Chapter 3 ADAPTING

MATERIALS
Adapting teaching materials
is about effecting changes
to make
them suitable for learners and
their needs. Indeed, textbooks
are not merely
artefacts, and teachers have
a fundamental role to play
as ‘mediators’
(McGrath, 2002: 20)
between the books and
learners. This implies that
teachers will almost inevitably
adapt the materials they use in
class. While a
number of writers have focused
on reasons why teachers need to
adapt and
how this might be achieved
(see, for example,
Cunningsworth, 1995; Maley,
1998; McDonough and Shaw,
2003), little attention has been
paid to how
teachers actually adapt
materials, their underlying
rationale and, above all,
their attitudes towards
adaptation.
UNIT 3. ADAPTING MATERIALS

Adapting teaching materials is about effecting changes to make them suitable for learners
and their needs. Indeed, textbooks are not merely artefacts, and teachers have a fundamental role
to play as ‘mediators’ (McGrath, 2002: 20) between the books and learners. This implies
that teachers will almost inevitably adapt the materials they use in class. While a number of writers have
focused on reasons why teachers need to adapt and how this might be achieved, little attention has
been paid to how teachers actually adapt materials, their underlying rationale and, above all, their
attitudes towards adaptation.

The need to adapt or modify the use of given textbooks and other language teaching
materials to fit the requirements of particular learning situations, and even particular students,
is widely recognized. This volume presents a systematic approach to adaptation useful for methods
courses as well as for the experienced teacher or curriculum planner. As the first principle of effective
adaptation, maintenance of congruence between a variety of factors is stressed; these factors
include the teaching materials, the methodology and objectives of the course, student
characteristics, the character of the language being taught, and the personality and style of the
teacher.

Adapting Materials: Why and How?

Why adapt materials? After all, coursebook writers and publishers work very hard to ensure
their product meets their customers’ needs. The reasons, as McDonough (2013) highlights, depend on a
whole range of factors operating in each teaching situation and one teacher’s priorities may
well differ considerably from another. Maley (2011), points out that due to individual
differences amongst the learners and to teacher factors, there will never be a perfect fit between the
materials, the teacher and the learners.

Such teacher factors include:

 degree of language proficiency and confidence

 previous personal learning experience as learners rather than as teachers
 own personality (introvert/extrovert, open/closed etc.)
 preferred teaching style (directive/consultative, etc.)
 cultural background

Mishan and Timmis (2015), however, question if it is right to adapt materials according to the
teacher’s own preferences and insist that adaptation must be driven by learners’ needs instead of
teachers’ ‘whims’ or preferences. While it is a valuable point, I personally find myself selecting material
based on what I’d feel comfortable teaching. Even Theresa Clementson admitted she wrote Unlimited so
she has something to teach from.
 Malley (2011) goes on to highlight that ‘for reasons to do with the economics of publishing
amongst other things, the materials are intended to be used by the largest possible number of
learners. But in reality, the wider the area publishers try to cover, the more diverse the learner’s
state is likely to be. As a result, the teacher has to bridge the gap between the materials and his/her
learners’ need. Nick Robinson in his talk “An introduction to Learner Experience Design in ELT”
urges EdTech companies to avoid going “wide and shallow” and instead go “narrow and deep”. He talks
about creating Learner Personas – a specific group of learners with certain characteristics. Malley
(2011), however, argues that ‘what is needed is not just decentralization of materials production, but a
fundamental change in the design of materials in the direction of providing greater flexibility in decisions
about content, order, pace and procedures.

HOW?

McDonough (2013) talks about different techniques that can be applied to content in order to
bring about change. There are:

1. Adding
2. Deleting or omitting
3. Modifying
4. Simplifying
5. Re-ordering
Malley (2011) offers the following strategies to make coursebooks or language materials more
effective:

1. Give it a rest
2. Change it (a number of options include omission, addition, reduction, extension,
rewriting/modification, replacement, reordering, branching)
3. Do it yourself

Similarly, Madsen and Bowen (1978, cited in McGrath, 2002) defines adaptation as ‘one or
more of a number of techniques: supplementing, editing, expanding, personalizing, simplifying,
modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/situational content.

