cm-chapter 8 and 9

Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching, The role and design
of instructional materials (pp. 251-285). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 8 – Materials

The role of materials in language teaching is explained in this chapter as well as their functions and types of material (authentic and created). Commercial textbooks as characterized in trends between past and current are discussed and how they are used along with their advantages and disadvantages. Evaluation of commercial textbooks plays in important role of further materials development. The chapter goes on to talk about adapting textbooks, preparing materials for a program, and managing materials writing as a project.
I found the authentic and created materials section interesting because we often create our own materials for teaching at our site. In creating materials we’ve often had to consider the readability levels of our students and the clarity of given directions. At times we find we have to refine our instructions. I personally found it beneficial to share my materials with a co-teacher before using them in my classroom. As Yup’ik teachers we’ve also have had to adapt materials to fit the needs of our students.
I think our Yugtun program should have an ongoing materials development evaluation for the sake of our students’ learning. And I believe our teachers should get training in materials development. It will help to have everyone on the same page of materials development, so to speak.

Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching, Approaches to
evaluation (pp. 286-309). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 9 – Evaluation

“How is everything going?” a question asked wherever we go. This chapter talks about evaluation of a curriculum in depth. Evaluation concerns the goals and objectives, the administration, and syllabus of a curriculum. Evaluation also is concerned with collecting information on different aspects, the learning of students being the utmost concern.
It was good to sit back and read about what it entails for an effective evaluation. I look back to some meetings we’ve had as staff members and now I think how unlearned and unaware I’d been about the different aspects for curriculum evaluation. In the back of my mind, I’m struck by how silent I’ve been about things of our curriculum, for example, the writing curriculum we have, that needs to be revisited. As a teacher I often talk about the high expectations that the tests ask of my third grade Yugtun students. In one of the tests, my students are expected to pass thirteen out of fifteen grammatical and/or structural errors in a given paragraph. And I often cringe when I think how inappropriate the test is for 8-10 year olds. In the test, you can only make three errors. I often think the test would probably be suitable for upper elementary Yugtun grades. I suppose I need to begin talking with other teachers who implement the same tests and sit down with them, including the bilingual department in the district office.
Question: I wonder if we have an evaluation committee at our district? And who is involved? Are there steps and timelines for evaluation of language programs? Are those evaluations different for primary, elementary, high school, and college or vocational centers different and handled differently?