English Language Teaching: Materials and Planning (Coursera)

English Language Teaching: Materials and Planning (Coursera)

The course will introduce students to important aspects of materials and planning: using coursebooks, adapting & supplementing materials, and lesson planning. It will explore both the advantages and disadvantages of coursebooks, and how to approach choosing and evaluating coursebooks. Students will examine the rationale behind adapting and supplementing materials, what to consider in terms of adapting materials, and how to supplement materials in practice.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Finally, the course will focus on different perspectives on a lesson, how to determine lesson aims and content, and how to sequence lesson components effectively. By the end of the course, students will have a fuller understanding of materials and planning in English Language Teaching.

What You Will Learn

  • How to choose coursebooks for specific students’ needs
  • Know why and how to adapt and supplement materials
  • Understand how to meet lesson aims using different content
  • Distinguish between different sequences of lesson components

Syllabus

WEEK 1

  1. Introduction

WEEK 2

  1. Using coursebooks

You will watch 3 lectures about the advantages and disadvantages of using coursebooks in English Language Teaching, the factors to consider when choosing a coursebook for a particular class, and how to evaluate its effectiveness. You will be provided with a number of short quizzes to check your learning. To expand your knowledge further, you will also be provided with links to additional materials.

WEEK 3

  1. Adapting & supplementing materials

You will watch 3 lectures focusing on ways of adapting ELT materials at different levels (from macroadaptation to adapting specific exercises) and different types of supplementary materials (both printed and digital). You will be provided with a number of short quizzes to check your learning. To expand your knowledge further, you will also be provided with links to additional materials.

WEEK 4

  1. Lesson planning

You will watch 3 lectures exploring different perspectives on a lesson, the metaphors by which a lesson can be represented as well as the functions of a lesson in light of these metaphors. You will also explore different types of lesson aims and fundamental lesson components. You will be provided with a number of short quizzes to check your learning. To expand your knowledge further, you will also be provided with links to additional materials.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Teaching LGBTQ+ Health (Coursera) Coursera
Stanford University

Teaching LGBTQ+ Health (Coursera)

This curriculum is designed for faculty members and health professions educators. The course goals are to improve your knowledge, teaching skills, and attitudes pertaining to the provision of health care to LGBTQ+ patients.e.g. This is primarily aimed at first- and second-year undergraduates interested in engineering or science, along with high school students and professionals with an interest in programming.

Aug 17th 2026
2 Weeks
e-Learning Ecologies: Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

e-Learning Ecologies: Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age (Coursera)

For three decades and longer we have heard educators and technologists making a case for the transformative power of technology in learning. However, despite the rhetoric, in many ways and at most institutional sites, education is still relatively untouched by technology. Even when technologies are introduced, the changes sometimes seem insignificant and the results seem disappointing. If the print textbook is replaced by an e-book, do the social relations of knowledge and learning necessarily change at all or for the better?

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
THINK GLOBAL: TEACHERS TRAINING COURSE (IDP-ICE) (Coursera) Coursera
University of Barcelona

THINK GLOBAL: TEACHERS TRAINING COURSE (IDP-ICE) (Coursera)

A group of seven European partners from Catalonia, Belgium, and Wales worked together on the Erasmus+ funded ‘Think Global’ project on global competence. The project seeks to address the following research question through development and piloting of practical classroom activities: What is global competence, and how can it be learned effectively?

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Essentials for English Speeches and Presentations 英语演讲与演示 (Coursera) Coursera
Peking University

Essentials for English Speeches and Presentations 英语演讲与演示 (Coursera)

Students must learn essential knowledge and skills to deliver an impressive English speech or presentation for academic purposes, job hunting, and business occasions. Global perspectives and inter-cultural communication skills are taught here to facilitate most Chinese English learners. 学习在学术交流、求职、海外留学与商务场景下进行英文演讲与演示所必备的知识与技能,强化中国学生的全球化视角与跨文化沟通技巧。

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Business English: Marketing and Sales (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Business English: Marketing and Sales (Coursera)

If you work in marketing, sales, or advertising, you already know that effective communication is a requirement. This can be even more difficult when expressing your ideas in a persuasive manner in English. In this course, you will learn to use English more efficiently while joining successful global professionals around the world.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Translation in Practice (Coursera) Coursera
Nanjing University

Translation in Practice (Coursera)

This course offers you basic but valuable techniques used by a good translator in the translation between English and Chinese. We’ll discuss what is translation, what is good translation, and learn about how to produce good translations. All the examples used in this course are taken from the course instructor's own translations of various genres and topics of writing.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Copyright for Educators & Librarians (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University,Emory University,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Copyright for Educators & Librarians (Coursera)

Fear and uncertainty about copyright law often plagues educators and sometimes prevents creative teaching. This course is a professional development opportunity designed to provide a basic introduction to US copyright law and to empower teachers and librarians at all grade levels. Course participants will discover that the law is designed to help educators and librarians.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
What future for education? (Coursera) Coursera
University of London,UCL Institute of Education

What future for education? (Coursera)

Through this course you will start to critically examine your own ideas about education, teaching and learning. The critique will be developed through engagement with theories and ideas developed through educational research. You will be encouraged to use these ideas to challenge or support your own ideas about education. Each week we will focus on one key question, using video lectures, key readings and challenges to explore some commonplace notions about education.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
English and Academic Preparation - Grad Track (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

English and Academic Preparation - Grad Track (Coursera)

The English and Academic Preparation – Grad Track course is for students with a (minimum) advanced level of English. It is designed to help international students strengthen their English while developing academic skills necessary for success in graduate studies at an American university. Ideally, prospective students have completed or are near completion of a bachelor’s degree in their country and would like to come to the United States to study for a master’s or doctorate degree.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University,Meertens Instituut - KNAW

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics (Coursera)

Everywhere, every day, everybody uses language. There is no human society, no matter how small or how isolated, which does not employ a language that is rich and diverse. This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language!

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher (Coursera) Coursera
University of Cape Town

Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher (Coursera)

Many Deaf children around the world still leave school functionally illiterate. In some cases there is no allowance made for education of Deaf children at all. This 4 week course provides you with invaluable knowledge and skills about teaching Deaf children. You will learn about the importance of Deaf culture and community, the need for a language rich environment for the Deaf child from as young as possible, and that having access to sign language can help Deaf children academically, emotionally, and socially.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks