One size does not fit all: reflections on designing English teaching materials

Résumé

This paper focus on the scope of foreign language teaching-learning, more specifically the English language, within the context of teaching undergraduate courses. In addition to that fact, we consider our experiences as teachers at an English Language undergraduate course at a university in Bahia, that some considerations have been woven about the importance of discussing and problematizing the place and role of teaching materials designing in teaching. Especially when it comes to the teachers-to-be, who sometimes feel unconfident and unprepared to choose and elaborate the most suitable material for the training classes, for example. Theoretically, the discussions were based in the perspectives by Scheyerl (2012), Siqueira (2012), Mendes (2012) that suggest an intercultural and globalized proposal, questioning ideological issues, Leffa (2007), (2009) that in a more prescriptive way, points to more technical prepositions and, also, in the Tomlinson (2004) and Macalister (2016) writings. This paper, coming from teachers’ concerns, points to the need to promote a more engaged theoretical discussion, which precedes the elaboration of the teaching material so that future teachers can be able to develop consciously teaching materials that demonstrate a theoretical-practical coherence.