Decolonising ELT materials: Challenging Western supremacy and processes of othering, using the example of Africa
In this post, Lena Hertzel summarises her presentation at the MaWSIG showcase during the IATEFL conference in Harrogate in April. In her talk, Lena focused on the problematic representations of Africa in ELT coursebooks, and offered guidelines for materials writers to decolonise their materials. Postcolonial power structures and knowledge archives continue to shape our […]
Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach when using prescribed ELT materials
In this post, Susanna Schwab from the Bern University of Teacher Education, who trains pre-service primary school teachers to teach English as a foreign language, summarises the main points of her talk at the IATEFL (2023) MaWSIG Showcase in Harrogate. Her talk focused on how teachers use prescribed coursebooks in Switzerland. In this talk, […]
MaWSIG Showcase 2022: What I talk about when I talk about coursebooks
In this blog post, Julie Norton and Heather Buchanan (MaWSIG Coordinator) share a short video where they talk about the presentation they gave during the MaWSIG Showcase day at the IATEFL 2022 conference in Belfast. Julie Norton is a lecturer in Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the University of Leicester, UK and an ELT materials […]
Women in coursebooks now and then: how representation has changed (MaWSIG Showcase day 2022)
In this post, Elaine Hodgson writes about a study conducted by herself and Viviane Kirmeliene into the representation of women in coursebooks, presented at the 55th IATEFL Conference in Belfast (2022) as part of the MaWSIG Showcase day. When we consider our role as ELT educators, materials writers and editors in a world that is […]
So many Englishes webinar: Q&A
In this blog post, Karen Spiller follows up on some of the questions that were left unanswered in the Q&A section at the end of the recent joint TESOL Association MWIS and MaWSIG webinar: So many Englishes! What does this mean for writers and publishers? The webinar was co-presented by Karen Spiller and Sherrise Roehr […]