ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

MATERIALS - Introduction
GED3034
Instructor: Nirmala Devi Rajoo
Lecturer
School of Education and Social Sciences

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
Author and academic
centered
Uncertain global market
European focus

Sell what is published

Culture and methodology
of origin
English for its own sake

Now
Market led

Specific fragmented markets

Pacific Rim/ Latin American
focus
International or local culture
Indigenous learning
situations
English for specific
purposes

Past and current trends in

English language textbooks
Then
UK/ US publisher
dominance
Native speaker expertise
Culturally insensitive
Low risk / competition
Little design
Artificial texts and tasks
Single-volume titles

Now
Rise in local publishing

Nonnative speaker
competence
Culturally sensitive
High risk / competition
Design rich
Authenticity
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:
Relevance
Develop expertise
Reputation
Flexibility

Disadvantages
Cost
Quality
Training

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!