Section 2

Guidelines for Designing Language Teaching Materials

At the end of the unit, the students must have competency in

articulating the guidelines for designing language teaching materials.

Specifically, they are expected to:

1) enumerate the pros and cons of designing English language

materials;
2) identify the factors to consider when designing materials; and
3) apply the guidelines for designing materials.

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 Guidelines for Designing Language Teaching Materials

Teaching materials are inevitable. They serve as supplementary

devices to assist the teacher in the teaching-learning process. Students
also benefit from them as they significantly increase student
achievement by supporting student learning. Despite having numerous
commercial language materials, teachers still have the desire to design
their materials to tailor the lessons to their learners' needs. However,
developing language teaching materials have many considerations and
this will be discussed in this section. 

Pros and Cons in Designing English Language Materials

Advantages in Designing English

Language Materials

Material development is a complex but fulfilling endeavor.

Though some teachers usually adopt instructional materials from
various sources, a number of them occasionally make their own.
Certain materials can be fully adapted but there are also those that
teachers reconstruct, edit or tailor based on their needs and
perspectives on what is suited in their teaching-learning contexts.
Since teachers occasionally develop their materials, it might be of help
to know more about the advantages of doing such for them to be
encouraged more. 

The following are the advantages in designing English

language materials: 

Contextualization. Contextualized instruction is a practice that

endeavors to link theoretical constructs that are taught during learning,
to practical, real-world context (Berns and Erickson, 2001). As
compared to traditional academic, contextualized teaching and
learning (CTL) focuses on concrete skills and knowledge needed in
work and life, combines academic learning with workplace
applications, and personalizes instruction for each student (Bond,
2004). When implemented, it is believed that students learn better and
faster, and retain information longer, when they are taught concepts in
context because it becomes more relevant to them. 

Despite the benefits of contextualization due to

commercialization, produced materials that are out in the market for
learning English are generic and are not aimed at any specific group of
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learners or any particular or educational or cultural context (Howard,
2004). Thus, designing a personalized English instructional material is
deemed to be advantageous because teacher or designers have the
opportunity to tailor the lessons, including the activities and tests,
based on the present teaching-learning situation. This means that
students would relate because the lessons would be more personal and
based on their current needs thus making the learning process more
meaningful. 

Also, many global IM developers assume that educational

settings are already furnished with technologies such as laptops and
internet connection. However, this is not the case. This is the reason
why customized materials is an option. 

Individual needs. Aside from considering the geographical

and cultural context, another important thing in teaching is being able
to cater to the learners’ individual needs. Classrooms are usually
heterogeneous and using a generic textbook may not necessarily
encompass other types of learners. Thus, the best instructional material
is the teacher-designed materials since it is the teachers who are well
aware of their students. If teachers will make their materials, they can
choose texts which would suit the interest of their students, explore
activities that cater to their learning preferences, and construct tests
which are suitable to their level of proficiency. 

Personalization. This benefit is related to one previously

mentioned. Personal touches and an amount of effort to construct
materials that would match the learning styles of learners would
increase motivation and engagement in learning. 

In addition to this perspective, personalization may also

encompass teachers working based on their syllabus as prescribed by
the curriculum. Despite using world standards, curriculum would
always look into other aspects that are suitable to the country.
Personalized instructional materials then would ensure alignment to
the curriculum. 

Timeliness. Teacher-designed materials can respond to the

evolving needs of students and the constantly changing situations
locally and internationally. This may involve current issues being
faced or inclusion of technologies that have been newly discovered.  

