NILE | Materials Development for Language Education

This course is for all teachers who use materials or produce their own. These may be materials for your own classroom, for sharing with colleagues or even for publication. They may be print or digital. You will explore many aspects of effective materials development, from key principles to practicalities. You will look at materials evaluation, adaptation and creation, including key areas such as visual design, cognition and affect in materials, and making sure they are effective for your specific context, whatever area of language teaching that might be.

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" The tutor conducted this course masterfully. Very approachable and kind, always providing valuable and insightful feedback on our general discussions and individual work. The end-of-unit summaries she provided us with every week will be extremely helpful for keeping record of the most important points of the lessons. "
Helena, March 2023

Is this course for you?

Location: Online

Experience: Teachers at all levels

Language Level: B2 or higher

Course dates:
13 January - 19 March 2025
22 April - 25 June 2025
15 September - 19 November 2025

Certification:
NILE Certificate
Option for Trinity CertPT

Course Length: 8 weeks

Course fees:
Course fee: £545
Trinity CertPT qualification (optional): £325

Minimum age: 18

Max class size: 18

Tutor-led and highly interactive

Live and asynchronous eLearning platforms

Specialist ELT eLibrary

Accredited by AQUEDUTO

Course content

Principles of materials development

How language teaching material is used

Materials for specific contexts and cultures

Implications of second language acquisition research

Principled evaluation of materials

Principles and practice of materials adaptation

Affect, motivation and engagement in materials

Understanding and adjusting levels of challenge

Materials for teaching grammar and vocabulary

Materials for developing the four skills

Design, layout and illustration

Writing instructions and teacher’s notes

Please note: As well as the main text of the assignment, any learning materials written or evaluated in the optional final assignments need to be in English, unless by prior arrangement.

Download course description

" All of the different ways in which we learnt - it was really great to be able to participate and share ideas in different ways. "
Ella, December 2022

" The course is well organised, it covers a wide range of useful topics and the tutor is very well prepared "
Kevin, June 2023

Further Information

NILE Online courses are highly interactive and learning takes place through varied and engaging multimedia content and the collaboration between participants from different contexts. All participants work on the same unit in the same week but there is a high level of flexibility within that time period to help you fit studying around your life and work. The interaction, via forums and other collaborative tools built into the platform, helps and encourages you to share ideas, ask questions, explore concepts and build up a community.

You need a computer, a headset (with microphone) and an Internet connection. Much of the course can be done on a mobile device, but a computer is needed for certain activities and tasks.

Participants have access to NILE's extensive ELT e-library and an innovative social and cultural programme. All NILE Online courses include an element of professional language development, i.e. language related to course content and/or the classroom.

Meet a Course Tutor: Jason Skeet

Dr Jason Skeet - NILE

Jason’s work as a consultant and trainer for NILE focuses on CLIL and EME (English Medium Education). He has worked on a range of NILE projects in various countries, including Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Brazil. He also provides training in formative assessment and educational materials design. Recent work for NILE includes the British Council/NILE EME capacity building project in Uzbekistan. Between 2018 and 2023 he was the MAPDLE Programme Leader and remains a tutor on the programme.

Previously Jason worked at Utrecht University providing advice and training for bilingual schools throughout The Netherlands. He has also taught on the university's UTEACH Master's Programme for bilingual and international school teachers. Before that he worked for seven years as a teacher at a Dutch bilingual secondary school.