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.