Assignment -M R 1

Assignment - M&R
1 Paola Fabian Villagomez, Jenny Rodríguez Gonzales
INDEX
COVER
Introduction ………………………………………………………………….. 3
Apendix ……………………………………………………………………….. 9
Unit 3 ………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Lesson 1 ………………………………………………………………………. 9
1.1 Countries and Nationalities
1.2 Vocabulary and Speaking
Lesson 2 ………………………………………………………………………..12
2.1 Are you Peruvian?
Lesson 3 ……………………………………………………………………….13
3.1 I’m from Peru.
3.2 Pre-reading activity
3.3 Reading activity
3.4 Exercises
Teacher’s Book ……………………………………………………….……… 16
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………… 21
Bibliogrphy …………………………………………………………………………… 22

Assignment - M&R
SELF-PRODUCED MATERIALS
We are English teachers with more than 10 years of experience combined. Therefore,
we know there isn’t a correct syllabus or approach to be followed as the bible or the
legitimate chosen one. As English teachers we usually work with multi syllabus
approached textbooks. After studying the course of Materials and Resources, we asked
ourselves the following questions: Why are materials important in language instruction?
What do materials do in language instruction? Can we teach English without a textbook?
Should we design our own materials and focus on personalized materials rather than
textbooks?
It is true that in many cases we as teachers and our students rely heavily on textbooks,
and textbooks determine the components and methods of learning, that is, they control
the content, methods, and procedures of learning. Students learn what is presented in
the textbook, and the way the textbook presents material is the way students learn it.
The educational philosophy of the textbook will influence the class and the learning
process. Therefore, in many cases, materials are the center of instruction and one of the
most important influences on what goes on in the classroom.
Over the history of the ESL field, various methods have been proposed. Each method
has been replaced with a new one. Audiolingualism, functionalism, communicative
paradigms, and now the fad is "task-based syllabuses." In his critique of the task-based
syllabus Sheen (1994:127) points out, "Frequent paradigm shifts in the field of second
and foreign language teaching have not resulted in significant progress in language
learning." Since no method has been proven to be more effective than another, many
teachers have jumped on the "eclectic" bandwagon.
We know that the task-based syllabus offers an alternative to traditional linguistic
syllabuses. The former gives us the opportunity to help students develop their language
abilities naturally through communication and interaction with others. The main problem
with task-based syllabus lies with the design and implementation or how to put together
a series of tasks to form a coherent program.

Assignment - M&R
After interviewing a number of students in our classes, we discover most of them know
what they want to achieve in the English course. The biggest problem is they don’t know
how to achieve fluency. Nevertheless, they trust their teacher’s style and materials. Our
students need a more communicative approach since their main goal is to be able to
communicate and have a great level of fluency. Most of our students are teenagers and
young adults. We both teach in language centers where students expect to achieve the
level of accuracy and fluency needed for competence in a foreign language.
The classroom environment is basically all the language exposure they received since
they live in a Spanish-speaking country. So what happens in the class is all they get.
We chose to create a unit for beginners because in our experience, they show lots of
motivation when starting studying the language but they also suffer from higher levels of
anxiety and frustration when not getting the expected results or making mistakes in the
process.
The procedure of developing materials while designing a syllabus usually goes through
three phases; classifying goals, selecting materials and sequencing materials.
An important advantage of self-produced materials is contextualization (Block, 1991). A
common criticism of commercial textbooks is that they are generic and not aimed at any
specific group of learners or any particular cultural context. As teachers, we concern
about our students’ individual needs. By taking more control over material production,
we can choose from a range of possibilities, including topics, situations, notions,
functions, skills, etc.
Our goal is to teach the lesson using the content syllabus and task-based syllabus.
We selected the topic: Countries and Nationalities which is a topic usually taught after
the introduction of the verb to be. Therefore, our targeted group of students have already
studied the verb be, using affirmative and negative sentences, asking yes/no and
information. They have also learned some vocabulary background such as different
topics: occupations, the alphabet, common and proper nouns, relationships vocabulary,
etc.
Although many different types of syllabuses have been brought forth in the past three
decades, currently, the traditional syllabuses (e.g., the grammatical syllabus and lexical
syllabus) have not been completely abandoned, and the later models (e.g., the content
syllabus and the task-based syllabus) have not been universally accepted. For example,

