Material production for UPT Pusat Bahasa ITB

Nowadays, there is a plethora of ELT textbooks on the market. There are books aimed at all sorts of learners, from school pupils to engineers. However the cry still can be heard from staff rooms about the unsuitability of some textbooks, and teachers bemoan the fact that they spend a lot of time compiling and adapting materials.
There is nothing wrong in compiling and adapting textbooks. As part of the teacher – development process, material adaptation and compilation should be encouraged. With a little effort and the use of personal computers, the process of producing professional looking, customized teaching materials is now with in the capacity of many English teachers.
Block (1991) gives teachers three good reasons for preparing their own materials:
1. Their material might have the local context to allow learners to focus on language-use rather than battling strange contexts;
2. Materials produces in-house can be easily updated;
3. Students appreciate the personal touch of their teacher in materials produced specially for them

This short paper describes, through my own experience at UPT Pusat Bahasa ITB, how in house materials can become a good looking, professional, customized textbook.
Situation
The UPT Pusat Bahasa ITB services the ITB students and public. The courses offered are;
Academic writing
Textbook reading
Seminar presentation
Conversation
IELTS preparation
TOEFL preparation class
Executive English
Tailor-made courses

The students taking those classes range in proficiency from beginner, low-intermediate to low advanced. One need is the reading skill—especially the ability to read lengthy articles from journals, textbooks (in their subject areas) and professional magazines. Note taking and ability to take part in discussions are also skills these students need to develop. But since there was no appropriate existing book, we decided to compile materials suitable to our students’ specific needs.
Process
The task of producing the compile textbook was divided among several persons, and the process we went through can be summarized as follows:
Stage 1: Identify the problem we have in using the existing materials and determine what we think would be useful for our students.
Stage 2: Set up a meeting with teachers, especially who are interested in materials writing and brainstorm the possible types of materials we could produce. Consider both the students’ needs, and the demands of the project:
• How much time is available?
• Do we have a computer to work on the project?
• How will the workload be divided?
• Can we involve the students in helping you collect materials?

By the end of this meeting usually we have a good idea of what we are going to try to produce and the time-frame within which we will work.
Stage 3: Once we have a clear idea of what we want to produce, we divide up the workload. Each teacher should be responsible for producing a number of units, and one person should serve as editor to coordinate the materials.
Stage 4: After the teachers have produced draft materials, arrange another meeting to start mapping out what the book will look like.
Stage 5: The teachers should have a deadline for producing their materials, and several additional meetings should be arranged by the editor to monitor progress.
Stage 6: As the material is being produced, one person has to be responsible for page-setting and formatting the units. This requires the use of a computer. Usually we are helped by one of the admin staff in using one of the desktop publishing software packages such as Microsoft window, Pagemaker or Ventura. In doing page setting, we do not aim too high in the design of the layout. Simple, clear page layouts are less time-consuming to produce and easier for the students to follow.
Stage 7: Once the material is starting to take shape, we pilot it with some of our students. Pilot the material in stages so that we can include ideas from the students in later units.
Stage 8: The editor arrange another meeting to review and revise the material. We decide what worked well and what did not and make the appropriate changes.
Stage 9: The editor collect all the revised material and organize it according to the way it will be presented in the book. A final meeting was held to proofread all the material. This is best done usually by people who have not written the material. They should read the material carefully and try doing the exercises to see if there are any flaws.
Stage 10: A cover then has to be designed and a contents page, introduction and acknowledgments section written. The cover include the book’s title, the names of the authors, and a suitable graphic; the contents page lists the units in the book; the introduction briefly describes the nature of the text; and the acknowledgments page mentions everyone, apart from the compilers, who helped produce the book. The material is then either photocopied or sent to printers for reproduction, collating, and binding.
Conclusion
In our situation, six people were involved in the production: an editor, three teachers, and a typist. In other situations, fewer people may be needed, but it is essential to have someone perform the following functions:
Organizing and monitoring the materials writing process;
Editing the text;
Type setting the pages using word processors and desktop publishing;
Proofreading the final copy prior to reproduction.
The advantages of producing and compiling our own materials were numerous mainly because the teachers knew for whom they were writing and how the materials would compliment the students. Through producing our own materials, we became aware of our teaching methodology.

By using the process of needs analysis, syllabus design, feedback, evaluation, and adjustment, we created suitable materials for our learners.


References:
Block, D. 1991. Some thought on DIY materials design. ELT Journal, 45, 3, pp 211
Breen, M.P. and C.N. Candlin. 1987. Which materials? A consumer’s and designer’s guide. In ELT textbook and materials: Problems in evaluation and development, ed. L.E. Sheldon. London: British Council. ELT Document 126 .