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 Disadvantages in Designing English 
Language Materials

Despite the many advantages of constructing personal English

language materials, there may still be potential drawbacks that
developers may encounter. Commercially-available materials go
through a lot evaluation mechanisms before being released in the
market that is why most are quality products. This is one of the
important merits of commercially-available materials over personally-
produced English language materials. Other disadvantages are the
following: 
Organization. Textbooks are usually constructed based on
particular teaching and learning theories or principles. Aside from that,
they follow a certain detectable format throughout the course which
gives a clear sense of organization and direction for both teachers and
students. This may not be a characteristic of teacher-designed
materials as it lacks coherence because the teacher varies the types of
activities every now and then based on the needs of the learners. Also,
since there is no consistency in the activities, it is hard to detect
progression of the students in terms of their skills. Aside from the
format, this aspect also includes the physical organization and how the
materials will be stored and arranged. Since there is no system in
arranging, it may be difficult to locate in the future. 

Quality. Commercial materials have gone through a lot of

evaluations in terms of content and design to ensure the quality which
is not the same case with teacher-constructed materials. Since the
materials are not subjected to scrutiny, it may be prone to errors,
poorly constructed and may lack clarity in layout. 

The teacher’s lack of experience in constructing materials may

result to limited input or missing important elements. Usually,
developers also are strict in observing criteria in choosing texts that
will be included which may not be as critical when the teacher is given
the liberty to choose texts. The lack of technical experience in
designing might also be a problem that teachers may face.

Time. With the many other activities that teachers may be

doing, it is hard for them to produce their materials. After all, quality
outputs need a lot of effort and time for conceptualization and
construction. 

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 Factors to Consider in Designing Materials

To make an effective instructional material, careful planning is

required. Nothing that is planned and prepared well would usually fail.
Before starting anything, the IM developer must be aware of the things
that need to be considered when designing one if he/she does not want
to put his/her efforts to waste. For example, one cannot just produce a
material without aligning it with the curriculum if the intention is to
aid the teacher. So here are the factors to be considered in designing
materials: 

Learners. Instructional materials are meant to be used for the

benefit of learners. They are the main stakeholders of the education
system. This is the reason why materials that are to be created should
be relevant to the learners and that their interests, motivations and
needs should given thought to. Thus, before planning for an
instructional material, needs analysis should be administered first.
Specifically for English instructional materials, developers may look
into learners’ past language learning experiences, first language and
levels of literacy, expectations of the program, how motivated they are
to learn English, aside from their interests, learning preferences and
needs which are equally important. The needs analysis is a way on
locating the gap regarding the teaching-learning process. Financial
background may also be important to be considered. 

Curriculum and context. The term “curriculum” can be used

in different ways. Schiro (1978) defined it as a program of studies,
course content, planned learning experiences, structured series of
learning outcomes, and a written plan of action. Despite the numerous
definitions, curriculum becomes the starting point of the
implementation process which includes instruction and the end point
for the evaluation procedures. Since that is the case, before designing
instructional materials, one must look into the curriculum to start right.
It is then the responsibility of IM developers and the teacher to pattern
the materials based on the goals and objectives of the overarching
curriculum (Nunan, 1988)

Context is connected to curriculum as the former is a basis for

the conceptualization of the latter. The place in which the teaching and
learning process occurs, the learners involved and their level of

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proficiency may affect the type of instructional materials that will be
developed. 

Resources and facilities. Developers should pay attention to

the available technologies that they use for design and production. It is
wise to plan based on reality rather than wasting time and effort
conceptualizing and not being able to translate your thoughts into a
tangible instructional materials because of lack of resources. 

Personal Competence and Confidence. These factors are

deemed to be important because it will determine the quality of the
material that will be produced. A developer should possess the
willingness to embark in the taxing process of materials development.
In addition to attitude, personal competence which includes ability and
is a product plenty of teaching experiences are also important
ingredients. Perceived creativity and a good grasp with of the
principles of material design and production are essential. Also, in-
depth knowledge about English and language learning is a staple. 

Time. Before starting to work on a material, a developer

should take note of the period that the material needs to be finished. It
must be of manageable scale. To this, many ways can be adopted to
lessen the weight such as consulting other developers or teachers,
looking into existing materials, or having somebody to work with
(Block, 1991). Assigning the artistic aspect to an expert may also help
in reducing the load. 

