Ambigapathy Pandian, Thomas Chow Voon Foo, and Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail, (Eds.) Curriculum Development, Materials Design and Methodologies: Trends and issues. Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2011. Pp. 1-342. ISBN 978-983-861-493-1 (Print). e-ISBN 978-967-461-089-0

The book titled Curriculum Development, Materials Design and Methodologies: Trends and Issues, brings together contributions that offer an insight into innovative strategies, noteworthy ideas and stimulating methods of teaching English used by teachers in their ESL Classrooms. The main objective of this book is to provoke the reader to bring in his or her own expertise and expand the learning possibilities in language teaching methods. It invites to self-reflection, and ultimately to self-improvement and development in order to achieve successful teaching and learning. It is structured into six major sections, dealing with various topics, as follows: I. Innovative teaching strategies (Chapters 1-5), II. Teaching strategies and language learning issues (Chapters 6-9), III. A review of past language teaching methodology – principles and practices (Chapters 10-15), IV. Using multimedia in English language teaching (Chapters 16-18), V. Curriculum design in the ELT/EFL context (Chapters 19-25) and VI. Teachers’ involvement in the creation, adaptation and selection of teaching materials (Chapters 26-29). Sarjit Kaur and Malini Ganapathy’s contribution, Innovative Ideas to Promote Creative Literacy Practices, tackles the concept of multiliteracy and its association with ICT’s and multimedia that underpin culturally-specific forms of literacy in pluralistic societies. Shobha Shinde, in Innovative Strategies in English Teaching – Learning in the Rural Context deals with strategies that teachers can adopt in a rural learning environment, where students are little exposed to authentic English language. The Use of Adapted Movies from Novels (The Kite Runner and The Namesake) as a Way to Stimulate Reading for Malaysian Students by Saabdev Kumar Sabapathy and Swagata Sinha Roy investigates the benefits of classroom reading practice, through watching a movie. Siti Rafizah Fatimah Osman and Mohamad Jafre Zainol Abidin’s contribution, Role-Play: Taking the Line of Least Resistance presents the way in which experiential learning, through role-play, contributes to the development of learner autonomy. The fifth chapter, A New Horizon in Writing Classes: Increasing Learners’ Autonomy, by Leily Ziglary and Rouzbeh Khalili explores the importance of collocations in language teaching. Language Learning Strategies: Current Issues, by Nafiseh Salehi and Rahim Kaviani examines learning strategies that are conducive to learner autonomy and empowerment. Mariah Ibrahim and Mohamad Jafre Zainol Abidin discuss in their chapter, Pedagogy of the Heart: Understanding Resistance in the English Language Classroom, the way in which students’ skills, behaviours, attitudes and interests are affected by what students actually bring from outside the classroom. The eighth chapter, Students’ and Teachers’ Preferences of ESL Classroom Activities, by Punitha Vayaravasamy and Anna Christina Abdullah brings forth the results of research into how teachers’ teaching is being received by Malaysian rural secondary school students. Innovative Ways of Teaching English and Foreign Languages by Peggy Tan Pek Tao looks into how drama and games improve students’ confidence and communicative skills. Collin Jerome’s contribution, titled What Do They Really Need? Developing Reading Activities to Explore the Elements in Literary Texts investigates the attitudes and opinions of undergraduate TESL and ESL students currently taking a specialised literature course. Chapter 11, The Teaching of Writing: Looking at the Real Classroom Scenes, by Mohd. Saat Abbas, Suzihana Shaharan and Yahya Che Lah discusses the efficiency of teaching methods for the development of writing skills in the case of rural secondary school students. Feedback in Process Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Technical Writing, by Shahrina Md Nordin, Norhisham Mohammad and Ena Bhattacharyya examines the role feedback plays in boosting students’ motivation for further study. Sohel Ahmed Chowdhury’s chapter, Lesson Plan and Its Importance in English Language Classroom, analyses the importance of planning, especially in schools with limited resources and teaching aids. Chapter 14, Unteaching Strategies: An Approach Based on Error Analysis, Learners’ Learning Strategies and Task-Based Instruction, by Ma’ssoumeh Bemani Naeini and Ambigapathy Pandian Su-Hie Ting and Mahanita Mahadhir’s contribution, Letting Communicative Purpose Direct Teaching of Grammar: Using the Text-Based Approach, introduces the idea of using the mother tongue in order to achieve the success of their tasks. Annotations in Multimedia On-Screen Text in Comparison to the Printed Text in Enhancing Learners’ of Process-Based Expository Text in Malaysia, by Saraswathy Thurairaj assesses whether the annotations identified in a multimedia on-screen text enable and enhance learners’ comprehension ability. Chapter 17, by Sarjit Kaur and Wong Chiew Lee, titled Transforming ESL Teaching by Embedding Information and Web Literacies into the Classroom, aims at identifying a what a computer-literate student’s skills are and how computer literacy should be integrated within the ESL classroom. Inranee R. Liew’s text, Scary Spiders and Beautiful Butterflies: A Creative Multimedia Approach to Develop Information Literacy Skills in the Integrated Science and English Classroom reinforces the importance of developing and using information literacy skills for lifelong learning. Chapter 19, The ESL Curriculum as an Additional Resource for Making Meaning, by Amy B.M. Tsui provides methodological guidelines as to teaching through story-writing. Mohamed Abu Bakar discusses the importance of teaching presentation skills in his chapter titled Speaking in the Language Curriculum: The Challenges of Presenting. In Chapter 21, GOLDEN RICE: Using Simulations in EAP Classes, Shashi Naidu tackles the issue of adapting simulations for Malaysian EAP classrooms at tertiary level. Are the Teaching Practices of Preschool Teachers in Accordance with the Principles and Learning Components of the National Preschool Curriculum? by Lily Law presents the result of a study aiming at assessing activities meant to meet the requirements of the National Preschool Curriculum. Mohammad Alshehab discusses in his chapter, The Contribution of Language Planning on Military Terminology provides practical suggestions as to the development of military students’ specialised lexicon. Chapter 24, The EFL Constructivist Classroom, by Hosna Hosseini, provides useful information for syllabus designers in organizing the curriculum based on “constructivist epistemology”. Zhang Xiaohong’s contribution, The Role of EFL Teachers’ Knowledge in Current EFL Curriculum Reform: An Understanding from a Reconstructionist Perspective tackles the importance of reconstructionist philosophy for teacher continuous education. Chapter 26, Using Materials Development to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice, by Brian Tomlinson advocates the process of materials development in boosting teacher’s confidence and students’ involvement. Ting Su Hie and Diana Carol discuss in Teething Problems in Materials Development for Teaching Social Interaction Skills in English an experience of adopting a genre-based approach to creating a set of materials aimed at both students and teachers for the teaching of social interaction skills in English. In the chapter Principles to Follow When Adopting and Adapting Textbooks and Materials Earl D. Wyman brings forth a matrix for selecting, adopting or adapting teaching materials. Norhisham Mohamed and Alauyah Johari investigate in Politeness Strategies as an Incorporated Component in Material Development politeness strategies considered as such in a Malay academic setting. All in all, the book is an interesting source of information about the Malaysian educational settings.