Event

Meet the Maker: Marcos Benvides, Widgets Inc.

Sunday, October 6th, 2024, 8:00 PM - 9:20 PM

Speaker: Marcos Benevides John Carle (Interviewer)

Overview: Meet the Maker is a program where materials writers showcase their textbooks, apps, or other creations, followed by an interview conducted by the MW SIG. The discussion highlights the materials, creative process, and business aspects of publishing. We hope this event will be both informative for the teaching community and insightful for a wide range of materials creators and educators.

Meet the Maker: Marcos Benevides, Widgets Inc.

Abstract: Widgets Inc. is the first commercial course to successfully apply a "strong" approach to task-based language teaching (TBLT). It features a themed syllabus organized by task complexity, highly contextualized and interconnected tasks and projects, and an engaging real-world-like simulation. Self, peer, and teacher assessment is based on the appropriate completion of tasks, rather than on language forms practice. Widgets Inc. differs from other courses in its focus to create a life-like English-speaking scenario in the classroom. That is, students simulate being interns at a technology startup, where they work together in small groups to perform workplace and business related tasks. All classroom activities are realistically connected; all discussions, presentations, video calls, and interviews have a contextual purpose, and build from one to the next. This approach recycles useful language and situations, makes the course well-suited for mixed-level classes, and is highly motivating for students.

The second edition of Widgets Inc. was the 2019 winner of the ELTon Award for Course Innovation. A third edition is currently under production, and will launch in 2025.

Bio: Marcos Benevides is an associate professor in linguistics at J. F. Oberlin University, the founder and publisher of Atama-ii Books, and the co-author of a number of international award-winning ELT textbooks. He has published with Pearson, Abax, McGraw-Hill, Compass, and Atama-ii Books. His work received the Duke of Edinburgh Book Award in 2010, the ELTon Award in 2011 and 2019 (and a short-listing in 2015), plus several Extensive Reading Foundation graded reader medals. Marcos is currently working on the 3rd edition of Widgets Inc.: A task-based course in workplace English, to be released in 2025.

Example Schedule: Times and content are flexible and can be adjusted based on the presenter's requests.

• 00-05 TIME 5 minutes: MW SIG Introductions, Sponsor/Publisher talks about their services
• 05-35 TIME 30 minutes: Presenter gives a slideshow about the textbook or other material
• 35-65 TIME 30 minutes: Interview about the textbook/materials, the creative process, and related business issues 65-80
• TIME 15 minutes: Open Q&A with the audience

Sign up for the Zoom information on the Meet the Maker showcase page on the JALT MW SIG's website.

Organization: Materials Writers Special Interest Group, Japan Association for Language Teaching (Materials Writers SIG of JALT)

Cost: free

Venue: Online (sign up to get the Zoom link)

Location: Online, Online Events, Online Event

Contact Materials Writers SIG of JALT

John Daly