ADAPTING

MATERIALS
 Principles and Procedures for
Adapting Materials
Personalizing materials
refers to increasing the relevance of content
in relation to learner’s interest and their
academic, educational, or
professional needs
Individualizing
addresses the learning styles of both the
individuals and the members of a class
working together
Localizing
takes into account the international
geography of English language teaching and
recognizes that what may work well in one
region may work in another
 Points to remember in adapting
materials
1. Adaptation can be seen as a kind of
matching process or ‘congruence’ where
techniques are selected according to the
aspect of the material that needs alteration
2. Content can be adapted using a range
of techniques; or conversely, a single
technique can be applied to different
content areas
3. Adaptation can have both
quantitative and qualitative effects
4. Techniques can be used
individually or in combination
with others
ADAPTING TEXTBOOKS
1. Omission: the teacher leaves out things
deemed inappropriate, offensive,
unproductive, for the particular group
2. Addition: where there seems to be
inadequate coverage, teachers may decide to
add to textbooks, either in the form of texts
or exercise material
3. Reduction: where the teacher shortens an
activity to give it less weight or emphasis
4. Extension: where an activity is lengthened
in order to give it an additional example
5. Rewriting/Modification: teacher may
occasionally decide to rewrite material,
especially exercise material, to make it more
appropriate, more communicative, more
demanding, more accessible to their students,
etc
6. Replacement: text or exercise
material which is considered inadequate,
for what ever reason, may be replaced by
more suitable material
7. Reordering: teachers may decide that
the order in which the textbooks are
presented is not suitable for their
students. They can then decide a plot a
different course through the textbooks
from the one writer has laid down
8. Branching: teachers may decide to
add options to the existing activity or to
suggest alternative pathways through
the activities
(experiential or analytical)
Commercial Textbooks
a. Modifying Content
content ,ay need to be changed because it
does not suit to the target learners may be because
of:
1. age
2. gender
 3. religion
4. social class
5. occupation
6. cultural background
Modifying refers to the internal change in the
approach or focus of an exercise
b. Re-writing
c. Re-structuring
Modifying Task
1. Adding or deleting the content
2. Reorganizing content
3. Addressing omissions
4. Extending tasks
5. Expanding
 Evaluation of
Supplementary Materials
for English Language
Teaching
Topic: Inclusivity in Materials Preparation and
Evaluation
Inclusivity – the concept of appropriating for
the marginalized sector of the society
Handicapped
Children (age)
Women
Indigenous people
People of Color (race)
The poor, The Third world (economics)
Why include inclusivity in materials
evaluation and preparation?
Language determines thought and behavior
patterns of people
Language reflects values of society
Instructional materials have lasting
influences in propagating sexism through
language bias, stereotyping, invisibility,
trivializations, and fragmentation
Instructional materials have a way of
perpetuating stereotypes
Characteristics Inclusive
instructional materials
Devoid stereotypes
The experience of women, children, people, of
color, handicapped, the poor
Replete with alternative roles
Use non-sexist language
Provide insights on multiculturalism and
diversity
Extra textual components like cartoons and
other graphics are also inclusive
Multicultural, free from regional/racial bias