1. Balbuena, Ana Belén 1
Duretti, Paula
Report on ESP Material Development: Hospitality and Tourism
Management
In this report, we will explain and analyze the different steps that we followed to
develop the task assigned. The context in which this task sheet would be applied is a reading-
comprehension course at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management with students in
the second year of their studies who are proficient L1 readers but have a basic knowledge of
English. The following are the objectives we were asked to meet:
Presentation and application of reading strategy: idea association ( as pre/reading task)
Presentation of textual reference: identification and interpretation of ideas /terms
referred to by pronouns in the text
Presentation of a verb tense for identification/recognition purposes
Our report consists of three different sections. First, we will refer to the theoretical
basis for reading comprehension and then we will outline the theoretical underpinning of the
materials development work. In both sections we will relate the theory with the design of our
task sheet so as to justify our decisions. Finally, we will include a brief reflection on the
whole materials development task.
Reading is a highly complex process that starts with the identification of words on a
page and ends with the comprehension of a message or an idea in a proper context. However,
the reading process involves much more than just the interaction of information between the
reader and the text. There are different theories and approaches that strive to explain and
define this process. According to Johnston, reading is “a complex behavior, which involves
conscious and unconscious use of various strategies, including problem-solving strategies, to
build a model of the meaning which the writer is assumed to have intended”. The result is a
mental model with information from a text and one’s personal interpretation of it. It is
evident, then, that reading and thinking are pretty much intertwined and as Rumelhart has
pointed out, when a person reads, two aspects of the “human information processing system”
interact continuously. These aspects have been represented metaphorically by two types of
reading models: bottom-up models and top-down models.
Bottom-up models suggest that the reading process starts with identifying and
processing textual passages since meaning is text-based. In other words, all reading follows a

2. Balbuena, Ana Belén 2
Duretti, Paula
mechanical pattern in which the reader creates a mental translation of the text based on the
language of the text with little interference from the reader’s context or background
information. In contrast to this, top-down models represent reading as constructing meaning
and context, rather than form. According to this model, reading is not limited to the linguistic
sign. Instead, readers have a set of expectations and predictions about text information that are
then tested against the semantic context, and confirmed or rejected as the reader continues
reading.
In practice, though, these two aspects of information processing are used
simultaneously. The result is an interactive model that involves both word recognition and the
use of external knowledge and predictions in the reading process. For the elaboration of our
task sheet, we have decided to relate both models of reading. As pre-reading activities, the
students are asked to predict about the content of the text and use their background knowledge
on the topic of it (top-down model). Regarding the while-reading activities, the students have
to complete a series of reading-comprehension tasks based on the information present in the
text and to prove that they are not relying on their expertise in the area, they are supposed to
indicate the lines where they have taken the information. (bottom-up model). We strongly
believe that the interaction of both models of reading does most justice to the complex nature
of reading since none of them alone could actually result in an appropriate interpretation of
the author’s intended meaning. Besides, research on reading comprehension has proved that
good readers are both good decoders and good interpreters of text. That is to say, word
recognition needs to be fast, but background knowledge, predicting and inferencing are also
essential for text understanding.
In reading-only courses, the ultimate aim is to develop the students’ reading
comprehension skills in the foreign or second language. In our case, we have been asked to
design a complete task sheet for a reading-only course but in an academic context. According
to Grabe and Stoller, a major goal for academic reading instruction is the development of
strategic readers. These are readers who make use of a wide repertoire of reading strategies
and are able to reflect consciously upon them, but who do not tend to think consciously of
these strategic choices because they have used them very often. We had to introduce and
make the students apply the strategy of idea association, which consists in activating the
students’ previous knowledge and expectations so as to facilitate their ability to understand
the text. As this is the first time that the students are introduced to the strategy, we have

3. Balbuena, Ana Belén 3
Duretti, Paula
included a brief explanation of why and when we use it. Besides, we have decided to work
with it in a whole-class group so that all the students explore it altogether. We agree with the
authors that the students will only incorporate these strategies as long as they practice them
systematically and continuously. That is why we have decided to include another activity in
which the students have to practice their prediction skills before they move on to the
activation of their schemata.
As regards the theoretical background of material development, we will start
explaining and analyzing the different steps that we followed for the development of our task
sheet, based on the stages provided by Dudley-Evans & St. John for teacher-generated
material. The starting point for the design of our task sheet was the “selection for carrier
content”. The text selection was based on the concept of TAVI (Text As a Vehicle for
Information), which means that the focus on information should come before language study
and that the application of the information in the text is of paramount importance. This key
aspect of the TAVI approach is reflected in our task sheet in the closing task. Unlike the
TALO approach, in which the subject-matter is of secondary importance, in the TAVI
approach to text selection, authentic materials are selected and the content of the texts has
value for the students’ needs.
In order to gather information about the needs of our potential students, we decided to
carry out some research on the Internet. We have consulted various curricula from different
Schools of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the country and after analyzing them, we
realized that first-year students take a course called “Introduction to Tourism”, in which they
learn the dynamic nature of the tourism and hospitality industry. We decided, then, to analyze
different types of “Introduction to Tourism” syllabuses so as to be able to determine valuable
carrier contents for our potential students. We found a book called Global Tourism by
William Theobald that is used as a reference material for university students and practitioners
engaged in the tourism industry. The carrier content that we have chosen from this book is
related to the negative impacts of tourism on the economic, cultural and environmental fields,
which we believe is a topic that our students would be interested to explore. The real content
was already given to us, since we were supposed to present textual reference and one verb
tense. We chose to present “Present Perfect” in view of the several instances of this verb tense
in our selected text.

4. Balbuena, Ana Belén 4
Duretti, Paula
The second stage in materials development involved the drafting of a variety of
activities. The first task to be designed was the closing task, since it aims at making the
students reflect on the information of the text and applying that information to a task that they
may have in their real lives as field specialists. Consequently, we have designed a closing task
in which the students have to relate the content of the text with the current situation in their
city and province (in this case, Córdoba, Argentina). The following activities were designed
on the basis of our closing task and they were graded from simple to complex and from
general to specific.
The design of both the reading-comprehension activities and the tasks that focus on
language is based on three of the principles developed by Tomlinson. In the first place, the
principle “materials should help learners develop confidence” is realized in our task sheet
through the sequencing of the activities. As Tomlinson suggests, in order to help learners
become confident, material developers should not oversimplify tasks, as this underestimates
the students’ capacities. Accordingly, we have tried to include stimulating activities that are
neither simple nor problematic and to do so, we have sequenced the tasks in such a way that
they guarantee a gradual involvement from the students’ part. The second principle “what is
being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful” is reflected not only by
the outlining of objectives at the beginning of the task sheet but also in the presentation of
each new syllabus unit, like the strategy of Idea Association or Textual reference. Through the
use of conversation bubbles, we have highlighted a brief explanation of the syllabus unit and
its relevance. The third principle “materials should require and facilitate learner self-
investment” has been achieved through the design of activities that promote self-discovery
and inductive reasoning. This is reflected in the guiding process for the implementation of the
idea association reading strategy, in the activities that ask the students to identify the new
element taught (like instances of Textual Reference) and in the addition of a grammar
appendix for learners’ later reference and self-access.
The third step that we followed was writing good rubrics and planning the overall
layout of our task sheet. The rationale for this step is based on Tomlinson’s principle that says
“materials should help learners feel at ease”. In the first place, the rubrics were written in a
simple and consistent way. As this would be a task sheet for a reading-only course in which
the students have basic knowledge of English, we have decided to write the rubrics in the L1
for the sake of clarity and effectiveness. Regarding the overall layout of the sheet, we strove

5. Balbuena, Ana Belén 5
Duretti, Paula
to create a student-friendly layout including illustrations, leaving white spaces for the
students’ answers and resorting to bold type or underlining to promote noticing. In addition to
this, we have decided to address the students using the Spanish form “usted”, as we believe it
is the most appropriate form for students in an academic context.
The last and final stage in materials development has to do with proofreading. We
have proofread everything to check that the rubrics were consistently clear and that the
material was presented well.
As a conclusion, we would like to reflect upon our learning outcome arising from the
design of this task sheet. We would like to start by quoting Hutchinson and Waters’ words on
materials development: “There is no such thing as perfect materials. They can always be
improved.” Throughout this task completion, we have realized that the process of materials
development is highly complex and time-consuming. First of all, finding an authentic text that
is appropriate for the students’ level and valuable in terms of their needs is not an easy task
and in fact, we have discovered that selecting the right text is of paramount importance for the
following stages in this process. Carrying out a needs analysis, getting involved in intensive
research on this area of specialization and consulting theory on materials design gave us a
useful insight into the role of a material provider, one of the many roles of ESP practitioners.
It is true that designing materials is a difficult undertaking but it is necessary to bear in mind
that there are no perfect materials. The idea is to revise, update, and expand them on a
continuous and systematic basis in order to develop strategic and autonomous readers.

6. Balbuena, Ana Belén 6
Duretti, Paula
Reference List
Dudley-Evans, T. and M. J. St. John; 1998. Developments in English for Specific
Purposes. CUP
Hutchinson, T. and A. Waters; 1987. English for Specific Purposes. CUP.
Johnston, P. H.; 1983. Reading comprehension assessment: A cognitive basis.
Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Lauria, P.; 2006. A Collaborative Project in ESP Materials Development Folio Journal
Rumelhart, D.E.; 1980. Schemata: the building blocks of cognition. In: R.J. Spiro etal. (eds)
Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.); 2003. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London:
Continuum Press.