(a) Compare and contrast McDonough and Shaw, Maley and Tomlinson and Masuhara adaptation techniques. Are there any differences or are they similar?
Masuhara & Tomlinson
•Addition
Plus Category
•Expansion •Deletion •Subtraction •Reduction •Modification •Replacement •Reorganization •Resequencing •Conversion
Minus Category
Zero Category
Maley
Mc Donough & Shaw
•Addition •Extension •Omission •Reduction •Replacement •Re-Ordering •Branching •Modification
Similarities Addition:The explanations for this criterion from the authors are quite similar. -Teacher’s may add different text and or/ activities.(Masuhara & Tomlinson,2004)
•Extending •Expanding •Deleting •Simplify •Reordering •Modifying
Differences There were several criteria that differ in terms of the explanation and it is absent in any two of the adaptation techniques. For example :
Branching Teacher may decide to add options on existing activity or alternative pathways through the activities. (For example, an experiential route or analytical route) (Maley, 1998)
Re-organization Teachers may change the positions of the text and illustration. (Tomlinson & Masuhara,2004)
- Where there seems to be inadequate coverage, teachers may decide to add to textbook, either in the form of texts or material . (Maley, 1998) - Add in Quantitative way. Supply more of the same .(McDonough & Shaw)
Expansion/Extension/Expanding
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Teachers may expand text and activities by increasing length, difficulty, depth and etc. (Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) An activity is lengthened in order to give it an additional dimension. For example, a vocabulary activity is extended to draw some syntactic patterning. (Maley, 1998) Not just extensions of existing content but bring about qualitative and quantitative change (McDonough& Shaw)
Deletion/Omission/Deleting Teachers may delete some texts and/or activities altogether. (Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) Teacher leaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive, unproductive, etc. for the particular group. (Maley, 1998) Subtracting the length of the material. Does not have a significant impact on methodology. (Mc Donough &Shaw)
Reduction -Teachers may reduce texts and activities by decreasing the length, difficulty, depth and etc. (Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) -Teacher shortens an activity to give it less emphasis or weight. (Maley ,1998)
Modification/ Simplify Teachers may make changes to instructions. (Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) One type of modification especially re-writing and it applies mainly to texts. It is simplified according to sentence structure, lexical content, and grammatical structure. (Mc Donough &Shaw)
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Abridging The material is reduced but with impact on methodology. (McDonough &Shaw)
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Replacement Teachers may swap one activity to another.(Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) Text or exercise material which is considered inadequate, for whatever reason, may be replaced by more suitable material. This is often culled from other resource material. (Maley, 1998) Re-sequencing/Re-ordering Teachers may change the sequence of the activities .(Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) Re ordering is all about adjusting the sequence of presentation within unit/taking units in a different sequence from originally intended.(Maley, 1998) Teachers may decide that the order in which the textbooks are presented is not suitable for their students. Then, they can decide to plot a different course through the textbooks from the one the writer has laid down. (McDonough & Shaw) Conversion/Modifying Teachers may change the genre of the text, or move the content from one medium to another .(Masuhara & Tomlinson, 2004) According to McDonough & Shaw , modifying is internal change in the approach or focus of an exercise. There are two types of modifications which were re-writing and restructuring. I. (Modifying Re-writing linguistic content) II. Re-structuring (Modifying classroom management) Teacher may occasionally think to re-write the material, especially
exercise material, to make it more appropriate,more ``communicative’’ more demanding, more accessible to their students and etc. (Maley, 1998)
As a conclusion, based on McDonough & Shaw, Maley (1998) and Tomlinson & Masuhara (2004) adaptation techniques, we find that they share quite a lot of similarities in terms of the characteristics for the explanation of the techniques. Even though, the term varies, but it still brings the same concept. However, there are few differences as can be seen from the table.
(b) Compare and contrast McDonough and Shaw with Tomlinson and Masu hara’s materials adaptation procedures. Are there are differences or are they similar?
McDonough & Shaw (1993)
• Localize • Personalize • Individualize • Modernize
Tomlinson & Masuhara (2004)
• Profiling of teaching context • Identifying reasons for adapting • Evaluating • Listing objectives • Adapting • Teaching • Revising
Similarities
Differences
Personalizing (McDonough & Shaw)
Evaluating
Identifying reasons
Individualizing (McDonough & Shaw)
Teaching (Tomlinson & Masuhara)
Localizing (McDonough & Shaw)
Adapting (Tomlinson & Masuhara)
Modernizing (McDonough & Shaw)
Revising (Tomlinson & Masuhara)
Profiling context
of
teaching
(Tomlinson & Masuhara)
Listing objectives
Sorting the adaptation procedures, we found that some procedures are similar in terms of their use and description. However, the terms used for each procedure is differed. For example, the step ‘personalize’ is proposed by McDonough and Shaw, whereas Tomlinson and Masuhara listing out evaluating and identifying reasons as the procedures. We think that they fall into the same concept where McDonough states the term “personalize” here means ‘to increase the relevance of content in relation to learners’ interests and their academic, educational or professional needs.’
