The Form of Teaching Materials

 Printed materials
ex. books, workbooks, worksheets, readers
 Nonprint materials
ex. cassette, audio materials, videos
 Both print and nonprint sources
ex. self-access materials,
materials on the Internet
 Magazines, newspapers, TV programs
The role of materials (Cunningsworth, 1995)
 A resource for presentation materials
 A source of activities for learner practice and
communicative interaction
 A reference source for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, and so on
 A source of stimulation and ideas for
classroom activities
 A syllabus
 A support for less experienced teachers
The functions of materials
 As a source of language
 As a learning support
 For motivation and stimulation
 For reference

(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)

Authentic versus created materials
 Authentic materials:
Teaching resources that are not specially
prepared for pedagogical purpose

 Created materials:
Text books and other specially developed
instructional resources
Advantages of authentic materials
 have a positive effect on learner motivation
 provide authentic cultural information about
the target culture
 provide exposure to real language
 relate more closely to learners’ needs
 support a more creative approach to teaching
(Phillips & Shettlesworth, 1978; Clarke, 1989; Peacock, 1997)
 Critics of using authentic materials
 Created materials can also be motivating for
learners
 Authentic materials often contain difficult language
 Created materials may be superior to authentic
materials because they are generally built around a
graded syllabus
 Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
 Author and academic  Market led
centered
 Uncertain global market  Specific fragmented markets
 European focus  Pacific Rim/ Latin American
focus
 Sell what is published  International or local culture
 Culture and methodology  Indigenous learning
of origin situations
 English for its own sake  English for specific
purposes
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
 UK/ US publisher  Rise in local publishing
dominance
 Native speaker expertise  Nonnative speaker
competence
 Culturally insensitive
 Culturally sensitive
 Low risk / competition
 High risk / competition
 Little design
 Design rich
 Artificial texts and tasks  Authenticity
 Single-volume titles  Multicomponent/multimedia
Advantages of using commercial
textbooks
 Provide structure and a syllabus for a program
 Help standardize instruction
 Maintain quality
 Provide a variety of learning resources
 Be efficient
 Provide effective language models and input
 Train teachers
 Visually appealing
Negative effects of commercial
textbooks
 May contain inauthentic language
 May distort content
 May not reflect students’ needs
 Can deskill teachers
 Be expensive
Evaluating textbooks
Before evaluating a textbook, information is
needed on the following issues:
 The role of the textbook in the program
ex. Will it be used with small classes or large ones?
 The teachers in the program
ex. Are teachers free to adapt and supplement the book?
 The learners in the program
ex. What do learners typically expect in a textbook?
Criteria for textbook evaluation
They should:
 Correspond to learners’ needs.
Match the aims and objectives of the
language learning program.
 Reflect the present or future uses
 Take account of students’ needs
 Have a clear role as a support for learning
(Cunningsworth, 1995)
A checklist for textbook
evaluation and selection ( Appendix 2)
Organized under the following categories (p. 274)
 Aims and approaches
 Design and organization
 Language content
 Skills
 Topic
 Methodology
 Teachers’ books
 Practical considerations (Cunningsworth, 1995)
Questions to ask when selecting
ESP materials
 Will the materials stimulate and motivate?
 To what extend does the material match the
stated learning objectives and your learning
objectives?
 To what extent will the materials support
the learning process?
(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)
Factors involved in textbook
evaluation and selection
 Program factors
 Teacher factors
 Learner factors
 Content factors
 Pedagogical factors
Adapting textbooks
A good provider of materials will be able to:

 Select appropriately from what is available

 Be creative with what is available
 Modify activities to suit learners’ needs
 Supplement by providing extra activities
(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)
Forms of adaptation
 Modifying content
 Adding or deleting content
 Reorganizing content
 Addressing omissions
 Modifying tasks
 Extending tasks
Preparing materials for a program

Advantages: Disadvantages
‧Relevance ‧Cost
‧Develop expertise ‧Quality
‧Reputation ‧Training
‧Flexibility
 The nature of materials
development
The process of materials development:
 Preparation: ex. critical analysis of texts
 Representation: ex. examples, demonstrations
 Selection: ex. choice from modes of teaching,
organizing, managing, and arranging
 Adapting and tailoring to student characteristics:
ex. consideration of social class, gender, age
(Shulman, 1987)
Characteristics for good language
teaching materials (Tomlinson, 1998)
Materials should:
 achieve impact
 help learners feel at ease
 help learners to develop confidence
 be relevant and useful to students
 require and facilitate learner self-investment
 expose the learners to language in authentic use
 provide the learners with opportunities to achieve
communicative purpose
 take into account that positive effects of
instruction are usually delayed
 Characteristics for good language
teaching materials
Materials should:
 take into account that the learners have different learning
styles
 take into account that learners differ in affective attitudes
 permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction
 maximize learning potential
 not rely too much on controlled practice
 provide opportunities for outcome feedback
 Learners must be ready to acquire the points being
taught
 The learners’ attention should be drawn to linguistic
features of the input
Decisions in materials design
Processes of program design and materials design:
 Developing aims
 Developing objectives
 Developing a syllabus
 Organizing the course into units
 Developing a structure for units
 Sequencing units
 Choosing input and sources
 Selecting exercise types
Choosing input and sources
 Grammar materials
 Listening materials
 Reading materials
 Writing materials
 Speaking materials

** copyright permission
Selecting exercise types (Appendix 1, p.272)
An example of exercises that involve a
nonlinguistic response to the text:
 Ordering a sequence of pictures
 Comparing texts and pictures
 Matching
 Using illustrations
 Completing a document
 Mapping it out
 Using the information in a text
 Jigsaw reading (Grellet, 1981)
Selecting exercise types
An example of exercises that involve a linguistic
response to the text:
 Reorganizing the information: recording events
 Reorganizing the information: using grids
 Comparing several texts
 Completing a document
 Question types
 Study skills: summarizing
 Study skills: note taking (Grellet, 1981)
Managing a materials writing
project ( Appendix 3, p. 277)
A team-based writing project involves:
 Selecting the project team
 Planning the number of stages involved
 Identifying reviewers
 Planning the writing schedule
 Piloting the materials
 Design and production
Monitoring the use of materials
Forms of Monitoring:
 Observation
 Feedback sessions
 Written reports
 Review
 Students’ reviews
Thank you!