Chapter 10:

What do teachers really want from coursebooks?

Hitomi MasuharaPresented by:

Fatemeh KabiriNarges Hoseinpoor

Masoumeh JavanmardMahjoobeh Azimi

Why teachers use coursebooks?

The usual answers of teachers:

They are:

-engaging

-inspiring

-flexible

-effective

But in reality?

- rigid methods

- difficult to use them

- fashionable approaches

- their content seems too alien to be imported directly into classroom

What's teachers' needs and wants ?

Suppose a classroom that has immigrants; so students have different communication skills and linguistic

competence .…

So their program of teaching should be based on a need analysis.

 

In contrast to the range and number of studies on learner variables, studies of teacher variables is still hard to find.

 

This time, we want to discuss on teachers' needs and wants and the role of teacher in teaching process.

Views toward teachers in past:

-an anonymous passive being, giving flexibility to the rules of a method.

-application of theory to practice: making visible the nature of knowledge, making them elaborated and understandable.

2 competences to be a teacher in past:

knowledge about:

knowledge about language and about learning and teaching.

knowledge how :

the methodology of teaching and practical classroom management skills.

But one extra competence that had been added recently:

sociocultural theory:

Teachers become aware of their own beliefs and the principles behind their practice through dialogic and collaborative inquiry.

 

Why we should focus on teachrs' variables ?

Because they:

-have central roles in materials development.

-select materials.

-adapt and develop materials.

-have their own intuitive theories.

-use effective language learning materials.

How are needs defined in the literature?

-ownership: whose needs are they

- kinds: what kind of needs are identified

-Sources: what are the sources for the needs?

Identifying kinds of teacher needs:

-self-perceived needs: reported by the teacher.

-needs percieved by others: colleages, researchers, teacher trainers…through….observation, analysis of teachers' interview and questionnaire responses of the teacher.

-objective measured needs :

identified in objective studies… quantified data is collected… interpret and analyse by the third party… detached and accurate.

Teachers’ needs:

-The study of teachers' needs would provide useful information for example for the content, coverage and format for

producing a teacher's guide .

Teachers’ needs:

-also teachers' needs would predict the final selection of a course book and studies of teachers’ needs may also provide a content coverage inventory in developing and evaluating materials.

In many cases, what may be identified by the teachers themselves and by a third party as their needs could be their wants as well.

like promoting an extensive reading approach.

Teachers’ wants:

Teachers' wants, can be distinguished from needs when there is preference, despite the fact it may not be necessary, encouraged or assumed.

Like some creative writing activities in their speaking classes.

The study of teachers wants in this sense may lead to discoveries of idiosyncratic aspects of teaching of gaps in materials coverage or even of innovative approaches to development or use of materials.

There are some debates between the supporters and sceptics of course book .

Those who regard the course book as a tool and those who regard it as a script seems to .recur with different guise

the theoretical frame work is useful in putting each claim into perspective. when examined against the framework the force of both claims starts to reduce.

first in both cases teachers needs are assumed and not defined.

secondly the source and methods of how the particular teachers needs were identified are not explicit.

:Teachers- an endangered species

exploring teachers needs and wants is crucial when the role division between the material producers and the users seems to

be more and more evident.

The teachers homegrown materials may be more finely tuned to local classroom needs with valid methodological awareness, but the colourful or glossy appearance of commercial course book maybe more eye-catching and may seem to the learners to have more face validity.

traditionally the process of course design suggest that materials design or selection should come at a later stage of the process.

The sequence of course design, summarised as the linear model x .

•The sequence of course design recommended

this model x shows how the teaching context and the learner needs provide a framework for the objective and then the decisions concerning the best methods and materials are made accordingly.

many practitioners however may find that this theoretical model x does not represent the actual sequence that they experience in their ELT institutions all over the world. instead a more familiar sequence may be described in the following manner.

first the teachers and administrators draw up a very general profile of a particular class and learners .the level of their proficiency based on the tests administered at the beginning of the course. The goal of teaching is usually represented in the name of the course [e.g. First Certificate Preparation Course, oral communication 1]

materials selection holds a crucial position in the second stage of the course design sequence ,the teachers and administrator select from commercially available course books the one suitable for the class defined in the initial stage.

by contrasting model Y with model X it becomes apparent how crucial stages of the course design have been moved from the hands of the teachers and administrators into those of material producers.

:But one positive note

this role division between producers and users of materials may even be seen as sensible and realistic provided teachers needs and wants are reflected in materials, that theoretical validity is pursued by the producers and that the teachers have overall control in the teaching.

If the two contemporary phenomena of role division and reversal of the course design sequence were to stay, then efficient and effective systems must be established in

order to empower teachers .

Empowerment of teachers:

The need for objective measurements of the quality of published course books:

-Suggestions

-Developments

Suggestions:

-Sheldon (1988) advocated several ways of achieving objective measurements. They

included :

The desirability of introducing a Which? magazine for ELT course books ( Brumfit 1980:30)

improvement and innovation in ELTJ reviews in order to enhance their validity, usefulness and availability, for example collaborative teachers' and learners'

reviews .

:Developments

•The Which? Magazine for ELT course books has not materialised , possibly because the increasing diversity of users and contexts does not allow simple comparisons.

Improvement and innovation in ELT Journal reviews have taken place and this seems to be functioning well. In addition to traditional impressionistic pre-use reviews by experts , collaborative systematic pre-use reviews.

Online book are becoming widely available these days. Some providers (e.g. Google Book) offer links to reviews published in scholarly journals.