Copyright compliance. Copyright is the legal right of the

owner of the intellectual property (Investopedia, 2019). Because of the
copyright law, developers must be aware of the restrictions in copying
from other materials such as using a picture or exercise from a
published work. This is to be considered most especially when the
material will be used by a large number of people. 

Guidelines for Designing Effective English Teaching

Materials

In designing effective English teaching materials, some would

begin by looking for an inspiration, some would try to improvise
existing materials they have done in the past and others would start
from scratch. Some teachers develop a material for a single lesson only
and some would devote time and effort constructing tasks and
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activities that are connected to ensure progression of skills. Despite the
differences of teacher developers, certain guidelines can be considered
as they embark in developing their materials. These may serve as a
framework as teachers look into the different variables that are suited
in their teaching situations. These guidelines, though, are not definite
and are required to be fulfilled, but this can be very helpful to
guarantee a coherent and effective output. 

Here are the guidelines in designing effective English teaching

materials:  

English language teaching materials (ELTM) should

stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of language. The
key to speaking English fluently is having numerous opportunities to
be exposed in a variety of authentic situations in which a person is
forced to use the language for communicative purposes. Thus,
instructional materials should consider on constructing lessons and
activities that would require students to interact with each other,
practicing the type of interactions that they will be having in real world
context. To do this, Hall (2011) pointed out three conditions to
stimulate real communication: 1) have something we want to
communicate, 2) someone to communicate with, and 3) some interest
in the outcome of the communication. 

It is to be remembered that students should be given an avenue

in which they can explore the language. Gone are the days when rote
memorization and drills are the frequently used strategies to learn a
language. Materials should encourage students to think beyond their
linguistic terrain to have progress in language development. This can
be done through providing sufficient scope to build on what is
provided to generate new language and eventually be confident and
fluent in communicating. 

Also, it would be beneficial if lessons would inform students

about possibilities of communication challenges that are intrinsic in
real life communication. Aside from that, teaching approaches should
help educate learners regarding the norms of interaction. 

To stimulate interaction, collaborative learning tasks (CoLTs)

may be done. The following are some examples of CoLTs from
Barkley, Major and Cross (2014):

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 Think-Pair-Share. Learners think individually for a few
minutes, and then discuss and compare their responses with a partner
before sharing with the entire class. 
Buzz Groups. Learners discuss course-related questions
informally in small groups of peers. 
Critical Debates. Learners assume and argue the side of an
issue that is in opposition to their personal views.
Fishbowl. Learners form concentric circles with the smaller,
inside group of students discussing and the larger, outside group
listening and observing. 
Role-play. Learners assume a different identity and act out a
scenario.
Case Studies. Learners review a written study of a real-world
scenario and develop a solution to the dilemma presented in the case.
Word Webs. Learners generate a list of related ideas and then
organize them in a graphic, identifying relationships by drawing lines
or arrows to represent the connections.
Peer Editing. Learners critically review and provide editorial
provide feedback on peer’s essay, report, argument, research paper, or
other writing assignment. 
Team games/tournaments. Learners work in heterogeneous
teams to learn content and compete in homogeneous team to earn
points for the home team.

Other activities that would promote interaction and

communication from Moss and Ross-Feldman (2003) are the
following:
Class Survey. Learners gather information about a particular
topic. They increase proficiency and confidence in asking one or more
questions at the same time as they are increasing graphic literacy
skills.
Conversation Grid. Learners practice and increase knowledge
of language structures (such as what, when, where, and why questions
and their typical answers), vocabulary (as related to a particular topic
such as “on the job”), and cultural aspects related to a topic. They ask
questions, listen to answers, and record information on the grid.
Line Dialogue. Learners get intensive (repeated many times)
practice using the targeted language in short dialogues. Learners may
get to know one another in an atmosphere where peer teaching is
naturally supported.
Information Gap. Learners find and share information by
asking and answering questions to complete a task.

