Instructional Material Design (Week 5) Ezis Japar Sidik, MA English Program Serang, March 2011

Scenario 1: Suppose, you are teaching English in a school. Just in sudden, your principle ask you to teach English in a new class/grade that you have never taught before. Discuss: 1. What is the first thing you would like to do/prepare in that situation? 2. Are there any judgmental procedures you would do before you decide to choose (point 1)? 3. Would you be happy with just one (point 1) in your hand or you would be happy if you have more?

Scenario 2: Suppose, you are an English teacher in a school, suddenly someone from a textbook publisher offers you to sell their textbooks to your students and you will receive incentives in return. Discuss: 1. Would you accept the offer? Yes, why No, why 2. If you accept the offer, what would you like to consider?

Choosing textbooks and teaching materials Teaching materials: Commercial Textbooks or self- prepared materials A. Commercial Textbooks Commercial textbooks: Advantages and disadvantages Evaluating textbooks: Criteria for evaluation B. Self-prepared Materials Preparing materials for a program: pluses and minuses Adapting textbooks

Commercial Textbooks: Pluses and Minuses Pluses They provide structure and a syllabus for a program They help standardize instruction They maintain quality They provide a variety of learning resources They are efficient They can provide effective language models and input They can train teachers They are visually appealing Minuses They main contain inauthentic language They may distort content They may not reflect students’ needs They can deskill teachers They are expensive

Evaluating Textbooks: Criteria for evaluation Cunningsworth (1995) proposes 4 criteria for evaluating course books: They should correspond to learners’ needs They should reflect the uses (present & future) that learners will make of the language They should consider the students’ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning process They should have a clear role as a support for learning

Evaluating Textbooks (2) Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) propose the following questions to ask when selecting [ESP] materials/textbooks: Will they stimulate and motivate? To what extent does the material match the stated learning objectives and your learning objectives? (it is rare for a single set of published material to match the exact learning needs of any one ESP learner group, and activities do not always meet the stated objectives.) To what extent will the materials support the learning process?

Evaluating Textbooks () Cunningsworth (1995) presents a checklist for textbook evaluation and selection organized under the following categories: Aims and approaches Design and organization Language content Skills Topic Methodology Teachers’ books Practical considerations

Self-prepared Materials: Why? It is necessary to notice that no commercial book will ever be a perfect fit for a language program (Richards, 2007)

Self-prepared materials: advantages and disadvantages Advantages Relevance Develop expertise Reputation Flexibility Disadvantages Cost Quality Training

Adapting textbooks Self-prepared materials are not merely those that are created or developed by teachers. Self-prepared materials can be developed by adopting available textbooks. Most teachers are not creators of teaching materials but providers of good materials (Richards, 2001, p. 260) In regards to this, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) suggest that 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 (extra input)

Adapting textbooks (2) The adaptation of textbooks may take a variety of forms: Modifying content Adding and deleting content Reorganizing content Addressing omissions Modifying tasks Extending tasks

Reference Richards, J. (2007) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. NY: Cambridge University press