To our understanding, evaluating and identifying reasons can also be in the same concept and to be put under the same title. Identifying cannot be proceeded without evaluating. Tomlinson (2003) proposed that evaluating is “to work out the objectives and procedures of pre, whilst and post-use evaluation.” Therefore, when one is trying to identifying, he/she must first evaluate. Next, the term ‘individualize', as proposed by McDonough & Shaw (1993) refers to “the learning styles of both individuals and of the members of a class working closely together.” Our group prefers to see teaching as similar to that term as a certain material would be considered to have teach-ability is the one that can help the learners to learn language in various situations. While Tomlinson & Masuhara suggests that revising is necessary in order to adapt materials, McDonough stated that modernizing is ‘making sure that the materials show familiarity with aspects of current English usage to the point of being up to date, not misleading and also correct’ which means a material should not be out -of-date as it could be misleading and also incorrect to this recent context. In order to modernize a certain material in order for it to go through an adaptation, a teacher should be revising the materials first. Therefore, we include both of these terms as a similar procedure since modernizing begins with revising, and next detecting the out of date information.
(c) List and discuss the levels of materials adaptation.
First level Macro adaptation
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Done before language programme begins. Compare what is covered in textbook /required by the syllabus or examination. Teachers determine which part of the book can be omitted. Identify which contents need to be supplemented. Helps avoid waste of time & energy (teacher & students) Help teacher to see in advance what needs to supplement for the materials.
Second level Adapting a unit
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(Reordering, combining, omitting) activities. Rewriting/supplementing exercise material, etc. Adaptation helps to make classroom teaching more smooth & cohesive, and enable teacher to fulfill the aims of a unit.
Third level Adaptation of specific activities in
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An activity is viewed as valuable. However, it is not well-designed/ feasible in a particular class. Teacher needs to do adaptation if they still want to continue carry out the activity.
a unit
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Adaptation involves supplementation where here teacher can add materials from other sources. Authentic material is a better supplementation as it will give an ease to adapt the textbook as not all of those materials are readily to hand.
(d) Without going in-depth into your 2 nd part of your assignment (adapt and create), discuss in general what level of materials adaptation you will be using (it can be all three levels but used at different areas in the materials) and techniques you will employ to enrich the chapter you have evaluated. Briefly state the types of tasks which will accompany the current material. Please mention if there are media accompaniment with that task Materials adaptation is essential for teacher as it allows the teachers to achieve more compatibility and fitness between the textbook and the teaching environment, and maximise the value of the book for the benefit of their particular learners and for the most effective teaching outcomes to achieve. Based on Malaysian English Language Form 2 Textbook, there are few adaptations to be made in order to maximise the value of the text book for intermediate students. The teachers have to be aware of the levels of the materials adaptation before proceed to the task. The flowchart below describes the levels of materials adaptation.
Level 1: Macro adaptation •
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Compare what is required for the syllabus or examination, and eliminate some elements needed to besupplemented Very important to avoid waste of time and energy for both teacher and students. Needs to supplement so that he or she can keep an eye on materials that could be used. For example, we choose to eliminate one topic from the Malaysian English Language Form 2 Textbook which is entitled 'Give Us Space to Run and Play'.
Level 2 : Adapting a Unit
Reordering,combining,omitting activities, rewriting or supplementing exercise material and etc. Helps to make the classroom teaching more smooth and cohesive. Helps the teacher to better fulfill the aims of a unit For example, we plan to choose ‘Looking Good Feeling Great’ theme, and we plan to modify the activity on page 122 which focuses on writing skill- write instructions using sentence connectors The teacher can use realia to teach – slices of cucumber, cotton wool, cold water, small container
Level 3 : Adaptation of specific activities in a unit
An activity is regarded as valuable, but it is not well-designed or it is feasible in a particular class. If the teacher does not want to give up the activity, he or she needs to adapt it. For example, we plan to use realia for this activity while giving instruction using sentence connectors to create a more meaningful way of conveying the lesson. ~ The teacher calls up a student to take part in demonstration while other students watch the teachers action and note down the point on a note book. Later, the students will be asked to write down a short passage regarding the process.