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 Language Experience Approach. To record learners’ ideas and
oral language and use the stories to increase literacy skills.

 ELTM should encourage learners to develop learning skills

and strategies. Since all the language skills can be learned due to the
limited time inside the classroom, language teaching materials should
be tailored to help students in learning how to learn. Fink (2003)
stressed that instructional materials should be have learning how to
learn as educational goals; that is, students learn how to become better
students, they learn how to inquire and construct knowledge and that
they know how to pursue self-directed or intentional learning. It
should be reflective in the materials activities that would allow
students to take advantage of learning opportunities outside the
classroom. 

Activities which will develop the learner’s ability to be a

reflective practitioner is to be considered. This would specifically be
activities which encourage learners to assess their learning styles,
strategies and even their language development. 

ELTM should focus on form as well as function. With the

desire to enhance learners’ communicative skills, sometimes some
materials forget to give importance on language form. Well-crafted
materials would find the balance of designing activities which would
help the students master the form and at the same time building their
creativity and independence in terms of expression.  

Language forms deal with the internal grammatical structure of

words and phrases of a language as well as the word
themselves.Examples of language forms are indirect/ direct object,
subject/ verb agreement, nouns, pronouns,comparative and descriptive
adjectives, prepositional phrases, tenses of verbs, adverbs, sentence
structure, specific vocabulary, language of propaganda, complex
sentences, nominalizations, and modals. 

On the other hand, language function refers to what students do

with language as they engage with content and interact with others.
These functions represent the active use of language for a specific
purpose. Some examples of language functions are persuading,
defending, analyzing, describing cause and effect, drawing
conclusions, defining, explaining, expressing needs and likes,
describing people, places, and things, describing spatial and temporal
relations, describing actions, comprehending text or speech ,
26
retelling/relating past events, making claims, making predictions,
asking informational questions, asking clarifying questions, expressing
and supporting opinions.
Putting it simply, if function is concerned on what to do with
language, forms are language structures and vocabulary that are used
to support the functions. 
It must be remembered that to communicate effectively is to
express thoughts correctly through the use of appropriate words
(vocabulary) and knowing how to weave them together (sentence
structure or grammar). Thus, using only one approach in teaching the
language, either form focused or function focused is not advisable.
Teachers could use a combination of function and form focused
approaches. Day and Shapson (2001) claimed that there is an overall
improvement of students’ written and oral grammar skills when they
conducted a study combining formal, functional, and communicative
approaches to grammar. The researches believed that the use of
cooperative learning combined with formal instruction and functional
scaffolds for grammatical components helped increase students’
overall grammar performance. 

ELTM should offer opportunities for integrated language

use. A material should not only focus on one particular language skill
because in doing so, it becomes unnatural since one uses various skills
when communicating. Materials then should be designed in a way that
activities and lessons would integrate all the language skills in a
realistic matter. 

ELTM should be authentic. There are numerous materials

which have good content regarding language but they fail to help
students because the way the lessons are presented and practiced are
not relevant, accurate, authentic and useful. It is disadvantageous to
teach something that is not part of the learner’s world because they
will not be able to easily pinpoint where to apply the things that they
have learned in real-life situations. 

Things to consider are authenticity in terms of the texts that are

used (text authenticity) and the tasks (task authenticity) that are given
to students. 

Authentic texts, according to Morrow (1977 as mentioned in

Bridges, 2018), is “a stretch of real language produced by a real
speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real
message of some sort.” In contrast to what is called a contrived text,
27
authentic text is never intended to be written or assembled for teaching
reading or facilitating a set of skills. There are many benefits of using
authentic texts. Thornbury (2006) summarized that classroom text is
authentic if it was originally written for a non-classroom audience.
Wilkins (1976) said that these texts help to bridge the gap between
classroom knowledge and ‘a student’s capacity to participate in real
world events. Other benefits would be igniting more interest for the
learner, providing important information about the target culture, thus,
increasing cultural awareness, and serving as a reminder that there is a
specific population who use the target language in their everyday lives
(American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). 

