Authenticity in Materials Development for Language Learning

This volume makes a unique contribution to the literature on materials development for language learning. It focuses on issues related to authenticity in materials development and includes research-based position statements, applications of theory to practice and developments of theory from observed practice. Each paper concentrates on a different aspect of authenticity and many of them introduce the reader to previously unexplored facets of authenticity. The chapters are sequenced so that the book moves from general discussion about the value of authenticity to reports of evaluations of authenticity to reports of the exploitation of authenticity in specific learning contexts. Many questions are raised, much revealing data is reported and analysed, and many pedagogic suggestions are made.The contributions here have been written so that they are of potential value to teachers, to materials developers, to post-graduate students and to researchers. They are written to be academically rigorous, but at the same time to be accessible to newcomers to the field and to experienced experts alike.

About the Author :
Alan Maley’s career in English Language Teaching began with The British Council in 1962, before he went on to become Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust in Cambridge (1988–93) and then Senior Fellow in the Department of English at the National University of Singapore, where he taught for 5 years. His last full-time post was as Dean of the Institute for English Language Education at, Assumption University, Thailand. He has since occupied a number of visiting professorial university posts at Leeds Metropolitan University, the University of Nottingham and the University of Durham, UK. He has published extensively and was series editor for the Oxford Resource Books for Teachers for over 20 years.Brian Tomlinson is Founder and President of MATSDA (the International Materials Development Association), an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, UK, a Chair Professor at the Shanghai International Studies University, China, and a TESOL Professor at Anaheim University, USA. He has over one hundred publications on materials development, the teaching of reading, language awareness and teacher development to his credit, including Discover English (with Rod Bolitho), Openings, Materials Development in Language Teaching, Developing Materials for Language Teaching, Research for Materials Development in Language Learning (with Hitomi Masuhara), Applied Linguistics and Materials Development and SLA Theory and Materials Development for Language Learning. His most recent publication is The Complete Guide to the Theory and Practice of Materials Development for Language Learning (with Hitomi Masuhara, 2017).