Assignment - M&R
though one of the earliest type of syllabus, the grammatical syllabus continues to be
used in many parts of the world; and although the task-based is often said to be the latest
(newest) type of syllabus, it has been found to be incompatible with many educational
context and therefore has not been widely adopted (Richards, 2001; Ellis, 2003).
Along with the evolution of approaches to materials development, materials themselves
have evolved into much more complex objects. Many materials currently in use are no
longer a combination of a student’s book and a teacher’s book. Rather they consist of a
whole set of materials, including the student’s book, workbook, the teacher’s book,
cassettes, CD-ROMs, evaluation (test) book, the readers, etc.
The role of teachers is to help learners to learn. We have to follow the curriculum and
provide, make, or choose materials. We may adapt, supplement, and elaborate on those
materials and also monitor the progress and needs of the students and finally evaluate
students. Materials are not just tools; they represent the aims, values, and methods in
teaching a foreign language. Materials are the most powerful device in spreading new
methodological ideas and in shaping language teaching and learning practice. Materials
include textbooks, video and audio tapes, computer software, and visual aids. They
influence the content and the procedures of learning. The choice of deductive vs
inductive learning, the role of memorization, the use of creativity and problem solving,
production vs. reception, and the order in which materials are presented are all
influenced by the materials.
When working and developing our Unit kit, we tried to be careful when combining
different syllabuses and approaches. For instance; regarding content; the material has
correct, natural, recent, and Standard English. Since our students' vocabulary is limited
(beginners), the vocabulary in the unit is controlled or the materials provide information
to help students understand vocabulary that they may not be familiar with. For lower-
level students, grammar is also controlled.
The cultural information included in the Unit is correct and recent. It reflects background
cultures of English. It includes visual aids etc., to help students understand cultural
information.
Our content is useful, meaningful and interesting for students. While no single subject
will be of interest to all students, materials were chosen based, in part, on what students,
in general, are likely to find interesting and motivating. As a general rule, we agreed that

Assignment - M&R
our materials should be slightly higher in their level of difficulty than the students' current
level of English proficiency. Materials at a slightly higher level of difficulty than the
students' current level of English proficiency allow them to learn new grammatical
structures and vocabulary. (For example; using the Simple present tense).
Our unit has clear instructional procedure and methods, that is, the teacher and students
are able to understand what is expected in each lesson and for each activity.
The unit has support for learning. This takes the form of vocabulary lists, exercises which
cover or expand on the content, visual aids, etc. Traditionally, language teaching
materials are made up mostly of text, with few, if any, visual aids. However, with the
development of technology, photos, visual materials and audio materials have become
very important components of language teaching materials.
Regarding instructions, we agreed that explicit instruction was the most effective among
our students. Therefore, we decided to include this method in our self-produced
materials. We tried to clearly outline what the goals are and we offer clear explanations
of the skills and structures we are presenting. For example; the verb be and nationalities.
After lots of discussion about the unit and topic chosen, we decided to use the top-down
approach in our activities; especially in the listening and reading activities. Using this
approach allows our students to use background information to predict the meaning of
language they are going to listen to or read. Some of our students were unable to predict
meaning based on context or using background information; since the information they
have is very limited, we offer other alternative. Combining both processes provide a
positive result in our classes. Being able to use the bottom-up activities helped our
students who were able to understand very few words or that simply don’t have enough
vocabulary. The ability of including both approaches in our activities determine the
success of the activity.
After evaluation the textbooks we usually use in class, we realized students don’t relate
to some topics they find on the activities. The cultural background sometimes differ from
topics included. We agreed that one key way to make learning meaningful and relevant
is to link pedagogical tasks to what students like and are familiar with. Our students also
found necessary to relate tasks to what students will be doing outside the classroom. We