Authentic texts that suit the learner’s goals and interests as

mentioned by Westphal (2016) are TV shows, newspaper or magazine
articles, movie trailers, commercials, advertisements (photos),emails
from students, student work from a previous course, academic
articles, classified postings, online reviews, product descriptions,
podcasts, popular/viral videos on YouTube. She even mentioned on
ways on how to access authentic texts in a faster manner and less
intimidating on the part of students. These include bringing authentic
texts that were written by English language learners or nonnative
speakers at a variety of levels, native-speaker written authentic texts
with inaccuracies, allowing the students to activate their background
knowledge about the topic of the text before they read or listen, giving
the general context, key vocabulary, and any important background
information to the students before they read or listen, allowing
students to predict what they will listen to or read about before seeeing
the text,and before the students actively start looking for specific
information, allowing them to listen or look over the text in a relaxed
“exposure” stage before you give out specific tasks.

In choosing authentic texts, developers must consider that these

are context and age appropriate and that it fit the students’ linguistic
level. This is because some texts are more challenging than others in
terms of the presented ideas and concepts. 

With regards to authentic tasks, these are defined as ordinary

practices of the culture (Brown, Collins, and Diguid, 1989 as cited by
Dube, 2012)) and or real world activities that a person can expect to
encounter on the job, at home or other social contexts (Newman and
Wehlage, 1993 as cited by Dube, 2012). 

28
 Guariento and Morley (2001) have mentioned four broad
schools of thought regarding task authenticity. First is authenticity
through a genuine purpose. The emphasis of tasks should be primarily
be on meaning and communication, to ensure that real communication
takes place. Second, authenticity through real world targets. Task is
said to be authentic in this perspective by ensuring that the task has a
clear relationship with real world needs. Some examples of these tasks
are, reporting an experiment, buying a ticket, taking lecture notes,
giving directions. Third is authenticity through classroom interaction.
Tasks should have “sufficient potential for communication (Breen
1985, p. 67).” Examples of these tasks would be working in pairs and
groups, exploring on the usefulness and appropriateness of teacher
feedback. Last is authenticity through engagement. Tasks should allow
students to be immersed in their learning. These can be achieved by
making sure that tasks are interesting and have relevance and that the
purpose of the task is explained.  

In summary, texts should be those that reflect the way native

speakers communicate with each other naturally. In terms of the tasks,
language skills and behaviors that are required outside the classroom
are to be taught.

ELTM should link to each other. Linking, in this context,

promotes the development of a progression of skills, understanding
and language items. The developer should keep in mind that the
material should be coherent and that the lessons should be related to
each other. There is a tendency that developers would try to pick
language lessons that they think are important for the learner and then
construct activities and tests related to such. This sometimes leads to
unconnected activities in which the student and even the teacher
cannot monitor progress. Thus, it should be considered that there
should be organization between and among individual tasks. To do
this, a clear objective at the beginning of the design process would be
of great help, and then specific learning goals for every lesson
considering opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of earlier
learning so that students will not be able to forget the previous
language lessons. 

ELTM should be attractive. Capturing the attention of the

learners is important. However, the aspect of attractiveness does not
only refer to the physical appearance, but also to uniqueness, user-
friendliness, portability, durability, and the ability to be reproduced. 

29
 Since first impression is important, teaching materials should
be appealing. This can be achieved through considering factors such as
the use of colors, density of the text page, the type size, the
cohesiveness of the presentation, and the consistency of the layout. 

It is always refreshing when there is something new. Students

would always want to have something to explore and be curious
about. 
Also, the material should be user-friendly. For example, if
there is an activity that would require the student to write a lengthy
paragraph, then enough space should be given. 

Also, materials are not meant to be used in one session only.