3.1 TEACHER-CENTERED AND LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH TO ADAPTATION

Adapting Courses - Developing Materials for Language Teaching

▪ Many examples of materials produced for language teaching and learning purposes seem to follow a
very similar format, Activities, such as drills, tests and tables, Topics, reoccur in low level books or for
beginners. And cause potential limitations, Objectives, usually based on main format of
Presentation, Practice, Production approach.

▪ Adapting materials. A teacher-centered approach to materials adaptation, is still left to the teachers’
hands, and it is largely based on their experience. A learner-centered approach to adaptation.
Clarke (1989) distinguishes Negotiated Syllabus and Externally Imposed Syllabus.
▪ Adaptation as critical awareness development. It supports a much more active learner’s role,
the learner is given the opportunity of sharing the ownership of the classroom and materials
learners provide classroom input adapting courses can be used as an awareness development
activity (Tomlinson, 2003)

4. Simplifying
5. Re-ordering
Malley (2011) offers the
following strategies to make
coursebooks or language
materials more effective:
1. Give it a rest
2. Change it (a number of
options include omission,
addition, reduction,
extension,
rewriting/modification,
replacement, reordering,
branching)
3. Do it yourself
Similarly, Madsen and Bowen
(1978, cited in McGrath, 2002)
defines
adaptation as ‘one or more
of a number of techniques:
supplementing,
editing,expanding,personalizing
, simplifying, modernizing,
localizing, or
modifying cultural/situational
content.
3.1 Teacher-centered and
Learner-centered approach to
adaptation
Adapting courses-Developing
Materials for Language
Teaching
▪ Many examples of materials
produced for language teaching
and learning
purposes seem to follow a very
similar format, Activities, such
as drills, tests
and tables, Topics, reoccur in
low level books or for
beginners. And cause
potential limitations,
Objectives, usually based on
main format of
Presentation, Practice,
Production approach.
▪ Adapting materials. A teacher-
centered approach to adaptation
Materials
adaptation, is still left to the
teachers’ hands, and it is largely
based on their
experience. A learner-
centered approach to
adaptation. Clarke (1989)
distinguishes Negotiated
Syllabus and Externally
Imposed Syllabus.
▪ Adaptation as critical
awareness development. It
supports a much more
active learner’s role, the
learner is given the
opportunity of sharing the
ownership of the classroom and
materials learners provide
classroom input
adapting courses can be
used as an awareness
development activity
(Tomlinson, 2003)
1. facilitates learner
involvement
2. promotes the use of materials
adaptation
3. apply them also to teacher
development
1. facilitates learner
involvement
2. promotes the use of materials
adaptation
3. apply them also to teacher
development
1. facilitates learner involvement
2. promotes the use of materials adaptation
3. apply them also to teacher development

3.2 KEY FEATURES IN MATERIALS ADAPTATION

Here is the list of key features in materials adaptation:

▪ Learner-centeredness and critical awareness development

1. There are very few truly learner-centered, language teaching and learning materials.
2. The materials should put learners at the center of the learning process and make them input
providers.
3. Teachers should be facilitators and co-ordinators
4. Materials adaptation, should be shared between - materials developers - teachers and –
learners

▪ Flexibility and choice

 Materials should be flexible -should provide choice -should enable learners to develop a variety
of skills and learning styles -encourage them to experience a wide range of tasks and approaches -they
also become more independent learners. Learners themselves become more flexible learners -Learners
can be encouraged to experience them all.

▪ Open-endedness and aesthetic experience

Originated from (the theory of Aesthetic Response by Rosenblatt (1995) and this refers to the
process of reacting spontaneously when reading literary texts (typically represents the immediate
response to language and literature), involves interaction between readers, language and
texts, Literature and Aesthetic Experience, part of a subjective process and is created every time the
text is read or written.

▪Aesthetic experience and Materials adaptation

Aesthetic Experience promotes the subjectivity of texts and their various interpretations.
Also, materials should promote an aesthetic experience, they should, not only be based on right/wrong
testing and practice but, rather, they should also focus on open-ended tasks and texts.

▪ Relevance

To draw a link between the adaptation process and reading open-ended materials,
have the potential to become relevant to the learners when they fill those gaps with their ideas,
interpretations and discussions. It is only at this level that materials become relevant and potentially
more effective for learning development.

▪ Universality

Materials should be based on universally appealing topics, culturally provoking, culturally

specific but, at the same time, they are present in all cultures. A rich source of this type of topics
comes from Literature, life experiences, feelings, relationships. Universality of topics enables learners
to focus and gain a better understanding of cultural differences and commonalities (Jiang,
2000).