Assignment - M&R
included: interpersonal one on one communications, small groups interactions, class
discussions, role-plays, etc.
When choosing the trend of our materials we followed the following proverb: “I hear and
I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand”. (Confucious) Experiential learning
has been present in our classes since we can remember. Our approach has become
more communicative when using this trend. Students are cooperatively engaged in a
motivating task or project. Consequently, they are actively participating in the learning
process.
We tried to cover the three elements: reflection, support and transfer. We can find these
elements right from the beginning of the unit in lesson 01 starting with a preview.
Experiential learning begins with exposure, participation, internalization and finishes with
dissemination. The activities that follow this trend are: role-play, dramatizations, teaching
back, making a poster (countries), preparing a class presentation (nationalities),
interview each other, working on a cultural festival, etc.
The unit contains three lessons which cover the four skills. The unit is linked explicitly to
what our students already know and engage them into a new cultural journey led by new
vocabulary and social and cultural input. The materials provide situations where learners
need to interact with each other regularly in a manner that reflects the type of interactions
they will have outside the classroom.
Nunan (1988) refers to this as the “learning by doing philosophy” and suggests
procedures such as information gap and information transfer activities.
Language materials tend to focus on one particular skill in an unnatural way.
The skills students need to develop are evaluated in each activity included in the unit.
Using experiential approach helps our learners develop their skills in an implicit form. We
focus on role-plays, discussions, oral presentations, group work and group projects that
are considered in the assessment where they have to show their speaking skills using
structures and vocabulary learned and used in class.

Assignment - M&R
APPENDIX
BOOK: ENGLISH WORLD 01 (STUDENT’S BOOK)
UNIT 3: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
LESSON 1: COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES
PREVIEW. REVIEW OF VERB BE. QUICK REVIEW.
VOCABULARY AND SPEAKING
A. Match the countries to the nationalities. Work in pairs and report your work.
1. Canada
2. China
3. Japan
4. Australia
5. Peru
6. The USA
7. The UK
8. France
9. Germany
10. Italy
a. American
b. Japanese
c. Italian
d. Canadian
e. Chinese
f. British
g. Australian
h. German
i. Peruvian
j. French
B. Recognize the flag and match to the country. (STUDENT’S BOOK)
Peru China Germany France Brazil The USA

Assignment - M&R
C. Personalize using the vocabulary. Work in pairs and talk about famous people.
Follow the example:
A: Hello! I’m Jenny and I’m from Peru. I’m Peruvian  What about you?
B: Good afternoon. My name is Paola. I’m from Argentina. I’m Argentinian.
A: What about a famous person?
B: Neymar is a soccer player. He’s from Brazil. He’s Brazilian.
Report your work!
My classmate is Paola. She’s from Lima, Peru. She’s Peruvian.
She said: “Neymar is a soccer player and he’s from Brazil. He’s Brazilian.”
D. Identify the pictures. Do you recognize these places, food and people?
1 2 3 4 5
 What is picture 01? It is the Eiffel Tower.
 Where is the Eiffel Tower from? It is from France. It’s French.
Where are you from? / Where is it from? To ask about Nationality
Work in pairs and ask each other questions following the previous model.
Remember! You can ask questions using: WHAT or WHO about the picture.

Assignment - M&R
E. Read and listen to the conversation.
A: Hello. My name is Rachel.
B: Hi Rachel. I’m Joshua.
A: Nice to meet you Joshua.
B: Nice to meet you too, Rachel
Where are you from?
A: I’m from Canada. What about you?
B: I’m British.

Assignment - M&R
LESSON 02:
ARE YOU PERUVIAN?
A. Read and listen to the dialogue.
A: Good morning. What’s your name?
B: Hi. I’m Tom and you?
A: My name is Emma.
B: What’s your job, Emma?
A: I’m an architect and you?
B: I’m a lawyer.
A: Are you Peruvian?
B: No, I’m not. I’m Brazilian.
A: I’m Italian.
B. Work in pairs and personalize the dialogue.
C. Complete the sentences using the vocabulary learned in the unit.
1. Pablo is from _____________. He’s Italian.
2. Miluska ______________ Russia. She ____________________.
3. Erick _____________________. He’s ____________ Mexico.
4. Karen and Dean _______________________ Germany. They are
___________________.
D. Grammar. Verb BE review.
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
I am
You are
He/ She/ It is
We are
You are
They are
E. Writing. Write 3 sentences describing a friend. Follow the example.

