* Communication: Language needs to be learned which is related to the learning context, learning through that language, reconstructing the content and its related cognitive processes. This language needs to be 

transparent and accessible; interaction in the learning context is fundamental to learning. This has implications when the learning context operates through the medium of a foreign language

* Culture: The relationship between cultures and languages is complex. 

Intercultural awareness is fundamental to CLIL. Its rightful place is at the 

core of CLIL. (Coyle 2006: 9f.) 

Meaningful, challenging, and authentic. Those should be the main criteria for selecting appropriate classroom materials. SLA studies have shown that 

meaningful and challenging input is one of the main pillars of foreign language acquisition. Classroom content should be meaningful in a sense that it focuses on global problems facing mankind (Klafki’s “epochaltypische Schlüssel-

probleme”) while connecting with the daily lives of our students and their areas of interest. Krashen’s monitor hypothesis and recent insights gained from neurolinguistic studies stress the importance of motivation and its effect on 

(language)-learning (Dörnyei 2006; Liuoliene/Metiuniene 2006). Put simply, subject learning through a foreign language works best when new topics are presented in such a way that the affective filters of the students remain wide open and when students can link new input to prior knowledge, experiences and attitudes. 
2. Scaffolding Learning: 

To make sure that students successfully deal with authentic materials and that as much input as possible can become intake, it is essential for students to receive ample support. They need scaffolding to help them cope with language input of all sorts. The quantity and intensity of scaffolding can be reduced as 

students’ language skills advance.
3. Rich Interaction and Pushed Output: Long’s Interaction Hypothesis proposes that language acquisition is strongly 

facilitated by the use of the target language in interaction. Long suggests that 

feedback obtained during conversational interaction promotes interlanguage 

development because interaction “connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways” (Long 1996: 

451f.). 
4. Adding the (Inter-)cultural Dimension: 

Grimalda (2006) recently examined the degree of interaction among  individuals in the process of globalization. Preliminary results indicate that 

people’s willingness to cooperate significantly increases the better they know each other. This means that students need to learn about other countries. 

However, factual knowledge about other countries and cultures is not enough for 

successful intercultural communication; neither are foreign language skills  alone. Cultures differ in many aspects including view of self, perceptions of  time, and verbal and non-verbal communication styles, which need to be taken 

into account also. 
5.  Make it H.O.T. :
Indeed, thinking skills (H.O.T.s) are the key to success in the Information Age. The citation above shows how far away we are from this goal regarding the 

teaching of thinking skills in class.
6.  Sustainable Learning:
Such encounters are not uncommon and this example serves to illustrate what is 

meant by sustainable learning: we have to make sure that what we teach in class is taught in a way that new knowledge becomes deeply rooted in our students’ long-term memory. Passive knowledge has to be turned into active knowledge. 

Competent learners are those who can deliberately retrieve knowledge and apply it to solve problems or complete tasks. Ideally, many of their sub-skills have become highly automatized through meaningful practice and they are able to display the accurate and spontaneous use of their knowledge. 

A central ingredient for developing materials is the use of systematised needs assessment procedures because it involves a set of aspects that determines teacher-decision making that will most probably help both students and teachers achieve meaningful and effective teaching and learning settings. In regard to this process, Núñez & Téllez (2008) state that as teachers most frequently make decisions regarding aims, strategies, and materials that will influence their classes, those ought to be based on a systematic well-informed needs assessment.
B. Setting Goals and Objectives

Another significant aspect that must be dealt with when developing materials is the setting of learning goals and objectives. The horizon to be focused on in the EFL classroom should be set up clearly, aiming at satisfying students' needs and expectations through the development and implementation of learning materials. In this respect, Graves (1997) defines goals as the general or overall long-term purposes of a course and objectives as the specific form in which goals will be attained. They are just "particular ways of formulating or stating content and activities" (Nunan, 1988, p. 60).
C. Conceptualising Content / Designing a Syllabus

This third component encompasses the incorporation of language aspects and language learning development procedures that are vital to the course progress. Even though the definition of a syllabus seems quite simple, its design demands accurate knowledge of the teaching and learning processes. Etymologically speaking, a syllabus means a "label" or "table"; and Altman & Cashin (1992) pinpoint that a syllabus aims at communicating to students what the course intends to be, the reasons for teaching it, its destination, and the requirements to pass it. However, following Graves' description (1997), a syllabus can be considered a complex living entity under permanent change because there is never a perfect version of a syllabus, but rather one in which four focal points, namely, the language view, the learning and the learners' focus as well as the social context factor, play a central role.
D. Selecting and Developing Materials and Activities

Selecting materials and activities for our students is not a haphazard decision; it is one that embraces making effective and opportune decisions for their benefit. That is why we utterly agree with Graves (1997) who had the conception that any text by itself is not the course, but rather a tool that can be divided or cut up into components and then rearranged so as to suit the needs, abilities, interest, and expectations of the students comprising a course. Therefore, textbooks can be modified to incorporate activities that encourage students and move them beyond the constraints of the textbook.
E. Organisation of Content and Activities

In materials development, both content and activities could be structured in three distinct fashions known as the building, the recycling, and the sequence and matrix approaches. The first one gradually moves from the simplest to the most complex activities, from the general to the specific ones, and from the concrete to the abstract. The second one provides students with a learning challenge in terms of a new skill area, a different type of activity, or new focus. The third one follows a consistent sequence to be fulfilled within a given period.

construction/adaptation