Dear Amos, Martin, John and everyone else 1. In connection with the issue of to what extent should/can research impinge on areas of practice such as the...
393
Amos Paran
a.paran@...
May 24, 2012 12:01 pm
Hi Alan, ... I totally agree. There is often not enough support for change; and in fact even when there is a large amount of support there it may not be...
394
Waters, Alan
A.Waters@...
May 24, 2012 12:19 pm
Thanks, Amos - very much agree that support needed for change is characteristically underestimated, and it also seems to me that your cautionary tale about...
I think this has been a really interesting and erudite discussion so far with many important points being made right, left and centre! I also think what we're...
Dear All What an enlightening discussion - thanks to all concerned! Question three invites us now to look at materials writers/developers: The article points ...
397
Shelagh Rixon
shelaghr@...
May 25, 2012 12:10 am
Quick crude input (as usual). I recently tempered my more purist research on why Young Learners materials seem to be as they are with a questionnaire to recent...
Question 3: few academic theorists and researchers are actually involved in materials writing – although there have been exceptions in the past (e.g....
399
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 25, 2012 5:58 am
Thanks Richard and thanks too to Philida, Alan and Amos for their contributions yesterday. Thanks as well for the link to your paper Philida which I'm sure we...
400
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 25, 2012 6:15 am
Thanks Shelagh for that important observation. When I interviewed publishers over 10 years ago as part of some research I was doing they frequently lamented...
401
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 25, 2012 8:19 am
Ho John Thanks for this. I entirely agree that the superordinate problem in many ELT change situations is the use of an inappropriate innovation strategy, and...
402
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 25, 2012 8:37 am
Dear Richard Thanks for this summary. However, my own view would be that both types of approach are potentially concerned with different kinds of analysis,...
403
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 25, 2012 9:05 am
PS Apologies for the typo in the salutation! Alan __________ Ho John Thanks for this. I entirely agree that the superordinate problem in many ELT change...
404
Shelagh Rixon
shelaghr@...
May 25, 2012 9:10 am
Question 3: How about the roles of writers who later became applied linguists or at least held down jobs in academia? There are 3 or four really big...
405
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 25, 2012 9:48 am
Dear Shelagh Hear, hear! And I think having some kind of coursebook writing experience certainly can have the potential to affect the way you look at other...
Thanks for this response Alan. I don't disagree that evaluation incorporates analysis/description as a first step. Where I'm placing the emphasis, though, is...
If I may add just a thought or two. I have yet to find a very useful textbook for most of my teaching situations. Is that because I'm too picky, or because the...
I agree with many of the views presented over the course of the week – and would like to add a few of my own: 1.      I also feel that coursebooks...
409
Waters, Alan
A.Waters@...
May 25, 2012 5:09 pm
Many thanks for this very helpful clarification and, yes, very much agree! Alan ... Think Green - this message is composed entirely of recycled electrons....
410
Alexander, Olwyn
o.alexander@...
May 26, 2012 7:22 am
As a materials writer, I've been following this discussion with interest. I've co-authored a coursebook for English for Academic Purposes, Access EAP:...
411
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 26, 2012 2:33 pm
A couple of comments on responses to Q1 and Q2 - I'll try and get on to Q3 later this evening or tomorrow morning! I’ll start with one or two of Alan’s and...
412
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 26, 2012 2:41 pm
Sorry Richard, I missed this yesterday but I think your point about 'materials research' as a descriptor is an important one. 'Materials evaluation' does not...
413
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 27, 2012 12:54 pm
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this one – Martin, Shelagh, Alan, Glen and Alwyn (I hope I haven’t left anyone out). I think Q3 was occasioned by...
414
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 27, 2012 7:04 pm
Dear John (and everyone else) Thank you very much for this posting, and your other re. Q. 3. It's clear we very much agree that end-users' views of materials...
Dear All, Thank you for all your contributions -- it's been by far the busiest week since we started the article discussions. We hope all of you, contributors...
Question 4: The article mentions the uses of new technologies (e.g. mobile phones) in making language learning materials available to students. What kinds of...
417
John Gray
J.Gray@...
May 28, 2012 5:12 am
Thanks for kicking this one off Martin. Your list of affordances suggests a wide range of avenues to pursue. Given some of what has been said in our discussion...
418
Alan Waters
A.Waters@...
May 28, 2012 9:33 am
Dear John, Martin and everyone else I think the following paper by Ian McGrath is very helpful in identifying some of the teacher development implications of...
Dear Alan, John, Martin and all First of all, thank you for the references. I would argue that multiple choice questions have their place in the classroom...
Clearly there's a major shift going on in the way published learning materials are mediated to learners - and traditional, 'linear' coursebooks could be seen...
As Richard mentioned, I think it is interesting that the traditional linear course book hasn't died out yet. I think there must be a kind of balance of forces...
