Principles and Procedures

Regarding the main techniques that can be applied to content in order to bring about change, there are some points to keep in mind. Firstly, this can be seen as another kind of matching process where techniques are selected according to the aspect of the materials that need alteration. Secondly , content can be adapted using  a range of techniques; or conversely, a single technique can be applied to different content areas. Thirdly, adaptation can have both quantitative and qualitative effects. That is, we can simply change the amount of material, or we can change its methodological nature. Finally, techniques can be used individually or in combination with others, so the scale of possibilities clearly ranges from straightforward to rather complex. The techniques we use are as follows:

Adding, including expanding and extending

Deleting, including subtracting and abridging

Modifying, including re-writing and re-structuring

Simplifying

Re-ordering

1.Adding: It can be in two forms; namely , extending whereby we can add in a simple quantitative way, and expanding, which brings about a qualitative as well as a quantitative change.

2.Deleting or omitting: This is the same as addition, but it does not have a significant impact on the overall methodology. The changes are greater if material is not only subtracted , but also what we shall term abridged.

Addition and deletion often work together. Material may be taken out and then replaced with something else. Where the same kind of material is substituted, as for instance one set of minimal pairs for another, the internal balance of the lesson or the syllabus is not necessarily altered. The methodological change is greater when , for example, grammar practice is substituted after the omission of an inappropriate communicative function, or when a reading text is replaced by a listening passage.

3.Modifying: It can be applied to any aspect of 'content'. It can be subdivided under two related headings: re-writing, when some of the linguistic content needs modification; and re-structuring, which applies to classroom management.  Modifying materials ,then, even in the restricted sense is a technique that has a very wide range of applications. It refers essentially to a 'modality change' , to a change in the nature or focus of an exercise, or text, or classroom activity.

4. Simplifying: Many elements of a language course can be simplified, including  the instructions and explanations that accompany exercises and activities, and even the visual layout of material so that it becomes easier to see how different parts fit together. The main application of this technique has been to texts, most often to reading passages. For instance, we can simplify according to: sentence structure, lexical content ,and grammatical structures.

5.Re-ordering: It refers to the possibility of putting the parts of a course book in a different order. This may mean adjusting the sequence of presentation within a unit, or taking units in a different sequence from that originally intended. There are limits, of course, to the scale of what teachers can do, and too many changes could result , unhelpfully, in an almost complete re-working of a course book. 

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