Assignment - M&R
LESSON 03:
I’M FROM PERU
A. Pre-Reading activity:
B. Reading:
Friends Club
This Friends Club is for English learners friends around the world. Carla, John; Luisa;
Sonia, Mary, Paul and Luke are the members of the club. Carla is from Russia. She’s
nineteen years old. John is British. He’s fifteen years old. Luisa and Mary are twins from
Italy. They are sixteen years old. Sonia is from France. She’s twenty. Paul is Croatian.
He is eighteen. Luke is from Germany and he is seventeen years old. They meet every
year to enjoy their holidays.
1. Read the text and complete the chart.
NAME AGE COUNTRY NATIONALITY
Carla
John
Luisa
Sonia
Mary
Paul
Luisa
2. Write the questions ordering the words. Then, answer the questions according
to the according to the text in exercise 1
a) Sonia / France / is / from
Is Sonia from Russia? Yes, she is.

Assignment - M&R
b) German / is / Paul
_________________? __________.
c) The twins / France / are / From
_________________? __________.
d) Fifteen / Luke / old / is /years
_________________? __________.
e) Carla / Russian / is
_________________? __________.
f) Luisa / French / is
_________________? __________.
3. Circle the correct word.
a) Marcos is from Italian / Italy.
b) They are French / France.
c) Anna is from Turkish / Turkey.
d) Sofia is Greece / Greek.
e) Pepe, Julio and Pablo are from German / Germany.
4. Put the nationality adjectives into the correct groups. Look at the endings
-an -ese -ish Other
nationalities
5. Search in the dictionary more examples.
-an -ese -ish Other
nationalities

Assignment - M&R
ASSESSMENT:
Group work. Work in group and do some research on a country you like. Participate
on the “Cultural festival”. Describe things, places and people from the country you
chose.

Assignment - M&R
BOOK: ENGLISH WORLD 01 (TEACHER’S BOOK)
UNIT 3: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
VOCABULARY AND SPEAKING
QUICK REVIEW
Quick Reviews begin each lesson in a fun, student centered way. They are short
activities which review previously taught language and are designed to last about five or
ten minutes.
This activity reviews the alphabet. Students write five words on their own, then work in
pairs and take turns to spell the words to each other. They should write their partner’s
words. Finally, students check their spelling is correct. Check any problem words with
the class.
Verb To Be – Review
Draw a plan of the class seating arrangements on the board and write in the students’
name as they introduce themselves to the class. Leave the plan on the board for students
to refer to during the lesson.
Remind students that Hi = Hello and point out that I’m fine. = I’m OK. You can also point
out that Hi is more informal than Hello.
Model the following examples:
Conversation 1
Student A: Hello, I’m Francesca. What’s your name?
Student B: Hello, my name is Charles.
Student A: Nice to meet you.
Student B: You too.
Conversation 2
Student A: Hi, Anna.
Student B: Hi Tomas. How are you?
Student A: I’m fine, thanks. And you?
Student B: I’m OK, thanks.

Assignment - M&R
LESSON 1:
COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES
Pre-teach nationality and elicit the plural form (nationalities).
Students do the exercises on their own or in pairs. Check the answers with the class by
writing the countries and nationalities on the board. Point out that nationalities often in in
-n, -an, -ian, -ish and -ese by underlining these endings on the board.
You can also point out that we usually describe people from Brazil, Colombia, Peru,
Argentina, etc. as South American, not American (which is only used to refer to people
from the USA)
B Pre-teach Countries. Focus students on the pictures (flags). Students do the exercise
on their own.
NATIONALITIES:
C Pre-teach Nationality and elicit the plural form (nationalities). Students do the activity
on their own or in pairs.
Check the answers with the class by writing the country is and nationalities on the board.
Highlight that nationalities often end in -n, -an, -ish and -ese by underlining these endings
on the board. We can also point that we usually describe people from Brazil, Colombia,
Peru, Argentina, etc. as South American, not American (which is only to refer to people
from the USA).
C Students listen and practice the countries and nationalities. Note that students should
say both together (Italy, Italian, etc.) Repeat the drill if necessary.
Students practice the conversations in pairs. Alternatively, students move around the
room and practice the conversation with other students
Point out that the same syllable is stressed in most nationalities (Brazil, Brazilian, etc.).
Extra idea: Ask the students to say which city, town or district they are from instead.
D Students do the activity in pairs, first they have to identify the pictures in the book and
then make questions following de example, using vocabulary and grammar.

