(May 2016) Message from the Coordinator

Dear MW-SIG members,

I hope that everyone had a nice Golden Week and is ready to go for the next part of the semester. Although it is still in the planning stages, it looks like the MW Forum at JALT2016 will be an excellent event. I am happy to report that a lot of our members will be involved. Of course, there are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in your SIG. Please feel free to contact me!

Yours in Service,

Adam Murray

(coordinator @ materialswriters.org)

Contents of this message:

1. PanSIG 2016

2. Links/Articles of Interest

1. PanSIG 2016

The conference is just around the corner! It will be held May 20-23, 2016 at Meio University in Okinawa. Here are some presentations that you won’t want to miss. First, the MW SIG sponsored speaker, Marcos Benevides will be giving a talk, “Text and Context: Innovating the Coursebook” Here’s the abstract:

Language learning courses have long been organized according to a grammar syllabus; that is, to a series of language forms meant to be taught sequentially from a text, often regardless of learners' specific contexts. Authentic meaning-making and the presentation of interesting content is of secondary importance, shoehorned in simply to illustrate a grammar point. Yet, despite the occasional flare-up of anti-textbook indignation, teachers overwhelmingly do choose traditional texts, and publishing companies are only too happy to oblige. Is there a way to escape the grammar syllabus textbook? Or is language teaching doomed to always be trapped between text and context?

In addition to Marcos’ talk, several of our members are also giving presentations. Here are their abstracts:

Ever Thought of Writing a Textbook? - Simon Capper

Ever thought of transforming those great ideas into materials that others can benefit from? This presentation follows the journey of an author/co-author of more than a dozen commercially published textbooks. The talk covers 10 stages of the book-birthing process, from conception to delivery, with suggestions, guidelines and warnings to help less experienced writers enhance their chances of success. These stages include: getting your foot in the door; finding your ‘gap’; establishing your principles; designing a scope and sequence; understanding your market; the best ways to fail; ensuring quality; the final push, and post-publication.

Enhancing Teacher-Created Language Learning Materials with Images - Cameron Romney

In this presentation, the presenter will offer suggestions and advice for adding images and other visual media to teacher-made language learning materials. He will begin by discussing the benefits for using visual media, the three main ways that images are used in language learning materials: instructive, supportive and decorative. Next, issues related to copyright, fair use, creative commons and suggestions for finding images on the Internet will be discussed. Finally, the presenter will showcase some examples of teacher-created language learning materials enhanced with images.

Designing Materials That Work - Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto

I've spent much of the past 25 years rewriting the same books. While I'm no expert on the subject of creating materials, I have learned a few things that I think make a difference in whether or not materials are successful. Whether you're evaluating or creating materials for your own learners, or working on the next big course book bestseller, I believe these guidelines can make a difference for you, too.

2. Links/Articles of Interest

From the IATEFL 2016 conference, here’s a link to John Hughes’ talk, “Visual Literacy in Creating Classroom Materials.” You can watch the video and download his PowerPoint slideshow.

Here is an excellent series of blog postings written by Lizzie Pinard documenting the IATEFL 2016 Materials Writing SIG PCE – Print VS. Digital; is it really a competition? Which was recently held in Birmingham, England.