Table of Content

No.

Content

Page

Selecting and Evaluating Materials

Criteria for Choosing Literary Text

Type of Course

Type of Students

Addition: The students Linguistic

Proficiency

Addition: The students Literacy

Background

Other Factors to Consider

When Selecting Texts

Evaluating Learning Materials which

Make
Use of Literacy Texts

Teachers Comments

10

The Quickie Book

11

Detailed Book Evaluation

10-11

12

Evaluating a Piece of Material

Content

12

electing and Evaluating Materia

Section 3.1:
criteria for
selecting
literary
texts

How to
select texts
& materials
which are
suitable for
use with
students

Section 3.2 :
ways of
evaluating
published
materials

iteria for Choosing Literary Tex

2.1 Type of course

Criteria for
choosing
literary
text

2.2 Type of students

2.3 Other textrelated factors

Levels of students
Students reasons for
learning English
Kind of English requires
Length/intensity of course

Age
Intellectual maturity
Emotional understanding
Interest/hobbies
Cultural background
Linguistic proficiency
Literary background

Availability of text
Length of text
Explatiality
Fit with syllabus

Type of Course

Level of students

Length/intensity of
course
5 hours a day for
three months
4 hours a week for a
year
Syllabus flexible?
Literature included?
Include literary texts?
Texts suitability

Type
of
course

Kind of English
required
Academic purpose
Business
General

Students reasons
for learning
English

Type of Students
Age of
Students

Too old to enjoy text

Too young to enjoy text

Intellectual
maturity of
students

Students
emotional
understanding

Too developed to find text engaging

Too immature to relate to text

Students
interests /
hobbies
Type of students

Far removed from themes/ content of tex

Close to themes/content of text

Too remote from text to help

comprehension
Close enough to text for easy
comprehension
How far students cultural
background, social & political
expatiations will help/hinder the
understanding of a text
How much background will need to
provide
Too
advance
to be themes
challenged
Touch
on relevant
to by
the
text
students
Too elementary to cope with the
text

Students
cultural
background

Students
linguistic
proficiency

Students literary
background

Too developed to find

text challenging
Too immature to relate to
text

Too well-developed to be
challenged by the text
Insufficient to cope with the text

Addition: The students Linguistic

Proficiency
Students is
sufficiently familiar
with the usual
norms of language
use
Achaisms
Rhetorical devices
Metaphors
Dialect
Register of a highly
specialized field

Relevant to the
type of language
required to learn
the course

Students are
able to infer the
text language

Addition:
The
students
Linguistic
Proficiency
Even if the text is
extremely
difficult, students
will be motivated
by other factors
to study the text

Students find it
useful &
enjoyable to
study the text

Students will not

feel demotivated
by the difficulties
of the language

ddition: The students Litera

Background
Not looking
only to the
grading of
the language
in the text

Students
need
guidance in
making
sense of
their deeper
literary
meaning

Addition:
the
students
literacy
backgroun
d

Look at
specific
literary
qualities

Look at
students
ability to
navigate
their own
way to have
literacy
competence

Other Factors to Consider

When Selecting Texts

Availability of
texts

Kind of books and text available

Easy to make it available to students

Enough time available to

work on the text in class
Time needed for students to
work on the text at home
Can use whether only part of
a text or an abridged version
How much background
information given to make the
text intelligible

Length of
test

Other
factors to
consider
when
selecting
texts

Exploitability

What kind of task and

activities to exploit the text
Are there resources available
to help teachers exploiting
the text. E.g.: a film of
particular novel, recordings
of a play, poems, library
materials

The text link with the rest of

the syllabus
E.g.: thematically,
vocabulary, grammar, discourse
Activities & task can be devised
and linked with methodology
used before in the syllabus to
explant the text and help to
ease the students

Fit with syllabus

luating Learning Materials which M

Use of Literacy Texts

Teachers
comments
Teacher A
Teacher B
Teacher C

Evaluating
a piece of
material

Evaluating
Learning
Materials
which make
use of
Literacy
Texts

The
detailed
book
evaluation
sheet

The
quickie
book
evaluation
sheet

Teachers Comments

Teacher
A

Teachers
comment
s

Teacher
B

Teacher C

Students are very academics

Have to pass a stiff British
literature exam
Need British literature book
to show the chronology to
students
Need book provide lots of
history background
information
Need book provide lots of
literary trends background
information
Need book provide
necessary information
Need book actively involve
students
in thinking
Need book
that canfor
dip into
themselves
now and again with
students
Need book with nice poems
or extract to encourage
discussion
The students need English
for their work.
The students enjoy a
change of activity now and
again
Students love a good
Need
book to help students
discussion
with their reading
Need book with collection of
shorts stories, tasks / exercise
for homework and can be
discussed in class

The Quickie Book

The
Quicki
e
Book
Evalua
tion
sheet
The
Quicki
e Book
The
Quickie
Book
Evaluati
on
Content

Can be used when

Have time to look
fairly rapicly
through a book
Have time to look
fairly rapidly
through a number
of books
Title of book
Author(s)
Publisher
Level
Overall aims /
approach
Types of text used
Skill / language
area which book
will help to
improve
Strength of
material
Weakness of
materials
Suitable for my
students?
9

Detailed Book Evaluation

The detailed
book
evaluation
sheet

Detailed
Book
Evaluation
Content

Detailed
book
evaluation

Detailed
Book
Evaluation
Content
(aims and
organisation)

Detailed Book
Evaluation
Content
(materials and
activities)

10

Can be used when have more

time to assess a book in
detail
In provides some overall
guidelines
Title of book
Author (s)
Publisher
Aims and organization
Materials and activities
Instructions and layout
Accompanying resources
Suitability of class/group

Overall aims
Suitable adopted approach
to using literature
Books organisation
Self-contained units/sections

Kind of text
Sufficient varied, interesting and
relevant text, tasks and activities
Sufficient linguistic guidance with
the language as the text
Adequate cultural, historical &
literary background informaions
Encourage students to relate
materials to own lives and
experiences
Enough challenging for students
Can be adapted

Detailed Book Evaluation

The detailed
book
evaluation
sheet
content
(instruction
and layout)

Clear and easy to

follow
Clear layout and
attractive
Visual supplement in
the class

Detailed
book
evaluati
on

Detailed
Book
Evaluation
Content
(Accompan
ying
Resources)

Detailed
Book
Evaluation
sheet
Content
(suitability
for
(class/grou
p))

11

Sufficient guidance
on using the book
for teacher
Available recorded
material
Book can be used
on their own

Reasons for using this

book

Evaluating a Piece of Materi

Content
reason to
use the
material
with
students

Title of book

Author(s)

publisher

Layout and
design
Instruction
clarity

Evaluating
A Piece of
Material
Content

Provide
culture,
literary and
historical
background

Linguistic
guidance

Students
participatio
n and
personalizat
ion

Relevant
material
page
Suitability
of students
approach
Suitability
of students
level

Task and
activities
variety and
appropriate
ness

Task and
activitys
staging and
grading
12

Relevance
and interest