Instructional Materials

Instructional materials
 refers to the materials and facilities that can
be used to ease, encourage, improved and
promote teaching and learning activities
 indicate a systematic way of designing,
carrying out and employing the total
process of learning and communication and
employing human and non-human
resources to bring out a more meaningful
and effective instruction
The Role and Design of
Instructional Materials
 The Form of Teaching Materials
 Printed materials
ex. books, workbooks, worksheets
 Nonprint materials
ex. cassette, audio materials, videos
 Both print and nonprint sources
ex. self-access materials,
materials on the Internet
 Magazines, newspapers, TV programs
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)
Authentic versus created materials
 Authentic materials:
Teaching resources that are not specially
prepared for pedagogical purpose

 Created materials:
Text books and other specially developed
instructional resources
Advantages of authentic materials
 have a positive effect on learner motivation
 provide authentic cultural information about
the target culture
 provide exposure to real language
 relate more closely to learners’ needs
 support a more creative approach to teaching

(Phillips & Shettlesworth, 1978; Clarke, 1989; Peacock, 1997)

 Critics of using authentic materials
 Created materials can also be motivating for
learners
 Authentic materials often contain difficult language
 Created materials may be superior to authentic
materials because they are generally built around a
graded syllabus
 Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers
Evaluating textbooks
Before evaluating a textbook, information is
needed on the following issues:
 The role of the textbook in the program
ex. Will it be used with small classes or large ones?
 The teachers in the program
ex. Are teachers free to adapt and supplement the book?
 The learners in the program
ex. What do learners typically expect in a textbook?
Criteria for textbook evaluation
They should:
 Correspond to learners’ needs.

Match the aims and objectives of the

language learning program.
 Reflect the present or future uses
 Take account of students’ needs
 Have a clear role as a support for learning

(Cunningsworth, 1995)
A checklist for textbook
evaluation and selection ( Appendix 2)
Organized under the following categories (p. 274)
 Aims and approaches
 Design and organization
 Language content
 Skills
 Topic
 Methodology
 Teachers’ books
 Practical considerations (Cunningsworth, 1995)
Factors involved in textbook
evaluation and selection
 Program factors
 Teacher factors
 Learner factors
 Content factors
 Pedagogical factors
Adapting textbooks
A good provider of materials will be able to:

 Select appropriately from what is available

 Be creative with what is available
 Modify activities to suit learners’ needs
 Supplement by providing extra activities

(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)

