INSTRUCTIONAL

MATERIALS
The role of materials
(Cunningsworth, 1995)

• A resource for presentation materials

• A source of activities for learner practice
and communicative interaction
• A reference source for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, and so on
• A source of stimulation and ideas for
classroom activities
• A syllabus
• A support for less experienced teachers
The functions of materials
• As a source of language
• As a learning support
• For motivation and stimulation
• For reference

(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)

Advantages of using
textbooks
• Provide structure and a syllabus for a program
• Help standardize instruction
• Maintain quality
• Provide a variety of learning resources
• Be efficient
• Provide effective language models and input
• Train teachers
• Visually appealing
Negative effects of

textbooks
• May contain inauthentic language
• May distort content
• May not reflect students’ needs
• Can deskill teachers
• Be expensive
Types of Instructional Materials
Printed Materials
• Advantages
• Available to learner in absence of
teacher
• Widely acceptable, familiar
• Readily available, relatively cheap
• Convenient form
• Learner controls rate of reading
• Content easily altered to target specific
audiences
Printed Materials…

Disadvantages:
• Most abstract form of reality
• Immediate feedback limited
• Proper reading level essential for full
usefulness
• Less useful with low literate learners or
visually or cognitively impaired learners
• Inappropriate for illiterate learners
Evaluating Printed Materials
Consider:
• Nature of the audience
• Literacy level required
• Linguistic variety available
• Brevity and clarity
• Layout and appearance
• Opportunity for repetition
• Concreteness and familiarity
Kinds of Instructional Materials
I. Printed Materials
a. Textbooks
b. Supplemental materials
1. Workbooks
2. Duplicated Outlines
3. Teacher-prepared study guides
4. Reference Books
5. Pamphlets
6. Magazine Articles
7. Newspapers
Kinds of Instructional Materials…

II. Audio Aids

1. Radio
2. Phonograph
3. Tape Recorders
PRINTED
MATERIALS
• Printed materials include
textbooks, fiction and nonfiction
books, booklets, as well as word-
processed documents prepared by
students and teachers.
• Textbooks have long been the
foundation of classroom
instruction.
• AVAILABILITY. Printed materials are
readily available on a variety of topics and
in many different formats.

• FLEXIBILITY. They are adaptable to many

changes to many purposes and may be
used in any well-lit environment.

• PORTABILITY. They are easily carried

from place to place and do not require
any equipment or electricity.
• USER FRIENDLY. Properly designed
printed materials are easy to use, not
requiring special effort to “navigate”
through them.

• ECONOMICAL. Printed materials are

relatively inexpensive to produce or
purchase and can be reused.
In fact, some may be obtained free, as
described in Chapter 4.
LIMITATIONS
• READING LEVEL. The major limitation
of printed materials is that they are
written at a certain reading level.

• MEMORIZATION. Some teachers

require students to memorize many
facts and definitions.

• VOCABULARY. Some texts introduce a

large number of vocabulary terms and
concepts in a short amount of space.
• ONE-WAY PRESENTATION. Since most
printed materials are not interactive, they
tend to be used in a passive way, often
without comprehension.

• CURRICULUM DETERMINATION.
Sometimes textbooks dictate the
curriculum rather than being used to
support the curriculum.

• CURSORY APPRAISAL. Selection

committees might not examine textbooks
carefully.
Integration
• The most common application of
printed materials is presenting
information. Students are given
reading assignments and are held
accountable for the material during
class discussions and on tests.

• Teacher-made handouts can also

complement a teacher’s presentation,
or students may use them as they
study independently.
• Printed materials are used in all subject
areas and with students of all ages once
they learn to read. The media center is a
source of a variety of printed materials on
countless topics and in almost every
conceivable format.

• Guidelines and examples are found in

“When to Use Printed Materials.”
When to Use Printed Materials

GUIDELINES EXAMPLES
High school students
read an assigned
. . . reading printed chapter from the
information for course textbook.
which they will be
held accountable Student use library
books, encyclopedias,
or newspapers to add
. . . supplementing to their knowledge of
teacher-presented a topic.
material
. . . using handouts Students use a step-
that guide them by-step guide to
through learning write a book report.
activities

