{"id":6804,"date":"2019-05-25T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-25T10:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/?p=6804"},"modified":"2019-05-25T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-25T10:38:17","slug":"five-things-i-think-i-know-about-writing-elt-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/2019\/05\/25\/five-things-i-think-i-know-about-writing-elt-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Five\u00a0Things I\u00a0Think I\u00a0Know about\u00a0Writing ELT Materials\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\"Barbara
\nFive\u00a0Things I\u00a0Think I\u00a0Know about\u00a0Writing ELT Materials<\/h3>\n

Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Like for <\/span>many<\/span>\u00a0teachers,\u00a0<\/span>my first ELT materials were worksheets\u00a0<\/span>I creat<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0for my own classes. Sometimes I needed to supplement what was covered in the coursebook, sometimes I wanted to take advantage of student interest in a topic, and sometimes I had to create specialized curricula.\u00a0<\/span>The first materials I wrote for publication were\u00a0<\/span>guides\u00a0<\/span>to go with coursebooks. Eventually I started writing coursebooks.\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m still learning new things about writing and materials design, but here are\u00a0<\/span>five<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>things<\/span>\u00a0that I think<\/span>\u00a0are important in creating excellent ELT materials<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have a clear purpose<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if you are only creating a\u00a0<\/span>worksheet<\/span>\u00a0that will be used once in your own class, you should have a reason for using that handout rather than doing something else.\u00a0<\/span>All materials should have a\u00a0<\/span>purpose and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fit into<\/span>\u00a0the larger context of a course curriculum, or a coursebook syllabus.\u00a0<\/span>What are students supposed to learn?\u00a0<\/span>How does it build on what they\u2019ve already learned and how does it prepare them for what will come next?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aim for transparency<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>eachers and students<\/span>\u00a0should know\u00a0<\/span>what to do when they look at your materials.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>If you\u2019re creating\u00a0<\/span>worksheets<\/span>\u00a0for your own students, this might not\u00a0<\/span>seem very important<\/span>\u00a0because you<\/span>\u00a0can explain\u00a0<\/span>anything that isn\u2019t<\/span> clear. But what if <\/span>someone<\/span>\u00a0else\u00a0<\/span>has to<\/span>\u00a0teach<\/span>\u00a0your class? Will your replacement be able to look at your materials and know\u00a0<\/span>what you had in mind<\/span>?\u00a0<\/span>Transparency is essential i<\/span>f you are <\/span>planning to publish and sell your materials<\/span>. The easiest way to understand th<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0concept is to browse through coursebooks at a bookstore or at a conference. Flip through books asking, \u201cWhat are students supposed to do on this page?\u201d There are plenty of good materials available, so teachers aren\u2019t likely to choose books that require them to guess what the author had in mind.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Write a\u00a0<\/span><\/b>lesson plan or t<\/span><\/b>eacher\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/b>g<\/span><\/b>uide<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re writing materials for your own classes, this might seem unnecessary. However, writing lesson plans to go with your materials, whether they are ultimately collected in a teacher\u2019s guide or not, helps identify problems. Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve created an activity\u00a0<\/span>to have students talk about things that they have and things that they want. You might not see a problem until you write a lesson plan and realize that it might be difficult for students to differentiate between the two verbs.\u00a0<\/span>I want a new game<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>I have a new game\u00a0<\/span><\/i>are both grammatically correct, so you might end up spending your class time explaining the difference in meaning between\u00a0<\/span>have\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and\u00a0<\/span>want<\/span><\/i>\u00a0rather than practicing the language.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get feedback<\/span><\/b>\u00a0(and maybe an editor)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After you use your materials in class, make notes about what worked and what might need to be changed. When students are doing a worksheet, notice how much help they need. Give your materials to a teacher who hasn\u2019t seen them before and ask for feedback. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>f you have any plans to publish and sell your materials, a<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0editor is essential. No matter how\u00a0<\/span>brilliant<\/span>\u00a0your content is, a good editor can make it better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep\u00a0<\/span><\/b>l<\/span><\/b>earning<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been writing materials for more than 30 years and am still\u00a0<\/span>learning new things about writing, about learning, and about pedagogy<\/span>. When I first started writing,\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>electric\u00a0<\/span>typewriter was\u00a0<\/span>considered high tech<\/span>. Now I\u2019m learning how to use online authoring tools for\u00a0<\/span>online<\/span>\u00a0lessons and\u00a0<\/span>how to write video scripts<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The world of ELT materials writing is always changing, but the\u00a0<\/span>fundamental principles remain constant.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>If you want to improve your own skill as a materials writer, I highly recommend Katherine B<\/span>ilsborough\u2019s <\/span>course, Creating ELT Materials 2019<\/a><\/span>. This is the third year I\u2019ve had the privilege of working with Katherine on her course, and I always learn something new from her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five\u00a0Things I\u00a0Think I\u00a0Know about\u00a0Writing ELT Materials Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto   Like for many\u00a0teachers,\u00a0my first ELT materials were worksheets\u00a0I created\u00a0for my own classes. Sometimes I needed to supplement what was covered in the coursebook, sometimes I wanted to take advantage of student interest in a topic, and sometimes I had to create specialized curricula.\u00a0The first materials … Continue reading Five\u00a0Things I\u00a0Think I\u00a0Know about\u00a0Writing ELT Materials\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creating-materials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}