Systematizing Text Exploitation to Reduce the Burden of Materials Development

Introduction: In this chapter we are learning about several frameworks that can help us get the most use out of the texts we use in our classes and thereby reduce the burden of lesson planning and materials development when supplementing our coursebook with authentic texts. Complete the tasks below with your partners.

Task 1: What is there to be exploited?

Think about a typical spoken or written text and answer the questions below.

• Think about the term exploitation. It basically means taking advantage of everything the text has to offer. Do you think that most reading response tasks in standard commercial textbooks do this?

• Going beyond simple comprehension questions, what kinds of information could the text contain that would be of benefit to the language learning process?

Task 2: PDP-PWP, the Gold Standard for Textual Processing

For better or worse, Axbey's Pre-While-Post framework has become THE standard to follow for developing activities to help students process a listening or reading text. 

Consider the stages below and for each one say what you think the purpose is and state some example tasks.

• Pre: Before reading/listening to the text, students...because...
• During: While reading/listening to the text, students...because...
• Post: After reading/listening to the text, students...because...

CLICK HERE to see an outline of the stages and substages of Axbey's framework.

Why do you think this framework has the popularity that it does? What do you consider to be its strengths and challenges?

Task 3: Exploring the Text-Driven Approach

Brian Thomlinson's Text-Driven Approach provides a radically different approach to materials design. It uses texts as the primary building block of the syllabus. Although a full implementation of this approach is unfeasable to most of us because of curricular constraints in our schools, his framework can give us great ideas for developing a learning sequence around a single text. 

The charts below outline the steps in his framework, but before reading them, consider the unwritten Stage Zero!

• Stage 0 - Select interesting texts! Without the "wow" factor, there is no potential for engagement. 

• Stage 1 - Readiness Activities - Pre-listening/reading activities designed to establish a connection between the learner's own lives and the text.

• Stage 2 - Experiential Activities - Help the learner to make concrete connections with the text and are given to the learners before they listen or read the text.

• Stage 3 - Intake Response Activities -  Focus on getting learners to reflect on what the text means to them, 

• Stage 4 - Development Activities - Encourage learners to use the text as a stimuls for a productive language task related to their own lives.

• Stage 5 - Input Response Activities - Are of two kinds, awareness and interpretation, and are intended to involve learners with the language of the text or the author's purpose on a deeper level.

Stage 6 - Development Activity Extension - Cyclical Approach

Task 4 - Let's Try it Out

Click the link below and select an interesting text from the book. Then brainstorm potential ways to exploit the text systematically using Tomlinson's framework.

Textbook: CLICK HERE

Worksheet: CLICK HERE

Task 5 - Brainstorming Systematically with the Idea Grid

McGrath suggests a simple template to guide the text exploitation process. Consider the short text below and all of the ideas he proposed to exploit it for use in the language classroom.

Now go back to the Searching book and use McGrath's Ideas Grid to brainstorm additional tasks with the text you were already looking at or with a new text.

Task 6 - Tomlinson's Framework for Differentiation

Of course, we know that not all learners share the same strengths, abilities, or needs. It is necessary for teachers to provide differentiation with their materials and activities in order to better address everyone's learning needs.

CLICK HERE to access the group worksheet.