PowerPoint presentation created and Presented by Dr. Yusuf Feltman

1. MFSPEA3 – Learning Materials
Presenter: Dr Yusuf Feltman
March 2020

2. Learning Materials

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• What different types of language syllabuses are you familiar with?
• What use do you make of syllabuses in your teaching?
• What are some of the advantages and limitations of using a commercial textbook as the basis for a
language program?
• What qualities do you look for when selecting a textbook?
• What do you think are the essential qualities of good teaching materials?
• Where can we source good materials from?
• What is your approach with regard to finding listening materials?

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““Materials” can, of course, mean any or all of the very wide
range of resources capable of aiding language learning.”
(Waters 2009, 311)

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Materials
Local / Teacher Produced Commercially Produced
Material as primary
resource
Material as
supplementary to
teachers instruction

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printed materials
books, workbooks,
worksheets,
readers
Non-print
materials
audio materials,
videos,
computer-based
materials
print and non-print
sources such as
self-access
materials
materials on the
Internet
materials not
designed for
instructional
magazines,
newspapers, and
TV materials

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a. They provide structure and a syllabus for a program
b. They help standardize instruction:
c. They maintain quality:
d. They provide a variety of learning resources:
e. They are efficient:
f. They can provide effective language models and input:
g. They can train teachers:
h. They are visually appealing:
Commercially Produced Materials - Advantages
(Crawford 2002)

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a) They may contain inauthentic language:
b) They may distort content: often present an idealized view of the
world or fail to represent real issues., idealized, white, middle-
class view of the world is portrayed as the norm.
c) They may not reflect students’ needs: written for a global market
d) They can deskill teachers: reduce teacher’s role
e) They are expensive:
Commercially Produced Materials - Disadvantages
(Crawford 2002)

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• Language is functional and must be contextualized.
• Language development requires learner engagement in purposeful use of language.
• The language use should be realistic and authentic.
• Classroom materials will usually seek to include an audiovisual component.
• Learners need to develop the ability to deal with written as well as spoken genres.
• Effective teaching materials foster learner autonomy.
• Materials need to be flexible enough to allow for individual and contextual differences.
• Learning needs to engage learners both affectively and cognitively.
Criteria to evaluate Commercially Produced Materials
(Crawford 2002)

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Authenticity
“Authentic' materials are usually defined as those which have been produced for purposes other than to teach language. They
can be culled from many different sources: video clips, recordings of authentic interactions, extracts from television, radio and
newspapers, signs, maps and charts, photographs and pictures, timetables and schedules.” (Nunan 1985, 38)
“any material which has not been specifically produced for the purpose of language teaching”
Materials in a Learner-Centred Curriculum
(Nunan 1996; Crawford 2002)
• Language is not artificial
• Materials should not be edited or simplified
• Materials written especially for learning does not readily transfer to real life situations
• Authentic texts may be challenging
• Difficult to find authentic texts that are suitable for a particular topic or level of difficulty
• Difficult to find authentic text that scaffold learning appropriately
• Legality and copyright is an issue in obtaining a wide range of authentic materials
• High quality materials are required to keep learners engaged

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• Language must serve an authentic communicative purpose
• The social context in which a particular text is situated is important for the
authenticity of the language used
• A video drama depicting the context in which the language is used
Language is functional and must be contextualized

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• Materials should focus on whole text – rather that building blocks
• Grammar should emerge from the whole text
Learner engagement in purposeful language use
create a learning environment that is rich in linguistic and cultural information about the target
language
allow teachers and learners to explore the nonverbal and cultural aspects of language as well
as the verbal
provide information about the physical context of the interaction.
Materials should include Audio Visual Component

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• language course can predict all the language needs of learners
• prepare them to deal independently with the language they encounter
• designed to develop skills and strategies which can be transferred to other texts in other contexts
• need to build in self-assessment tasks which require learners to reflect on their progress
Foster Learner Autonomy
Flexible enough to cater for individual and contextual differences
recognise the different backgrounds, experiences and learning styles that students bring to the
language classroom
adapt the materials to the context in which learning is taking place

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• language learning requires the active participation of the whole learner.
• implies the engagement of genuine interest
• Depend on the presence of a positive group dynamic in the classroom
Engage Learners Both Affectively and Cognitively

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1. Learners Are Exposed to a Rich, Re-cycled, Meaningful and Comprehensible Input of Language in
Use
2. Learners Are Affectively Engaged
3. Learners Are Cognitively Engaged
4. Learners Are Sometimes Helped to Pay Attention to Form Whilst or After Focusing on Meaning
5. That the Learners Are Given Plentiful Opportunities to Use the Language for Communication
Principles for Materials development for Acquisition

