Language Learning Materials Development

Vocabulary flashcards covering definitions, principles, trends,and procedures from the lecture on language-learning materials development.

Materials

Any resource—print, digital, audio-visual, or interactive—used to facilitate language learning.

Authentic materials

Resources produced for real-world use (news articles, menus, videos) rather than classroom design.

Created materials

Resources specifically designed for classroom instruction, such as textbooks or teacher-made worksheets.

Materials development

The process of evaluating, adapting, and creating learning resources to support language instruction.

Realia

Real-life objects (tickets, brochures, tools) brought into class to provide tangible language input.

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL)

Use of smartphones, tablets, and apps to support anytime, anywhere language study.

Learner autonomy

A trend encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning choices and strategies.

Overreliance on commercial textbooks

Issue in which teachers depend too heavily on published texts, limiting adaptation to learner needs.

Lack of localization

Problem where materials ignore local culture or context, reducing learner relevance and motivation.

Mismatch between materials and learner context

Situation in which content, level, or examples do not fit students’ linguistic or cultural realities.

Krashen’s Input Hypothesis

SLA theory that learners acquire language through exposure to meaningful input slightly above their level (i+1).

Interaction and negotiation of meaning

SLA principle that pair/group tasks foster language growth by requiring learners to clarify and adjust messages.

Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis

Idea that learners must consciously notice language features in input for acquisition to occur.

Krashen’s Affective Filter

Theory that anxiety or low motivation can block input; supportive materials lower this filter.

Focus on form

Integrating attention to grammar within communicative activities rather than isolated drills.

Developmental sequences (Natural Order Hypothesis)

Concept that language features are acquired in a predictable order; materials should scaffold accordingly.

Tomlinson Principle: Impact

Materials should grab attention and create a memorable learning experience.

Tomlinson Principle: Ease

Resources ought to help learners feel at ease through clear layout and supportive content.

Tomlinson Principle: Confidence

Tasks should enable students to experience success, boosting belief in their abilities.

Tomlinson Principle: Relevance and usefulness

Learners must perceive taught language as meaningful to their real lives.

Tomlinson Principle: Learner self-investment

Materials should require effort and encourage personal engagement from students.

Tomlinson Principle: Readiness

Content should match learners’ developmental stage and prior knowledge.

Tomlinson Principle: Authentic use exposure

Learners need contact with language in genuine communicative contexts.

Tomlinson Principle: Attention to linguistic features

Materials should draw focus to specific forms through highlighting, glosses, or tasks.

Tomlinson Principle: Communicative purpose

Provide opportunities to use target language to achieve real outcomes.

Tomlinson Principle: Delayed effect of instruction

Recognizes that learning gains may surface after elapsed time; materials should recycle language.

Tomlinson Principle: Learning style differences

Resources must cater to varied visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, or analytic preferences.

Tomlinson Principle: Affective attitudes differences

Materials should respect diverse motivations, interests, and emotional states.

Tomlinson Principle: Silent period

Allow beginners time to process input before being forced to speak.

Tomlinson Principle: Whole-brain involvement

Encourage intellectual, aesthetic, and emotional engagement to activate both hemispheres.

Tomlinson Principle: Limit controlled practice

Avoid excessive mechanical drills; balance with creative language use.

Tomlinson Principle: Outcome feedback

Tasks must include opportunities for learners to receive information on performance results.

Macro-level materials development

High-level planning: follow syllabus, choose approach, select topics, and sequence content.

Micro-level materials development

Detailed design of individual activities, instructions, and classroom implementation steps.

PARSNIPS

Acronym for sensitive topics publishers often avoid: Politics, Alcohol, Religion, Sex, Narcotics, -isms, Pork/Palestine, Social Class.

Hadfield’s 5 Stages

Micro process: select activity, match aim, draft ideas, write student materials, refine instructions.

Dialoguing

Sub-process where developers talk through ideas with themselves or peers to clarify design.

Scoping

Creating a rough plan or layout outlining content flow and requirements.

Try-out

Testing materials with learners to identify strengths and needed revisions before finalization.

Writing rubrics

Preparing clear teacher directions and assessment criteria to accompany activities.