Adapting Authentic Materials for Language Teaching

is just the opposite: the word manufacturing could be read as a modifier instead of a verbal with its object the word products. The simple addition of the indefinite article a eliminates the ambiguity.

Original: People expect a company to have certain social responsibilities. These responsibilities may include manufacturing products in a way that does not harm the environment.

Rewrite: These responsibilities may include manufacturing a product in a way that does not harm the environment.

Long noun phrases are especially common in business and bureaucratic writing. Because they may be difficult to understand, they frequently require adaptation, as in this example:

Original: We attended the employee benefits plan implementation meeting.

Rewrite: We attended the meeting about implementation of the employee benefits plan.

Discourse elements

Many features of English at the level of the paragraph梐nd beyond梞ake reading easier or harder for the language learner. These include the use of referents, headings, and redundancy and the need to add or subtract material.

Pro forms

Pro forms梥ingle words that replace or refer to longer constructions in a sentence梐nd their referents can present a variety of problems for the language learner. First, the pro form may be too far away from the phrase it replaces. There may be another intervening word that seems like the referent. In this example, England could easily be mistaken as the referent for the word it:

Original: By the beginning of World War II, Singapore had become England抯 main air and naval base in Asia. At the time of independence in 1965, it had a decaying infrastructure, a poorly educated population, and a loss of its old markets.

Rewrite: At the time of independence in 1965, Singapore had a decaying infrastructure, a poorly educated population, and a loss of its old markets.

The pro form may be unclear for other reasons. To what extent should you use the original referent, a paraphrase, or a pro form? Check this continuation of the example above:

Original: The new government played a very strong part in guiding the country抯 development. It did this by attracting foreign direct investment.

Rewrite: The government accomplished this by attracting foreign direct investment.

When you抮e adapting material, examine the pro forms very carefully, to make sure that their referents are clear. Sometimes it is best to repeat the original term:

Original: There are many theories about what motivates people. They include money, power, love, security, and freedom.

Rewrite: There are many theories about what motivates people. People may be motivated by money, power, love, security, and freedom.

Redundancy

Redundancy is an integral part of language. If we define redundancy as information that is made available more than one time or in more than one place, you can immediately understand the importance of redundancy in language teaching materials.

The question then becomes: Where should I add redundancy and how? Let抯 examine the how first. Here are three useful ways of adding redundancy to the text: (1) examples, (2) visuals, and (3) restatement or paraphrase. As for the where, I suggest adding redundancy in two situations: (1) for important words and concepts, and (2) for difficult words and concepts. Did you notice the redundancy in the previous two sentences?

Emphasis

In reading a long passage梐 page or more梕ven the native speaker has to decide which words and concepts are important and which are not. The challenge is much harder for the language learner. For this reason, it抯 sometimes worth indicating which material may be the most important in a passage. There are numerous ways of emphasizing information in written text, and you don抰 want to use too many forms of emphasis in the same place. Here抯 a short list:

?#9;semantic: headings, lists, paraphrase, parallelism, footnotes

?#9;type: caps, italics, boldface, change of type

?i> visuals: diagrams, tables, lists, drawings, photos

?#9;itemizers: bullets, numbers, letters, typographic marks

?#9;hue: white space, shading, colors

Implicitness

Certain things that are implicit in the original material may need to be made explicit for the language learner. One of the most important is the relationship expressed in transition words, such as however, because, and after that, which are sometimes omitted.

Original: In Japanese companies, far more levels are involved in decision making than in U.S. companies. A middle manager may write a report that suggests a course of action. The report is then sent up through the hierarchy, and senior managers give their opinion on it. At the sho

《Adapting Authentic Materials for Language Teaching》