In our Materials Development tutorial for
week 2, our first task were that we had to find out which principles Jeremy
Short applied when he produced his materials. At first, we felt that it wasn’t
a difficult task as it was quite easy to spot and choose which principles he
applied; however, we chose it based on the general points, overlooking the
procedures/sub-points given from the main point.
After
tutorial class on Monday, we had a discussion again to choose the principles
based on the main point and also the procedures/sub-points, also considering
Miss JC’s comment on our presentation. There were slight differences to our
previous choices and we struggled a little as it wasn’t as easy as we thought
when we needed to elaborate on each point. I feel that there will not be a
principle that will be able to fit perfectly, and we really need to improvise
and adapt to teach; this was one thing I learnt. Knowing and following the
principles is “easy”, but to apply it in teaching isn’t as easy because there
are so many factors we need to consider and cater to. I realised that the principles
act as a guideline, but it’s up to us to adapt and to develop the best
materials possible.
The
second task for the tutorial was much harder compared to the first task. We
were confused on whether we should elaborate on how each point affected materials
development respectively or draw out a diagram linking the points with
explanation. After much confusion, we decided on the latter. Coming out with a
diagram was quite time consuming as we had different ideas and opinions, but I
realised we all learnt from each other and we eventually came out with a
diagram we were happy with.
Having
to design a diagram on the aspects influencing materials development was eye-opening;
there are so many things that influence materials development and it all links
to one another. Before this, all I knew was that materials were develop based
on the curriculum goal and objectives only. I didn’t know there were principles
to follow or other factors that influences materials development. As a future
language teacher, I realised developing language learning materials is crucial
in helping students to learn and also in helping myself-as a teacher-to teach. Also,
I realised it isn’t a “develop a material, and use the material for the rest of
my teaching life” practice, but we are to constantly change, modify and improve
the materials based on the factors in the diagram.
1 comments:
To take this reflection a bit further, which principles of teaching and learning as well as SLA would you select [you can refer to Tomlinson's, Nunan, etc] as a guide to develop your materials? And why those principles?
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