Teaching aids are resources and equipment that teachers can use in the classroom to enhance learning, including interactive whiteboards, computers, projectors, visual aids, real objects, and the teacher themselves. When selecting teaching aids, teachers should think about the lesson aims and choose aids that best support achieving the objectives. Some common teaching aids discussed in the document are whiteboards, overhead projectors, videos, flashcards, puppets, and charts, each of which have specific purposes like engaging students, presenting information, practicing language skills, and illustrating vocabulary. Proper preparation and understanding how to best utilize different aids is important to effectively support lessons.

2. How do we select and use
teaching aids?
Teaching aids are the resources and equipment
available to us in the classroom, as well as the
resources we can bring into the classroom. They
include interactive whiteboards, computers, CD
players, DVD players and overhead projectors
(OHPs) (i.e. equipment with a light in it that can
make images appear larger on a screen), visual
aids (pictures that can help learners
understand), realia and the teacher herself!.
We select and use aids by thinking carefully
about the main aims, the subsidiary aims
and stage aims of a lesson, and then choosing
the most appropriate aids.

3. Teaching Aids
BLACKBOARD / WHITEBOARD
TEACHING PURPOSE
• Increased student attention and
engagement. Writing up vocabulary,
grammar examples and explanations
• Makes classroom assessments easy and
quick. letting students write on their
papers simultaneously.
• Allows for instant alternative or unplanned
activity.
Mistakes can be erased quickly and
easily.
• Less mess and convenient.
• Digital Boards (Jamboard, Zoom, Miro)

4. Teaching Aids
OHP (Overhead projector)
TEACHING PURPOSE
• Presentations.
• Screen Sharing

5. Teaching Aids
CD PLAYER / DVD PLAYER / VIDEOS
TEACHING PURPOSE
• Listening
• Listening with added
visual information.

6. Teaching Aids
LANGUAGE LAB
TEACHING PURPOSE
• Grammar Exercises
• Receptive Skills Practice
• Drills

7. Teaching Aids
FLASHCARDS
TEACHING PURPOSE
• for teaching individual
words or as prompts
for practising
grammatical structures.

8. Teaching Aids
REALIA
TEACHING PURPOSE
Real objects that we can easily bring into
the classroom can be used to
teach vocabulary, as prompts for
practising grammatical structures or for
building dialogues and narratives, for
games and quizzes. Realia also include
real texts, such as menus, timetables,
leaflets, etc.

9. Teaching Aids
PUPPETS
TEACHING PURPOSE
Puppets are an excellent resource for
teaching young learners. For example,
we can introduce new language in
dialogues between pairs of puppets (or
between one puppet and the teacher).
Children can also make their own simple
puppets.

10. Teaching Aids
CLASSROOM CHARTS
We can use posters and wallcharts (drawings
or graphs that can be put on the wall of a
classroom) to display larger, more detailed
pictures, or a series of pictures telling a story or
showing related objects in a lexical
set. A phonemic chart shows the phonemic
symbols and the positions in the mouth where
the different sounds are made. The teacher can
point at the symbols to prompt learners to
correct their pronunciation.

11. Teaching Aids
THE TEACHER
The teacher can use hand gestures, facial
expressions and mime (actions which express
meaning without words) to elicit vocabulary
items, clarify meaning and create context. We
can also build up a set of signals, such as
in finger correction, which learners recognise
as prompts to correct their own mistakes.

12. Consider this when using teaching aids.
• Think about the best ways to use different aids (e.g. using flashcards to give quick, clear prompts,
or using the overhead projector to show corrections to the whole class or for students to use for
presentations). Different aids have different advantages and disadvantages. Make sure you choose
the best one for your specific teaching purpose and context.
• Aids that you can prepare in advance, like charts, flashcards and transparencies for the overhead
projector, will help you to make sure that procedures outlined in lesson plans match your aims.
Another advantage is that you can save such aids and re-use them in future lessons.
• Make sure that you check any equipment before the lesson. If you use computers or the language
laboratory, advance preparation is essential. It is important to plan all your instructions very
carefully, as well as the sequence of activities for using the aids.
• Learners may also make use of a self-access centre, a place with books, worksheets, computers
and CDs, where they can study by themselves.

13. Teaching Aids
TASK 1
Download the TEACHING AIDS TASK in the platform.
Decide which teaching aids you would use to achieve
the teaching aims numbered 1–10. There may be
more than one possible answer