▪ Authentic and non-authentic input

In order to expose the learners to realistic input. Materials should be based on authentic texts.
In order to draw the learners’ attention to certain linguistic features with activities based on texts
selected from authentic sources a combination of authentic and non-authentic tasks.

▪ Provocative topics and tasks

In order to make learning more engaging and perhaps also more humanistic. Materials should
include topics and activities that can potentially provoke a reaction, provide an aesthetic experience,
whether it be positive or negative, that is personal and subjective. The adaptation process is considered
at two levels: adapting materials with the purpose of making them effective and relevant to
a specific classroom; adapting materials with the purpose of changing their objectives, in order
to reduce the distance between research and classroom practice. Developing critical awareness of
learning and teaching is the main aim of adapting and evaluating courses; learners can become, the
main input providers, the teacher’s role is simply that of facilitator, co-ordinator and monitor.

3.3 MATERIALS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age

The internet and mobile technology are a sea of information and activities making its use during
lessons a little daunting, applying Lam and Hampel’s [2007: 71] model for online task development to
enable the capabilities of technology to meet the demands of class learning objectives. The
initial approach of the model is to scrutinize task design frameworks, for example, cognitive demands
and interaction during the task in question. Finally, can the task be carried out to improve
communicative competence with a focus on meaning?

Paulsen [cited in Kelson 2009] notes that “the effective use of online materials may
provide positive spin-offs for learners much the same as if they were immersed in the language and
culture while studying abroad”, further noting that students should be directed in the use of
technology to aid language acquisition. Learners needs play an important role in technology choice
inviting students to learn English through personal interest.

Young learners and older students often have strong opinions about current affairs and world
news, audio-voice forum websites allow them to share their ideas with others. Learners can listen
to and record their opinion on interesting and up-to-date topics. A site ideal for this
activity is Vox pop, (http://www.voxopop.com), engaging learners in discussion. Aisha Walker and
Goodith White suggest a “blog of the week” WordPress is ideal for this exercise using the
following link –http://wordpress.com. When vetted the internet can offer a wealth of materials for
English language students. A useful tool in an interactive classroom is scrible.com, (please see below),
which allows students and teachers to annotate online texts with highlighter and ‘virtual sticky
notes.

Students can also be encouraged to make ‘intercultural pen friends’, originally set up through
the ‘Intercultural E-mail Classroom Connections Program’. Students make pen friends in multi-
language classes and stay in touch with them, even when they have left the school. This method is likely
to be more valuable than instant messaging where messages are shorter and slang and colloquial English
is common. E-mail correspondence is also something that can be used for communications between a
student and teacher, sending mainland homework for error correction. This is a time efficient exercise
for error correction and also allows the student to have a clear record of their mistakes.

Another useful way of having a clear record of students’ writing is through a social
networking writing group. Students would all need to be members of the same social networking
group, learners could be invited to join the group and it would be kept private so that only the group
had access. Students first introduce themselves to the group and would later be asked to write a
paragraph every week about something they’ve done during the week. During computer sessions
students can be asked to share photographs of places that they have visited and share their sightseeing
tips with their peers through the social networking group. Students also can have fun with a
website called grammarian, the website allows students to revise various grammar points through comic
strips.
 Eyercize offers students an opportunity to build-up their reading speed with well written, graded
texts online, a simple but friendly website that can be used during in-school computer lessons. Bubblar
[pictured below] allows learners to create photo-stories by downloading pictures from Flickr and
inserting speech bubbles to act as a narrative for the events unfolding in the story. As with the comic
creators ‘teachers can use error correction to aid student accuracy. All of these websites
and their apps can be used independently on personal devices and in lessons on an interactive
whiteboard for upbeat and technology enhanced lessons. Online Podcasts are ideal for listening
exercises, offering authentic texts, training students with the English that they are likely to hear outside
the classroom.

Mind mapping software has been used to create a narrative using conditional forms.
The finished version of the students’ narrative is a clear and error free piece of English, it makes exciting
reading for other students, aiding fluency in reading during a light-hearted exercise. Creation of these
mind-maps pushes students to use their cognitive skills resulting in deeper understanding of the
materials used, [see task-based learning – 02.05.16].