MATERIALS DESIGNED FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING- A CRITICAL EVALUATION

by Magdalena Bobek.

Summary by: Angie Plata &
Andres Hoyos

Available: http://www.slideshare.net/magMagdalenaBobekMAELT/materials-designed-for-english-language-teaching-a-critical-analysis 

 

It starts talking about coursebooks, which are convenient in the language classroom because provides structure and methodological support. But it explain that coursebooks can never completely meet the needs for specific class of learners, that’s why they need the integration of additional material to make students learn, identify and enjoy.

Coursebooks are not completely bad, the bad thing is depending of them. Teachers can adapt or change textbook-based text, to make them appropriate to the class and the learners.

There are interesting cousebooks to follow, as “Messages 1” by Diana and Noel Goodey, but it has a lot of reading material with bound and reference to the British, American and Australian cultures, so learners from other countries maybe would not identify its contents, and will need additional explanations and context.

If we don’t have to do that, I would serve to other purposes such as get more easily into grammar review, reading, writing and speaking practice.

If the materials are adapted it will help slower leaners to felt less intimidated, overcome their shyness, participated better and were able to adopt certain things much faster. Sometimes, teacher can use this lack of context by using it as activities for students, as searching in the internet, sharing the info founded and express themselves, being engaged to the language activity.

Learning a language is a “jointly constructed and socially motivated process, contingent on the concerns, interests, desires and needs of the user” and the role as teachers is among other things to manage and facilitate the social processes out of which and for which language develops.

I personally believe that the reading was just itself a summary about the importance of designing materials for teaching English and it involves really good tips for us as future teachers, and we have to keep it in mind, not only for the different cultures but for the kind of learners we have, because we can’t use the same materials for adolescents and for adults, to make the process appealing, enjoying, interesting, and meaningful.

The atmosphere in the class is very positive as they seem to get along very well with one another and help each other out whenever necessary. The main aim for learning English at this stage of their second language acquisition (SLA) is to obtain a good level of knowledge of the language, which is a prerequisite for successfully completing their scholastic year and continuing at the next level.

The reading involves a theme that is of particular interest to the learners, I will often supplement it with additional material from other sources and try to bring it as close as possible to their own life experiences. Having done that it can then serve other purposes more easily such as for grammar review or extended reading, writing and speaking practice.

As a practitioner I firmly believe that learning a language is 'a jointly constructed and socially motivated process, contingent on the concerns, interests, desires, and needs of the user', and that my role as teacher is among other things 'to manage and facilitate the social processes out of which – and for which – language develops' (Thornbury and Meddings 2001:11). I will not deny using the coursebook in my teaching, however, not to the extent that it dictates how I teach or which learning element I give priority to in a particular unit. Using a variety of approaches and allowing learners to interact with one another, where they can make use of what they have learned, through activities that 'encourage learner initiation and creativity' and allow 'the possibility of peer feedback' (McGrath 2001:209), adds to the vitality needed in successful SLA, where the learners are not only receivers of knowledge, but also decisionmakers.