Coursebookbased teaching:

Adaptation
Ian McGrath. Chapter 4

Course and lesson

planning

Whats a course
A course is a planned series of
learning events
This definition distinguishes between
a one-off event and a number of
other events.
It suggests that the events will be
linked in some way
It draws attention to the planning
involved
It specifies that one of the intended

Coursebook-based
teaching

Teaching a book is different from basing

a course on a book
A book should not determine the totality
of learning experiences for those using
it, because books are written to be
relevant to as large number of students
(and learning contexts) as possible.
So no one book can be perfect for a
particular institution, or particular class
or particular individual.

Coursebook-based
teaching

So, at the selection stage and again

after the selection, teachers need to

think carefully about how the book
can contribute to the objectives of
their course.

Syllabus, examination,
course and book

Teachers sometimes can face noncompatibility

Hence, the importance of long-term

planning

Evaluation processes
in lesson planning

The first step of lesson planning is to

establish the objectives of the lesson (that

have to be consistent with the course
aims)
The objectives will be your GPS, telling you
where the lesson should be heading to.
If the lesson from the coursebook is not
fully achieving the learning objectives that
were set for that class, then you will have
to adapt the materials.

Evaluation processes
in lesson planning

When the lesson is to be based on a

coursebook, 4 evaluative processes
are involved:
1) Selection of coursebook material
that will be used unchanged.
2) Rejection complete (omiting a
whole activity or even a whole
lesson) or partial (cutting one or
more stages within an activity)

Evaluation processes
in lesson planning
3) Adding If you are extending or
expoiting the existing material, this
will be regarded as adaptation, If
you are introducing new materials,
this will be called supplementation.
4) Changing More radical forms of
adaptation, such as modifications to
procedure or changes in
context/content (replacement)

Evaluation processes
in lesson planning

Processes 3 and 4, adding and

changing, will normally have a

creative side as well as an evaluative
side.

Selection,
rejection and
design

Relevance
Once we have established appropriate

objectives for the lesson, we should have a

closer, more critical look at the materials.
We should be able to distinguish between
those materials which seem directly relevant
and can be used unchanged, and those that
are totally irrelevant, for example:
o Pronunciation practice on minimal pairs of
non-problematic contrasts or language
o Functions unlikely to be required by the Ss

Processes of selection, rejection and

design

A thought on rejection
and omission

The frequent rejection of activities or

omission of whole lessons can cause a

negative impression of the book in
students: If the book is so bad, why was
it selected?
So it makes sense to minimize the risk of
a reaction by explaining to learners why
one doesnt intend to spend class time on
these sections of the book, or by
involving the students in those decisions.

Adaptation

Defining adaptation
Madsen and Bowen (1978) claim that every

teacher is an adapter of the material he

uses. They mention supplementing, editing,
expanding, personalizing, simplifying,
modernizing, localizing, or modifying
cultural/situational content.
Ellis (1986) mentions retaining, rejecting,
reordering and modifying.
Tomlinson (1998) refers to reducing, adding,
omitting, modifying and supplementing

Activities
Read again the definitions of

adaptation. Discuss in teams the

different concepts associated with
adaptation and provide examples.
Discuss which ones do you think we
are going to cover in this course and
why do you think it would be
important to cover them.

Defining adaptation
In this chapter, 2 main categories of
adaptation will be discussed:
o Adaptation as addition
o Adaptation as change

Activities
Discuss in teams what do you think

are the purposes of adaptation. In

other words, in which circumstances it
would be a good idea to adapt the
coursebook?

The purpose of
adaptation
1) To make the material more suitable for
the circumstances in which it is being
used: more relevant to the needs and
interests of learners, the teachers own
capabilities or time constraints.
2) To compensate for any intrinsic
deficiencies in the material, such as
linguistic inaccuracies, out-or-dateness,
lack of authenticity or lack of variety.

Adaptation as
addition

Adaptation as addition
Adaptation shouldnt involve the
teacher in a lot of extra work.
The 3 forms of adaptation are:
1) Extemporization
2) Extension
3) Exploitation

Extemporozation
Is a spontaneous response on the part of
the teacher to a problem or an opportunity.
This can take such forms as:
o the substitution in a coursebook example
of the familiar for the unfamiliar,
o the paraphrase of a coursebook
instruction or explanation that has not
been understood,
o reference to previously taught items
(structures, vocabulary, phonemes,
functions) when teaching new items.

Extension
The teacher provides additional
material (further examples of a rule or
further items in an exercise) in order
to enhance understanding or learning.
The main difference between
extension and supplementation is that
extension means more of the same

Extension
Decide if the following situations are examples
of extension or supplementation:
You give your students an exercise from
another source.
The coursebook contains a short exercise to
practice a point which your students find
particularly difficult and you devise more
items of the same type as the original
exercise
You design an exercise and give them to
students so they can practice a topic covered.

Extension
When we extend an exercise we can
be fairly sure that we are staying true
to the design of the original material
and will be contributing to the goals
that underpin this material
When we supplement, especially
when we design our own material, we
have to be very careful our material is
consistent with the class learning
objective.

Exploitation
Is the creative use of what is already

there (text, visual, activity) to serve a

purpose which is additional to that
foreseen by the textbook writer.
For example, a textbook can include a
picture and a battery of questions to
develop comprehension skills and
linguistic resources, but a teacher might
use any of these for additional purposes.

Exploitation
For instance, the picture can be used to

predict content or activate vocabulary.

In addition, the topic of the picture can
provide the basis for discussion on
opinions or experiences.
And the questions might serve as
models for an interactive exercise in
which students have to ask each other
questions.

Exploitation
Teacher will provide some examples

in order to see the different ways a

visual aid or a text can be exploited.

Adaptation as
change

Adaptation as change
Cunningsworth and McGrath suggest

asking 4 questions when you are

considering adaptation:
1) What is the objective of the activity?
2) What does the exercise actually get the
learner to do?
3) What do I want the learner to do
4) How can I get the exercise to do what
I want it to do for the learner?

What things can we

change in a lesson?

The language: of explanations, examples,

texts, exercises an the language the Ss are

expected to produce
The contexts and content to which the
language relates
The procedures and classroom management:
who does what with whom an how this is
organized.
The structure: reorganization of activities or
steps to adapt to the students needs or to
make the order more logical.

Types of change
Localization: Recognizing the need for

contextual relevance.
Personalization: Increasing the
relevance of content in relation to
learners interests and their academic,
educational or professional needs. Using
learners lives and knowledge to devise
examples and activities.
Individualization: Addressing the
learning styles of individuals.

Types of change
Modernization: Changing any instances

of language usage that seem out of

date or the time-bound content of
material (prices of goods)
Simplification: Procedures designed to
make things easier or more accessible
to the learner, for example editing
texts to reduce linguistic or conceptual
difficulty, and modification of tasks.

Activity
Task 4.4 pg. 67
Task 4.6 pg. 68