the craft of materials writing

27
THE CRAFT OF MATERIALS WRITING By: Teddy Fiktorius (F5221 2025) Postgraduate Study of English Language Edu cation Teacher Training and Education Faculty University of Tanjungpura Pontianak 2013

Upload: teddy-fiktorius

Post on 23-Jun-2015

116 views

Category:

Education


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The craft of materials writing

THE CRAFT OF MATERIALS WRITING

By: 

Teddy Fiktorius (F5221 2025)

Postgraduate Study of English Language Education

Teacher Training and Education FacultyUniversity of Tanjungpura

Pontianak 2013

Page 2: The craft of materials writing

AN EARLIER ERA

Abundance of textbooks

Void of vitality

‘Le livre de ma tante est sur la table’

Throwing brickbats at the textbook

Production of nonmeaningful sentences = commonplace

Page 3: The craft of materials writing

RECENT PARADIGMS

scant references on materials productionVS.

more attention to textbooks selection

selecting a published bookVS.

producing a textbook

Page 4: The craft of materials writing

RECENT YEARS

The TESOL organisation

“Materials Writers”

Workshops and symposia

Emphasis on producing, not consuming

Page 5: The craft of materials writing

elementswww.animationfactory.com

HOW HAS THE SCENE CHANGED FOR MATERIALS WRITING?

Textbooks writing

Innovative

“sentence modelling” or “repeat after me”

all of the language in one package

Greater breadth devoted to specific skills(listening, speaking, reading, and writing)

Specific level

Specific audience

Page 6: The craft of materials writing

Two Vital Developments in ESOL field

1. The spread of English worldwide

More demand for every facet of language pedagogy(teachers, courses, and materials for instruction)

2. The result of researchers and scholars

More complex of language views

Closer attention to learners with specific needs

English for special purposes

Specific language needs of specific groups of learners

Page 7: The craft of materials writing

Writers in earlier periods VS. today’s writers

Writers in earlier periods

focus on the form or grammatical shape of sentences

Today’s writers

still focus on the form + the codes of behaviour

the syntactic, the lexical, the pragmatic

to convey meaning

Page 8: The craft of materials writing

A vital prerequisite for writing materials

experience as classroom teachers

production of materials for use with their own students

YET,

for a wider audience of learners

lack of an accumulation of the experiences, advise, practices, and CRAFT KNOWLEDGE

Page 9: The craft of materials writing

What is CRAFT KNOWLEDGE?

Theory VS. practice

scholars/researchers (“theorists”)

Materials writers ( craftsperson) as mediator

Teachers/learners

NOTE: Materials writers embody abstract theory in concrete practice

Page 10: The craft of materials writing

Developing craft knowledge

Creating practitioners

Capability of handling a variety of writing assignments

Various types of media

Print, video, and audio material

Page 11: The craft of materials writing

One important element of craft knowledge

Utilization of relevant research

Dealing with language use in its natural setting

e.g. Scotton and Bernsten (1998) studied the ways in which American

students on a college campus ask for and give directions, order food, and so on

Page 12: The craft of materials writing

A “ sixth sense” = craft knowledge

sense of the possible

what works, what might work, what cannot work

note: It’s not always possible or feasible to carry out testing materials, even with a pilot format

Page 13: The craft of materials writing

Confronting craft issues: The voice of the learner

the communicative period

Textbook writers present the target language in meaningful contexts

Create characters in their scripts

Depict people whose characteristics are close to those of the target language

Textbooks characters might be twenty something, e.g. working in an office, looking for a job, or enrolling in a college.

Page 14: The craft of materials writing

Creating a textbook character = a dilemma

Who are they really?

Their ages, socioeconomic background, occupations, goals

textbook characters = peers for the learners

yet,

Should they be people who live in English-speaking countries?Or

Are they fictional counterparts of the people who use the textbook, nonnative speakers who are in the process of learning

the language?

Page 15: The craft of materials writing

A survey by the current chapter author, Fraida Dubin

Dubin’s conclusion:

1. Most writers fail to confront the dilemma2. some manage to avoid it

3. a few overlook it and fall into trouble

Page 16: The craft of materials writing

Dubin’s discussion no. 1:

Those who fail to confront the dilemma still produce materials sticking with grammatical form

the texts = more lessons than script

the use of stereotypical citizens of English-speaking countries

Page 17: The craft of materials writing

Dubin’s discussion no. 2:

Some avoid the dilemma through various strategies:

1. depict characters through very thin characterisations

2. give the characters first names which sound nonnative, e.g. Andre, Yoko, but no further descriptions

3. avoid dialogues and rely on narrative passages

Page 18: The craft of materials writing

Dubin’s discussion no. 3:

Those who overlook the dilemma of the learner’s voice

Concentrate on producing scripts that interest teachers and learners

Strive to make their characters real, authentic, and convincing

fall into trouble

e.g. A book written by Davies, Whitney, Pike-Biker, and Blass (1990):

“Machiko is from Japan. She is a student. She has come to Bay view to study English. Machiko is twenty years old. She has dark brown eyes,

long dark hair, and is 5’6” tall. (p.20)”

Page 19: The craft of materials writing

Following the description of Machiko appears a dialogue between Machiko and “Man”. Machiko asks the Man for directions. Before doing so, she says to

herself:

“Oh no, I’m lost. Did Sue say ‘go straight past’ or ‘go left’ on Foothill? I can’t remember.”

That Machiko would speak “to herself” in English

PROBLEMATIC

Her language would be quite accentless.

Machiko’ character is a nonnative student. But her language is not the language of a nonnative

student.

Page 20: The craft of materials writing

Conclusion:

No ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ solution to the writer’s dilemma regarding the voivce of the learner

Dubin suggests:

the craft of writing

Confront the dilemma, not avoid it

Page 21: The craft of materials writing

Reading strategies VS. reading for its own sake

Successful readers

1. skimming for major ideas2. scanning for specific information

3. guessing and predicting using the contexts

Page 22: The craft of materials writing

Reading strategies VS. reading for its own sake

a great deal of practice (plentiful and meaningful materials)

success in reading

’To be a good reader one must read’

Page 23: The craft of materials writing

The concept of tasks: New designs for actualising language content

Wilkins (1976)

exploration of language content

“synthetic” and “analytic”

The holistic use of language, NOT a series of pieces

Fluency VS. accuracy

Emphasis on fluency = a loss of accuracy, vice versa

Page 24: The craft of materials writing

Teaching approaches

learner-centered, content-based, communicative, task-centered, etc

have been much discussed

YET infrequently incorporated in course books

THEN, WHOSE FAULT IS IT???

Teaching approaches

learner-centered, content-based, communicative, task-centered, etc

have been much discussed

YET infrequently incorporated in course books

THEN, WHOSE FAULT IS IT???

Page 25: The craft of materials writing

RESEARCHERS VS. MATERIALS WRITERS

the issue belongs to the hands of researchers

Use experimental models

Test and evaluate program outcomes

VS.A role for materials writers

Approach the same questions and come up with significant results

Develop the craft materials through actions

As pioneers of practice, NOT simply as followers

Page 26: The craft of materials writing

SO,…

ARE YOU THE PIONEERS

OR

SIMPLY THE FOLLOWERS????

Page 27: The craft of materials writing

THANK YOU FOR

YOUR ATTENTION