Assignment - M&R
16
Check the students understand and encourage them. While they are working, monitor
and check students are doing the activity correctly.
E. Put students into pairs. Demonstrate the conversation with a few confident students.
Then students can practice this conversation.
Students take turns to ask each other where they are from and what nationality they are.

Assignment - M&R
17
LESSON 02:
Point out that we use capital letters for countries (Peru, Brazil, etc.). Also point out the in
the USA and the UK.
Note that the USA is also called the US, the States, the United States or America. Also
note that the UK refers to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we can
say the UK or Britain. The term Great Britain refers to the Island that contains England,
Scotland and Wales, not the country.
HELP WITH LISTENING
Help with Listening sections in our book are designed to help students understand
natural spoken English. They focus on phonological aspects of spoken English which
make listening problematic for students.
This Help with Listening section introduces students to the concept of words stress about
Coutries and Nationalities.
A – B Put students into pairs. Demonstrate the conversation with a few confident
students. Then students can practice this conversation.
Students take turns to ask each other different questions about personal information,
including countries and nationalities.
C Focus students on the vocabulary. Students do the exercises on their own or in pairs.
Check answers with the class. Alternatively, do the exercise on the board with the hole
class.
D Students work on their own and complete the table with Verb To Be in the negative
form. Check the answers with the class. Point out that we can use also the contraction
form (You aren’t, He isn’t etc.).

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18
LESSON 03:
Pre-teach the word number. Students listen and repeat the numbers. Altrnatively, model
the words yourself and ask students to repeat chorally and individually.
Demonstrate the activity by saying diferent numbers and asking students to write them
down. Check thy have the correct answers. Students then do the exercise in pairs.
Write on the board Where are you from? I’m from (the UK). Drill the question with the
class, then practice the answers with individual students.
Read the text Friends Club, check the meanings of the new vocabulary that students don
not know using pictures, drawings, transalation, etc. Model and drill the words with the
class.
1. Check students understand the text. Point out the stress on countries and numbers.
Students do the activity on their own or in pairs, first they have to identify the name in
the text and then look for the answer, using numbers, countries and nationalities.
Check the students understand and encourage them. While they are working, monitor
and check students are doing the activity correctly.
2. Students answer the questions acording to the text, then compare answers in pairs.
Check answers with the class.
3. Students do the exercise on their own before comparing aswers in pairs. Check
answers with the class.
4 – 5 Students work on their own and complete the table. Students listen and notice the
stress sound. Elicit which countries and nationalities end in -an, -ese, -ish. Check the
answers with the class. While they are working, monitor and correct any writing mistakes
and pronunciation mistakes you hear.
Extra idea: Mark the stress sound on each country. Model and drill any new countries
with the class.

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19
CONCLUSION
Though there are five elements in language instruction, and learners should be the
center of instruction. However, materials often control the instruction, since teachers and
learners tend to rely heavily on them. Materials that are appropriate for a particular class
need to have an underlying instructional philosophy, approach, method and technique
which suit the students and their needs. They should have correct, natural, current and
standard English.
We tried to create a unit where our materials are more activity-based rather than lecture-
based. We focus on drawing our students into group and cooperative learning, as well
as providing individual growth. Our activities encourage our students to question, think,
react, reflect, and decide in ways to develop their critical thinking skills. We give our
students the opportunity to develop their abilities, individual aptitudes, multiple
intelligences and interests.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allwright, R. L. (1990). What do we want teaching materials for? In R. Rossner and R.
Bolitho, (Eds.), Currents in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
D.J. Short (2006). Content Teaching and Learning and Language. Encyclopedia of
Language & Linguistics (Second
Edition), p101-105.
Yu-Li Chen (2008). A mixed-method study of EFL teachers’ Internet use in language
instruction. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 24(4), p1015-1028.

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