CONSIDERATIONS IN COURSEBOOK CREATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CORPUS-ASSISTED SELF-STUDY
Main Article Content
Abstract
In EFL classrooms, materials have been influential in facilitating effective student learning. When given the opportunity to create an in-house coursebook on English for online content creation, I conducted this self-study as the first author and sole participant to examine my considerations and professional development throughout the materials writing process. The second researcher collaborated as a critical friend who provided feedback on the materials and consultations during data analysis. While developing a coursebook unit, I wrote 14 diary entries to record my reflection. Afterwards, the Diary corpus was constructed and the keyword analysis was applied. The analysis yielded 19 keywords, with “content”, “students”, and “reading” as the top three, representing the aboutness of my considerations. Then the qualitative analysis was applied for deeper insights. The findings revealed six major aspects of my considerations such as students’ proficiency and world knowledge, text selection and adaptation, and coursebook practicality. Four areas of professional development were identified; for example, developing materials helped a teacher “learn to apply language teaching principles more critically.” This study illustrates a methodological design combining a corpus-assisted keyword analysis with a self-study approach. Its findings offer an understanding of in-house materials writing as situated professional development for EFL teachers.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Announcement of the Ministry of Education: Thai qualifications framework for higher education B.E. 2552. (2009, 31 August). Royal Thai Government Gazette. Vol. 126, Special part 125d. p. 19. (in Thai)
Angus-Cole, K. (2021). Education brief: Teacher professional development. Cambridge International Education. https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/621009-teacher-professional-development-factsheet.pdf
Asaoka, C., Miura, D., & Okubo, T. (2020). Forming a collaborative community of practice of EFL teachers through self-study research. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(9), 3799-3806. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080902
Atkinson, D. (2024). Reconciling opposites to reach compromise during ELT textbook development. Language Teaching Research, 28(5), 1976-1996. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211040201
Atkinson, D., & Corbitt, S. (2024). Exploring the principles applied during the production of an open writing textbook. RELC Journal, 55(3), 673-687. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882231183462
Bergstrom, D., Norberg, C., & Nordlund, M. (2023). “The text comes first”: Principles guiding EFL materials developers’ vocabulary content decisions. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 67(1), 154-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2021.1990122
Bouckaert, M. (2017). Teachers’ development of critically reflective practice through the creation of classroom materials [Doctoral thesis, University of Roehampton]. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/teachers-development-of-critically-reflective-practice-through-th/
Bouckaert, M. (2019). Current perspectives on teachers as materials developers: Why, what, and how? RELC Journal, 50(3), 439-456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688218810549
Brezina, V. (2018). Statistics in corpus linguistics: A practical guide. Cambridge University Press.
Brezina, V., Hawtin, A., & Platt, W. (2021). The Written British National Corpus 2014 – design and comparability. Text & Talk, 41(5-6), 595-615. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2020-0052
Brezina, V., & Platt, W. (2025) #LancsBox X [software]. Lancaster University. http://lancsbox.lancs.ac.uk
Carabantes, L., & Paran, A. (2022). ‘It may also be our own fault to think so, to limit them before even trying’: Assuming learner limitations during materials design in English language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 56(4), 1266-1289. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3102
Cassandra, N. W., Hamied, F. A., Muslim, A. B., & Gandana, I. (2026). Enacting dialogic pedagogy in an EFL online classroom: A self-study. Studying Teacher Education, 22(1), 46-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 17425964.2024.2433788
Desimone, L. M. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational Researcher, 38(3), 181-199. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X08331140
Dou, A. Q., Chan, S. H., & Win, M. T. (2023). Changing visions in ESP development and teaching: Past, present, and future vistas. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1140659
Doubet, K. (2020). Weaving English-language learner instruction into a differentiation curriculum: Building competence and confidence. In C. Edge, A. Cameron-Standerford, & B. Bergh (Eds.), Textiles and tapestries: Self-study for envisioning new ways of knowing (pp. 551-561). EdTech Books.
Ellis, R. (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. System, 33, 209-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.12.006
Garin, E., & Harper, M. (2016). A self-study investigation of using inquiry groups in a professional development school context. School-University Partnerships, 9(1), 54-63.
Gilmore, A. (2019). Materials and authenticity in language teaching. In S. Walsh & S. Mann (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English language teacher education (pp. 299-318). Routledge.
Gonzalez Smith, M. (2019). A video-mediated critical friendship reflection framework for ESL teacher education. TESL-EJ, 23(1), 1–18. https://www.tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej89/a7.pdf
Graves, K., & Garton, S. (2019). Materials use and development. In S. Walsh & S. Mann (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English language teacher education (pp. 417-431). Routledge.
Harwood, N. (2021). Coda: An expanding research agenda for the use of instructional materials. The Modern Language Journal, 105(S1), 175-184. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12683
Iamsirirak, E. (2022). The development of English Grammar for Teachers coursebook. rEFLections, 29(3), 503-525. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v29i3.261159
Krashen, S. D. (2003). Explorations in language acquisition and use: The Taipei lectures. Heinemann.
