Course Design and Materials

Teacher: Javier Alexander Rivera

2018 -1

Class Guidelines
 Course Design and Materials
2018 -1- Assessment

• Class Participation 15%

• Class Workshops (Quizzes) 15%

• Mid-term Exam 20%

• Oral presentation from a Resource center visit 20%

• Written reflection from a Resource center visit 5%

• Final Presentation – Designing a course 25%

 Background

•Course?
•Design ?
•Materials ?
•How do they interplay?
Course Design and Materials

TYPES OF MATERIALS
Materials can be:

Instructional

Informative

Experiential

Eliciting

Exploratory
Materials can be:

Instructional (guiding the learner in practicing

the language)
Informative (informing the learner about the
target language)
Experiential (providing the learner with
experience of the language in use)
Eliciting (encouraging the learner to use the
language)
Exploratory (helping the learner to make
discoveries about the language).
 Instructional materials
• They may be operationally defined as
especially designed classroom tools which
contain instructions to learners and
teachers, and which specify each
increment of learning: the content to be
learned; the techniques of presentation;
practice and use of that content; and the
modes of teaching associated with those
techniques (Johnson, RELC Journal)
 Background
• Instructional materials
generally serve as the basis
for much of the language
input learners receive and
the language practice that
occurs in the classroom
(Richards)
 Background
• Instructional Materials are an important
element within the curriculum and are often
the most tangible and visible aspect of it
(Nunan, 1991)

• They can provide a detailed specification of

content, even in the absence of the syllabus
(Richards and Rodgers, 1986)
ROLES OF INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS
Cunningsworth (1995) summarizes the role of
materials (particularly course books) in language
teaching as a:
• Resource for presentation materials
• Source of activities for learner practice and
communicative interaction
• Reference source for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.
• Source of stimulation and ideas for classroom
activities
• Syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives
which have already been determined)
• Support for less experienced teachers who have yet
to gain in confidence in the language classroom
 BASIC PRINCIPLES IN
MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT
(Tomlinson, 1998)
• Materials should achieve impact.
• Materials should help learners to develop
confidence.
• What is being taught should be perceived
by learners as relevant and useful.
• Materials should require and facilitate
learner self-investment.
• Learners must be ready to acquire the
points being taught.
• Materials should expose the learners to
language in authentic use.
•The learners’ attention should be drawn to
linguistic features of the input.
• Materials should provide the learners with
opportunities to use the target language to
achieve communicative competence.
• Materials should take into account that the
positive effects of instruction are usually
delayed.
• Materials should take into account that
learners differ in learning styles.
• Materials should take into account that
learners differ in affective attitudes.
•Materials should permit a silent period at
the beginning of instruction.
• Materials should maximize learning
potential by encouraging intellectual,
aesthetic and emotional involvement
which stimulates both right and left brain
activities.
• Materials should not rely too much on
controlled practice.
• Materials should provide opportunities
for outcome feedback.
 Benefits of
instructional materials
 TEACHERS

• Provide materials for presentation of new items for

reinforcement, consolidation and practice.
• Provide materials for teaching particular skills,
particular areas of languages and other special
difficulties.
• Guide the teacher on the methods and techniques in
introducing the lessons and the series of exercises for
teaching the concepts.
• Give them more opportunity to make the best use of
their time and skills to do more real teaching.
 STUDENTS

• Concretize the syllabus

• Opportunity for individual work in or outside
the classroom
• Follow a course of study with little help from
teachers.
TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Main reference for the entire course
 Usually chosen by the school
 Reflects the minimum learning competencies
for specific levels
 Arranged in units or chapters which can be
labeled according to themes, topics, skills,
grammar structures or functions depending on
the syllabus type followed
 Contains readings, teaching points, drills,
activities, and tasks for every day lessons

TEXTBOOK
 WORKBOOK/
SKILLBOOK

Usually accompanies the textbook

 Provides exercises and drills on specific
skills in listening, speaking, reading, and
writing
 Presents reinforcement and remedial
activities to support lessons in the textbooks
 TEACHER’S BOOK/
TEACHER’S MANUAL/
TEACHER’S GUIDE

Contains a detailed rationale for textbook

 Explain the scope and the sequence for
the lessons
 Includes introductory notes on how to use
the textbooks, specific objectives for each
lessons and suggested strategies for
teaching the lessons
 Provides guidance in planning the lessons
from materials to suggested activities
 WORKTEXT

Combines the features of the textbooks and

workbooks
 Provides teaching points like those in the
textbook
 Reinforces the teaching points with many drills
and exercises just like those that contain an A-Z
or practical suggestions for teaching
REFERENCE
BOOK

 Provides general information on

various topics
 Includes encyclopedia, dictionary,
atlas, manuals, etc.
 MULTIMEDIA
INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS

Audio and Visual materials accessible

through various media like radio, television,
and the computer
 Also includes interactive courseware on
various topics
 What influences the use of
instructional materials in
Colombian schools or institutes?
 References

• PROF. ALI G. ANUDIN

• PROF. JENNIE V. JOCSON

• http://www.slideshare.net/NympheOinone/materi
als-development-for-language-learning-and-
teaching
 Course Design and Materials

MATERIALS, SYLLABUS AND CURRICULUM

1. The curriculum, syllabus, and the
learning competencies
2. Learners’ learning styles,
aptitudes, proficiency
3. Pedagogical principles held by the
teachers
4. Societal demands
 Syllabus- Curriculum
•The syllabus is described as the summary of
the topics covered or units to be taught in
the particular subject.

