A presentation for the Materials module I am doing. It is based on Masuhara and Tomlinson's work in, Chapter 2 of English Language Learning Materials 2008, Editor Tomlinson, Continuum.

1. a summary of
Materials for General English
by Hitomi Masuhara and Brian Tomlinson
in Tomlinson (Ed.) (2008: Chapter 2, 17-37),
English Language Learning Materials, A Critical
Review, Continuum.
University of Brighton
TLM 25: Materials
Prepared by
Esin Yuksel
Zeynep Sag

2. What Kinds of ELT contexts are General
English Coursebooks Catering for?
Target two different kinds of teaching contexts:
• ‘General English’ (GE) in English-speaking
countries
• ‘English as a Foreign Language’ (EFL) in non-
English-speaking countries

3. What are the similarities and differences
between GE and EFL contexts?
Similarities:
• Teachers have tended to be native speakers from
English-speaking countries
• Teaching has mainly take place in language
schools, colleges and universties

4. Differences
GE context:
• Students are physically in the English-speaking
environment.
• The learners face immediate need for everyday
communication.
• The length of GE courses tends to be short.
• Small classes, multi-cultural

5. EFL context:
• Learners do not have immediate communication
needs outside the classroom.
• The length of the course is long.
• Large classes, homogenous mono-lingual/
mono-cultural group
• Learners often face examinations.

6. What are the needs of GE learners?
• To improve the four language skills, especially
speaking and listening to everyday English
• Being fluent in English for better job prospects
• To enlarge their vocabulary and consolidate
their grammar

7. Are the coursebooks meeting users’
needs and wants?
They seem to respond to the general needs as:
• They all cover skills, vocabulary and grammar.

8. Major problems with GE materials
• too many dry and dull texts
• not authentic or real
• are not preparing students for real life situations
• Seems to be culturally biased towards white-
middle-class British
• grammar exercises are often not related to the
texts
• so many activities to get through
• formats are repetitive.

9. Suggestions for improvements
• introduce interesting people and their views and
opinions from different etnic groups
• offer opportunities for language/cultural/critical
awareness
• provide ready resources that are up-to-
date, varied and affectively and cognitively
engaging

10. • not only focus on helping learners to become
accurate and fluent but also help them to
become appropriate and effective
communicators as a result of placing production
activities
• provide more opportunities for extensive
reading, listening and viewing
• entertain and inspire teachers as well as learners

11. References
Tomlinson, B. & Masuhara, H. (2008) Materials for General English in
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) English Language Learning Materials: A Critical
Review, London: Continuum, 17-37.
THANK YOU