TESL 0150: Unit 3 - Principles, Principles, Principles

Most of Unit 3 in this TESL module is around principles that influence how we adapt materials or resources for teaching.  When I thought about what to write for this blog post, I kept coming back to what I already wrote for one of our discussions in the course, so I'm going to use portions of that for this post.

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In order to build a framework for myself to think from, I went back to my own learning in adult learning theory and started there.  While this may not be a complete list of guiding principles for me, I believe it is a list that is meaningful for me and helps to provide guidance when looking at resources - this can be applicable to an L2 class or even workshop development.

The following principles are important to me:

Adult Learning Principles	Language Acquisition/Materials Development	Teaching Principles
Learning should be/provide:	Should include:	Should include:
Meaningful	Spoken texts	Real language use
Relevant	Written texts	Not scripted
Opportunity for active learning	Typical use of language	Fluency (development vs acquisition)
Opportunity for self directed	Context for real life	Use higher level skills (inner speech, making connections/etc
Options	Multiple Samples to work with	Materials support assessment
A positive experience (overall)	Affective engagement	Develop maturity in language
Interesting	Cognitive engagement	Personalize/localize materials
An opportunity to share knowledge	Processing – thinking/feeling before/during/after
	Achievable for the learner
	Think/verbalize in L2
	Provide feedback options
	Develop Communication

When I engage in reviewing materials for learning opportunities, I am focusing on a few things:

• Do the materials in this lesson provide opportunities to learn typical language for the learner? (could be in the L2 or could be topically specific for a workshop)
• Are there opportunities to engage higher level thinking? (making connections to their life, or their family/neighbors)
• Are there texts that support the topic of the lesson?  Are they readable?
• Does the lesson positively impact the learner's ability to communicate more effectively about this topic?

I think if I can answer these questions, then many of the principles list above are in some way impacted/addressed.

While I am connecting this to my current learning path, I am also currently engaged in developing a training program for a specific department at work and I think this same list of principles will be useful throughout that process too.

The process this week has been helpful in developing my understanding more holistically when I think about materials adaptation or development.  That is useful to me - and that is, after all, one of the things that is important for adult learning!

References

Richards, J. C. (2010). English Language Teaching Materials. Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Tomlinson, B. (Ed.). (2013). Developing materials for language teaching. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic.