This is my third post using a bridge failure as a metaphor for what to avoid in developing materials for classroom use. The first post dealt with addressing context and the second with grammar. Now I’d like to consider the question of pedagogy.
Construction on the Quebec Bridge began in 1903, and the project was well under way on 29 August 1907 when the bridge disastrously collapsed before it was completed. The reason? Design calculations that had been changed as the project progressed weren’t carefully checked after they had been modified – a case of careless planning, it seems. After the clean-up, construction was re-started, but nearly ten years later, in 1916, the bridge collapsed again as the final central span was being lifted into place. This time, the collapse happened because of the failure of lifting equipment, which may not have been adequate for the job. The bridge was finally opened in 1919 and, at 549 metres, remains the longest cantilevered bridge span in the world.
In the ELT classroom, pedagogy is the art and science of making language and language skills accessible so that learners can acquire and develop them. Even if interaction in the classroom involves spontaneity and unplanned learner input, or unscripted teacher response, an effective teacher will shape the lesson in a way that reinforces learning, and do so within some kind of principled framework. When you’re developing materials for classroom use – for example preparing a text for learners to work with – keep the following ‘design tips’ in mind to build lessons that won’t collapse like the Quebec Bridge.
Construct lessons that support learning
When you plan lessons and develop materials, it’s essential to have a clear idea where your learners are and where you hope they’ll be at the end of the lesson. This means identifying appropriate language, skills or functions to work on, and planning activities that will help learners develop them. This often involves leading into a text or activity with a discussion that learners can easily engage with and that moves naturally into the topic or main focus of the lesson. This is part of the practical consideration of helping learners feel comfortable, relaxed and warmed up before facing the challenge of new language.
It’s also important to be sure that any activity you ask learners to do can be clearly explained in two or three fairly simple sentences. If an activity is too complex to set up, it will divert attention away from language learning. Keep it simple, and plan tasks that form a natural progression from where students are to where they need to be by the lesson’s end.
Adapt authentic materials to avoid language overload
Authentic materials – for example, articles, videos, stories, or poems – are a great way to give learners access to natural, engaging language. But if the material is too dense or complex, as often is the case, the experience may become one of frustration rather than language learning, unless you plan carefully. For each lesson, pull out ten or fifteen vocabulary items and focus on one or two grammar points that you think your learners can digest.
Consider simplifying and summarising some portions of a text so that learners have access to key ideas that may be obscured by difficult language. And break longer texts into chunks that learners can grasp with a reasonable amount of effort. Don’t feel that you need to deal with an entire text all in one go. Otherwise, the danger is that too much language with too little focus will make learners feel overloaded, and the result may well be collapse.
Remember that fun is good (and any learner engagement, really)
When you’ve got a demanding syllabus to get through, it’s easy to think of ‘fun’ as something that may occasionally happen along the way if you’re lucky. But it’s often enjoyment of a classroom activity rather than hard work that makes new language ‘stick’. Even in more serious ESP and EAP teaching situations, learners – and their teachers – benefit from games and other activities that stimulate language learning and are engaging. Well planned activities that involve lots of talk, getting up and moving around the room, or competition should be included as essential structural components of effective lessons, and not just as decoration. ‘Fun’ is pedagogically sound.
Have you developed your own materials for the classroom? What made them effective – or not? I’d love to hear about your experiences.