In this unit, my class was directed to choose a chapter to read from the book Developing materials for language teaching. I chose the chapter called “Materials for teaching vocabulary”, which was written by Paul Nation (2014). I chose to read this chapter because my lesson plan for Assignment #3 involves teaching vocabulary to newcomers who are adult ESL literacy learners. This chapter discusses the following three points: 1) how the incorporation of vocabulary into teaching and materials development should be planned rather than opportunistic; 2) that vocabulary materials development should facilitate the creation of conditions that are conducive to enhanced language learning; and 3) that these learning conditions need to occur in activities that encompass the four strand-specific competencies. The strand-specific competencies include learning from meaning-focused input, learning from meaning-focused output, deliberate language-focused learning, and fluency development.

One of the concepts that I found interesting was the argument that the incorporation of vocabulary into teaching and materials development should be planned rather than opportunistic. Nation (2014) explains that good vocabulary materials design involves activities that support the conditions that are conducive to enhanced language learning, which are defined as noticing, retrieving, and elaborating. As such, vocabulary materials should draw the learners’ attention to language features, recall and reuse previously learned vocabulary and language, and connect previously learned vocabulary and language to current receptive and performative learning activities. These activities should include a focus on form, meaning, and use, as well as language items and systems, group work, and gap filling. The author argues that planned materials help ensure that vocabulary is available for fluent use. This is an important consideration since it provides purpose and reinforcement for vocabulary learning (Nation, 2014).

This concept interested me because it contrasted what I have read about materials development for adult ESL literacy language learners upon first glance. While ESL literacy teaching requires a lot of planning and sequencing activities to build language skills and learning strategies, it also requires flexibility so that substitute and/or modified activities can be provided to increase the difficulty level or mitigate challenges that emerge. Flexibility is also important when learners voice their interests and needs so that teachers can use these instances as learning opportunities and adapt their lesson plans. This cannot happen if they are too constrained by the structure of their lesson plans. As such, it was unclear to me how teachers were supposed to plan and structure their lessons while still remaining flexible and open to teachable experiences.

Upon considering this thought, I realized that the choices were not mutually exclusive—lesson plans and materials can be both structured and flexible. For example. teachers involved in vocabulary materials design structured activities and materials that develop and practice using skills but leave options for scaffolding as learners progress through units. Teachers can also use the same types of activities with different vocabulary, units, and themes.

In my own teaching, I want to ensure that the vocabulary materials that I include in my teaching are helpful for my learners. I can do this by using vocabulary that are practical and meaningful for them and consider their appropriateness for my learners’ language capabilities. Sometimes it is difficult to brainstorm effective vocabulary lists that provide enough language and substance that they can be used for communicative purposes, especially at the CLB Foundation Literacy level. Doing so requires building basic language skills and learning strategies, as mentioned above. I explored this issue as part of my evaluation and adapting materials assignments for this class. Searching for adaptable materials proved to be difficult as even lower level ESL materials were too complex and often did not draw attention to the areas necessary for the CLB Foundation Literacy level.

References

Nation, P. (2014). Materials for teaching vocabulary. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed., pp. 351-364). London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic.