TSL 3111 Topic 4

Selection and Adaptation

Factors for Selection
Level
Content
Clarity
Accessibilit
y
Practicalit
y
Versatility
Cost
Effectivene
ss
Durability
Impact
Authentici
ty
Factors for Adaptation
The need to:


PERSONALISE
Personalising refer to increasing the relevance of content
in relation to learners interests and their academic,
educational or professional needs.
INDIVIDUALISE
Individualising will address the learning styles both of
individuals and of the members of a class working closely
together.
LOCALISE
Localising takes into account the international geography
of English language teaching and recognises that what
may work well in overseas may not do so in Malaysia.
Principles of Adaptation

Techniques are selected according to the aspect of the
materials that need alteration.
Content can be adapted using a range of techniques or a
single technique can be applied to different content
areas.
Adaptation can have both quantitative and qualitative
effects.
Techniques can be used individually or in combination
with others.
- We can change the amount of material or its methodological nature.
- Scale of possibilities clearly ranges from straightforward to rather complex.
- Reading passage can be grammatically simplifies or its subject matter modified, or it can be made
shorter or broken into smaller parts.
- Adding, deleting, modifying, simplifying and reordering.
Ideas for Adaptation
Choose some materials with which you are
familiar, or any others you would like to work with.
Decide on any features of the material you would
like to change because it is not entirely suitable
for your own teaching situation.
Referring as much as possible to the techniques
we have been discussing, draw up some
suggestions for how to adapt the materials to
achieve greater congruence.
If possible, discuss with other colleagues the
reasons for your decisions.
Adding
(expanding /
extending)
Deleting
(subtracting /
abridging)
Modifying
(rewriting /
restructuring)
Simplifying
Reordering
Materials are supplemented by putting more
into them.

We can add in this simple, quantitative way
by the technique of extending,
The materials contain practice in the
pronunciation of minimal pairs (bit/bet, hat/hate,
ship/chip) but not enough examples of the
difficulties for learners with a particular L1.
Chinese speakers may need more l/r practice,
Arabic speakers more p/b, Spanish speakers
more b/v and so on.
Material is taken out rather than
supplemented.

The following kinds of requirement, might
apply:

Our pronunciation exercises on minimal pairs
contain too much general material. Since our
students all have the same mother tongue and do
not make certain errors, many of the exercises
are inappropriate. Arabic speakers, for example,
will be unlikely to have much difficulty with the l/r
distinction.
It can be subdivided under two related
headings.
The first of these is rewriting, when some
of the linguistic content needs
modification;
The second is restructuring, which applies
to classroom management.
Rewriting
May relate activities more closely to learners'
own backgrounds and interests, introduce
models of authentic language, or set more
purposeful, problem-solving tasks where the
answers are not always known before the
teacher asks the question.

It is quite common for coursebooks to place
insufficient emphasis on listening
comprehension, and for teachers to feel that
more material is required.
For example, a story about an English
family with English names, living in an
English town, eating English food and
enjoying English hobbies can in fact be
modified quite easily by making a number
of straightforward surface changes.
Restructuring
It refers essentially to a 'modality change',
to a change in the nature or focus of an
exercise, or text or classroom activity.

For many teachers who are required to
follow a coursebook, changes in the
structuring of the class are sometimes the
only kind of adaptation possible.

Sometimes a written language explanation
designed to be read and studied can be
made more meaningful if it is turned into an
interactive exercise where all students
participate.

For instance, it is a straightforward manner to
ask learners to practice certain verb
structures in pairs (say the present perfect:
'Have you been to/done X?'; or a conditional:
'What would you do if . . . ?'), and it can be
made more authentic by inviting students to
refer to topics of direct interest to themselves

The technique of simplification is one type
of modification, namely a 'rewriting'
activity.

Many elements of a language course can
be simplified, including the instructions
and explanations that accompany
exercises and activities, and even the
visual layout of material so that it becomes
easier to see how different parts fit
together.
It is worth noting in passing that teachers
are sometimes on rather dangerous
ground, if a wish to 'simplify' grammar or
speech in the classroom leads to a
distortion of natural language.

For example, oversimplification of a
grammatical explanation can be misleadingly
one-sided or partial: to tell learners that
adverbs are always formed by adding'-ly'
does not help them when they come across
'friendly' or 'brotherly', nor does it explain why
,hardly, cannot be formed from 'hard'.
However, the main application of this
technique has been to texts, most often to
reading passages.

Thus, for instance, we can simplify
according to:
Sentence structure
Lexical content
Grammatical structures
Refers to the possibility of putting the parts of
a coursebook in a different order. This may
mean adjusting the sequence of presentation
within a unit, or taking units in a different
sequence from that originally intended.

Can include separating items of content from
each other as well as regrouping them and
putting them together.
Match or congruence
External criteria Internal criteria
Localize Personalize Individualize
Etc.
Techniques
Adding Deleting Modifying Simplifying Reordering
Content areas
Language
practice
Texts Skills
Classroom
management
Etc.
Framework for Adaptation
Need to
By means of
Applies to
Example 1 (Deleting)
Target Learner : Year 3
Topic : Pets World
Resources : Audio and Visual
Materials :
Video Song of My Dog Ben (LCD and
Speaker)
PPT slides with songs Lyric
Manila Card with songs Lyric

Video Song of My Dog Ben
(Original)
Video Song of My Dog Ben
(Adapted)
My Dog Ben (Original Lyrics)
I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best friend.
He is large, furry and very white
With brown patches on the both his
sides
He has big eyes, soft and round
His floppy ears are silky and brown
I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best friend.
Everyday he eats eggs and rice
But what he loves the most r
blueberry pies!
When I hear a happy loud groan I
know he has found a big fat bone
I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best friend.
He loves to sniff run and bark
Chasing white rabbits in the Park
He loves to swim and loves to surf
The beach is one of his favourite
turfs

I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best
friend.
He shakes his head and wag
his tail
When he sees the postman
drop the mail
He greets me with a kiss and a
hug
A jig, a dance and a roll on the
rug
I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best
friend.
He curls at my feet when we
sleep at night Sometimes we
cuddle and hug each other
tight I love my Ben, there can
be no other
We have fun together, best
friends forever
I have a dog; his name is Ben
He is my pet and my best
friend.
My Dog Ben (Adapted Lyrics)
Techniques : Deleting
I have a dog and his name is Ben;
Hes my pet and my best friend;
I have a dog and his name is Ben;
Hes my pet and my best friend;
Hes large, furry and very white;
With brown patches on both his
sides;
He has big eyes, soft and round;
His floppy ears are silky and brown;
I have a dog and his name is Ben;
Hes my pet and my best friend;
I have a dog and his name is Ben;
Hes my pet and my best friend;

Selection :
Suitable for the
target learner (age,
level of proficiency,
learners interest,
learners needs etc.)
Meaningful
Enhance learning
Authentic
Related with real-
world situation


Justification
Adaptation :
Adapt according to
learners
background (races,
cultures, level of
proficiency)
Time-saving
Prevent Boredom


Example 2 (Modifying-Rewriting)
Target Learner : Year 3
Topic : In the Sea
Resources : Audio and Visual
Materials :
Music of Im a Little Teapot (LCD and
Speaker)
PPT slides with songs Lyric
Printed copies of songs Lyric

I'm a little teapot
Short and stouts
Here is my handle
Here is my spout
When I get all steamed up
I just shout
Tip me over and pour me out
In the sea (Adapted lyric)
Technique : Modifying
(Rewriting)




Here is a turtle and a crab,
Here is a seahorse and a starfish,
Here is lobster, prawn, dolphin and shark
They all live in the blue sea.


Selection :
Suitable for the
target learner (age,
level of proficiency,
learners interest,
learners needs etc.)
Meaningful
Enhance learning
Activate learners
motivation
Justification
Adaptation :
Adapt according to
learners
background
(cultures, level of
proficiency)
Time-saving
Related to topics
Prevent Boredom


Example 3 (Adding & Deleting)
Target Learner : Year 4
Topic : Food
Resources : Visual
Materials :
Reading paragraph of Food is Our Fuel.
http://www.k12reader.com/reading-
comprehension/Gr2_Wk13_Food_is_Our_Fuel.pdf


Original paragraph
1
st
paragraph

Everything that is alive needs energy. All
animals get the energy they need from food.
People are animals. Think about the human
body as an amazing machine. It can do all
kinds of things for us. Food is the fuel that
helps keep the amazing machine running.

Red = deleting part

Adapted paragraph
1
st
paragraph

Everything that is alive needs energy. All
animals get the energy they need from
food. Think about the human body as an
amazing machine like a car that has to be
lled with petrol, living things have to eat
again and again. Food is the fuel that
helps keep the human body running.

Green = adding part
Example 4 (Simplifying)
A compound sentence contains two
independent clauses joined by a
coordinator. The coordinators are as
follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

Simplify techniques:
Using acronyms (FANBOYS)
Example 5 (Simplifying)
Original instruction:
Now in small groups, please talk about what
you read in the paragraph. Gather in groups
of four persons. Answer the questions at the
bottom of the page together. When you are
finished, youll report your answers to the
whole class.

Adapted:
Sit in the groups of 4, discuss what you had
read in the passage and answer the
questions below together. Present to your
class after you had finished.
Example 6 (Original text Year 4)
Some people think you need a kitchen to cook dinner. But you
can make easy, delicious meals outside over a campfire.

One easy campfire meal is a baked potato. You wrap the
potato in tin foil and put it under the flames in the hot ashes. After an
hour, the heat from the fire will cook the potato. Open up the tin foil
package and you have a baked potato!

It is also easy to roast food over a campfire. You can put hot
dogs or sausages on sticks and hold them in the fire. The flames will
cook the meat. For dessert, you can roast marshmallows on sticks.
Hold them near the fire until they turn golden and begin to melt. But do
not leave anything in the fire too long, or it will turn completely black
and taste like ashes.

There are many nice things about campfire meals. To make
these meals, you do not even need to know anything about cooking.
Some people also say that food tastes better when cooked and eaten
outside. But the best part of these campfire meals is there are no
dishes to wash afterwards.
Adapted text Reordering
Some people think you need a kitchen to cook dinner. But you
can make easy, delicious meals outside over a campfire.

There are many nice things about campfire meals. One easy
campfire meal is a baked potato. You wrap the potato in tin foil and put
it under the flames in the hot ashes. After an hour, the heat from the fire
will cook the potato. Open up the tin foil package and you have a baked
potato!

It is also easy to roast food over a campfire. You can put hot
dogs or sausages on sticks and hold them in the fire. The flames will
cook the meat. For dessert, you can roast marshmallows on sticks.
Hold them near the fire until they turn golden and begin to melt. But do
not leave anything in the fire too long, or it will turn completely black
and taste like ashes.

To make these meals, you do not even need to know anything
about cooking. Some people also say that food tastes better when
cooked and eaten outside. But the best part of these campfire meals is
there are no dishes to wash afterwards.
Example 7 (Restructuring)
Making short paragraph about the things
students want to do during the holidays.

Using the flannel board and let the students to
cut the pictures / texts from the magazines /
newspaper.
Students represent their ideas in groups.
Students write down their ideas into the short
paragraph.
Thank you