1. M A T E R I A L S A D A P T A T I O N … … …
Materials development…

2. Material Adaptation
 Materials adaptation means matching materials with
the learner’s needs, the teacher’s demands and
administration’s purpose. It is the process of altering
materials to improve or make them more suitable for
a particular type of learner or group of learners. To
maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in
context, some of the internal characteristics of a
course book need to be changed to suit particular
circumstances better.

3. The context of Adaptation…
 • ‘Adaptation’ and ‘Adoption’: ‘Adaptation’ is
essentially a process of ‘matching’. However,
‘Adoption’ means no further action needs to be taken
beyond that of presenting the material directly to the
learners. This process is subsequent to and
dependent on adoption. Adoption is concerned with
whole coursebooks whereas adaptation concerns the
parts that make up the whole. While designing
materials, some changes might be occurred at some
level in most teaching context.

4.  • External and Internal Factors: Like evaluation
procedure, external and internal factors can focus on
the process of adaptation. External factors comprise
the overt claims made about materials,
characteristics of particular teaching situations,
learner characteristics, physical environment,
resources, and class size. Internal factors consists of
choice of topics, skills covered, proficiency level,
Grading of exercises.

5.  ‘Congruence’ of Different Variables: Madsen and
Bowen refer to this matching as the principle of
‘congruence’: Effective adaptation is a matter of
achieving “congruence”…The good teacher is…
constantly striving for congruence among several
related variables: teaching materials, methodology,
students, course objectives, the target language and
its context, and the teacher’s own personality and
teaching style.

6.  • The Scope of Adaptation: Scope means to what
extent or specific areas we need to focus, for
example, practicing language, texts, skills,
management of classroom while adapting materials.
Necessary modification and main aspects of changes
are desirable in these areas.

7.  Sources of Materials: Sources refers to from where
we should adapt materials. Whether the materials
are commercially produced and widely used
internationally or they are designed at national level
by ministry of Education; or if the materials are
localized, produced by a team of teachers for a
particular area. These things need to be kept in mind
while adapting materials.

8.  Availability of Resources: If the materials are
available or not. Some teaching contexts are rich in
resources such as coursebooks, supplementary texts,
readers, computers, audio- visual equipment and
consumables such as paper, pen and so on. Other
context might be impoverished. While adapting
materials, availability of resources is important.

9. Reasons for Adaptation
 Unable to fulfill the goals and objectives specified by
national or local syllabuses
 fail to fulfill the goals and objectives of schools where
the materials are used
 cannot be finished in the time available
 require facilities or equipment or other supporting
materials that are not available
 not engaging the learners’ personality
 detrimental to the learners’ culture
 not cater for the learners’ interests

10.  McDonough and Shaw (1993:86) have listed some of
the possible areas of mismatch (‘Non- Congruence’)
identified by the teacher can be dealt with by
adaptation are given below:
 Lack of Grammar Coverage: Sometimes, in the
classroom, practices of difficult grammar points are
avoided particularly. Besides, unsystematic
presentation of grammar points appears while
focusing on communication.

11.  •Below Standard Comprehension Question:
Comprehension questions that are put into practice are
not up to the mark. That’s why; answers can be lifted
easily from the text with no real understanding.
 •Inauthentic Listening Passages: Listening passages
sound too much like- written materials are being read
out.
 •Inefficiency in Pronunciation: Teaching pronunciation
is not carried out in the classroom in an appropriate way
and the guidance that is provided on pronunciation is
inefficient.

12.  •Inappropriate Subject Matter: According to the level of learners’
level of learners’ age and intellect, the subject matter is
inappropriate.
 •Cultural unacceptance: Photographs and other illustrative
materials that are utilized in the classroom are culturally
unacceptable.
 •Amount of Materials: Because of time limitations, amount of
materials are not definite (too much or too little) that creates
mismatch with the allocation of lessons.
 •Untrained Teachers: Teachers are unable to handle group work or
role play activities with a large class.
 •Informal Dialogues: Dialogues are unlikely to be informal or
representative of everyday speech
 •Usage Difficulty of Audio Materials: Audio materials are difficult to
use in the class due to room size and technical equipment.

13.  •Rarity of Various activities: Activities that are
implemented in the classroom are all alike and there is
too much or too little variety in the application of
materials.
 All aspects of the language classroom can be covered by
the few examples above include:
 • Aspects of language use
 • Skills
 • Classroom organization
 • Supplementary materials