The Role and Design of

Instructional Materials
Instructor: Dr. Mavis Shang
Presenter: Sophia

5 June 2008
I-Shou University, Taiwan
 The Form of Teaching Materials
Printed materials
ex. books, workbooks, worksheets, readers
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
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
Author and academic Market led
centered
Uncertain global market Specific fragmented markets
European focus Pacific Rim/ Latin American
focus
Sell what is published International or local culture
Culture and methodology Indigenous learning
of origin situations
English for its own sake English for specific
purposes
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
UK/ US publisher Rise in local publishing
dominance
Native speaker expertise Nonnative speaker
competence
Culturally insensitive
Culturally sensitive
Low risk / competition
High risk / competition
Little design
Design rich
Artificial texts and tasks Authenticity
Single-volume titles Multicomponent/multimedia
Advantages of using commercial
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 commercial
textbooks
May contain inauthentic language
May distort content
May not reflect students needs
Can deskill teachers
Be expensive
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)
Questions to ask when selecting
ESP materials
Will the materials stimulate and motivate?
To what extend does the material match the
stated learning objectives and your learning
objectives?
To what extent will the materials support
the learning process?
(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)
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
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

** copyright permission
Selecting exercise types (Appendix 1, p.272)
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 (Grellet, 1981)
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 (Grellet, 1981)
Managing a materials writing
project ( Appendix 3, p. 277)
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
Thank you!