Forms of adaptation
 Modifying content
 Adding or deleting content
 Reorganizing content
 Addressing omissions
 Modifying tasks
 Extending tasks
Types of Instructional Materials
 1. Textbook
- 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
 2. 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
 3. Teacher’s Book/Teacher’s
Manual/Teacher’s Guide
-contains a detailed rationale of the textbook
-explain the scope and the sequence for the
lessons
-include introductory notes on how to use the
textbooks, specic objectives for each lesson
and suggested strategies for teaching the
lessons
 4. Work Text
- combines the features of the textbooks and
the workbooks
- -provides teaching points like those in the
textbooks
- Reinforces the teaching points with many
drills and exercises
 5. Module and Self-Learning Kit (SLK)
- More interactive than the other types of
written IMs that appear in the workbook
- -develops independent study through self-
paced instruction
- Contains post-test, pre-test, lesson inputs,
exercises and drills
 6. Reference Book
- Provides general information on various
topics
- -includes encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas,
manuals
 7. Multimedia Instructional materials
-audio and visual materials accessible through
various media like radio, television and the
computer
-also include interactive courseware on
various topics
Factors Affecting Material
Preparation
1. The curriculum, syllabus, and learning
competencies
2. Learner’s learning style, aptitudes,
proficiency
3. Pedagogical principles held by the tecahers
4. Societal demand
Contextual Factors
1. Learner factors
- age, level of proficiency in English, aptitude,
mother tongue, academic and educational
level, attitudes in 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, socio-cultural environment,
types of test to be used; procedures for
monitoring and evaluating
Syllabus
- Expression of opinion on the nature of
language and learning
- It acts as a guide for both the teacher and
the learner by providing some goals to be
attained
- -a statement of what is to be learnt
(Hutchinon and Walters, 1987)
Syllabus inventory
- list of the content to be covered in the
language program
The syllabus model has three
levels
1. Approach
- refers to the views and beliefs or theories of
language and language learning on which
planning is based
2. Design
- Converts the principle in the first level into
more practical aspects of syllabus and
instructional materials
3. Procedure
- Refers to the techniques and management of
the classroom itself
Types of Language Teaching
Syllabi
1. Structural (formal) Syllabus
-the content of langauge teaching is a
collection of the forms and structures, usually
grammatical of the language being taught
2. A notional/functional syllabus
-the content of the language teaching is a
collection of the functions that are performed
when a language is used
3. Situational syllabus
- The content of the language is a collection
of real or imaginary situations in which
langauge
2. Design
- Covers the principles in the first level
(approach) into more practical aspects of
syllabus and instructional materials
3. Procedures
-refers to the techniques and management of
the classroom itself
Types of Syllabus
1.Structural (formal) Syllabus
The collection of language teaching is a
collection of the forms and structures,
usually grammatical, of the language being
taught
2. A notional/functional syllabus
The content of the language teaching is a
collection of the functions that are performed
when language is used, or the notion that a
language is used to express
3. Situational syllabus
-The content of the language teaching is a
collection of a real imaginary situations in
which language occur or it is used
-The language occurring in the situation
involves a number of functions, combined
into a plausible segment of discourse
- The primary purpose of situational-language
teaching syllabus is to teach the langauge that
occurs in a specific situation
4. Skill-based syllabus
- the content of language is a collection of
specific abilities that may play a part of a
language
5. A task-based syllabus
- the content of the teaching is a series of
complex and purposeful tasks that the student
wants or need to perform with the langauge
they are learning
6. A content-based syllabus
- The primary purpose of content-based
langauge teaching is concerned with
information, while task based-language
teaching is concerned with communicative
and language processes
Preparing materials for a program

Advantages: Disadvantages
‧Relevance ‧Cost
‧Develop expertise ‧Quality
‧Reputation ‧Training
‧Flexibility
 The nature of materials
development
The process of materials development:
 Preparation: ex. critical analysis of texts
 Representation: ex. examples, demonstrations
 Selection: ex. choice from modes of teaching,

organizing, managing, and arranging

 Adapting and tailoring to student characteristics:

ex. consideration of social class, gender, age

(Shulman, 1987)
Characteristics for good language
teaching materials (Tomlinson,
1998)
Materials should:
 achieve impact
 help learners feel at ease
 help learners to develop confidence
 be relevant and useful to students
 require and facilitate learner self-investment
 expose the learners to language in authentic use
 provide the learners with opportunities to achieve
communicative purpose
 take into account that positive effects of instruction are usually
delayed
 Characteristics for good language
teaching materials
Materials should:
 take into account that the learners have different learning styles
 take into account that learners differ in affective attitudes
 permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction
 maximize learning potential
 not rely too much on controlled practice
 provide opportunities for outcome feedback
 Learners must be ready to acquire the points being taught
 The learners’ attention should be drawn to linguistic features of
the input
Decisions in materials design
Processes of program design and materials design:
 Developing aims
 Developing objectives
 Developing a syllabus
 Organizing the course into units
 Developing a structure for units
 Sequencing units
 Choosing input and sources
 Selecting exercise types
Choosing input and sources
 Grammar materials
 Listening materials
 Reading materials
 Writing materials
 Speaking materials
Selecting exercise types
An example of exercises that involve a nonlinguistic
response to the text:
 Ordering a sequence of pictures
 Comparing texts and pictures
 Matching
 Using illustrations
 Completing a document
 Mapping it out
 Using the information in a text
 Jigsaw reading
Selecting exercise types
An example of exercises that involve a linguistic
response to the text:
 Reorganizing the information: recording events
 Reorganizing the information: using grids
 Comparing several texts
 Completing a document
 Question types
 Study skills: summarizing
 Study skills: note taking
Managing a materials writing
project
A team-based writing project involves:
 Selecting the project team
 Planning the number of stages involved
 Identifying reviewers
 Planning the writing schedule
 Piloting the materials
 Design and production
Monitoring the use of materials
Forms of Monitoring:
 Observation
 Feedback sessions
 Written reports
 Review
 Students’ reviews