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Instructional Material Design (Week 5). Ezis Japar Sidik, MA English Program Serang, 2 8 -3 0 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:
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Instructional Material Design(Week 5) Ezis Japar Sidik, MA English Program Serang, 28-30 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: • What is the first thing you would like to do/prepare in that situation? • Are there any judgmental procedures you would do before you decide to choose (point 1)? • 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: • Would you accept the offer? • Yes, why • No, why • 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