Problem Statement

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Developing teaching and learning materials in a non-dominant language is a complex process involving many people, institutions, cultures, and of course, languages. As the literature review will reveal, there is research about materials development, but the articles and books tend to focus on a single project, so it is difficult to know how representative they are.  There has also been a surge in gray literature on the topic that offers useful procedural recommendations, but with little recognition of the messiness that arises when real humans begin the process in complex situations. Both of these approaches can result in blind spots with real consequences to the field, and by extension, to the children who could benefit from the materials. People planning new materials development projects may not know to plan for something that will have major consequences later.Practitioners may assume that problems they encountered were particular to their porject and decide not to discuss them with others who may have solutions. 
Even when following national syllabi, textbooks development teams have influence over which skills, information, and ethics they will include in their books. We know very little about how the teams that produce textbooks meld their own experiences and goals with local needs and national syllabi to produce coherent textbooks.
Why is this comparative approach necessary? To reveal blind spots in the documentation, reveal issues that occur across projects, and identify solutions and ideas that can benefit other practitioners. It is a chance for experts to share their stories and experiences, particularly with younger practitioners who can learn from them.