Brian Tomlinson (editor) - Research for Materials Development in Language Learning: Evidence for Best Practice

Also available from Bloomsbury

Developing Materials for Language Teaching, Brian Tomlinson

Language Acquisition and Development, Brian Tomlinson

English Language Learning Materials, Brian Tomlinson

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

Irma-Kaarina Ghosn

Wendy Arnold

Ben Fenton-Smith

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

Jonathan Mason

Carlos Rico Troncoso

Soufiane Trabelsi

Rubena St. Louis

Saleh Al-Busaidi and Kate Tindle

Hitomi Masuhara and Brian Tomlinson

Hae-ok Park

Naeema Hann

Brian Cullen

Simon Pryor

Liliana Gottheim

Christopher Stillwell, Brian McMillan, Hamish Gillies and Tara Waller

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

Christopher Stillwell, Andrew Kidd, Kamsin Alexander, Tara McIlroy, Jennie Roloff and Paul Stone

Qu Jiangqiong and Tan Bee Tin

Jayakaran Mukundan

Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa

Tim Ashwell

Jayakaran Mukundan and Touran Ahour

Freda Mishan

Peter Watkins

Marie McCullagh

Hitomi Masuhara and Brian Tomlinson

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

Hitomi Masuhara and Brian Tomlinson

Figures

Tables

Touran Ahour Universiti Putra Malaysia

Saleh Al-Busaidi Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat

Wendy Arnold Coordinator of IATEFL Young Learners SIG

Tim Ashwell Komazawa University, Tokyo

Brian Cullen Nagoya Institute of Technology

Ben Fenton-Smith Griffith University, Australia

Irma-Kaarina Ghosn Lebanese American University, Byblos

Hamish Gillies Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Liliana Gottheim Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil

Naeema Hann Leeds Metropolitan University

Kamsin Alexander Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Andrew Kidd Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Tara McIlroy Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Jonathan Mason University of Sousse, Tunisia

Hitomi Masuhara Leeds Metropolitan University and Azad University, Oxford

Marie McCullagh University of Portsmouth

Brian McMillan Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Freda Mishan University of Limerick

Jayakaran Mukundan Universiti Putra Malaysia

Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Hae-ok Park International Graduate School of English, Seoul

Simon Pryor Proto Eikaiwa, Japan

Jennie Roloff Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Qu Jiangqiong University of Auckland

Rubena St. Louis Universidad Simn Bolvar, Venezuela

Christopher Stillwell Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Paul Stone Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Tan Bee Tin University of Auckland

Kate Tindle Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat

Brian Tomlinson Leeds Metropolitan University and Azad University, Oxford

Soufiane Trabelsi Leeds Metropolitan University

Carlos Rico Troncoso Leeds Metropolitan University

Tara Waller Zayed University, UEA

Peter Watkins University of Portsmouth

It has been noted by many observers (e.g. Chapelle, 2008) that there have been very few publications on research for materials development in language teaching. This has probably been because of the inevitable difficulty of isolating variables when attempting to attribute the effects of learning to the materials used and because, until recently, materials development was not considered a sufficiently academic field for research by universities and research funding councils. However now things are changing and this volume reports the results of 23 research projects conducted in 14 different countries. Most of the research projects reported are case studies of materials development in action and none of them are large, longitudinal, funded projects. This means that, while the research is systematic and rigorous, it is rarely conclusive. It is, however, indicative of a number of informative tendencies in the way that materials are developed, used and evaluated, and it provides valuable indications of the types of materials which are the most effective in facilitating language acquisition and development.

The research reports have been grouped into sections in which the chapters share objectives. At the end of each section we provide our comments on the issues which emerge from the research reported and at the end of the book we summarize what we think are the main conclusions to be drawn from the research results reported in the chapters both for second language acquisition theory and for materials development. We also discuss the applications of the findings and suggest research projects which could further increase our knowledge of the effects of different kinds of language learning materials on language acquisition and development.

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara

In a plenary paper Chapelle (2008) pointed out how surprisingly little research has been published on materials evaluation. The same point could be made about the development and use of materials. If you look at the main literature on materials development in recent years (e.g. Fenner and Newby, 2000; McDonough and Shaw, 2003; McGrath, 2002; Renandya, 2003; Richards, 2001; Tomlinson, 1998a, 2003a, 2008a) you will find scholarship and theory but not very much empirical investigation. If you look at major books on language acquisition and on classroom research (e.g. Allwright and Bailey, 1991; Bailey and Nunan, 1996; Doughty and Long, 2003; Ellis, 1994, 2008; Hinkel, 2005; Lantolf, 2000; Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991; van Lier, 1988), you will find a lot of empirical investigation of the factors which facilitate language acquisition but very little reference to the role that materials play in the process. The reasons for this seem fairly obvious. Empirical investigation of the effects of materials on language acquisition requires longitudinal research involving considerable investments of time and money. It also requires a careful control of variables which would be quite easy in controlled experiments investigating such immediate phenomenon as repair but very difficult to achieve in classroom research investigating long-term and durable effects on language acquisition and development (Tomlinson, 2007b). How, for example, can you claim that it was a particular textbook which was responsible for a measured long-term outcome and not the quality of the teaching, the rapport between teacher and class or the exposure to the target language the students gained outside the textbook? Such research is possible but very demanding and could best be achieved by long-term collaboration between publishers and universities. Publishers do, of course, conduct research into the effects of their materials on their users but, for good reasons, such research is confidential and rarely published.