Think globally, act locally: materials adaptation
As every teacher knows, there is no such thing as the perfect coursebook. Published materials are always written for idealised teaching situations and always require some degree of adaptation to meet the needs of the learner in particular classrooms. Indeed, we could say that the teachers are always the co-writers of the materials they use. In this webinar, we will look at the partnership between teachers and materials. We will ask what teachers can reasonably expect from materials and what they should expect to provide themselves. How can they make the most of what is on the page? What changes can they make? What can they add and what can they remove? And in the last resort, what can they substitute? We will consider the range of intervention that teachers can make in order to modify, simplify, or complexify coursebook materials. We will also look at ways in which teachers can intervene to localise and personalise their textbooks.
