From Passive Participant to Active Thinker a Learner-Centered Approach to Materials Development
by Jeff Villatoro
1. Localizing materials
1.1. One solution is to localize materials, which entails revising them so they relate more specifically to the culture and experience of the EFL students, who would otherwise not respond to materials that have no connection to their lives.
1.1.1. How to localize materials
1.1.2. Localizad materials or nationally produced materials?
2. Humanizing materials
2.1. According to Tomlinson (2003) humanizing materials means "adding activities which help to make the language learning process a more affective experience," and "finding ways of helping the learners to connect what is in the book to what is in their minds."
2.1.1. Utilizing multidisciplinary teams
2.1.2. Adopting a text-driven approach
2.1.3. Incorporating literature
2.1.4. Introducing informal discourse features
3. Employing critical thinking
3.1. For Marshall and Rowland (1998), critical thinking occurs when students question their own beliefs or what they are told. They also describe how critical thinking produces "joy, release, relief, and exhilaration as we break through to new ways of looking at our personal, work, and political worlds.
3.1.1. Techniques to promote critical thinking
4. Development learner autonomy
4.1. Leaner autonomy is defined as the ability to take charge of one's of learning.
4.1.1. Setting goals
4.1.2. Developing study plans
4.1.3. Reflecting on learning
4.1.4. Assessing one's own learning
4.1.5. Identifying and developing strategies to achieve such goals