•Curriculum refers to the overall content,

taught in an educational system or a course.
...
•Syllabus is descriptive in nature, but
the curriculum is prescriptive.
Syllabus is set for a particular subject.
FRAMEWORKS OF MATERIALS
AND METHODS
 LEARNERS

CONTEXT IMPLEMENTATION OF GOALS

EDUCATIONAL
SETTING
SYLLABUS CONSTRUCTION

McDonough and Shaw (2000) present

the following framework for materials
and methods. The framework reveals MATERIALS, CLASSROOM
that materials and methods cannot be METHODS (lessons, tests)
seen in isolation but are embedded
within a broader professional context.
1. Learner factors-age, interests, level of
proficiency in English, aptitude, mother
tongue, academic and educational level,
attitudes in learning, motivation, reasons for
learning, preferred learning styles and
personality
2. Setting-role of English in the country; role of
English in the school; management and
administration; resources available; support
personnel; the number of pupils; time
available for the program; physical
environment; the socio-cultural environment;
types of tests to be used; and procedures for
monitoring and evaluating.
• A syllabus is an expression of opinion on the nature of
language and learning; it acts as a guide for both teacher
and learner by providing some goals to be attained.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80) define syllabus as ‘at
its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a
statement of what is to be learnt. It reflects language
and linguistic performance.’

• This is a rather traditional interpretation of syllabus

focusing as it does on outcomes rather than on process.

• However, a syllabus can also be seen as a “summary of

the content to which learners will be exposed”
(Yalden.1987:87). It is seen as an approximation of what
will be taught and that it cannot accurately predict what
will be learnt.
•Syllabus is the overall organizing principle for
what is to be taught and learned. It is the
way in which content is organized and broken
down into a set of teachable and learnable
units, and will include considerations on
pacing, sequencing and grading items’
methods of presentation and practice, etc.

•Syllabus inventory is a list of the content to

be covered in the language program much
like a content outline.
• Richards and Rodgers (1986) presents a useful
framework for the comparison of the language
teaching methods which illustrates the place of
syllabus in the program planning. The Model has
three levels: approach, design and procedure.
 Approach refers to the views and beliefs or
theories of language and language learning on
which planning is based.
 Design converts the principles in the first level
(approach) into more practical aspects of
syllabus and instructional materials.
 Procedure refers to the techniques and
management of the classroom itself.
TYPES OF SYLLABUS
(Reilley)
•Although six different types of language
teaching syllabi are treated here as though
each occurred “purely,” in practice, these
types rarely occur independently of each
other. Almost all actual language –teaching
syllabi are combination of two or more of the
types.

The characteristics, differences, strengths,

and weaknesses of individual syllabi are
defined as follows:
 A STRUCTURAL (formal) SYLLABUS

The content of language teaching is a

collection of the forms and structures, usually
grammatical, of the language being taught.

 Examples include nouns, verbs, adjectives,

statements, questions, subordinate clauses,
and so on.
Issue/Criticism:

One problem facing the syllabus designer pursuing

a grammatical order to sequencing input is that the
ties connecting the structural items maybe rather
feeble. A more fundamental criticism is that the
grammatical syllabus focuses on only one aspect of
language: grammar; however in truth there exist
many more aspects to be considered in language.
Recent corpus based research suggest there is a
divergence between the grammar of the spoken
and of the written language, raising implications for
the grading of content in grammar-based
syllabuses.
 A NOTIONAL/FUNCTIONAL SYLLABUS

 The content of the language teaching is a

collection of the functions that are performed
when language is used, or of the notions
that a language is used to express.

 Examples of the functions includes:

informing, agreeing, apologizing, requesting;
examples of notions includes age, size,
color, comparison, time, and so on.
Issue/Criticism:
In order to establish objectives, the needs of the
learners will have to be analyzed by the various
types of communication in which the learner has to
confront. Consequently, needs analysis has an
association with notional-functional syllabuses.
Although needs analysis implies a focus on the
learner, critics of this approach suggest that a new
list has replaced the old one. Where once
structural/situational items were used, a new list
consisting of notions and functions has become the
main focus in a syllabus. White (1988:77) claims that
“language functions do not usually occur in
isolation” and there are also difficulties in selecting
and grading function and form. Clearly, the task of
deciding whether a given function (i.e. persuading),
is easier or more difficult than another (i.e.
approving), makes the task harder to approach.
To be continued..