Stricter and more systematic material selection

procedures :

- Suggestion

-Developments

Suggestion:

In the 1998 version of this chapter I suggested that it would be useful to have a systematic review comparing evaluation checklist and that empirical studies of learners' and teachers' needs could facilitate data-based development of evaluation criteria.

Developments:

•Even more checklists and frameworks are now available which are designed to enable systematic selection of materials.

In a shrinking world where English is becoming one of the basic skills, there are growing demands for accountability for ELT materials, as evidenced by the proliferation of evaluation checklists.

The increase in the reports on materials development projects all over the world in Folio(the journal of the international materials development association MATSDA) seem to testify that the users at institutional and national levels seem to be taking the initiative in the evaluation, selection and development of their own materials.

Tomlinson (2003) developed a procedure in which teachers are helped to articulate their implicit theories in the process of developing their own evaluation criteria. He also argues that writing criteria for evaluation provides opportunities to reflect upon teachers’ own practice in their contexts and to critically evaluate the criteria listed by experts.

:NOTE

What distinguishes his approach to developing checklists is that he separates universal criteria (those applicable to any learning context anywhere) from local criteria(those specific to a particular context) and that the criteria are not taken from external sources.

Establishing methods and feedback :routes of users’ evaluation

- Suggestions

-Developments

Suggestions:

Rea- Dickins (1994) summarises three kinds of evaluation:Pre-use evaluation which can be done prior to the use of a course books (for the purpose of checking the construct validity and the match with the needs)In-use evaluationPost- use evaluation, measured in terms of learners’ performance.

Developments:

There seem to be more and more postgraduate students engaged in research on materials development which involves whilst-use and post-use evaluation (see Tomlinson and Masuhara 2010).

Some writers and publishers are trying to incorporate whilst- and post-use feedback in their materials through piloting.

Establishing systems for teachers’ needs and wants to be reflected in

the :production processes

In section 10.5 opportunities for change

Wider perspective in teacher development:

-Suggestions

-Developments

: Suggestions

In the 1998 version of this chapter he suggested inclusion on teaching development course of components of material evaluation , adaptation and writing , and also the inclusion of research methodology training in postgraduate courses in TEFL/TESL and Applied Linguistics.

Developments:

In the UK and South Korea there are dedicated materials development MA courses and a number of universities all around the world now offer materials development modules on the postgraduate courses in TEFL or Applied Linguistics.

More acknowledgement of the teachers’ non-teaching expertise and workload.

Johnson(1989), summarized in table 10.2, stages decision-making roles and products in curriculum development.

Opportunities for change:

Judging from the fact that the ‘for and against course books’ bate recurs and persists, regular successful communication between materials producers and users doesn’t seem to be taking place.

Some publications from materials producers, such as Amrani, Donovan(1998) and SingaporeWala (2003a,2003b)would be a great step forward in promoting open and effective communication between the producers and users.

New opportunities:teacher's forums organised by publishers:

Example A: evaluation meetings

Representative samples of teachers are invited to a half day lunch and coffee

meeting .

A: the newest commercially available coursebooks are presented.

B: what the teachers consider to be good and useful activities are identified.

C: discussion as to why the activities are useful.

 

Many variations of this kind are possible depending on the objectives.

Example B: take your pick sampling meetings

The materials writer produces three kinds of prospective mini-course books in which a controversial point of choice is embodied.e.g three mini-course books are all text-based with the same text but one is structure based the second is explicit strategy training oriented and the third aims

at implicit .

Example C: users meet to become producers

Tomlinson reports an interesting case of teachers producing materials at national level in collaboration with a publisher.they meet together,brainstorming about the type of coursebook they

need .

• .The materials are then taken back by the teachers to their schools.and the results inform the revision process.this option seems preferable to other suggestions in a sense that:

A: it provides solutions to many of the problems caused by the role divisions.

B: the materials adress the teacher"s needs and wants.

C: materials can be used in classrooms and revised.

What sort of opportunities then are there for reflecting taecher"s needs and wants through the stages of materials use? Table 10.4 illustrates the stages and various possibilities for reflecling teacher"s needs and wants.

We have tried to suggest some new approaches as well as to list those which are currently practiced some of the new approaches will now be examplified in more

detail .

New opportunities: institution-based :evaluation

Example A: pre-use evaluation of materials being timetabled as a staff meeting in teaching hours.

Materials selection and materials evaluation should be set up with institutional support.fof instance, teachers could form groups.first each group member reflects and lists criteria they think are important, they take three

steps in identifying the needs .

First, listing the needs, then categorizing them and lastly prioritising then the criteria could be gathered and compared. The list of criteria produced can be filed as the criteria for post-use evaluation and also for similar future materials selection session in staff meeting.

Example B: keepin records of use

It is an interesting study to keep records of which parts of a course book are used and which are not. Keeping records should be fairly simple. Teachers' meeting can be held to reflect and analyse why some parts of the same book get used and others discarded. Another option may be a record of how techers exploit the course book.

Example c: post-use validating the selection criteria at a stuff meeting

In such a meeting the pre-use selection criteria which are produced prior to the course can be validated. The re-evaluation of the materials can be attached to the course book for later use.

Publishers may benefit from stablishing some systems under which this kind of post-use evaluation of course books can be fed back to the materials writers and editors.

New opportunities: teachers' professional development

through material evaluation, adaptation and development.

Masuhara(2006) argues that material development is one of the most effective approaches to teacher development and that it can help teachers become more aware, able, critical, creative and effective in

their teaching .