed to facilitate noticeability of word properties, storage of this knowledge, and consolidation of vocabulary information for long term retention.

2. A base of 5000 words is necessary for EAP students. CAVOCA used regularly and consistently may help learners build this foundation.

"Knowing a word may be seen in operational terms as a continuum ranging from vague recognition...to correct and contextually appropriate use."

Vocabulary acquisition involves much more than rote memorization. Learners need to be able to access a broad base of words for recognition and production purposes. CAVOCA seems to be a promising supplemental tool for EAP instruction because it enhances recognition and trains application.

1. It takes longer to learn words that are similar than to learn those which are different.

2. Instructors need to make stronger contextual distinctions between related words. These words should also be taught at separate times whenever possible.

"As learners' knowledge becomes more established, seeing related words in sets can have a more positive effect."

Nation makes a clear distinction between acquisition processes at varying levels of proficiency. This article as a whole challenges current approaches to vocabulary instruction. I found the argument intriguing, although, not necessarily compelling.

1. Vocabulary acquisition may involve to a degree aptitude, background knowledge (schema), instrumental (effects on reading comprehension), and access (degree of automaticity).

2. There are benefits to narrow (reading restricted to one writer or subject) and wide reading (reading across registers and genres).

"...there is no one instructional approach that can address these varied vocabulary skills."

The authors refer to the vocabulary skills and strategies that may be applied for various reasons and across various proficency levels. ESL/EFL instructors should not attempt or naively believe that any sinlge approach will be effective with all learners in any context. There needs to be a balance of explicit instruction and incidental (autonomous) learning.

1. Textbook selection is essentially finding a fit between the curriculum, teachers, and students.

2. Text implementation necessitates reading a textbook cover to cover, examining the linguistic and thematic strands, and finally deciding what will or will not be covered in class.

"Having a textbook with appropriate content and a variety of possible teaching activities can serve both needs (teacher and institution)."

Most teachers appreciate texts which allow for the greatest amount of creativity, while institutions are more concerned with teachability (especially for less experienced teachers) and uniformity. The mutual desires of teacher and institution may be met in one text which may not satisfy one or the other perfectly, but is the closest possible fit.

1. Usability testing observes how a user interacts with and experiences materials in order to ascertain efficacy of presentation and content.

2. The degree to which learners are stake holders, individuals, computer literate, and environmentally sensitive affects usability of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) materials.

"The quality of the materials tested...improved much more as a result of usability testing than it had during nearly a year of seeking suggestions from colleagues..."

Learners are often excluded unnecessarily from the feedback process in materials design. Including learners in this process enhances the usability of the materials that are ultimately designed for their use.

Reid, J. (2002). Dealing with reviews.

1. No matter how experienced a writer you may be, hearing negative comments about your work is never easy.

2. In order to objectively incorporate or ignore feedback from reviews, a writer must be emotionally and intellectually prepared.

"I don't look at a review until I feel pretty good about my life."

Reviews of material you are personally invested in can put you into an emotional tailspin. It is best to look at these reviews when you are in high spirits and may not be as emotionally affected by potentially caustic commentary.

1. Learner autonomy can be promoted through activity choice and programmed learning models.

2. These models need to take into account learner variance, content issues, and technological issues related to learning.

"The task for teachers is to establish frameworks for autonomous learning that can work in conjunction with the cultural values learners (and their parents) bring rather than in opposition to their basic beliefs."

The schema and social history that each learner has should be considered an asset rather than an obstacle. As material developers, our activities need to take into consideration the many possible contexts of our learners.

1. The syllabus proceeds the creation of a text and is often the aspect which requires the most time and the most collaboration.

2. Collaborative writing typically produces a stronger text with more diversity in content, design, and approach.

"Working on supplementary materials is like an affair, team-working on a coursebook is more like a marriage."

Collaboration on supplementary materials can be brief and sweet or brief and bitter. Collaboration on a coursebook requires more compromise, devotion, and patience...much like marriage!

1. While publishers have criteria for selecting texts, authors should also have criteria for selecting publishers.

2. ESL/EFL teachers should become materials' writers because they are most familiar with the context of material use.

"The writer must be thick-skinned enough to read the reviews, analytical enough to recognize the proverbial gold from the dross."

External reviews are integral to the creation of solid, coherent materials. Yet these reviews may be hard to swallow and even more difficult to analyze.

1. CALL activities can and need to be based on relevant second language acquisition (SLA) theories.

2. The interactionist theory (input, noticing, intake, & output) can be helpful in acheiving and understanding this goal.

"Assessment of learning outcomes is a critical dimension of task evaluation that requires identification of what learners are supposed to acquire as a result of working on a task."

Traditionally CALL activities have not been used as tools of assessment. However, the author is suggesting that these activities are in and of themselves assessors of skills that learners acquire through completing these tasks. Having clear goals in mind during the planning stages will allow CALL activities to be more efficient.

1. Computer based tasks can allow learners to focus on the language and ideas presented while also allowing them to interact with students in other classes, schools, or countries.

2. CALL activities can be easily adapted to make them more interactive through the assignment of individual student roles in their groups and external handouts with specific collaborative tasks.

"The computer can easily repeat questions endlessly in the same manner."

Although this may seem like a very basic benefit to computer learning, it is still one of the most important advantages to the medium. L2 learners need to hear things numerous times and be able to perform the same tasks over and over again. In this manner, the computer can be a tirelessly patient teacher who is always happy to comply.

1. Reading on a computer screen may not be slower than reading on paper.

2. Digital texts can be underlined, highlighted, cross referenced, and font adjusted. They are also more compact and lightweight than standard texts.

"In this period of transition, we cannot assume that students can in fact effectively read from the computer screen."

Reading from an abstract text somewhere in hyperspace or crunched onto a miniature screen takes time and practice. The strategies needed to effectively utilize this kind of technology need to be explicitly instructed.

1. Rather than base our designs on hypothetical points of satisfaction, why not base them on hypothetical points of dissatisfaction?

2. Software should allow learners to control video or audio clips, use meaningful icons in sensible positions, and encourage problem solving rather than frustration when learners make errors while studying.

"Learning is not seen as a simple stimulus-response phenomena, it requires self-regulation and the building of conceptual structures through reflection and abstraction."

The constructivist view of learning (as described above) places much emphasis on the internal processes that learners undergo. In addition, this quote highlights the central role that learner-autonomy plays in second language acquisition.