Materials Selection and Adaptation

“Page 42 of the coursebook has a reading text about a 1990s pop star. My class of 50-year-old medical executives looks bored to tears.” Following a coursebook blindly page-by-page without adapting materials for your specific learners is a recipe for disengagement. Coursebooks are created for global mass markets; teachers must act as critical editors, adapting, supplementing, or stripping away materials to serve local classroom needs.

Core Theory & Terminology

1. Evaluating & Adapting Coursebooks

Jeremy Harmer (The Practice of English Language Teaching) outlines five core adaptation options available to every teacher:

2. Authentic vs. Created Materials

• Authentic Materials: Texts, audio, or visual artifacts created for real-world communication among native/fluent speakers (e.g., real news articles, podcasts, menus, train schedules), NOT designed for language learners.
• Created / Simulated Materials: Materials authored specifically for language learners, often featuring controlled grammar and simplified vocabulary.

3. Dogme ELT (Materials-Light Teaching)

Pioneered by Scott Thornbury and Luke Meddings (Unplugged: Teaching Today), Dogme ELT is a movement that advocates for “materials-light” teaching. Dogme asserts that language learning should be driven by the dynamic conversation and emerging language of the people in the room, rather than published coursebook pages.

In the classroom

Teacher educators observe how candidates adapt materials during lesson planning and delivery:

1. In Formal Lesson Planning: When using coursebook materials, justify every adaptation in your plan (e.g., Replaced Ex 3 reading text with an authentic news report to increase relevance for adult professionals).
2. On Observed Lessons: Avoid treating the coursebook as a script. You do not need to do every exercise on the page simply because it is printed there.
3. Mentor Feedback: Observers look for “Dogme moments”—how effectively candidates exploit emerging language generated spontaneously by students during class discussion.

Practical Classroom Application

Material Adaptation Framework

Use this 4-step framework when modifying a coursebook reading unit:

• Step 1: Needs & Relevance Audit: Does the coursebook topic match your learners’ age, interests, and communicative goals? If not, Replace the text.
• Step 2: Task Check: Is the reading task authentic? If the coursebook asks for word-by-word translation, Omit it and Rewrite a skimming/scanning task.
• Step 3: Scaffold Addition: If the authentic text contains 2-3 blocking idioms, Add a brief pre-teaching matching task.
• Step 4: Extension Creation: Add a post-reading speaking task that asks learners to personalize the topic.

Reflection & Further Reading

Reflective Question

How often do you blindly follow the coursebook page layout versus applying Harmer’s 5 adaptation choices (Add, Omit, Replace, Re-order, Re-write)?

Key Reference Areas

• Thornbury, S., & Meddings, L. — Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching.
• Harmer, J. — The Practice of English Language Teaching (Chapter 11).
• McGrath, I. — Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching.