CRITICAL

REVIEW
ARTICLE 1
Evaluating and Adapting Materials For Young
Learners by Paul Dickinson.
ARTICLE 2
Guidelines For Designing Effective English
Teaching and Learning Materials by Jocelyn
Howard. BY:
PREPARED

1. ANUM BINTI NOR

AZMAN

2. NOOR AQILAH BINTI KAMARUDIN

Definition of terms
Young learners
In this paper young
learners will be
considered learners
between five and
twelve years of age.

Adaptation
Adaptation is the
altering of materials
to improve or make
them more suitable
for a particular type
of learner or group of
learners.

Materials evaluation
Materials evaluation
will be considered a
procedure that
involves examining
learning materials to
establish their value

Course book and

Textbook
coursebook and
textbook will be used
interchangeably to
refer to books
intended by their
producers to be used
as core teaching
materials.

Materials
Materials will be
considered anything
which is used to help
language learning

Principles of language
learning
Children actively
try to construct
meaning

Childrens foreign
language learning
depends on what
they experience

Development can
be seen as
internalising from
social interaction

Children need
space for language
growth

Language in use
carries cues to
meaning that may
not be noticed

A learning-centred approach to
teaching young learners
focus on the needs of
the learner

keep in sight the longterm view and direct

the child towards
increasingly demanding
challenges so as not to
waste any learning
potential

does not revolve

around having children
do activities or projects
individually or in
groups, or being as
physically active as
possible.

It is more mental than

physical with the initial
desire for learning
starting within each
child

Learning through tasks and

activities
have coherence and unity for learners (from
topic, activity and/or outcome)
have meaning and purpose for learners
have clear language learning goals
have a beginning and end
involve the learners actively

Preparation
help prepare learners to
successfully complete
the core activity, and
may include the
activation of key
vocabulary

Core activity
central to the task and
is set up through its
language learning
goals.

Follows up
builds on the
successfully completed
core activity and might
involve an oral
performance or written
work based on
language used in the
core

Materials evaluation skill

scheme
Assessmen
t

General
Appearanc
e

Layout and
Design

Teachabilit
y and
Flexibility

Methodolog
y

Topic
Content

Activities

Language
Content

Language
Skills

Adapting materials for a

learning-centred classroom

The activity

Activity
demands

Activity
support

Balancing
and
demand
support

The activity
The student book
activity is an oral
practice activity
intended to practise the
question and- answer
pattern

These items should

already be familiar to
learners having been
introduced in the
preceding activity.

Activity demands

Focusing first on
the learning
demands it can be
seen that this
activity includes
both cognitive and
languagedemands.

Cognitive demands

Language demands

- understand that they have to

work from left to right, from
number 1 through 8
- understand that the picture
shows a present situation
- understand that want is used in
the depicted situation to express
a desire for something
that is immediately available

- recall the vocabulary to describe

each food or drink item
-- put the words together in the
right order
- use a or an correctly with each
item
- pronounce the words
- give correct stress and
intonation to words and
sentences
- understand teachers
instructions and feedback
- understand partners questions
and responses

Activity support
The graphic supports
learners language
production by
contextualising the
language to be used.

The audio CD
provides support by
providing a model of
how to say the new
language.

The teacher provides

support by
demonstrating and
modelling the
activity.

Support is also
provided through the
use of words and
sentences

Learners are also

supported by
working in pairs and
listening to their
partners.

Balancing demands and

supports
the successful completion of
an activity and the
subsequent language
learning benefits depend
not only on the demands or
the support, but on the
dynamic relationship
between demands and
support.

Task that will help the

learner learn more language
will be demanding but not
too demanding and provide
support but not too much
support.

If the learning demands are

too high the child will find
the activity too difficult and
either not be able to
complete it or appear to use
the new language
successfully during the
activity, but not understand
or learn it.

On the other hand, if an

activity provides too much
support, then children will
not be sufficiently
challenged to develop their
language.

CRITICAL
REVIEW
ARTICLE 1
Evaluating and Adapting Materials For Young
Learners by Paul Dickinson.
ARTICLE 2
Guidelines For Designing Effective English
Teaching and Learning Materials by Jocelyn
Howard. BY:
PREPARED

1. ANUM BINTI NOR

AZMAN

2. NOOR AQILAH BINTI KAMARUDIN

OVERVIEW
ARTICLE 1

CONCLUSION

COMPARE AND
CONTRAST:
ARTICLE 1 &
ARTICLE 2

PRINCIPLES OF
MATERIALS
SELECTION AND
ADAPTATION

ARTICLE 2
EVALUATION OF
WEAKNESSES

EVALUATION
OF
STRENGTHS

CONCLUSION

EVALUATION OF
STRENGTHS
AND
WEAKNESSES

PRINCIPLES OF
MATERIALS
SELECTION AND
ADAPTATION

EVALUATION OF
ISSUES ARISING

ARTICLE 2
Guidelines For Designing Effective English Teaching and
Learning Materials by Jocelyn Howard

PRINCIPLES GUIDELINES FOR

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE TEACHING
MATERIALS
EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES
CONCLUSION

The learners
The curriculum and
context

FACTORS

The resources and

facilities available
Personal confidence
and competence
Copyright
compliance
Time constraint

PRINCIPLES GUIDELINES
Guideline 1: English language teaching materials should be contextualised.

