Essential reading

Graves, K. (ed) (1996) Teachers as Course Developers, CUP

Nation, I.S.P. & J. Macalister (2009) Language Curriculum Design, Routledge

North, B., Angelova, M., Jarosz, E. & Rossner, R. (2018) Language Course Planning, OUP

Nunan, D. (1988) Syllabus Design, CUP

Yalden, J. (1987) Principles of Course Design for Language Teachers, CUP

Recommended reading

Brumfit, C.J. (ed) (1984) General English Syllabus Design, Pergamon
Wide-ranging, includes major contributors, covers definitions, functions of syllabuses, terminology

Deller, S. (1990) Lessons from the Learner, Pilgrims Longman
One of Pilgrims’ humanistic teachers’ resource books. Generally useful for involving learners in creating lessons, but look especially at chapters 10 and 11

Dubin,F. & Olshtain, E. (1986) Course Design: Developing Programs and Materials for Language Learning, CUP
A practical if rather schematic book covering most aspects of course design

Graves, K. (2000) Designing Language Courses: a Guide for Teachers, Heinle
Similar in philosophy to her earlier book, but more extended and a little more difficult to use. Includes teacher investigations as tasks for the reader.

Richards, J.C. (1990) The Language Teaching Matrix,CUP
First two chapters offer a good concise overview of course design and methods

Richards, J.C. (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, CUP
A thorough rather schematic and theoretical treatment of the subject

Ur, P. (1991) A Course in Language Teaching, CUP
A solid and exhaustive introduction to teaching. Look especially at the section about open-ending in material design in Module 21

White,R. (1988) The ELT Curriculum. Oxford, Blackwell
Slightly maverick approach, very theoretical, good coverage of subject but his emphasis is on issues of management and innovation

Willis, D. (1990) The Lexical Syllabus. London: Collins
A book mainly describing and justifying the lexical approach as used in the Collins Cobuild Course. Offers a fascinating exploration of the lexical approach to grammar

Willis,D & Willis,J. (2007), Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford: OUP
See also the Willis website with articles and lesson plans on task-based learning and teaching

Internet material

A Child’s Guide to Languages at Cardiff University's website

CUP = Cambridge University Press; OUP = Oxford University Press