Page 84 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
Scenario-based Assessment of Learning Experiences
after a Unit of learning
Scenario Title – Module ........., Unit .........
Nationality: .................................
Setting – a description of the context (e.g., in class or outside of class, online) ....................................................................
Scenario Goal – What were you working on and why? ................................................................................................................................................................. Scenario Narrative – Name two activities you did in class:
(if you cannot think of any ineffective activities because in your opinion everything was effective, then write about two effective ones and vice versa)
1) an effective learning opportunity (say why it was effective)
................................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................................... 2) an ineffective learning opportunity (say why it was ineffective) ................................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................................... Claims Analysis –Do you feel that the learning process was effective or ineffective? Explain why. ................................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................................
Creating evidence-based learning materials is a long-term process that includes research/enquiry, design, production, adaptation, use, and evaluation of materials (Tomlinson& Masuhara, 2017). All the processes mentioned above are important and should work together when creating learning materials to help learners acquire language (Tomlinson, 2012, p. 143). Learning materials are categorised as in design, designed, in action or in reflection. Materials in-design are content that is under development; designed materials are those that have been completed and are ready for use; in-action materials are those that are in use; and in-reflection materials are sources that have been demonstrated and users recall using them (Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2018). According to Tomlinson, all four types of materials can facilitate language learning. During the preliminary study mentioned above, we used pre-designed materials, which were prepared so that they could be adapted to a given educational context. Creating your own learning materials requires effort, a theoretical foundation, and practice in teaching. Not every teacher will choose to do this, but every teacher should be able to evaluate and adapt learning materials for a given group of learners, whether they come from published textbooks or are self- created. Stenhouse concludes that in order to improve educational programmes, teachers need to be involved not only in the development of the programme itself, but also in the evaluation and subsequent adaptation of teaching materials as they are used in the classroom in their educational context (Hammersley, 2004). Tomlinson (2012) suggests that a research-oriented framework (which is currently lacking in the literature) is needed so that more reliable results can be obtained as "evidence" that can be used in the development of teaching materials.
There are very few resources, especially empirical studies, available to teachers on systematic procedures for developing or adapting materials (Garton & Graves, 2014). There is also little published work on the use of action research to adapt and evaluate language/second language learning materials, and action research can be a useful approach to adapting and evaluating materials. Bundsgaard and Thomas (2011, p. 33) propose a three-stage method for conducting a comprehensive
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