Guideline 2: Materials should stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of

language.

Guideline 3: English language teaching materials should encourage learners to

develop learning skills and strategies.

Guideline 4: English language teaching materials should allow for a focus on form as
wells as function.

Guideline 5: Offer opportunities for integrated language use.

Guideline 6: English language teaching materials should be authentic.

Guideline 7: Link to each other to develop a progression of skills,

understanding and language items.

Guideline 8: English language teaching materials should be attractive.

Guideline 9: English language teaching materials should have appropriate

instruction.

Guideline 10: English language teaching materials should be flexible.

Principles

Review

Guideline 1: English language teaching

materials should be contextualised.

The materials should be

contextualised to the:
-curriculum they are intended to
address.
- experiences, realities and first
languages of the learners.
-topics and themes

Guideline 2: Materials should stimulate

interaction and be generative in terms of
language.

-able to acknowledge the

communication inherent in an
interactive activity in the classroom.

Guideline 3: English language teaching

materials should encourage learners to
develop learning skills and strategies.

-provide opportunity to the pupils

for self-evaluation through practices
by using the materials.

Guideline 4: English language teaching

-develop active, independent
materials should allow for a focus on form language learners.
as wells as function.
Guideline 5: Offer opportunities for
integrated language use.

-the materials provide many

language uses to the pupils in the
classroom.

Principles

Review

Guideline 6: English language teaching

materials should be authentic.

-aim for authentic spoken and visual

text.
- authenticity in terms of the tasks
which pupils are required to perform
with them.

Guideline 7: Link to each other to develop -materials should have coherency

a progression of skills, understanding and and link from one activity to another
language items.
in one lesson.
Guideline 8: English language teaching
materials should be attractive.

-physical appearance and userfriendliness

-durability (can be used more than
once by many pupils)

Guideline 9: English language teaching

materials should have appropriate
instruction.

-help the teachers and pupils to use

the materials effectively and wisely.

Guideline 10: English language teaching

materials should be flexible.

-diversity in many areas, can be

used by the pupils and teachers to
teach different skills.

EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS

Contextualisation
Resources
availability

Timeless

Personalisation

Strengths
Focus for the
materials and
actiivities
Make decisions
about the most
appropriate
organizing principle

Individual needs

Provide
opportunity to
select texts at the
right level
Ensure
appropriate
challenge and
levels of success

Contextualisation

Enables the teachers to take into account

their particular teaching and learning
environment and to overcome the lack of
fit of the course book.

Resources available

To make best use of the resources available in

their teaching context.

Individual needs

It is important to identify learners individual

needs.
-provide opportunity to select texts and
activities at exactly the right level for
particular learners.
-ensure appropriate challenge and levels of
success.

Make decisions about the most Focus for the materials and activities.
appropriate organizing principle The teacher can choose from the range of
possibilities, including topics, situations, skills
etc.

Personalization

-Add a personal touch to teach the students

about appreciation (Block, 1991)
-Suit the interest and learning styles of
students
Increase motivation and engagement in
learning
-Freedom

Timeless

Up-to-date
Relevant
High interest topics and tasks

EVALUATION OF WEAKNESSES
Organisation
May lack
overall
coherence,
lack of clear
direction
Confusing for
learners

Poorly
focused
activities

May end up
damage or
with parts
missing

Quality

Ragged and
unprofessional as
compared to
professional
products

May contain errors,

be poorly
constructed, lack
of clarity in layout
and lack of
durability

Lack of experience
and understanding
on the part of the
teacher my result
in parts missing or
left out

Inconsistent and
poor choices of
texts

CONCLUSION FOR ARTICLE 2

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Article 1

Children actively try to construct

meaning
Children need space for language
growth
Language in use carries cues to
meaning that may not be noticed
Development can be seen as
internalising from social interaction
Childrens foreign language
learning depends on what they
experience

focus on the needs of the learner

initial desire for learning starting
within each child

language learning benefits depend

not only on the demands or the
support, but on the dynamic
relationship between demands and
support

Article 2