Project manager (PM): So, this new product is the big one! General English resources have never been so pointless, which is why TITLES MATTER. (Everyone unmutes their mics to shout ‘hear, hear’ and bang stuff down loudly and repeatedly) PM:… Read More ›
coursebooks
In brief: Changing Perspectives on LGBT Representation in ELT Textbooks
Author: Ben Goldstein Date: 2021 Goldstein begins with a quote from Scott Thornbury, who draws attention to LGBT invisibility in published language resources: Where are the coursebook gays and lesbians? They are nowhere to be found. They are still firmly… Read More ›
Materials writing news and views, July 2021
Euros over. Wimbledon over. Olympics coming up! New releases Some more Primary teacher books from Michelle Worgan: Emily Bryson is running a course on engaging learners with simple drawings. See here. This digital storytelling project from Vicky Saumell. See here…. Read More ›
Jason Anderson and the TATE
There’s a Mercury Music Prize-winning band name if ever I heard one. This post is actually a long one about Anderson, CAP/TATE, British Council and Project-based learning – that didn’t have quite the same ring to it. I attended Jason… Read More ›
Materials Development Task 11: Future-proofing
Think… Have you ever created a resource that aged quickly? What aspects/features of a published resource might make it more susceptible to ‘ageing’? How could you, as a writer, minimize the chance of a resource becoming dated? Do you think… Read More ›
Materials Development Task 9: Functional language
This is a new series of blog posts for teachers looking to become materials writers. It aims to help future writers explore topics and issues in writing, encourage deeper insight into the content of published materials, and promote a principled… Read More ›
Materials Development Task 5: Pronunciation activities
This is a new series of blog posts for teachers looking to become materials writers. It aims to help future writers explore topics and issues in writing, encourage deeper insight into the content of published materials, and promote a principled… Read More ›
Materials Development Task 2: Deficiency vs difference
This is a new series of blog posts for teachers looking to become materials writers. It aims to help future writers explore topics and issues in writing, encourage deeper insight into the content of published materials, and promote a principled… Read More ›
Teacher development and coursebooks
Prompted by a tweet from @michaelegriffin, here are some thoughts on how coursebooks/published materials/in-house resources can aid teacher development. Michael asked this: I shared some examples of how I provide development tips in published resources, such as these two from… Read More ›
The benefits of using an ELT coursebook
Late last year I read the Jordan and Gray/Hughes exchange on ELT coursebooks, which appeared in ELT Journal. It’s an interesting discussion if you haven’t read it yet. I generally agreed more with Hughes, but that’s to be expected; I… Read More ›