Consideration needs to be given to how they can be resistant enough to
external factors such as heat, water and even the force of students
when flipping the pages so that it can be reused and reproduced. 
Lastly, materials should also be easy to handle and carry so that
it will be more convenient for the teacher and the students. 

ELTM should have appropriate instructions. Sometimes,

instructional goals are not realized because material developers are
vague in giving instructions. For instructions to be clear, they should
be written in a language that is understandable by the target learners.
Being elaborate can be of help in explaining, but in giving instructions,
being concise is preferred so as not to confuse the learners.
Some guidelines in writing instructions according to Bates
(2000) are: 1) use short sentences and short paragraphs; 2) arrange
points in logical order, 3) make statements specific; 4) use
the imperative mood, 4) put the most important item in each sentence
at the beginning; 5) say one thing in each sentence, 6) choose words
carefully, avoiding jargon and technical terms if possible; 7) give
an example or an analogy, if a statement may puzzle a reader; 8) check
completed draft for logic of presentation; and 9) do not omit steps or
take shortcuts.

ELTM should be flexible. Instructional materials should

provide choices for teachers and students. To do this, designers can
provide a variety of content by providing a range of possible inputs
and that students and teacher can choose on a method on how to apply
the skills learned. This means that being able to explore different
approaches and methodologies of teaching can be beneficial. 

30
 For example, a material can present a lesson on adjectives
using several pictures or images or through an authentic text. With
regards to the activities, developers can provide practice task about the
lesson in which the learner can consult a classmate with regards to
identifying the adjectives used in a news article and then another
activity which is to be done individually about the same topic but
using a trailer of a movie.   

Summary

Teachers are encouraged to develop their materials because it

has several advantages such as contextualization, being able to cater to
individual needs, personalisation and timeliness. However, it has also
its disadvantages such as organization, quality and even time. 

But when teachers decide to develop their materials, they

should consider the curriculum and context, resources and facilities,
personal confidence and competence, copyright compliance and time. 

Aside from the factors to be considered, some guidelines would

help in effectively constructing materials. The guidelines would say
that materials should: be contextualized, stimulate interaction and be
generative in terms of language, encourage learners to develop
learning skills and strategies, allow focus on form as well as function,
and offer opportunities for integrated language use, be authentic, link
to each other to develop progression of skills, be attractive, have
appropriate instruction and be flexible. 

References:

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (n.d.) Using

of authentic texts in language learning. Retrieved from
https://www.actfl.org/guiding-principles/use-authentic-texts-
language-learning.

Bates, J. D. (2000). Writing with Precision. Penguin.

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Bridges, L. (2018). All children deserve access to authentic text.
Retrieved from https://edublog.scholastic.com/post/all-
children-deserve-access-authentic-text#

Center for Applied Linguistics. (2020). Activities to promote

interaction and communication. Retrieved from
http://www.cal.org/caela/tools/program_development/elltoolk
it/Part2-41Interaction&Communication.pdf
Dube, M.A. (2012). Authentic tasks assignment. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/AyandaDube/authentic-task-
assignment
Guariento, W. and Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the
EFL classroom. Elt Journal. 55. 10.1093/elt/55.4.347.
Howard, J. and Major, J. (2004). Guidelines for designing effective
English language teaching materials. TESOLANZ Journal, 12,
50-58.
Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic Texts and ESP. In Holden, S.
(ed.). English for Specific Purposes. Modern English
Publications.
Moss, D. and Ross-Feldman, L. (2003). Second-language acquisition
in adults: From research to practice. Retrieved December 14,
2004 from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/
sla.html
Thornbury, S. (2006) An A-Z of ELT: A Dictionary of Terms and
Concepts Used in English Language Teaching. Oxford:
Macmillan.
Westphal, A. (2016). Connecting authentic texts to authentic tasks.
Retrieved from
http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/downloads/featur
es/2016/2016-12_Authentic%20Texts.pdf

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