This document discusses principles and issues in educational design for materials. It begins with an agenda covering types of activities for teaching language components and skills. It then discusses principles for designing materials, how to identify educational problems, and aspects to evaluate in materials design such as layout, accessibility, and cultural bias. Educational validity, stimulus/practice/revision, and flexibility in materials are also addressed. Overall value for money of coursebooks is discussed. References are provided at the end.

1. PRINCIPIOS Y
PROBLEMÁTICAS
EDUCATIVAS EN EL
DISEÑO DE
MATERIALES
LADY VIVIANA CUERVO ALZATE

2. AGENDA
Tipos de actividades para enseñar los componentes y
las habilidades comunicativas de la lengua.
Principios y procedimientos para el diseño de
materiales
¿Cómo identificar un problema educativo para el
diseño de materiales?
Aspectos a evaluar en el diseño de materiales
Efectos, problemas y causas
Recursos sugeridos

3. COMPONENTES DE LA LENGUA
VOCABULARIO
GRAMÁTICA
PRONUNCIACIÓN

4. PRONUNCIATION
Drilling
Chaining
• Back chain
• Front chain
Open-pair drilling
Substitution drilling
Minimal pairs and related activities
Pronunciation and spelling activities
Taping students’ language
Listening activities
Reading activities
PRONUNCIATION

5. VOCABULARY
Highlighting
the
form
Involving
students
Explaining
meaning
Decision-making
tasks
Illustrating
meaning
Production
tasks
Using
translation
Drilling
Nominating
Personalizing
Association
network
Information
gaps
Peer-teaching
Identifying
Selecting
Matching
•Pelmaninsm
Sorting
Gap-fills

6. GRAMMAR
RULES
• Rules – explanations
• Translations
• Grammar worksheet
• Self-study
EXAMPLES
• Through actions
• Realia
• Generative situation
• Teaching differences through minimal pairs
• Concordance data
TEXTS
• Scripted dialogues
• Authentic texts
• Students language
• Dictogloss
• Genre analysis

7. HABILIDADES COMUNICATIVAS
INPUT OUTPUT
Escritura
Habla –
producción
oral
Lectura
Escucha

8. SPEAKING
FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES
•Sharing information with restrictive cooperation
•Discovering identical pairs
•Discovering sequences or locations
•Discovering missing information
•Discovering missing features
•Discovering secrets
•Sharing information with unrestrictive cooperation
•Communicating patterns and pictures
•Communicating models
•Discovering differences
•Following directions
•Sharing information with unrestrictive cooperation
•Reconstructing story sequences
•Pooling information to solve a problem
•Processing information
SOCIAL INTERACTION ACTIVITIES
•Classroom as a social context
•Conversation or discussion sessions
•Basing dialogues and role-plays on school experience
•Simulation and role-playing
•Role playing controlled through cues and information
•Role playing controlled through situations and goals
•Role playing in the form of debate or discussion
•Large-scale simulation activities
•Improvisation

9. READING
AFTER
WHILE
BEFORE
Brainstorm learner’s
feelings /experiences
Introduce essential
vocabulary using
visuals, sketches and
realia
Discussions
Focused questions
Prediction activities
Sequencing pictures
Sequencing a series of
key words
Reading for gist
Reading for main
ideas
• Answer true/false
questions
• Answer multiple choice
questions
• Predict the ending
• Sequence the
pictures/check before
• reading sequencing
• Sequence events
• Summarizing a text
Reading in detail
• Identify the following
vocabulary/realia
• sequence them
• Follow written instructions
• Complete a cloze activity
• Categorizing texts
• Skeleton texts
• Retelling the story
• Working out the meaning
of unfamiliar
• words,
Offering personal
opinions about the
text
Completing the
sentences
Choosing characters
from a set of visuals.
Which one is Maria?
Why?
Telling the story from
another perspective;
Retell/comprehend
the story in another
language form
Who said what? A
series of statements
that link to particular
characters
Read similar texts
independently
andsilently.

10. WRITING
Recognition
Production
Extensive reading
• Disguised word copying
• Copying from the board
• Making notes
• Whisper writing
Copying
• Sentence production
• Paired sentences
• Paragraph construction
• Controlled text construction
• Free text construction
Sentence, paragraph and text

11. LISTENING
LISTENING SOURCES AND TASKS
•Photos
•Firsts
•Childhood anecdotes
•Chat show
•Biographies
•Jigsaw tasks with an information gap
•Reposting back
•Making a presentation
•Secretaries
•Guests speakers
•Textbook recordings
•Television, video, DVD and radio
•Songs
•The internet
•Favorites
•Anecdotes
•Five things in common
•Business venture
•News

12. PRE
• Activating schemata/predicting
(33)
• Establishing reasons for listening
• Generating questions
• Pre-teaching vocabulary
WHILE
• Listening for gist
• Listening for detail (6)
• Inferring (3)
• Participating actively (4)
• Note taking (4)
• Dictation (9)
• Listen and do (8)
POST
• Reflecting
• Checking and summarising
• Discussion (5)
• Creative responses (6)
• Critical responses
• Information Exchange
• Problem solving (7)
• Deconstructing the listening text
• Reconstructing the listening text
(4)

13. PRINCIPIOS PARA EL DISEÑO DE
MATERIALES

14. TOMLINSON (1998)
Materials should:
• Expose the learners to language in authentic use
• Help learners to pay attention to features of authentic input
• Provide the learners with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative
purposes
• Provide opportunities for outcome feedback
• Achieve impact in the sense that they arouse and sustain the learners’ curiosity and attention
• Stimulate intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement

15. LENGUA MATERIALES
Cada principio del diseño de material debe estar
derivado de un principio de adquisición de la lengua.

16. ¿CÓMO IDENTIFICAR UN
PROBLEMA EDUCATIVO PARA EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES?

17. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 RATIONALE: Why was the book written
in the first place, and what gaps is it
intended to fill? - Are you given
information about the Needs Analysis
or classroom piloting that were
undertaken? - Are the objectives spelt
out?
 AVAILABILITY: - Is it easy to obtain
sample copies and support material for
inspection? - Can you contact the
publisher’s representatives in case you
want further information about the
content, approach, or pedagogical

18. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 USER DEFINITION: -Is there a clear
specification of the target age range, culture,
assumed background, probable learning
preferences, and educational expectations? -
Are entry/exit language levels precisely
defined, e.g. by reference to international
‘standards’ such as the ELTS, ACTFL or Council
of Europe scales, or by reference to local or
country-specific examination requirements? -
In the case of an ESP textbook, what degree of
specialist knowledge is assumed (of both
learners and teacher)?
 LAYOUT/GRAPHICS: - Is there an optimum
density and mix of text and graphical material
on each page, or is the impression one of
clutter? - Are the artwork and typefaces

19. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 ACCESSIBILITY: - Is the material clearly organized? -
Can the student find his or her location in the
material at any point, i.e. is it possible to have a
clear view of the ‘progress’ made, and how much
still needs to be covered? - Are there indexes,
vocabulary lists, section headings, and other
methods of signposting the content that allow the
student to use the material easily, especially for
revision or self-study purposes? - Is the learner (as
opposed to the teacher) given clear advice about
how the book and its contents could be most
effectively exploited?
 LINKAGE: - Do the units and exercises connect in
terms of theme, situation, topic, pattern of skill
development, or grammatical/lexical ‘progression’?
- Is the nature of such connection made obvious, for
example by placing input texts and supporting

20. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 SELECTION/GRADING: - Does the introduction,
practice, and recycling of new linguistic items
seem to be shallow/steep enough for your
students? - Is there a discernible system at work in
the selection and grading of these items (e.g. on
the basis of frequency counts, or on the basis of
useful comparisons between the learner’s mother
tongue and English)? - Is the linguistic inventory
presented appropriate for your purposes, bearing
in mind the L1 background(s) of your learners?
 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: - Is there space to
write in the book? - Is the book robust? too large?
too heavy? - Is the spine labelled? - Is it a book
that could be used more than once, especially if it
is marked by previous students?

21. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 APPROPRIACY: - Is the material substantial enough
or interesting enough to hold the attention of
learners? - Is it pitched at the right level of
maturity and language, and (particularly in the
case of ESP situations), at the right conceptual
level? - Is it topical?
 AUTHENTICITY:- Is the content obviously realistic,
being taken from L1 material not initially intended
for ELT purposes? - Do the tasks exploit language
in a communicative or ‘real-world’ way? - If not,
are the texts unacceptably simplified or artificial
(for instance, in the use of whole-sentence
dialogues)?

22. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 SUFFICIENCY: - Is the book complete enough to stand on
its own, or must the teacher produce a lot of ancillary
bridging material to make it workable? - Can you teach
the course using only the student’s book, or must all the
attendant aids (e.g. cassettes) be deployed?
 CULTURAL BIAS: - Are different and appropriate religious
and social environments catered for, both in terms of the
topics/situations presented and of those left out? - Are
students’ expectations in regard to content,
methodology, and for- mat successfully accommodated? -
If not, would the book be able to wean students away
from their preconceived notions? - Is the author’s sense of
humour or philosophy obvious or appropriate? - Does the
course book enshrine stereotyped, inaccurate,
condescending or offensive images of gender, race, social
class, or nationality? - Are accurate or ‘sanitized’ views of
the USA or Britain presented; are uncomfortable social
realities (e.g. unemployment, poverty, family

23. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 EDUCATIONAL VALIDITY: - Does the textbook take
account of, and seem to be in tune with, broader
educational concerns (e.g. the nature and role of
learning skills, concept development in younger
learners, the function of ‘knowledge of the
world’, the exploitation of sensitive issues, the
value of metaphor as a powerful cognitive learning
device)?
 STIMULUS/PRACTICE/REVISION: - Is the course
material interactive, and are there sufficient
opportunities for the learner to use his or her
English so that effective consolidation takes place?
- Is the material likely to be
retained/remembered by learners? - Is allowance
made for revision, testing, and on-going
evaluation/mark ing of exercises and activities,
especially in large-group situations; are ready-
made achievement tests provided for the course

24. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 FLEXIBILITY: - Can the book accommodate the practical
constraints with which you must deal, or are assumptions made
about such things as the availability of audio-visual equipment,
pictorial material, class size, and classroom geography; does the
material make too many demands on teachers’ preparation time
and students’ homework time? - Can the material be exploited or
modified as required by local circumstances, or is it too rigid in
format, structure, and approach? - Is there a full range of
supplementary aids available?
 GUIDANCE:- Are the teacher’s notes useful and explicit? - Has
there been an inordinate delay between the publication of the
student’s and teacher’s books which has meant that teachers
have had to fend for themselves in exploiting the material? - Is
there advice about how to supplement the course book, or to
present the lessons in different ways? - Is there enough/too much
‘hand-holding’? - Are typescripts, answer keys, ‘technical notes’
(in the case of ESP textbooks), vocabulary lists,
structural/functional inventories, and lesson summaries provided
in the Teacher’s Book? - Is allowance made for the perspectives,

25. ASPECTOS A EVALUAR EN EL
DISEÑO DE MATERIALES
 OVERALL VALUE FOR MONEY: - Quite simply, is the
course book cost-effective, easy to use, and
successful money in your teaching situation, in
terms of time, labour, and money? - To what
extent has it realized its stated objectives?

26. ÁRBOL DE PROBLEMAS

28. RECURSOS DEL DÍA
 MAPAS MENTALES:
POPPLET: http://popplet.com/
BUBBL: https://bubbl.us/
SPIDERSCRIBE: https://www.spiderscribe.net/

29. REFERENCIAS
 Belloch, Consuelo (2013). Diseño Instruccional. Unidad de Tecnología Educativa (UTE).
Universidad de Valencia http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/rid=1MXBYRSF8-1Y2JTP7-RM/EVA4.pdf
 Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.
 Rowntree, D. (1994) . Preparing Materials for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning.
London:Kogan Page
 Sheldon, L. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal,42 (4), 237-246
 Tomlinson, B. (ed.) 1998. Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press

30. SIGUIENTES SEMANAS
 SIGUIENTE SEMANA:
- ENCUENTRO VIRTUAL 2: (22 DE AGOSTO)
- ACTIVIDAD 1 (INDIVIDUALMENTE) Y ACTIVIDAD 2 (GRUPOS DE TRABAJO) (15 – 22 AGOSTO Y 24
AGOSTO )
 DOS SEMANAS: ACTIVIDAD 3 (22-29/31 AGOSTO)
-ENCUENTRO VIRTUAL 3: (29 AGOSTO)
- ENCUENTRO PRESENCIAL 2: (AGOSTO 31)