35.1161, Review: Designing Effective Language Learning Materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages: Özçelik and Kent (2023)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1161. Mon Apr 08 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1161, Review: Designing Effective Language Learning Materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages: Özçelik and Kent (2023)

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Date: 08-Apr-2024
From: Belén Reyes Morente [belenreyes at uma.es]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Özçelik and Kent (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.2402

AUTHOR: Öner Özçelik
AUTHOR: Amber Kennedy Kent
TITLE: Designing Effective Language Learning Materials for Less
Commonly Taught Languages
SUBTITLE: A Research-Based Guide
PUBLISHER: Georgetown University Press
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Belén Reyes Morente

"Designing effective language learning materials for less commonly
taught languages: a research-based guide" is a book written by authors
Öner Özcelik and Amber Kennedy Kent and published by Georgetown
University Press.

The availability of quality materials (Muñoz, 2003; Moreno Fernández,
2007) adapted to the needs of the classroom is a prerequisite to
successful second language learning. That is why this book aims to be
a complete guide to developing language content.

In the title itself, the authors point out that there are many
minority languages for which teachers find themselves with a great
void in content. This is in contrast to the majority languages, where
there are many people who learn them and many teachers who teach them,
so there is a great deal of material of all kinds on which to draw.
Therefore this book aims to guide the teacher who wants to create his
or her own materials through the entire creation process from
beginning to end.

The authors mention that many professional specialties should from
part of this creation process: Instructional Design, Applied
Linguistics, Language Education, Visual Design, and Technology.  But
as the authors point out, the language teacher is usually responsible
for performing all of these roles.
The book comprises seventeen chapters organized into four sections: an
analysis phase ( Chapters One to Two), a design phase (Chapters Three
to Eight), a development phase (Chapters Nine to Thirteen), and the
last phase, dedicated to implementation and evaluation. So these
chapters cover the process of developing materials from all
professional points of view.

The first phase of analysis begins with Chapter One, suggesting that
the most important thing before starting any process is to conduct a
needs analysis. For example, a very important decision is whether
writing a textbook is the right thing to do to fill that content gap
that teachers face. In Chapter Two, the authors indicate that the next
step should be to determine which students will use these materials
and in what learning context. To create materials appropriate to the
learning objectives, it t is very important to take into account the
student’s learning style, age, level of education, nationality and
prior language knowledge.
Chapter Three begins the design phase with tips for creating a
curriculum. Among other tips, the authors point out that a good
curriculum plan should include the objectives, methodology, lessons,
activities, and exercises of the course. This document should be a
response to needs that have been previously identified. Three designs
for curriculum development are presented: course design (CDF), central
course design (CCD), and backward course design (BCD). The next
chapter notes that learning objectives should be specific, measurable,
and observable, should include a variety of cognitive skills, and
should be learner-centered. Chapter Five, focusess on decisions about
what kind of activities should be used in the classroom. The
recommendation is that they should be a demonstration of the learner's
knowledge, should be in line with the learning objectives, and should
measure the knowledge and skills to be assessed. Two  types of
activities should be considered; formative and summative assessment.

The next step in curriculum planning is to address the teaching of
grammar, a controversial topic due to the number of methods available.
The authors argue that if there is to be explicit grammar instruction
in the classroom, the material developed for it  must meet four basic
requirements: it must be written clearly and precisely; it must not
use jargon or terms that are difficult to comprehend; it must break
the theory down into small chunks to make it simpler and more
manageable; and finally, it must include examples and images.

Teaching the culture of the language is the main theme of Chapter
Eight. Although  there is some debate about the  inclusion of cultural
content, the authors point out that the real question  is whether the
teaching of culture should be implicit or explicit. If the implicit
way is chosen, it is important  that the teaching materials employ
vocabulary that is actually used in the country, and images and
documents that display the country accurately. If, on the other hand,
it is preferred to reserve a part of the class for the explicit
teaching of culture, then  the materials presented to the students
must be written in the L1, and the cultural content must be limited so
as not to  replace the grammatical or linguistic content. The last
chapter of the design phase discusses the from and organization of the
materials. A document detailing the communicative purposes, as well as
the grammar and cultural content to be taught will serve as a content
map that will end up in the table of contents.

The third section, the development phase, begins with Chapter Ten,
which treats the  elements that should appear on the cover, in the
front matter, and at the end of the book. It is suggested that the
cover be clear and concise; it does not have to be the most creative
thing ever done. General information about the book, the author(s),
the publisher, and the content should be on the first few pages.  In
the last part of the book, it is common to have appendices that
include transcriptions of exercises that students do not have access
to in real life, solutions or suggested solutions to exercises, a
glossary with less common words, and references to indicate where an
image, a quotation, or a figure. comes from. The next chapter provides
more detail on the pedagogic approach of the course, stressing that
the initial page of each chapter should display the title of the
chapter, a summary of what is going to be taught and a clear statement
of  the learning objectives.. Chapter Twelve offers research-based
information  on how the appearance of the text affects learner
motivation. The authors point out that the design should not be
distracting, it should be balanced and harmonious. Chapter Thirteen
concludes the third section. This chapter treats  the importance of
multimedia content in second language teaching and offers suggestions
about selection and/or design.

In the final section, dedicated to implementing and evaluating, the
authors begin by stressing the importance of feedback to to correct
any shortcomings. Things to consider include who will be asked for
feedback (usually qualified teachers), in what contexts will feedback
be requested, what criteria will subjects be asked to use, and what
tool(s) will be employed (e.g., surveys, questionnaires, interviews).
In Chapter Fifteen, the authors present a three-point evaluation
system, targeting three groups of people who should evaluate the
materials: the team that developed the materials, second language
learners, and experts such as experienced language teachers.

The last chapter addresses what to do once the product has been
completed, corrected, and evaluated. The authors assert that the most
important thing is to make all this work accessible to learners and
teachers. There are, of course, publishing houses that will manage
distribution  and at the same time they can help with the refinement
of the product, since they have the equipment for it, but it is an
expense that must be taken into account. The other option is to
self-publish, where you have more decision-making power over the
product and more freedom, but there is a stigma that may not interfere
with wide circulation.

EVALUATION

The book is what its title promises it to be. It is a very thorough,
step-by-step manual on the whole process of making language materials.
It is full of examples drawn from minority languages; and these help
readers better understand suggestions and make the book easy to
follow.

REFERENCES

Moreno Fernández, Francisco. 2007. Second language acquisition and
Sociolinguistics. Revista de educación.

Muñoz, Carmen. 2003. Second languages. Acquisition in the classroom.
Ibérica, 6, 155-169.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

PhD student in Linguistics at the University of Málaga. She completed
her undergraduate studies in Spanish at the University of Alicante.
She continued her education at the University of Granada. She holds a
Master's Degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language: Language,
Culture and Methodology. Following this, she was awarded a scholarship
to work as a graduate teaching assistant in the United States. She
studied for another Master's degree, worked as a Spanish teacher and
collaborated with the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at
the University of Wyoming for two years. She is currently doing
research in sociolinguistics, acoustic phonetics and corpus
linguistics at the University of Malaga.



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