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• task-free activities / Extensive reading
• It is rich because of the massive accumulated amount of input over a course, - variety of genres learners can
experience – authenticity of the texts ensures that learners are not restricted in their access to the target
language
• It is re-cycled because the text often contains repetitions - because learners both listen to and read the text
and, if engaged, they return to it many times.
• It is meaningful because the learners are encouraged to visualize and to connect the texts to their own lives.
• It is comprehensible because the learners - can be engaged by the text without understanding everything in
it, - can read the text many times, can talk to each other about it and can ask their teacher about it.
• not every text will be meaningful and comprehensible to every learner.
Rich, Re-cycled, Meaningful and Comprehensible Input

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• “being moved to feel amused, angry, disturbed, entertained, excited, exhilarated,
empathetic, sad, sympathetic or any other emotion whilst learning or experiencing
the target language is a powerful facilitator of language acquisition”
Affectively Engaged

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• “If they are involved in challenging but achievable tasks which require high-level,
critical and creative thinking, learners are much more likely to move towards
language acquisition than if they are mindlessly repeating meaningless drills, or
completing easy exercises or reading empty texts. Problem solving, invention,
persuasion and creative writing tasks are examples of activities which have the
potential for the achievement of cognitive engagement.”
Cognitively Engaged

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• learners make discoveries for themselves about language features of texts which
they have experienced
• learner investment of time and cognitive energy in solving a linguistic problem
• the resulting sense of achievement can considerably raise learner self-esteem.
Pay Attention to Form Whilst or After Focusing on Meaning

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• they typically do not spend much time in using the target language to achieve
communicative effects
• do not develop the communicative competence
• communication should involve contextual interaction with actual or simulated
interactants and
• as much as possible should involve meaningful communication in the sense that it
stimulates the expression of views, opinions, reactions, intentions, etc., and not
just the purchase of a ticket or the specification of a time.
Opportunities to Use the Language for Communication

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Learners must be exposed to a variety of listening texts and voices for authenticity
Searching and finding or recording?
It is difficult finding suitable listening material
Some curriculum providers include listening text – limited, not always what the teacher or learners
need
Recording listening text can be challenging as well
Materials for listening

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Finding Listening Texts
1. The recording must include key vocabulary and grammar points I have taught.
2. Only native speakers of English should be on the recording.
3. The people should speak slowly and clearly so that students can understand.
4. The language used has to be completely accurate, with no grammar mistakes.
5. The recording must be authentic: if it is a news broadcast, it ought to come from the BBC or
CNN, not from an EFL text book.
6. There shouldn’t be any words or expressions that the students are not expected to know.
7. The topic should be something that the students have studied.
8. The recording should be a kind of listening text that the learners have experienced in class
before.
9. It’s a good idea to use written stories from newspapers or magazines and read them aloud.

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Finding Listening Texts
online listening resources
The British Council Listen and Watch - A range of video, audio and reading materials.
Listening materials come with activities and transcripts. http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/listen-and-
watch
BBC Learning English - A range of video and audio material that includes English lessons, dramas and
news reports. Mostly for B1 level and above. http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
Voice of America: Let's Learn English - A similar mix of teaching material and news to the BBC, but in
American English. http://learningenglish.voanews.com
Macmillan Education onestopenglish - This publisher’s website has a range of free listening material for
learners including interviews and dramas. The recordings have transcripts and exercises.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/listening
ESL student lounge - Listening material designed for learners from elementary to advanced level. Features
different varieties of English (mainly American and British). Recordings have transcripts and a variety of
exercises. http://www.esllounge.com/student/listening.php
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab - Another website, with mostly American recordings, that has
transcripts and exercises made for learners at different levels. http://www.esl-lab.com

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• Recording can easily be done using a smart phone – video or audio
• Quality of recorded material should be clearly audible
• Some considerations to take into account
• Long enough for you to produce the number of questions that you need.
• At the right level of difficulty for the learners.
• On a topic that learners will not find offensive or distressing (war, death, disease).
• On a topic that is reasonably familiar to the learners. Often a short outline is helpful as a way to introduce a
topic– e.g. you will hear a man and a woman talking about food they eat when they are on holiday in other
countries.
• Not something the learners have heard before
Making your own recordings

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Resources
• Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching: From method to postmethod. Routledge.
• Tejada Molina, Gabriel, María Luisa Pérez Cañado & Gloria Luque Agulló. 2005. Current approaches and teaching methods. In Neil McLaren,
Daniel Madrid & Antonio Bueno (eds.), TEFL in secondary education, 155–209. Granada: Universidad de Granada.