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Summative Task: Course Materials Utilizing proper course materials for English classroom teaching is crucial for effective teaching. This is especially so if the teacher is new on the job. It is also crucial if the classroom is composed of a special cohort, such as young learners, or a specialty course such as business English or academic English. A useful definition of course materials is: anything the teacher uses in the classroom to aid in the teaching process. This includes things such as pictures, flashcards, drawings, charts, worksheets, tape recordings, comic books, magazines, TV clips, and videos. There are two categories of course materials. The first is “authentic materials”. These include materials that have been produced for a real specific purpose, for the general public. This includes such things as magazines, TV guides, newspapers, train schedules, public notices, travel brochures, and college enrollment catalogs. The advantages of using authentic course material includes, low cost (just get a free copy), and the real-life quality of the material. When students see and use authentic materials, they are engaging in real life informational objects which will make them feel more comfortable in future encounters with these materials. If for example they learn and study a TV Guide, they will feel very comfortable about using it in their real lives. The second category of course materials is called “non-authentic” course materials. These include any material which have been produced specifically as a teaching aid. These can be produced either by an educational company or by an individual teacher. The main advantage of using non-authentic materials is that they can be designed to fit a certain student age cohort or topic (young learners, business English, academic English). As an example, the TV program Sesame Street is an excellent course material for a classroom composed of young learners. Some tips on how to properly use course materials in the classroom includes: writing the materials to be used in your lesson plan; choosing materials based on the needs of your students; using the course materials for teaching in the “Study” phase only (if you are using the ESA method); consider how you will physically organize the classroom, i.e. how the students will interact with the material, i.e. as individuals, pairs, or groups; always give explanations of how to use or complete the material BEFORE the activity. One further very important tip is when explaining how to do the exercise or activity DEMONSTRATE THE ACTIVITY, DON’T EXPLAIN IT. Coursebooks The most widely used classroom material for teaching English is course books. For beginning English teachers especially, course books are in invaluable resource because they provide a step-by-step process on how to teach the materials. Course books are set of materials that usually include: student books for classroom use; workbooks for individual student use; audio recordings for home study; a teacher book; progress tests. Some advantages for using course books include: time-savings – the teacher does not have to create materials from scratch; a syllabus is provided which is graded to a skill level suitable for the class cohort; a good mix of grammar, vocabulary and skills activities; the course book materials will already have been “tried and tested”. Some disadvantages of course books include: the materials might not fit exactly the needs of the class cohort; the teacher may get in a lazy habit of relying only on course books; teachers may follow the course book blindly, without noticing problem areas that need to be addressed Sourcing Internet For Materials The internet is also a valuable resource for course materials. Often the teacher will have to make his own materials. These can include crossword puzzles, word search puzzles, role-playing cards, flashcards, and gap-fill sheets. These days, perhaps the easiest way to find and purchase these materials is via the internet. Some popular and trusted websites that offer English teaching course materials include: www.cambride.org; www.kidsdreads.com; www.longman.com; www.teflgames.com When a teacher has a well prepared and properly selected set of course materials, the increase in learning efficiency can be dramatic.