. . . implementing an Students survey, ask

SQ3R method questions, read,
recite, and review
printed information
about the Bill of
Rights.
Supplemental
Materials
Supplemental Print Material
• Print media, including photographs,
reproductions of pictures, drawings, murals,
cartoons, and other print materials are valuable
supplemental aids. Charts, diagrams, and graphs
are also in this category. Many of these items are
suitable for long-term use on bulletin boards and
in briefing areas. Pictures, drawings, and
photographs are especially effective because they
provide common visual imagery for both
instructors and students. In addition, they also
provide realistic details necessary for visual
recognition of important subject material. In
many cases, this type of supplemental training
media may be reproduced in a format for
projection on a screen or other clear surface.
Supplemental Print Material…
• Numerous other useful print items
may be considered as supplemental
training aids. Some of these include
study guides, exercise books, course
outlines, and syllabi. Well-designed
course outlines are especially useful to
students because they list the key
points and help students organize
note taking during a lecture.
 Workbook
• Printed material accompanying
a course text (textbook) that
contains exercises, problems,
and practice material to clarify
and reinforce the lessons
presented in the textbook
•
Advantages
Workbooks are often used in schools for younger students, either in middle
school or elementary school. They are favored because students can work
directly in their books, eliminating the need for looseleaf and copying
questions from a textbook. In industry, they may be customized interactive
manuals which are used to help provide structure to an
otherwise complex problem.

• Workbooks also hold an advantage because they are usually smaller and lighter
than textbooks, which equates to less trouble when the student brings the
book home to complete their homework.

• The term workbook is also used to describe other compilations of questions

that require the reader to complete scratch-work when dealing with higher-
level mathematics. It can also be used as a training tool for certain job
positions.

• More recently, electronic workbooks have permitted interactive and

customized learning. Such workbooks may be used on computers, laptops,
PDAs, and may be web-based.
 Handouts
• The quality of handouts that is acceptable may
vary depending on their purpose and your
situation. Generally speaking, using a
xerographic photocopier or offset equipment
produces the most professional-looking copies.
• No matter what method you choose, the
handouts you give your students should be clear,
logical, straightforward, concise, error-free, and
above all legible.
Teacher Prepared
Study Guide
• Study guides can be broad based
to facilitate learning in a
number of areas, or be
resources that foster
comprehension of literature,
research topics, history, and
other subjects.
Reference Books
• Reference books, Atlas,
dictionary, directory,
encyclopedia, handbook,
thesaurus, or any other work
designed to be used in finding
specific items of information,
rather than for cover to cover
reading.
Reference Books
 Pamphlets
• A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard cover or
binding). It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on
both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths (called a leaflet),
or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle
stapled at the crease to make a simple book.

• In order to count as a pamphlet, UNESCO requires a publication (other

than a periodical) to have "at least 5 but not more than 48 pages
exclusive of the cover pages"; a longer item is a book

The purpose of a pamphlet is

1. Pamphlets are useful in business communications.
2. To educate, inform, persuade, or entertain your intended audience.
3. To mobilize people to support your cause.
4. To advertise a meeting or specific event.
5. To popularize your slogans and messages.
Pamphlets
 Magazine
• Magazines may be referred to as popular press publications because
articles are often written by journalists, who gather information from
various sources and synthesize it into their stories or reports. Although
a journalist may specialize in a particular type of reporting, journalists
are not usually scholars. The audience for articles in magazines is
usually the general public.

• Articles in magazines are often a good way to gain an overview of your topic,
but will seldom give full information on where the author found the information
included. That is, a bibliography of sources is generally not included.

• Some examples of magazines (among many others) that might have information
on our example topic include:

• Newsweek

• Time

• Scientific American

• U.S. News & World Report

Magazine Articles
Newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication
containing news, other
informative articles (listed below), and
usuallyadvertising. A newspaper is usually
printed on relatively inexpensive, low-
grade paper such as newsprint. The news
organizations that publish newspapers are
themselves often metonymically called
newspapers. Most newspapers now publish
online as well as in print. The online versions
are called online newspapers or news sites
Newspapers
Audio Aids
(sound related
materials)
Phonograph
Phonograph, also called record
player, instrument for reproducing sounds by means
of the vibration of a stylus, or needle, following
a groove on a rotating disc. A phonograph disc, or
record, stores a replica of sound waves as a series of
undulations in a sinuous groove inscribed on its
rotating surface by the stylus. When the record is
played back, another stylus responds to the
undulations, and its motions are then reconverted
into sound.
Tape Recorders
 Audiotapes/CDs
When to USE:
• Particularly suited for
language learning, media
studies, English literature,
etc.
• Valuable when referring to
recorded historical events
(e.g. Martin Luther King’s
“I have a dream” speech).
• Background music can also
be played before class starts
and during group activities.
TIPS
• Check the room and equipment
beforehand.
• Can it be heard from the back
of the room?
• Find the right spot on the
tape/CD and queue it up in
advance.
• Don’t play more than a few
minutes of audio at one time.
• Break up longer clips into
segments, interspersed with
discussion or other activities.