The Language Teacher
02 - 2000

The Language Teacher

 

Introduction

To determine the focus of this materials special issue, we editors concurred that theory-based papers should take precedence over ones exemplifying materials. We were fortunate to receive contributions spanning a wide range of theoretical issues in materials development. Jane Willis opens this special issue with a task-based holistic approach to materials development which stresses the use of a pedagogic corpus. Marc Helgeson, collaborating with nine other Japan-based ELT authors, offers the straight-up lowdown on publishing materials internationally for use in this country. Shifting the medium to literature, Brian Tomlinson follows with an experiential method to stimulate cultural awareness. Using a neuro-scientific basis, our first Japanese contributor, Masuhara Hitomi, reevaluates reading in L2 and suggests that it need not be such a slow and laborious activity. The next feature is an interview with materials developer and applied linguist, Rod Ellis, who fills us in on his latest materials development projects and answers some theoretical questions from Kent Hill. Whether to use professionally developed materials or create them in-house is a consideration for many university English programs. Steve Gershon extends a metaphor to illustrate why and how his university chooses to develop materials in-house and to illustrate the process. Our final paper comes from Japanese authors, Kitamura Tatsuya, Tera Akemi, Okumura Manabu, and Kawamura Yoshiko, who describe a method for making Japanese reading materials using the Internet.

We thank everyone who helped to contribute to this issue. It has been a labor of love and we sincerely hope it bears fruit by motivating readers to get more involved in materials development, an area of language teaching still striving to reach its full potential.

Guest Editors: Kent Hill, James Swan, and Hagino Hiroko

Contributors' Biodata and Contact Info

After teaching English and teacher training in West Africa, Cyprus, Scotland, Iran, Singapore, and the Far East for nearly twenty years, Jane Willis now works at Aston University on their new modular Masters in TESOL/TESP by Distance Learning. She specialises in syllabus design, task-based learning, and lexical chunks. Her recent books include Challenge and Change in Language Teaching (with Dave Willis), and A Framework for Task-based Learning. She enjoys not only watching films, sailing, skiing and mountain walking, but also observing her grandchildren learning to talk and socialise. t: 0044121359 3611; f:0044 121 359 2725; j.r.willis@aston.ac.uk

Marc Helgesen is a Professor at Miyagi Gakuin Women's College, Sendai and has been active inJALT and in publishing for 18 years. He is an author of English Firsthand, Active Listening, Workplace English, and the Impact series and has been a featured speaker at JALT, Korea TESOL, and Thai TESOL. Despite extensive writing experience, he is still lousy at spelling and proofreading.

Brian Tomlinson is a Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore, and the Founder and President of MATSDA. He has worked as a teacher trainer, curriculum developer and university lecturer in Indonesia, Japan (at Kobe University), Nigeria, UK, Vanuatu, and Zambia, and has published numerous articles and books, including Discover English (with Rod Bolitho), Openings, Use Your English (with Masuhara Hitomi), and Materials Development in Language Teaching.

Department of English Language and Literature

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

National University of Singapore Block AS5 7 Arts Link

Singapore 117570.

f: (65)-773-2981; ellbjt@leonis.nus.edu.sg

Steven Gershon received his MA in Applied Linguistics from Reading University (UK) and has taught in the US, Britain, France, and China. He has been teaching in Japan for 13 years and is currently an Associate Professor at Obirin University and Director of Obirin's English Language Program. He is the coauthor of the listening course Sound Bytes and the course book series Online. t/f: 045-439-5686; sgershon@obirin.ac. jp



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