CHAPTER 2
WORKING ASSUMPTIONS, AND
THE MODULAR APPROACH
TO MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT
. . . one
One only, one thing that was firm, even no
Greater than a cricket's horn, no more than
A thought to be rehearsed all day, a speech
Of the self that must sustain itself on
Speech, one thing remaining, infallible,
Would be enough.
It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.
The preceding chapter was concerned with the foundations of language teaching and language learning in general. One of the special problems within that area is the preparation of suitable written or recorded materials, and that is the subject to which we shall now turn. Continuous involvement in materials development for seldom-taught languages for 20 years in over a dozen languages, and consultation with writers in dozens of others, has frequently raised doubts whether those of us who sustain ourselves on the speech of others can find even one thing infallible to satisfy our minds. Instead, we shall present here five working assumptions which have stood the test of time, and then outline an approach which seems to be consistent with them. The assumptions concern respectively 'Usability,' 'Organization,' 'Responsiveness,' 'Responsibility,' and 'Pluralism.' The approach to writing materials is 'modular.'
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