John Hughes Materials writing Iatefl Manchester 2015

Tools, tips and tasks for developing materials writing skills

john@hugheselt.com

www.elteachertrainer.com

How did you develop your skills in ELT materials writing?

ELT materials writers need to…• think inside the box (as well as outside)• develop a materials radar• grade the material

Learn to write inside the box

• Titles, headings, sub-headings

• Numbering and referencing

• Rubrics and example answers

• Visuals

• Opportunity for personalisation

• Clearer staging and scaffolding

Heads up

Heads down

Heads up

Heads down

Developing your materials radar

“Winning isn’t everything, but wanting it is.” Arnold Palmer

“I never thought of losing.” Muhammed Ali

“I just love winning.” Ayrton Senna

“Swimming isn’t everything, winning is.” Mark Spitz

“A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” Billie Jean King.

“I hate losing.” Sechin Tendulkar

Grading the level of your materials

There’s been a change in the weather. Extreme events like the Nashville flood with 13 inches of rain in two days - described by officials as a once-in-a-millennium occurrence - are happening more frequently than they used to. A month before Nashville, torrential downpours dumped 11 inches of rain on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours, triggering mud slides. In late 2011 floods in Thailand submerged hundreds of factories near Bangkok, creating a worldwide shortage of computer hard drives.

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There’s been a change in the weather. Extreme events like the Nashville flood with 13 inches of rain in two days - described by officials as a once-in-a-millennium occurrence - are happening more frequently than they used to. A month before Nashville torrential downpours dumped 11 inches of rain on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours triggering mud slides. In late 2011, floods in Thailand submergedhundreds of factories near Bangkok creating a worldwide shortage of computer hard drives.

• Omitting or changing vocabulary

• Simplifying sentence structure

• Simplify text structure and cohesion

• Adding in target language

• Recycling previously taught language items

Read the paragraph about Extreme weather. Are these sentence true or false? Write T or F.

1. Extreme weather is happening more often than in the past.

2. Floods around the world created a shortage of hard drives.

ELT materials writers need to…• Think inside the box (as well as outside)• Develop a materials radar• Grade the material

www.elteachertrainer.com

Thanks for participating!

john@hugheselt.com

www.elteachertrainer.com