LaBoskey, V. K. (2004). The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 817-869). Springer Netherlands.
Lay, C. D. (2021). A self-study of the shifts in teacher educator knowledge resulting from the move from in-person to online instruction [Doctoral dissertation, Brigham Young University]. BYU ScholarsArchive. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8949/
Li, X. (2022). A theoretical review on EFL/ESL teachers’ professional development: Approaches, applications, and impacts. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 912365. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.912365
Liu, S., Yuan, R., & Wang, C. (2025). ‘Let emotion ring’: An autoethnographic self-study of an EFL instructor in Wuhan during COVID-19. Language Teaching Research, 29(1), 221-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211053498
Lubina, B. L., Kulenović, B. K., & Lumezi, M. N. (2015). Creating a business English course book for academic needs: Challenges and solutions. Proceedings of the 17th EBES Conference (Vol. 1, pp. 1195-1210). Eurasia Business and Economics Society. https://www.croris.hr/crosbi/publikacija/prilog-skup/629124
Mishan, F., & Timmis, I. (2015). Materials development for TESOL. Edinburgh University Press.
Mowmessie, G. E. (2012). Novice teachers’ problems using a commercial coursebook [Unpublished special study report]. School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi.
Nation, I. S. P. (2007). The four strands. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 2-13. https://doi.org/10.2167/illt039.0
Pannell, J., Partsch, F., & Fuller, N. (2017). The output hypothesis: From theory to practice. TESOL Working Paper Series, 15, 126-159.
Pardo, A. N., Téllez, M. F. T., & Jaimes, J. C. (2017). Teacher–developed materials in a master’s programme in education with emphasis on English didactics. In A. N. Pardo, M. F. T. Téllez, & J. C. Jaimes (Eds.), The role of teacher-developed materials in fostering English language skills (pp. 19-64). Universidad Externado de Colombia. https://doi.org/10.57998/bdigital.handle.001.6040
Pithouse-Morgan, K. (2022). Self-study in teaching and teacher education: Characteristics and contributions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 119, Article 103880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103880
Pojanapunya, P. (2016). Clustering keywords to identify concepts in texts: An analysis of research articles in applied linguistics. rEFLections, 22, 55-70. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v22i0.112328
Pojanapunya, P., & Lieungnapar, A. (2017). The quality of choices determines the quantity of Key words, Doing Research in Applied Linguistics 3 and 19th English in South-East Asia Conference 2017 (pp. 115-124). School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi.
Pontillas, M. (2021). Opportunities and challenges of a Filipino educator in a home-based online EFL industry: A single case study. Journal of Education, Management and Development Studies, 1(1), 77-88. https://doi.org/10.52631/jemds.v1i1.21
Popovici, R., & Bolitho, R. (2003). Personal and professional development through writing: The Romanian textbook project. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 505-517). Continuum.
Richards, J. C. (2017). Curriculum development in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Rose, H., McKinley, J., & Baffoe-Djan, J. B. (2020). Data collection research methods in applied linguistics. Bloomsbury Academic.
Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101, Article 103305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103305
The ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science. (2025). The British National Corpus 2014. https://cass.lancs.ac.uk/bnc2014
Timmis, I. (2022). Theory and practice in materials development. In J. Norton & H. Buchanan (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of materials development for language teaching (pp. 30-46). Routledge.
Tomlinson, B. (2012). Second language acquisition and materials development. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Applied linguistics and materials development (pp. 11-29). Bloomsbury.
Tomlinson, B. (2020). Is materials development progressing? Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 15, 1-20. https://eurokd.com/doi/10.32038/ltrq.2020.15.01
Tomlinson, B. (2023). Developing materials for language teaching (3rd ed.). Bloomsbury.
Tsiplakides, I. (2011). Selecting an English coursebook: Theory and practice. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(7), 758-764. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.4304/tpls.1.7.758-764
Vanassche, E., & Kelchtermans, G. (2015). The state of the art in Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices: A systematic literature review. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(4), 508-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.995712
Xin, J. J. (2024). Investigating EFL teachers’ use of generative AI to develop reading materials: A practice and perception study. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688241303321
Watson Todd, R. (2012). Mixed methods data analysis in applied linguistics. rEFLections, 15, 70-76. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v15i0.114219
Xu, Y., & Li, K. (2025). Teacher engagement and learning in materials development: A qualitative study of four primary school English teachers’ experiences. System, 133, Article 103751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103751
Yazan, B., Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Rashed, D. (2023). Transnational TESOL practitioners’ identity tensions: A collaborative autoethnography. TESOL Quarterly, 57(1), 140-167. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3130
Yildiz, A., & Harwood, N. (2024). Why TESOL textbooks are the way they are: The constraints of writing for a global audience. TESOL Quarterly, 58(2), 909-931. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3261
Zhang, W. (2019). Narrative inquiry in TESOL and language teacher education. US-China Education Review A, 9(4), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.17265/2161-623X/2019.04.003